Monday, September 30, 2019

Welding Guide on Unitor

SAFETY IN WELDING A Safe Journey with UNITOR Norwegian Training Center – Manila A SAFE JOURNEY WITH UNITOR Welding and Flame Cutting elsewhere than in workshop should be the subject of a â€Å"HOT WORK PERMIT† A Safe Journey with UNITOR 2 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Production welding is done under optimum conditions. The appropriate equipment is provided for and the specification are set. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 3 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Maintenance and repair welding onboard involves a host of unknowns. Problems relate to chemical composition of the base metals, weldability, pre and post heat, choice of electrode, and the handicaps of field welding. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 4 Norwegian Training Center – Manila PROTECT THE EYES Never expose bare eyes to the glare and rays from the ARC! This will cause arc-eye (very painful) and damage to the ayes. Use filter glass of correct grade. Amperage Below 20 A 20 – 40 A 40 – 80 A 80 – 175 A 175 – 300 A 300 – 500 A A Safe Journey with UNITOR Grade 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 Norwegian Training Center – Manila A Safe Journey with UNITOR 6 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Train the crew to do the repair welding work themselves instead of subcontracting it away. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 7 Norwegian Training Center – Manila What about your welding technique? Could you need a bit of time at the welding school? A Safe Journey with UNITOR 8 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Both welding cable and return cable should be stretched to the welding site Remember that if you connect the return cable in the ships structure you are actually standing on the return current A Safe Journey with UNITOR 9 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Place the return clamp as near to where the welding takes place as possible. If you don’t, the return current might travel through ball bearings and other critical machine parts and destroy them. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 10 Norwegian Training Center – Manila If you are a smoker remember that disposable plastic cigarette lighters kept in pockets may cost you your life on a welding job. Should a spark fall into your pocket the lighter may explode, resulting in extensive, even fatal burns. Always leave your lighter behind when you shall weld. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 11 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Prevent sparks dropping down hatchways or hold ventilators. Keep fire extinguishers ready. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 12 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Before hot work is begun, check that there are no combustible solids, liquids or gases, at below or adjacent to welding area. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 13 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Remember that protective clothing is not only meant to protect you from burns spatter and arc radiation but also serves as an insulator so you don’t become part of the electric circuit A Safe Journey with UNITOR 14 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Hoses and cables should be kept clear of passage ways. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 15 Norwegian Training Center – Manila To work with worn or damaged welding cables is extremely dangerous. Inspect the condition of the cables regularly. Worn cables should be replaced, not â€Å"Repaired† with insulation tape. If the damage is local the damaged part should be cut away and the cable joined with a cable connector. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 16 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Be sure you never get any electric shock when using electric equipment. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 17 Norwegian Training Center – Manila DO NOT lean directly on to the structure if the return current runs through it, but make sure to insulate yourself using either a RUBBER MAT or WOOD. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 18 Norwegian Training Center – Manila In no circumstances should a welder work while standing in water. Water and electricity do not mix. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 19 Norwegian Training Center – Manila DO NOT weld on drums or tanks before they are cleaned and made absolutely gas free. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 20 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Poisonous gas might develop during welding caused by elements in the base materials or due to paints and metal coatings on the surface. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 21 Norwegian Training Center – Manila HAVE ELECTRODES BEEN PROPERLY STORED? If electrodes are left in the open air they start to attract moisture. When the electrode is used the moisture in the coating goes over as Hydrogen Porosity in the weld. This will in time develop into Hydrogen Cracking. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 22 Norwegian Training Center – Manila WHY IS IT THAT THE WELD I DID ONE WEEK AGO HAVE CRACKED. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 23

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Intentional Teaching Cycle

The Connecticut Preschool Assessment Framework manual states â€Å"early childhood teaching is a continuous process of planning and observing. Teachers plan activities and experiences that help children learn. As the educators observe the students, the educators learn about the students and then are able to plan new activities and teaching strategies to challenge the students to progress further. This process is called intentional teaching†.The intentional teaching cycle contains four ongoing phases, which are planning and implementing, observing and assessing, repeating the cycle, and summarizing. Add reference The Intentional teaching process begins to take place when teachers are deliberate, thoughtful, informed, and purposeful in his or her decisions and actions. A vital part for Intentional teaching educators is to keep up to date with the most current research pertaining to the best practice principles and then apply them to your everyday practice.I think intentional tea ching educators who have limited knowledge about a particular student’s interest should research the topic on the internet, at the library, local community and various other ways to gain more knowledge. I think this will allow teachers to engage with every child, encourage worthwhile conversations, promote interactions, challenging experiences that will encourage a higher level of thinking for the teacher and the students. My experience thus far using the cycle of intentional teaching occurred when I was working with two students in the block area.The two students were string the blocks. One of the students complained the other student had more blocks than her. I asked them how can we find out if both of you have the same amount of blocks to string? One of the students said we can count them or use a ruler, the other said we could line them up, then the other student said we could use a scale to weight the blocks. I think in this scenario the children were able to think at a higher level mathematically by thinking of the different ways to determine who had the most blocks as well as how they could divide the blocks up evenly.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Telecommunications – Mobile Phones – Engineering Report

Title: Engineering Assignment Historical Development of the Mobile Phone Author: J. Naumovski Date:25/11/2012 Class:Year 11 Engineering Abstract: This Report will examine the Historical development of the mobile phone in telecommunications, such as the History, safety, Use in everyday life and the innovations. Introduction: Cell phones, commonly known as mobile phones or wireless phones, are hand-held phones with small built-in antennas that connect to bigger antennas at a cell tower.Unlike home phones, cell phones can be carried from place to place without the need to be plugged into a lan-line to make a call. This makes them a good choice for people who want to be in touch with other people even when they are away from the house. How Do Cell Phones Work people ask? Not many people know it, but cell phones are actually two-way radios similarly like the walkie-talkies from past decades, yet much more advanced. When you talk into your cell phone receiver, it registers your voice and c onverts the sound into radio waves. Without this you cannot hear the other person.These waves travel through the air until they reach a receiver, which is usually found at a base station. This station will then send your call through a telephone network until it contacts the person you wish to speak with. When someone places a call to your cell phone, the signal travels through the telephone network until it reaches the station closest or near you. The station sends the radio waves out into the neighboring areas; this will be the closest tower in your area. These radio waves are then picked up by your cell phone and converted into the sound of a human voice.Cell phones are a vast improvement over the telecommunications technology of the past, and are daily becoming a fixture of modern life. As always, communication is vital, and cell phones will help you to better communicate with the key people in your life. Using a cell phone is one of the first steps you must take to participate effectively in the emerging global economy. Analysis The History of Mobile Phones The history of mobile phones shows a deep understanding of Telecommunication and the development of devices which are connected wirelessly to a public switched telephone network.The transmission of speech by radio has a long and excessive history going back to Reginald Fessenden's invention and shore to ship demonstration of radio telephone, through the Second World War (WWII) with military use of radio telephone links. Hand held radio transceivers have been available since the 1940’s. Mobile telephones for automobiles became available from some telephone companies in the 1940’s also. Early devices were bulky and consumed high power and the network supported only a few simultaneous conversations.Modern cellular networks allow automatic and pervasive use of mobile phones for voice and data communications. In the United States, engineers from Bell Labs began work on a system to allow mobile users to place and receive telephone calls from automobiles, leading to the inauguration of mobile service on June 17, 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after, AT offered Mobile Telephone Service. A wide range of mostly incompatible mobile telephone services offered limited coverage area and only a few available channels in urban areas.The introduction of cellular technology, which allowed re-use of frequencies many times in small adjacent areas covered by relatively low powered transmitters, made widespread adoption of mobile telephones economically feasible. The advances in mobile telephone can be traced in successive generations from the early â€Å"0G† services like MTS and its successor Improved Mobile Telephone Service, to first generation (1G) analogue cellular network, second generation (2G) digital cellular networks, and third generation (3G) broadband data services to the current state of the art, fourth generation 4G) native IP networks. Safety and Risks Associ ated with Mobile Phones When the first cell phones were made in 1984, there were many health risks. Cell phones emit radiation that could be harmful. No testing had been done prior to releasing these phones to the public. The radiation could possibly lead to brain cancer with long-term use. Cellular phones give off an electromagnetic energy which is a type of non-ionizing radiation. This is similar to the radiation naturally found in thunderstorms. The RF electromagnetic energy that cellular phones create can penetrate through a body.The main factors for the depth of penetration and how much is absorbed come from how close the phone is held and how strong its signal is. It is possible that cell phones can cause serious health issues such as cancer, epileptic seizures or sleeping disorders, changes in brain activity, reaction timing but none of this has been proven, this is all a assumption because of the Radio Activity the cell phones give off. Using cell phone whilst driving could cause serious driving accidents. They may also interfere with medical equipment. This includes pace makers, defibrillators and hearing aids.Mobile phones also cause massive amounts of interference will aircrafts. This is why as a safety procedure they must be turned off during flight so devices can still remain operational. Innovations over History: The mobile phone is a wondrous device of technology which historians track 40 years of amazing innovation and a growing number of vintage mobile phone collectors fascinated by the choice and diversity. This piece of research sets out to serve both communities. Below is the 6th edition of research into the most historically important mobile phones. It’s a uniquely global view.It is the history of cellular radio seen through the evolution of mobile handset innovation. The research is far from complete and contributions are welcome on additional information about the mobile already identified and those ground breaking mobile phones t hat should be included. Many of the mobiles identified are still relatively easy to acquire at auctions whilst others are starting to become harder to find. Timeline from 1973-2012 of Mobile Phone Innovations 1. First Prototype portable radio telephone that took the mobile out of the car and into the hand (1973) 2.Motorola Dynatac 8000X – turning a vision into a practical mobile phone (1983) 3. Technophone EXCELL PC105T – taking the mobile from the hand into the pocket (1986) 4. Motorola MicroTAC – some firsts in size and design (1989) 5. Orbitel 901 – the first GSM mobile and the first to receive a commercial SMS text message (1992) 6. Motorola 3200 – the first GSM hand portable (1992) 7. Nokia 1011 – Nokia’s first GSM hand portable (1992) 8. Anon – The world’s first mobile with a lithium-ion battery (1992) 9. Motorola m300 (& Siemens m200) – World’s first mobiles at 1800 MHz (1993) 10.Hagenuk MT-2000 â₠¬â€œ The world’s first mobile providing a game to play (1994) 11. Nokia 2100 – 1st phone with Nokia tune (1994) 12. Nokia 9000 Communicator – the first mobile to make a reality of the mobile office (1996) 13. Siemens S10 – the first mobile phone with a full colour screen (1998) 14. Nokia 7110 – the first effort (WAP) at taking the Internet onto a mobile (1999) 15. Kyocera VP210 – the first mobile offering video telephony (1999) 16. Nokia 8850 – Introducing style into the design of mobiles (1999) 17. Motorola L7089 Timeport -Bridging the Atlantic for travelers (1999) 18.Samsung SPH-WP10 – The world’s first wrist watch mobile phone (1999) 19. Ericsson R380 – The mobile that blazed the trail for the SmartPhone (2000) 20. Ericsson T36 – the first mobile with blue-tooth (2000) 21. Samsung SCH-N300 with Verizon – the first commercial A-GPS (2001) 22. Siemens SL45 – the first mobile with MP3 player ( 2001) 23. Blackberry 957 Internet edition – the mobile that made a reality of push e-mail (2001) 24. Sharp J-SH04 – first to discover the consumer love affair with the camera phone (2001) 25.Matsushita P2101V – World’s First 3G Mobile Phone and use of 2100 MHz spectrum (2001) 26. Sharp Mova SH251iS – The first 3-D screen on a mobile phone (2002) 27. Motorola Razr V3 (2004) – Setting a trend for thinness (2004) 28. Vertu Ascent – Turning the mobile phone into a luxury item for the super-rich (2004) 29. Samsung MM-A700 – Turning speech into text on the mobile phone (2004) 30. Neonode N1 – First mobile with a finger swipe to unlock (2004) 31. Motorola C113a – Making the mobile phone affordable to the world’s poorest (2005) 32. Nokia N92 – The dream of mobile TV (2005) 3. Samsung B600 – The world’s first 10 MP camera (2006) 34. BenQ S88 – First mobile with OLED display (2006) 35. App le i-phone – igniting the smartphone and mobile data revolution (2007 36. Samsung SCH-B710 – First 3-D mobile phone Camera (2007) 37. The T-Mobile G1 Smartphone – Arrival of the Google Android Operating System (2008) 38. Samsung SCH-r900 – The world’s first LTE mobile (2010) 39. Samsung Beam (I8520) – The world’s first mobile with built-in projector (2010) 40. Nokia 808 Pureview – A 41MP camera to advance camera phone picture quality (2012) 41.Sharp Pantone 5 107SH – World’s first mobile with built in radiation monitor (2012) The Smart Phone Era Android Android is an open source platform founded in October 2003 by Andy Rubin and backed by Google, along with major hardware and software developers such as Intel, HTC and Samsung. That forms the Open Handset Alliance. The first phone to use Android was the HTC Dream, branded for distribution by T-Mobile as the G1. The software included on the phone consists of integra tion with Google's applications, such as Google Maps, Calendar, and Gmail, and a full HTML web browser service.Android supports the execution of native applications and a pre-emptive multitasking capability. Free and paid apps are available via Google Play, which launched in October 2008 as Android Market. In January 2010, Google launched the Nexus One Smartphone using its Android OS. Although Android has multi-touch abilities, Google initially removed that feature from the Nexus One, but it was added through a firmware update on February 2, 2010. Phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III was so highly anticipated, sales hit 8 million within first weekend in 2012. iPhone/ iOS In 2007, Apple Inc. ntroduced the original iPhone, one of the first mobile phones to use a multi-touch interface. The iPhone was known for its use of a large touch screen for direct finger input as its main means of interaction, this meaning a touch screen as its main form of use. Instead of a stylus or keypad as typical for smart phones at the time. It initially lacked the capability to install some applications, meaning some did not regard it as a Smartphone. Adobe flash was one of its bigger issues. However in June 2007 Apple announced that the iPhone would support third-party â€Å"web 2. applications† running in its web browser that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. A process called jail breaking emerged quickly to provide unofficial third-party applications to replace the built-in functions, otherwise known as cracking the phone. In July 2008, Apple introduced its second generation iPhone, iPhone 3G, with a much lower list price and 3G support. Simultaneously, the App Store was introduced which allowed any iPhone to install third party applications; these were however both free and paid for, Over a Wi-Fi network, without requiring a Computer for installation.Applications could be browsed through and downloaded directly from the iTunes software client. Featuring o ver 500 applications at launch date, the App Store was noted and became very popular, and achieved over one billion downloads in the first year, and 15 billion by 2011. In June 2010, Apple introduced iOS 4, which was brought to you on the new iPhone, iPhone 4S, which included APIs to allow third-party applications to multitask with an improved display and back-facing camera, a front-facing camera for videoconferencing, and other new innovations.In early 2011 the iPhone 4 allowed the handset's 3G connection to be used as a wireless Wi-Fi becon or hotspot. The iPhone 4S was announced on October 4, 2011, improving upon the iPhone 4 with a dual core A5 processor, an 8 megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p video at 30 frames per second, higher phone capability allowing it to work on both GSM & CDMA networks, and the Siri automated voice assistant. Mobile Phones in everyday life Mobile phones are also known as lifesavers as they can help people in emergencies.If you get stuck in the middle of the road and find no one for help, you can just use a mobile phone and call for help or assistance. Mobile phones are a comfortable way of communicating over a long distances. Along with the obvious convenience and quick access to help in emergencies, mobile phones can be both economical and essential for travellers trying to stay connected to news from across seas. In Japan, mobile phone companies provide immediate notification of earthquakes and other natural disasters to their customers free of charge. In the event of an emergency, disaster response crews can locate trapped or njured people using the signals from their mobile phones or the small detonator of flare in the battery of every cell phone; an interactive menu accessible through the phone's Internet browser notifies the company if the user is safe or in distress. We have also have been downloading Java games and video clips to our mobile phones. Several online mobile phone shops have come up to cater the incre ase in demand for the best mobile phone handsets and ear pieces and the most reliable and cost-effective. Result Summary Historically there has been many significant development Innovations to mobile phones over time.Much of the recent Mobile phones have caused risk issues, which means the constant use of mobile phones can be very hazardous to the person. Yet with the sheer numbers of users with mobile phones is uncanny it shows us as a society cannot live without our mobile phones. By analysis we came to know that mobile phone have both positive and negative aspect. We cannot live without its help. We need them in each and every step so that we can perform our work much more easily. With the help of mobile phones we can also call whoever we wish and ask about last minute things.We may take pictures at anytime in case we don’t have a digital camera. We have the ability to communicate instantly in an emergency. If we have a good plan, we don’t need a home phone. Cell ph ones are good to carry if you break down somewhere. New phones have calendars, and planners and alarms so you now you can throw out the ones at home. Having mobile phone it can cause many problems. Mobile phones save our time but we should try to use the mobile in good things only not in bad one. It is one technology which has enhanced our lifestyle not overcome us.We should take benefits of several innovations of this technology in this globalized world. Mobile phone in a way is very demanding and is getting its place in the market regularly no matter it changes its features, price and others. Conclusion/Recommendations There is no telling how cell phones will evolve over time, and how they will affect the future, but it is safe to say that they certainly will be changing. Over the past few years cell phones have evolved from something you simply call someone on, to now being almost like mini computers, with a large variety of capabilities.One idea that others have for the future o f cell phones include having a super fast charge, with as little as a 10 second charge time. In conclusion mobile phones are easily acceptable new trend and it plays a vital role for every individuals. Bibliography http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mobile_phone http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mobile_phone_industry_in_the_United_States http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Apple_Inc. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/IOS http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Android_(operating_system) http://www. google. com. au/url? a=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CGIQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen. androidwiki. com%2Fwiki%2FMain_Page&ei=F8WtUNKmJMm5iAfOvoHIBA&usg=AFQjCNFAzthz4UAIK1lZXLuPzpuvYNUFoA&sig2=gDSUI_V5gNHj8715SYf7Yw http://www. google. com. au/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fknowledgetoday. wharton. upenn. edu%2F2012%2F03%2Fthe-latest-cell-phone-innovations-breakthroughs-or-busts%2F&ei=OcWtULPmIum7iAfOjoCoAw&usg=AFQjCNF-f1LcuiicqaOh1PtC8lf0W518TQ&sig2=FCS6njxcVriQVZJ pfE6Osw http://www. mobilesafety. com. au/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safety

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Death Sentence and Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Death Sentence and Texas - Essay Example The application of the death penalty in Texas makes several poignant statements: first, violent crimes in Texas will bring about violence in the application of the death penalty; second, it is a loud statement of lack of confidence in an individual’s ability to be rehabilitated after having committed a violent crime, regardless of the circumstances; and, third, demonstrates a confidence in the modern technologies, such as DNA testing, that have recently been proven to have been the basis for wrong convictions because DNA testing and maintenance of DNA samples were compromised. This raises the question of whether or not the continued application in Texas and elsewhere in the United States is in fact justice served. Or would justice be better served by holding off on the use of the death penalty, until the justice system can be certain, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the evidence it presents is irrefutable with respect to each life being put at risk? Also, can a system responsi ble for rehabilitating offenders really succeed in that goal, and can a criminal with a violent past be rehabilitated in a way where justice would be better served by life imprisonment as opposed to death? The justices decided on a 6-3 vote that the Texas jury that resentenced rapist-murderer Johnny Paul Penry after his 1989 appeal was given instructions that did not meet criteria the high court had earlier set, and they overturned his death sentence a second time (Murray 2001).† These are questions and situations that this essay will examine with respect to the application of the death penalty in the state of Texas. Individual cases where prisoners have been executed will be examined, as will some pending cases. The state of Texas is big, the history of Texas looms large in the overall history of the United States, and people from the state like to perceive themselves as

Thursday, September 26, 2019

PROPERTY ECONOMICS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PROPERTY ECONOMICS - Essay Example The report establishes that there a number of micro and macro economic factors strongly account for rental volatility in the non-residential property market. These factors ranged from changes in the demand and supply for commercial property, the level of industrialization, interest rates, and government policy on economic and regional development. This report about rental volatility in the commercial property market is divided into four sections. The first section would look at the cyclical movements in rental volatility, resulting from the interaction of the micro and macro economics factors, as well as government policy on economic and regional development. The second section would make an investigative view on why this rental volatility has witnessed marked variations on a regional basis. Then the third section would give an outline of the extent to which government planning has influenced rental volatility in the commercial property market. Subsequently, the role of government and council reforms in determining the frequency and extent of rental volatility would be examined in the fourth section. Finally, there would be a section for conclusion on the trend of rental volatility in the commercial property market. Ball et al (2002) hold that the commercial property markets consist of thousands of parcels of l... This makes it difficult for a property to be a perfect substitute of the other. In the context of property economics, Jackson and Watkins (2007) opine that rent refers to the price mechanism that balances the demand and supply property to achieve equilibrium in four interlinked markets: the user market, the development market, the financial asset market, and the land market. The volatility cycle would now be viewed in the above ways. They further argue that in the user market, the payments a firm makes in order to use a given amount of commercial property for a particular time period is called building rent. It acts as the key signal to agents active in the market, and, through its rises and falls, clears these markets by equating the quantity supplied with that demanded. According to Ball et al (2002), rent volatility in the property market can best be explained using the DiPasquale and Wheaton framework. The equation, according to Dobson and Goddard (1992), maintains that property rents are a function of industrial investment in leasing or buying or new property, the floor space and geographical location. This means that the higher the rate of industrial investment, the higher would be the demand for commercial property. This would certainly drive up the price of property without any certainty in the supply. A look at the demand and supply curve would help clarify this scenario. Market forces on the demand and supply of property Price D1 D2 S P2 P1 Q1 Q2 Property demanded/supplied For instance, the above diagram shows a typical situation in an increase in the demand for property. In the diagram, there is

Enviromental engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Enviromental engineering - Essay Example Chemical or biological processes can help specific sources of phosphorus as from wastewater treatment plants (Henze & Van Loosdrecht 155). Biological nutrient removal processes in the treatment of waste waters lead to environmental, operational and economic benefit. For this purpose, stricter rules are being implemented for removing phosphorus from waste water. The different nutrient removal processes are chemical, physical and biological. Various biological methods are available for removing both nitrogen and phosphorus. The process of biological nutrient removal or BNR is based on a chain of biochemical reactions that convert nitrogen to another form. The main changes are nitrification and denitrification. â€Å"Nitrification is the conversion of ammonium, NH4+ to nitrite, NO2-, and finally to nitrate, NO3-â€Å" (PWTB A-4). Denitrification is the process by which, without dissolved oxygen bacteria use nitrate as a terminal electron acceptor and convert it to nitrogen gas. Denitrification occurs rapidly when an external substrate like wastewater or methanol is present for bacterial growth. Denitrification takes place slowly in the event of bacteria using nitrate in the absence of an external substance source. This is also termed as endogenous-level denitrification. The denitrification rates at endogenous level depend on sludge age and the active mass fraction of denitrifying bacteria (PWTB A-4). The effectiveness of the biological nutrient removal system is impacted by the â€Å"characteristics of the waste water influent to each zone of the process† (PWTB A-13). Both biological nitrogen removal and biological phosphorus removal can be carried out successfully only in the presence of adequate biodegradable organic substrate. The efficiency of the biological phosphorus removal process differs according to the specific organic compound available in the anaerobic zone. There is reduced efficiency of nitrogen

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

IMC Plan On Geico Insurance Company Research Paper

IMC Plan On Geico Insurance Company - Research Paper Example Center of discussion in this paper is GEICO or Government Employees Insurance Company. Founded by Leo & Lillian Goodwin in the year 1936, the Company started its journey as car insurance company for government & military employees. Since then it has seen many changes in its structure & quest for growth. The company has grown by leaps & bounds over these years and is adjudged as 3rd largest auto insurer in private section in US. GEICO is standing tall as part of Berkshire Hathaway headed by Warren Buffet with 8 million policyholders & 17 million vehicles insured under its belt. GEICO started as a company which was catering to the needs of federal & military employees only. The founders Leo & Lillian Goodwin had different marketing plan for their business and the utmost was to lower the cost. This business plan of theirs was made successful with the induction of federal employees in their marketing strategy as this segment of people would be posing low risk and eventually companyâ€⠄¢s profit would not be hampered. Even today GEICO sticks to this objective of its and all through these years one thing which has remained intact with the company is creating customer value through its services. Every firm in today’s time needs to promote itself through various advertisements as to reach maximum number of people and build a strong customer base. GEICO is a company which has always believed in reaching out to people directly than through any agents and for this very reason it has relied on internet communication, through phone and heavily investing on advertisements which in return has increased its customer base. c) Competitive Analysis: Competition is one word which can never be forgotten in context of marketing plan. Every company has a competition in its field and a proper analysis is must to emerge as winners. GEICO also have been facing tough competition from other players but what has made it look different is its excellent coverage, always thriving to keep costs low and last but not the least good service quality to its customers. d) Environmental influences: External or the environmental influences can be broadly divided into 4 categories- i) Economic: GEICO has been considerably climbing the steps towards the numero-uno position and this has been possible because of good economic position of US. Though lately due to recession the things turned ugly but now the economy is back on track and so GEICO can expect further growth. ii) Technological: To keep up with the time and competition GEICO not only needs a good service quality but also innovation in the products. With technology being at par GEICO’s service is further going to make customer happy and more interested in the company for getting their vehicles insured. iii) Political-Legal: A company like GEICO should always make sure it follows all the norms and regulations set by the government to prosper smoothly without any hassle. A politically clean company is most so ught after company by any customer and in a risky business like insurance sector a company surely needs to legally manage its business. iv) Socio-culture: With power comes great responsibilities and for this GEICO should also be socially attached with its

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The bad effects of illegal immigration in the usa Speech or Presentation

The bad effects of illegal immigration in the usa - Speech or Presentation Example In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur banned almost all Chinese immigrants, paupers, criminals and mentally ill from entering the USA. This was the first time a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants was made and regulated. Moving on we see that Since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Congress has passed seven amnesties. Some of these include the Immigration and Reform Act (IRCA), in 1986 which serves as a blanket amnesty for over 2.7 million illegal aliens. The second passed in 1994, Section 245(i) Amnesty, which was a temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens and extension of this, was added in 1997. The HRIFA 1998 and Life act Amnesty 2000. Despite Americans’ opposition to illegal immigration and amnesty, open border advocates are pressuring President Barack Obama to pass yet another mass amnesty for illegal aliens (End Illegal Immigration, 2011). Americans of all backgrounds are still seriously concerned about the negative impact of illegal i mmigration, such as with the number of bankrupted hospitals, overcrowded schools, and increased crime. Taxpayers pay dearly for this, illustrating the high cost of so-called â€Å"cheap labor† for some unscrupulous employers and their political allies who for decades have watered down immigration laws.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living Case Study

Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living - Case Study Example According to the paper the age of the child to be included will be limited from age thirteen to eighteen. This case study will help individuals, couples, and families determine how to meet stepfamily challenges through a clearer understanding of how their own perceptions are contingent upon particular outcomes. This study will additionally contribute to the fields of social science, psychology and family therapy by adding to the already existing body of knowledge on stepfamily functioning. Finally, such information would be particularly valuable to professionals in the field who can draw on the findings to assist them as they work with stepfamilies in their daily practice, and to understand the value of the utilization of the therapeutic process. This study declares that stepfamilies are becoming an increasingly more common type of family in almost all countries, especially in the UK and USA. Increasing parental separation over past decades means that approximately one million children under 18 years of age will experience the divorce of their parents. A large population pool for remarriages and the formation of stepfamilies is created by high divorce rates. Estimates project that 50-60 percent of couples in first marriages will separate. Research indicates that women (mothers) ordinarily re-partner within 3-5 years post-separation and men (fathers) typically re-partner within 1-2 years of separation, most of these include children from a prior marriage, and thus, stepfamilies are formed. While educational, social, and economic factors present unique barriers to stepfamilies, societal stereotyping is another major challenge that stepfamilies encounter. The negative stereotyping of stepfamilies may lead new members of stepfami lies to expect negative outcomes which can then increase the chance of family disharmony.  

Sunday, September 22, 2019

A job or profession Essay Example for Free

A job or profession Essay There are six domains in the content model starting with† worker characteristics† which talks about the abilities, enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance, also the occupational interest, the preference of work environments and also work values and work styles what is more important to you at work and how exactly you enjoy and feel more comfortable doing your job. â€Å"Worker requirements† which involves basic skill and cross-functional skill, basic skills are skill you already should know, and cross- functional are skills you tend to learn from moving from job to job. Knowledge and education are also needed in worker requirements knowledge is what you know of the job and education is any prior knowledge you already had coming in. â€Å"Experience requirements† involves experience and training, licensing and basic and cross- functional skills, which is everything needed for you to get started on the right track with your job, basic and functional skills to help you in your everyday life and also in your work environment, also licensing and training are requirements because jobs need to know that you are legit and know what you are doing. â€Å"Occupation specific information† also involves tools to help with your job and also technology as in machinery equipment, things to make your job a less of a hassle. â€Å"Workforce characteristics†, variables that define and describe the general characteristics of occupations that may influence occupational requirements. â€Å"Occupational requirements† a comprehensive set of variables or detailed elements that describe what various occupations require. There are many careers in career cluster but there is one that really interests me which is teaching the reason for this is because teaching has always been a dream of mine simply because I would love to influence a child’s life in a good way. For good teachers, teaching is a vocation rather than a job something they cant refuse. Teaching is a call to service; a way to change the world. Theres so much potential in a classroom. Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible. There are a lot of great reasons to teach and none of them are better than the others. The reasons why you want to teach depend on your personality and beliefs. Some teachers want to make a difference and some people love working with children or adolescence and some people want to make a big contribution to society. As long as youre intentions are good and youre not going into teaching for the wrong reasons, you should pursue your passion and desire to become the teacher with all the right reason .You could be that teacher that influence a kid to be anything from a hero to the president of the united states because lets be totally honest kids look up to teachers and you setting a good example could do so much for children . Teachers do more than make a small difference, they touch their students’ lives forever. I want to teach because I want to make a difference in the world. A lot of teachers want to teach because they have the power to do good things for their students. Students do more than learn academic things from teachers, they learn about morals and ethics, they learn about confidence and self-esteem, and they learn what having someone who cares about them is like. I want to teach because students deserve a teacher who really cares about them and wants them to do their best. A lot of people want to teach because of the rewards that come with teaching like pay and vacations. I want to teach because I love working with students and being a part of their lives. I care about the youth of the world, and I want to help them learn and prosper in any way I can. I also want to teach because I honestly cant see myself doing anything else with my life than teaching. As reported in yahoo the salary for teachers in Texas can vary on location, experience and whether or not they have a masters degree. In Lubbock, teachers employed by the Lubbock Independent School District in 2011 earn a starting salary of $37,750 if they have a bachelors degree. If they have a masters degree, their salary begins at $39,250. An LISD teacher with 20 years of experience, but only a bachelors degree, will earn $48,635 per year, this is how much I could expect to earn. Another job I have always been interested in is being a personal trainer simply because you get to motivate and help people get physically fit. Some reasons may be to help people become healthier or let athletes maximize their performances; other reasons may include sharing with others the gift of health or it could be that you just like hanging around the gym and want to make some money in the process. There is no â€Å"wrong† reason, just as there is no single â€Å"right† way to train people. I feel the best part about being a personal trainer is having the opportunity to transform not only my clients body, but their mind as well. Being a personal trainer means being there for my client through the good and the bad, answering emails and being on-call if a client has questions from muscle soreness to protein powder. I chose this profession merely on the basis of having a healthy physique, to train people and inspire them to be aware of health and not only that but to have a great body too has been something I would love to teach. When you market yourself to potential clients, you subtly make them a promise that youll get them looking and feeling how theyve always dreamed of. Some of them expect you to hand them results, barely making an effort in the gym, my job is to push them to the limits and make them earn their results. These results are all the right reasons to pick this profession. Salary for a trainer is ranging from 20-100 dollars a hour per person. One main job I would love to be is a doctor I just wish I would be smart enough to peruse that career. Becoming a doctor is no easy task. Just getting into medical school is a daunting task let alone the amount of studying, time spent in residency and the grueling hours one spends training. I personally have many reasons why I want to become a doctor. Yes my first answer is I want to help people, and yes it is true that you can help people in many ways but I think a doctor provides the most direct and critical type of help. I mean how many times have you been in pain and youve gone to see your doctor and after hes treated you, you want to just get up and hug him. The healing power of a doctor is almost godly. I dont think any other profession is more appreciated than a doctor because of that fact. We as humans seek help and relieve from pain and suffering when we are going through such a time and the most critical pain and suffering is physical pain and when that pain is relieved we are most grateful. This is why I would also enjoy being a doctor; there is no greater gift you can give. Annual salary of a doctor is, depending on the area in the U.S.A. the average yearly salary of a doctor is around $120,000-$160,000. What I have learned from these careers and what u has put into conclusion in my own mind is that no matter what career you are looking for, the annual salary will not make you happy, what will make you happy is how much you will enjoy the job. Enjoying your job is the main part of being happy in life; having a job you enjoy waking up to every day will make your life so much less complicated. Which is why I no longer look at the pay of jobs , but end up asking myself would I enjoy this?

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Norwegian International Ship (NIS) Register: Pros and Cons

Norwegian International Ship (NIS) Register: Pros and Cons Introduction The concept of ship registration dates back to the time when vessels started to sail under national flags. Belonging to different countries, the nationality of a ship provides not only protection of the owners rights, support and other advantages, but also responsibilities and certain limitations. Registration means subjecting the ship to the jurisdiction of a country. However, the ways and approaches to ship registration were not rigid and inflexible. Prior to the 1980s, national registers were the only phenomenon in the ship registration practice. But the so-called open registers appeared due to several developing countries, such as Panama, Liberia and the Bahamas. They provided more flexible conditions and lower costs than national registers. Ship owners were attracted by open registers to become more competitive in comparison with their rivals. The response of the developed countries was to introduce international or second registers that gave wider opportunities than national on es, but provided better technical support and service to the member-vessels. The current literature review is aimed at providing the overall classification of ship register types and to concentrate on the four registering companies: NIS, NOR (Norwegian Ship registers), IOM Ship Register (Isle of Man) and UK Ship Register. Definition, Classification and Functions of Ship Registers Rayfuse (2004) argues that according to existing international legislation, ships are allowed to sail under the flag of one country only. Consequently, the concept of a ship register or flag state addresses a vessel to the state, which carries out the regulatory control over this ship (Harwood, 2006). However, this registration will imply further certification and inspection of the ship. Special attention is given by ship registers to the maintenance of environmental regulations and the prevention of pollution (Raikes, 2009). Hinkelman (2005) proposed an overwhelming classification of ship registers types. The researcher argues that all the register types are subdivided into national registers, flags of convenience (FOCs), second registers and bareboat charter registers. In the case of national registers, the direct link between the nationality of the vessels owner and the flag state is implied. National registers are often referred to as closed registers (Hinkelman, 2005). Flags of convenience (FOCs) do not directly link the nationality of the owner with the state flag. On the contrary, they are foreign registers, which provide more convenient conditions for the ship owners. Bareboat charter registers grant the possibility to obtain for vessels a foreign registration for a certain time period. However, they retain their primary registration (Hinkelman, 2005). The current dissertation focuses predominantly on second and national registers. Second registers are often referred to as offshore registers. Their operation is determined by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) (Mulcahy and Tillotson, 2004). This type of register is usually established either by the separate legislation in the country, which already has a national (primary register), or in the offshore territory with the direct legal connection to the host country. The main second registers are the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS) (Norway), Isle of Man (UK), Madeira (Portugal), Kerguelen (France) and Danish International Ship Register (DIS) (Denmark) (Farthing and Brownrigg, 1997). From the standpoint of the world economy, the main function of international ship registers is to assist in global maritime commerce. According to Odeke (1998) this assistance may be seen in eliminating certain restrictions and limitations imposed by primary registers. Besides the implementation of the official control function, international registers protect the rights of the owners of vessels. Furthermore, second registers tend to subscribe certain original regulations for vessels owners. They stipulate definite manning, taxation rules and safety requirements (Chircop and LindÃÆ'Â ©n, 2006). For instance, the nationality requirements for manning are usually relaxed by the international registers. At the same time, the second register country has the right to call all registered vessels in the event of war or other emergencies (DeSombre, 2006). Klikauer and Morris (2002) argue that it is beneficial for countries to have their own second registers. International registers charge registration taxes and fees from the vessels owners. Even providing the above mentioned services to the ships, they remain profitable. International registers attract ship owners, as they ordinary provide more favourable conditions and terms than those of the home states (Raikes, 2009). It may be even stated that the second registers compete against each other in attracting new candidates. Norwegian International Ship (NIS) Register Background The Norwegian International Ship Register was founded in 1987. The second register provides the possibility of the registration and certification for vessels under the flag of Norway, which has been an outstanding nautical nation since the time of the Vikings. The main purpose of the NIS is formulated as the following: to offer a flexible and commercially attractive alternative to open registers while retaining the essential features of quality registers (Branch, 2007, p. 164). The organisation was established to compete against other international registers for the benefit of Norway. The Norwegian International Ship Register allows the certification of the following types of ships: hovercraft, cargo and self-propelled ships, movable platforms and installations. The citizenship of the owner is not limited or restricted by the NIS. The ships sailing under the Norwegian flag have to subject to the jurisdiction of that country. The key differences with the ordinary NOR may be seen in the following. First, according to the NIS, direct certification of foreign companies is allowed which is not possible in case of NOR. Secondly, according to the NIS, the employment of foreign crew with the standard local salary level is allowed. Limitations of the NIS The limitations subscribed by the NIS were originally formulated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of Norway and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The main limitation of the NIS is that the ships under the Norwegian flag are not allowed to carry passengers or cargo from one Norwegian port to another Norwegian port. Furthermore, regular transportation of passengers between foreign and Norwegian ports is not permitted either. It is specified that Norwegian gas and oil installations are considered to be Norwegian ports from the standpoint of this limitation. Despite the fact that the NIS legislation allows foreign ownership of the vessel, owners are obliged to have a Norwegian representative. This requirement may be also interpreted as a limitation for foreign owners. Another limitation may be seen in the fact that a foreign crew of the vessel is not allowed to carry out all the technical and commercial maintenance operations by themselves. Furthermore, their home country cannot be involved in these operations either. The NIS legislation implies the participation of the third party, a Norwegian company, which will accomplish the minimum set of technical and commercial operations for a foreign vessel. Hence, a certain degree of dependence in technical and financial operations for foreign vessels may be classified as a limitation because crew cannot make a choice of their own. At the same time, the NIS legislation does not limit the age of the vessel to be registered. The main requirement is satisfactory technical functioning of the ship. The Number of Registered Ships It is reasonable to trace back the dynamics of the registered quantities of vessels in the NIS. At the beginning of 1999, the number of registered vessels was equal to 705. In forthcoming years it was fluctuating and finally dropped. In 2000, 2001 and 2002 the number of the registered vessels constituted 712, 717 and 693 respectively. However, in 2008, this figure constituted only 577 vessels. The NIS registered 358 vessels owned by the Norwegians and 192 owned by foreigners. This illustrates that the general tend in the number of NIS registration was decreasing. To estimate the NIS registration in tonnage, the following indicators can be mentioned. During the period from 1999 to 2005, the tonnage of the NIS registered vessels changed from 19,000 gross tons to around 14,000 gross tons. Again, the overall trend for the NIS registers in tonnage was decreasing. Advantages The following advantages can be attributed to registration in the NIS. Norwegians are universally recognised as a competent and experienced maritime nation. The Norwegian taxation system is relatively mild in comparison with the overall European taxation regulations. The Norwegian judicial system characterises itself as one of the most predictable and sophisticated towards the maritime business. The NIS system has a very good reputation, which eliminates further inspection of the cargo in foreign ports. The registered vessels will reap all the benefits of high-quality tonnage. The implementation by the NIS of other international standards, such as ILO, IMO, ISM, SOLAS, WTO, OECD and MARPOL, increases the universality and uniformity of their legislation, which is advantageous for trade. The NIS provides more than 500 service stations on a global scale, which are easy to apply to for technical and financial management and support. The income of the crews including foreign citizens is not taxed by the Norwegian authorities. Disadvantages It may be argued that the following disadvantages can be found in the NIS. Foreign owners and cargo or passenger transportation companies are not permitted to enter the internal Norwegian market. The NIS legislation does not allow transportation between Norwegian ports for foreign vessels. However, this disadvantage is recognised by foreign owners only. The Norwegian authorities secure themselves against additional competition in the sea transportation market, which is recognised as an advantage for them. Foreign ships have no possibility to turn to their domestic technical and financial support services. Ship owners have to coordinate their payments to the employees within Norwegian legislation. Mandatory participation of the Norwegian representative in the communication with the Norwegian government. Norwegian Ordinary Register (NOR) Background The Norwegian Ordinary Register (NOR) has certain similarities with the NIS, but the main difference may be found in the class of the register. According to the above given classification, the NOR belongs to the national type of registers. It means, that it emphasises the direct link between the nationality of the owner and the host country. The NOR can be considered a closed register. The NOR legislation implies two options upon registration of vessels: mandatory and voluntary registrations. The mandatory registration is necessary for all the Norwegian vessels, which have a length of 15 meters or more. However, if they are already registered in other countries (have international or second registration), the NOR registration is not required. The voluntary option of registration can be applied to the Norwegian vessels, which have a length from 7 to 15 meters. In addition, other vessels, which are not used for commercial purposes may be registered voluntarily according to the NOR. Floating docks and cranes, hovercrafts and installations and moving platforms can be registered on the voluntary basis. In all the other cases, which are prescribed by the Act concerning the Registration and Marking of Fishing Vessels, the registration of vessels is mandatory. Limitations of the NOR According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2005), the main limitations of the NOR may be found in its nature of being a national or closed register. In particular, to be registered by the NOR, the shipping company is to be owned by an EEA citizen. Nevertheless, non-EEA ownership is possible too, but the share owned by the EEA citizens must be no less than 60%. If compared with the NIS, such limitation does not exist there. On registration in the NOR, the company that owns a vessels becomes a company with limited liability. The headquarters of a cargo or passenger transporter must be on the territory of the EEA. Similar requirements are attributed to the crew of the vessel registered in accordance with the NOR standards. The prevailing majority of the crew members including the captain itself are to be EEA citizens, who had resided in the EEA area the two preceding years. Another limitation deals with the technical and financial management of the registered vessel. The NOR legislation allows technical support for a vessel from a Norwegian technical servicer only. The maintenance may be given abroad, but this company has to ultimately belong to Norway. The Number of Registered Ships In 2007, the total number of vessels registered in NOR was equal to 749. In 2008, this figure increased by 2.8% and was equal to 770. The NOR registration in tonnage was equal to 2,411 gross tons in 2007. In 2008, this figure decreased and constituted only 2,305 gross tons. It is quite difficult to comment about the tend in the NOR registrations because the two recent years demonstrated a small rise in numbers, but a fall in tonnage. Advantages The following advantages are usually attributed to the NOR. The vessels operating in the inner market reap the benefits of high-quality support and the protection of foreign competitors. Sophisticated and highly experienced maritime tradition contributes greatly to the development of sea transportation businesses for different types of vessels. It is beneficial for ship owners that the country has two types of ship registers: national and international. Disadvantages The following disadvantages may be seen in the NOR registration for vessels. The registration fees are not stable and fluctuate from year to year depending on the prescriptions of the Maritime Act. Opportunities of technical support are limited only to the domestic providers of this service. It may be concluded that as Norwegian International Ship (NIS) Register and Norwegian Ordinary Registers (NOR) belong to one country, they have much in common. However, the main difference between these registers is that they belong to different register groups: national (NOR) and international or second (NIS) registers. The NOR completely binds the registered ships to the host country, Norway. It may be noticed in terms of ownership, cooperation with maintenance and support services and the location of the headquarters. The NIS naturally allows foreign ownership, but the limitation of mandatory service remains. Moreover, companies are obliged to have a Norwegian representative. UK Register Background The UK register is part of the Maritime and Coastal Agency (MCA), which controls and monitors all of the marine activity in the UK. Since the UK is a kingdom, all of the activity is ultimately answerable to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain. The UK register is a closed register. The UK register handles: Merchant ships Fishing vessels Large yachts Pleasure Crafts/ Small ships With 116 (UK Ship Register, 2010) ports around the UK, all of the above vessels can register and receive a UK flag. Although the register provides a list of restrictions on who can be registered, it covers quite a wide range of geographical locations (e.g. British Dependant territories citizens, EEA countries, those that have a registered business in one of the EEA countries). Benefits of having a UK Flag The UK flag is considered to be one of the best performing flags in the world, ranking 3rd (lowest by risk) in the Paris MoU list The UK Flag is one of the top performing Flags on the Paris MoU White List' (UK register, 2010). The register is proud to offer their customers assistance both before and after registration. Financially, it rewards its members with relatively low annual renewal fees and contributes around ÂÂ £1.4 million to a Crew Relief Cost Scheme. Furthermore, UK registered ships are not targeted by Port State Control regimes in the worlds major trading areas ISPS plan approvals and verification audits at no cost to owners and operators An international reputation for expert advice and guidance with a proactive leading role at the IMO, EU and Quality Shipping Committees Worldwide security threat level information provided to UK registered ships with support for British Nationals on board from British Consuls and Royal Navy protection dependent on the availability of assets and exact situation Quality Assurance offering certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards with audits being taken in harmonisation with ISM Alternate Compliance Scheme: A voluntary scheme that streamlines the survey and certification process by minimising duplication of effort with Classification Societies. Eligibility is conditional upon certain criteria being met (UK Register, 2010). Disadvantages of the UK Flag The National Audit Office (2009) has reported that the efficiency with which the MAC operates has deteriorated over the years. Until 2000 the agency have managed to carry out all of the required surveys in order to check the quality of the ships that operate under a UK flag. However, by 2007, the targets were not met. Furthermore, it was predicted, that the targets would not be met again in 2008-2009. Failure to meet its targets will increase the risk that UK vessels which do not comply with regulations operate without detection in UK ports and waters (National Audit Office, 2009, p.5). In order to be efficient, the MAC needs more resources However, at the moment, even the cost of surveys are not met by the revenues that are brought in by the owners of the vessels. Another worrying fact, is that the quality of the UK flag, which has been enjoying a very good reputation over the years, is starting to disappear. The audit has found that an increasing number of UK flag holders are being detained overseas due to the inability to pass quality checks. Although relatively this detention number is lower compared to other flags, it has been argued that the difference is getting smaller every year. Partly, because the quality of the other flags is increasing and partly because the quality of the UK flag vessels is deteriorating. Registered Ships In order to increase the growth in registered ships, the Government has introduced a tonnage tax in 2000. In turn, instead of charging vessels on the profits that they make off their activities, they are now charged on the tonnage of their vessels. This regulatory measure has allowed the UK register to see a good increase in the number of vessels. By the end of 2007 the UK registered merchant fleet had grown from 1,050 to 1,518. Of these, 646 vessels were trading vessels compared with 417 vessels in 2000 (National Audit Office, 2009, p.5). The tonnage that was brought in also increased. In 2007, the average tonnage per vessel increased from 11,000 to 19,000. This increase had an interesting effect on the number of overseas surveys that the MCA had to perform in 2007. Nearly a quarter of them had to be done overseas. This is a large increase, considering that in 2000-2001, 5% were performed overseas, while the rest were done domestically (National Audit Office, 2009, p.5). Large increases were also seen in the number of Certificates of Equivalent Competency that were issued, from 3,244 in 2003 to 4,722 in 2007. However, although absolute numbers have increased, the overall rate of growth has declined. In 2007, the fleet grew by 10%, compared to 13.33% average growth from 2001 to 2003. The MAC argues that too many external factors are at play, which do not allow them to enhance the growth with more control. For example, the MAC found that some shipping companies were happy to wait and see whether the EU would bring in a tonnage tax as well, before making the final decision on their flagging. In turn, this shows that although the UK ship register provides a large number of benefits, they are not relatively strong enough to become a deciding factor for the shipping companies. Isle of Man Registry Background Isle of Man Registry (IOM) works closely with the Isle of Man government to provide relevant solutions to its members. Tynwald (the local parliament) is ultimately answerable to the Crown, however, as has long been agreed, the UK government does not legislate the IOM, and therefore, shipping legislation is approved by Tynwald alone. The Isle of Man operates a Category One, Red Ensign Group British Register that provides for the registration of ships of any size or type. The Isle of Man Register is a component part of the British Register (The Red Ensign Group, 2010). IOM registry is relatively new, established only in 1984. Over the years, the IOM has seeked local private solutions for its clients, and today works closely with local marine lawyers, accountants, PI clubs and even banks, bringing a diverse, one-stop-shop solution to anyone who registers. Due to its offshore jurisdiction capabilities and proximity to Europe, IOM can provide a highly competitive solution. The IOM strongly competes on its tax exemption regime, its financial centre capabilities and developed technical solutions whilst on the island. The IOM registers a large number of different vessels, including VLCC, superyachts, fishing boats and pleasure crafts. Advantages of the IOM The Isle of Man Ship Registry has recently been voted best in the world, claiming the top spot in the international shipping industry round table annual flag state performance table (PDMS, 2008). Like the rest of the registrars, IOM conveys that it will provide the ship owners with the cost-efficient and customer-friendly solution. Quality is key to the Isle of Man, where our reputation as a high quality jurisdiction makes us the flag of choice for todays modern maritime business (IOM, 2010). Furthermore, the website states that this registers customer service has a can-do approach. A professional Ship Registry providing a high quality of service available 24/7 with fast response to queries Reasonable costs and no annual tonnage dues A favourable taxation regime designed to encourage business The right to fly the Red Ensign and access the support of British consular services world-wide and British Royal Navy protection Flexibility in the requirements for registered owners The availability of Demise registry both IN and OUT Support for ships treated unfairly by Port State Control Full political support for shipping ISO 9001/2008 Accreditation Not a Flag of Convenience Regular advice bulletins on key issues to help owners respond to them (IOM, 2010). Unlike the rest of the registers, it can be argued that IOM offers a number of unique solutions and help. For example, the Ship Managers and Owner Association (IOMSA) brings together the ship owners with the relevant legal and financial representatives, where they are able to discuss outstanding issues and come up with solutions. A similar association is offered to the superyachts sector (Manx Yacht Forum). In turn, it can be argued, that the register can see the issues quickly and address them, which takes the customer service to a different level. Furthermore, since a large proportion of its business is coming from the private yacht owners, the IOM offers one annual yacht fee, which includes all of the charges and exemptions in it already. This makes it very easy for the owners to delegate all of their paper work to the registers, without getting involved in the complex structure of the system. The Annual Report (2008) puts strong emphases on the quality of the vessels that register with the IOM registry. Consistent quality checks before the registration and during the time that the vessel is under the IOM flag, reflects in the strong decline in the number of accidents that the IOM are subject to. Over 5 years, the number of accidents declined from 53 in 2004 to 35 in 2008 (Annual Report, 2008, p. 20). The Number of Registered Ships The IOM has grown over the years, yet, this growth has never been aggressive. In 2008, its main growth was in the registration of yachts, where the target was to register 1 per month. In 2008, 995 vessels were sailing under the IOM flag. Figure 1. IOM registered vessels by type Source: IOM, Annual Report, 2008, p. 10 It is extremely important for the IOM register to be within the first third on the Paris MOU register. So far, out of 83 members of the Paris MOU, they have managed to stay within the first 11. Figure 2: Paris MOU register and IOM position Source: Annual Report, 2008, p. 21 Conclusion The literature review has shown that there are the second registers have been developed by the countries in order to compete with those that were offered by the developing countries. The closed registers examined still prevail in size (by the number of registered vessels), however, the difference is not very large. Each of the registers offers their members a large number of benefits. However, as the case with NIS has shown, reluctance to be flexible is likely to results in less demand for their services. It was interesting to see the results produced by IOM. The registry has managed to grow steadily, despite having a large amount of competition. The low costs that the IOM offers has not impacted on the quality of the service provided. It has been found that the UK Register is much bigger in size than NOR and enjoys a steady growth. Despite the deteriorating ability to meet its survey targets, it still has the 3rd place in the MOU whitelist (see Appendix). It can be argued that if the vessels are less likely to be detained overseas due to deficiencies, this plays an important part on their ability to make a profit. Therefore, low risk registers, such as the UK Register is likely to be more attractive. Both NIS and NOR has seen a decline in their registered members. It can be argued that unlike the UK register and the IOM, they did not make enough competitive changes to stay attractive. References AppleBy (2009) Brief: Ship registration in the Isle of Man [online]: http://dc.co.im/uploaded/Publication/1362_File_5.pdf [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Branch, A. (2007) Elements of shipping, 7th ed., Taylor Francis, p. 164 Burroughs R (1984) Offshore supply vessels: An emerging maritime industry Maritime Policy Management, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 269 276 The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (2008) UK Ship Register continues to grow [online]: http://www.ciltuk.org.uk/pages/industry-news/article?EBA1745A-D18A-4443-A2FE-946C24DFD242 [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Chircop, A. and LindÃÆ'Â ©n, O. (2006) Places of refuge for ships: emerging environmental concerns of a maritime custom, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 265 Department of Trade and Industry (2010) Registration of Manx Ships [online]: http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/dti/shipregistry/Registration/rans/ran01registrationofmanxships.pdf [Accessed on 2 March 2010] DeSombre, E. (2006) Flagging standards: globalization and environmental, safety, and labor regulations at sea, MIT Press, p. 83 Farthing, B. and Brownrigg, M. (1997) Farthing on international shipping, 3rd ed., the University of Virginia, p. 187 Harwood, S. (2006) Shipping finance, 3rd ed., Euromoney Books, pp. 200-204 Hinkelman, E. (2005) Dictionary of international trade: handbook of the global trade community includes 21 key appendices, 6th ed., World Trade Press, p. 374 IOM (2008) Annual Report, [online]: http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/dti/shipregistry/formsdocs/reports/iomsr/reportfinalwebsiteonly.pdf [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Isle of Man (2010) Ship registry [online]: http://www.gov.im/dti/shipregistry/ [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Isle of Man Government (2010) Registry: Qualified Owners [online]: http://www.gov.im/dti/shipregistry/registration/qualifiedowners.xml [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Klikauer, T. and Morris, R. (2002) Into murky waters: Globalisation and deregulation in Germanys shipping employee relations, Employee Relations, Vol. 24, Issue: 1, pp. 12-28 Mulcahy, L. and Tillotson, J. (2004) Contract law in perspective, 4th ed., Routledge Cavendish, p. 147 National Audit Office (2009) The Maritime and Coastguard Agencys Response to Growth in the UK Merchant Fleet Great Britain, [online]: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sdq=HYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sUK+Ship+RegisterHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_sHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_slr=HYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navli nks_sHYPERLINK http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5QIqJW-eVsCdq=UK+Ship+Registerlr=source=gbs_navlinks_ssource=gbs_navlinks_s [Accessed on 2 March 2010] NOR (2010) NOR [online]: http://www.nis-nor.no/NOR.aspx [Accessed on 2 March 2010] NIS (2010) NIS [online]: http://www.nis-nor.no/NHYPERLINK http://www.nis-nor.no/NOR.aspxISHYPERLINK http://www.nis-nor.no/NOR.aspx.aspx [Accessed on 2 March 2010] PDMS (2008) Client: Isle of Man Register [online] http://www.pdms.com/clients/casestudies/marineadmin.xml [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Odeke, A. (1998) Bareboat charter (ship) registration, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp. 8-9 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2005) National treatment for foreign-controlled enterprises, OECD Publishing, p. 73 Paris MOU (2010) Black Grey White list [online]: http://www.parismou.org/upload/anrep/BGWlist2006-2008.pdf [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Paris MOU (2010) Basic Figures [online]: http://www.parismou.org/ParisMOU/Statistical+information/Basic+figures/xp/menu.4270/default.aspx [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Raikes, F. (2009) The Maritime Codes of Italy, BiblioBazaar, LLC, p. 115 Rayfuse, R. (2004) Non-flag state enforcement in high seas fisheries, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 22 Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research Methods for Business Students, 5th ed., Pearson Education, pp. 56-66 Ship Management (2010) Isle of Man to introduce annual fee in April [online] http://www.shipmanagementinternational.com/?p=1557 [Accessed on 2 March 2010] Sletmo G. and S. HosteÂÂ  (1993) Shipping and the competitive advantage of nations: the role of international

Friday, September 20, 2019

The relationship between board diversity and firm performance

The relationship between board diversity and firm performance The Research Questions In the course of their research on the Demographic Diversity in the Boardroom, Miller and Triana sought to answers the questions bothering on the relationship between board diversity and firm performance using mediating variables reputation and innovation and how board diversity impact firm performance using mediating variables of innovation and reputation. Theoretical Framework Underpinning the Study There are two theories underpinning the study and these are: the Behavioural Theory and the Signaling Theory (Miller and Triana 2009). The behavioural theory as proposed by Cyert and March (cited in Miller and Triana, 2009) suggests that there is a direct correlation between the availability and use of information in a decision-making process and innovation in a groups decision. In other words, the more the information available, the better the decision making process will be which leads to creativity. Arthurs, Busenitz, Hoskisson and Johnson (2008) view signaling as a way of bringing to notice the innate worth or value of a firm and that any signal must be noticeable and hard to emulate or replicate. The Signaling Theory posits that firms use visible signals to gain reputation and status among the public (Miller and Triana 2009: 756). Methodology In testing their hypotheses, Miller and Triana presented three sets of variables: independent variables, dependent variables and control variables. The independent variables which were board diversity, innovation and firm reputation were investigated using Blaus index (1977) of heterogeneity, Research and development expenses as proxies and 2004 Fortune Corporate Reputation Survey accordingly. The dependent variable; Firm Performance was measured using and Return on investment and Return on sales and finally, Control variables which as key components were vital to the research and they were firm age, liquidity, size, product and international diversification. The research explored the empirical link between these variables and four hundred and thirty two Fortune 500 firms which were selected in investigating innovation as mediating factor between board diversity and firm performance and also three hundred and twenty six Fortune 1000 firms which were selected to investigate reputation as mediating factor between board diversity and firm performance. The result from the test of the various hypotheses was then analysed using the Least Squares (OLS) Regression (pg 768). The methods of research were disputable and therefore open to further research due to two noticeable reasons. First, the inconsistency and ambiguity in the selected year of assessment. The research explored the empirical linkage of board diversity, reputation, innovation, and performance (pg 765) but did not specify a year or period of assessment for which they gathered their data. Example, sample of firms selected were for year 2003, measurement of board diversity was for year 2002, measurement of innovation using research and development expenses were for year 2003, measurement of reputation were for 2003 and finally firm performance is measured in 2005, lagged two years to allow time for mediating effects of reputation and innovation to occur (pg 767). The effect of this inconsistency is that it would be difficult to know the accuracy of result arrived at. Rather it would have been a lot of easier if the various data gathered were being assessed for a period of time e.g. data betw een years 2002 and 2005 to ensure uniformity in the assessment. Secondly the sample of Fortune 500 firms chosen were because these firms represent leaders in their industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.had external reports listing the race of board members as a way of validating data (pg 765) but no mention was made on a report of gender of board members. Result The answer to question bothering on the relationship between board diversity and firm performance using mediating variables reputation and innovation was striking as the authors were of the opinion that increasing diversity on the board leads to more varied ideas, perspectives and networks (Miller and Triana 2009:764). In other words, in a multitude of opinions as a result of diversity, cogent and innovative ideas usually emanate. This view is supported by Hillman, Cannella and Harris (2001) where they reasoned that each director is unique and different and when all their skills and proficiencies are put together, various ideas spring forth which could enhance firms performance. However, Adams and Ferreira (2008:305) argue that the more dissimilar directors are, the more they could disagree and the more conflict there could be on the board which could eventually impede firms performance. The result for the question on how board diversity impact firm performance using mediating variables: innovation and reputation proved arguable as the authors posits having a gender and racially diverse board signals that the firm is well positioned to meet the needs of a diverse market (Miller and Triana 2009: 762) but from the test of their hypotheses, it was discovered that there was no correlation between gender diversity and reputation (pg 775). This could have been as a result of the method of research which could have led to a biased opinion. Dalton and Dalton (2010) observed that there has been a lot of criticism and reservation due to the presence and achievement of women on Fortune 500 boards. This shows that generally the opinion that women can hold positions of top management is still not been accepted by multitudes. However, Krishnan and Park (2004) argued that the presence of women as leaders is usually appreciated in an environment that calls for a lot public relations and that they are able to break grounds in an otherwise impossible situation due the emotional side of their personality which results in them working with a lot of passion. Conclusion The research was interesting as it provided the first empirical analysis of the correlation between boardroom diversity and firm performance using innovation and reputation as mediators. However, the research involved the use of secondary data i.e. data collected by someone else and most likely be subject to sample limitations (Anonymous 2008). This could infer that data collected were collated originally for a different purpose and therefore be biased. Also the research highlights that diversity using mediating factors innovation and reputation has benefits as Cox and Blake (1991:45) reasoned that a well managed, diverse workforce (board) holds potential competitive advantages for organizations but for it to be fruitful and effective, it comes with a price and firms have to be able to look at their structures and be guided in their cultural needs; either gender or racial and be able to discern between what is needful or unnecessary as Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein (2008) argued that achieving productive diversity is not easy and that diversity if not managed properly usually leads to a high level of turnover. Therefore, based on all the information gathered and analysis carried out, would it be ideal to say that board diversity positively impacts firm performance?

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Free Essay: A Closer Reading of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown :: Young Goodman Brown YGB

A Closer Reading of Young Goodman Brown Last year, in my final year of high school, we were assigned to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown."Â   At the time, I didn't read the story too closely and I missed much of the symbolism. However, upon reading it this semester, I now appreciate it much more because it brings the reader through a roller coaster of emotions and forces him to think introspectively. When it starts off, I felt suspense; his wife's urging him not to go set off emergency flashers in my mind. I could feel in my bones that something bad was going to happen. Once he had begun his "journey," the setting of that journey was once again pretty creepy. "He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind" (376). I was fearful for Young Goodman Brown, and I was hoping that he would get to return to his wife, aptly named Faith. The fact that her name was Faith seemed symbolic to me. I made a mental note to analyze after I had finished reading, why Hawthorne had named her Faith. The surreal characteristics of the path and the forest he was in, only added to the suspense when he met his companion. Based on the description of this traveler, I came to the assumption that this was Young Goodman Brown in the future. I'm not really sure if that assumption is valid or not, but that was my initial response. I think it's interesting that my initial response is a supernatural one: a Back to the Future kind of response, where a person meets himself or herself in the future. This story gave me a creepy feeling, like a good horror story. The suspense of not knowing what was going to happen next, while all the while expecting something dramatic, quickened my heartbeat. Young Goodman Brown then meets his catechism teacher, which is symbolic of a person he assumed was very pious and automatically going to go to Heaven. It seemed to me that this story is all about hypocrisy, and how even the most pious-seeming people still have skeletons in their closet. This was later evidenced again when he finally got to the "altar" in the middle of the forest and he sees the spectacle. Free Essay: A Closer Reading of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown :: Young Goodman Brown YGB A Closer Reading of Young Goodman Brown Last year, in my final year of high school, we were assigned to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown."Â   At the time, I didn't read the story too closely and I missed much of the symbolism. However, upon reading it this semester, I now appreciate it much more because it brings the reader through a roller coaster of emotions and forces him to think introspectively. When it starts off, I felt suspense; his wife's urging him not to go set off emergency flashers in my mind. I could feel in my bones that something bad was going to happen. Once he had begun his "journey," the setting of that journey was once again pretty creepy. "He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind" (376). I was fearful for Young Goodman Brown, and I was hoping that he would get to return to his wife, aptly named Faith. The fact that her name was Faith seemed symbolic to me. I made a mental note to analyze after I had finished reading, why Hawthorne had named her Faith. The surreal characteristics of the path and the forest he was in, only added to the suspense when he met his companion. Based on the description of this traveler, I came to the assumption that this was Young Goodman Brown in the future. I'm not really sure if that assumption is valid or not, but that was my initial response. I think it's interesting that my initial response is a supernatural one: a Back to the Future kind of response, where a person meets himself or herself in the future. This story gave me a creepy feeling, like a good horror story. The suspense of not knowing what was going to happen next, while all the while expecting something dramatic, quickened my heartbeat. Young Goodman Brown then meets his catechism teacher, which is symbolic of a person he assumed was very pious and automatically going to go to Heaven. It seemed to me that this story is all about hypocrisy, and how even the most pious-seeming people still have skeletons in their closet. This was later evidenced again when he finally got to the "altar" in the middle of the forest and he sees the spectacle.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Malcolm X :: essays research papers

Malcolm X was one of the most influential black American leaders of the 1950's and 1960's. At first he was a criminal but then changed himself into an important defender of the rights of blacks. Growing up as a boy his father was a follower of Marcus Garvey, a black leader who worked to create close political and economic ties to Africa. In 1931, Malcolm's father died after being run over by a car. Malcolm believed white racists took his fathers life. When Malcolm was 12 years old, his mother was admitted to a mental hospital. After these two incidents, Malcolm spent the rest of his childhood in foster homes. In 1941, Malcolm moved to Boston where he became involved in criminal activities. In 1946, he was arrested for burglary and sent to prison. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, also called the Black Muslims. Malcolm was then taught that that white people were devils. After Malcolm got out of prison, he changed his last name to "X". The letter stood for the unknown African name of Malcolm's slave ancestors. Malcolm X quickly became the Nation of Islam's most effective minister. A great speaker, Malcolm urged blacks to live separately from whites and to win their freedom "by any means necessary." But he became dissatisfied with the Nation of Islam, in part because the group avoided political activity. In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam. Soon afterward, he traveled to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He met Muslims of many ethnic backgrounds and rejected the view that all white people are devils. Malcolm X adopted the Muslim name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbazz. After returning to the United States, he formed his own group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Malcolm X rejected nonviolence as a principle, but he sought cooperation with Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists who favored militant nonviolent protests. But by this time, some Black Muslims had condemned Malcolm X as a hypocrite because of his criticisms of the group's leader, Elijah Muhammad. On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot while giving a speech in New York City. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of the crime. The story of Malcolm X ties into Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Guitar and Milkman are together and Milkman’s asks Guitar why he is so secretive. Malcolm X :: essays research papers Malcolm X was one of the most influential black American leaders of the 1950's and 1960's. At first he was a criminal but then changed himself into an important defender of the rights of blacks. Growing up as a boy his father was a follower of Marcus Garvey, a black leader who worked to create close political and economic ties to Africa. In 1931, Malcolm's father died after being run over by a car. Malcolm believed white racists took his fathers life. When Malcolm was 12 years old, his mother was admitted to a mental hospital. After these two incidents, Malcolm spent the rest of his childhood in foster homes. In 1941, Malcolm moved to Boston where he became involved in criminal activities. In 1946, he was arrested for burglary and sent to prison. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, also called the Black Muslims. Malcolm was then taught that that white people were devils. After Malcolm got out of prison, he changed his last name to "X". The letter stood for the unknown African name of Malcolm's slave ancestors. Malcolm X quickly became the Nation of Islam's most effective minister. A great speaker, Malcolm urged blacks to live separately from whites and to win their freedom "by any means necessary." But he became dissatisfied with the Nation of Islam, in part because the group avoided political activity. In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam. Soon afterward, he traveled to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He met Muslims of many ethnic backgrounds and rejected the view that all white people are devils. Malcolm X adopted the Muslim name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbazz. After returning to the United States, he formed his own group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Malcolm X rejected nonviolence as a principle, but he sought cooperation with Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists who favored militant nonviolent protests. But by this time, some Black Muslims had condemned Malcolm X as a hypocrite because of his criticisms of the group's leader, Elijah Muhammad. On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot while giving a speech in New York City. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of the crime. The story of Malcolm X ties into Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Guitar and Milkman are together and Milkman’s asks Guitar why he is so secretive.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Position Paper of Morocco to Frozen Conflicts in the Region

Nowadays, there are hundreds of conflicts which are in a frozen state all around the world. Most of these conflicts based on ethnic separatism which greatly complicates the task of solving them, headed by the whole nationality. The former Soviet Union alone has 4 frozen conflicts. Some political analysts believe, that the armed conflicts in the region of the Black Sea and South Caucasus emerged due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, as well as not fully thought out the division of the lands between the new states.As evidenced of it the presence there is not one or just two conflicts in the former Soviet Union, but as many as 4. The modern world's attention is focused on the open conflicts and military showdowns, but we should not forget about the frozen conflicts, which are fraught with the danger of instantly break the â€Å"frozen† state and move into a phase blitzkrieg side. Frozen conflicts of the Black Sea and South Caucasus affect countries such as South Ossetia, North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Georgia.Another centre of the conflict is a clash of interests of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is geographically located in Azerbaijan, but the majority of its population are Armenians. But we shouldn`t talk about the lack of attention of the world community and political institutions to the frozen conflicts in these regions. Since one of the main functions of the UN Security Council is the maintenance and preservation of the peace, of course the UN has made and is making peacekeeping measures in the past.UN adopted 4 resolutions to stop illegal occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan: April 30, 1993 Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 822, which requires â€Å"an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Kelbajar district and other recently occupied areas of Azerbaijan. † July 29, 1993 – Adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 853, â€Å"which requires the immediate, complete and unconditiona l withdrawal of the occupying forces from the district of Agdam and all other recently occupied areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan. October 14, 1993 – UN Security Council passed Resolution 874, calling on the parties â€Å"to refrain from any hostile acts and from any interference or intervention which would lead to escalation of the conflict and undermine peace and security in the region. † November 11, 1993 – UN Security Council adopted Resolution 884, which requires â€Å"an immediate cessation of hostilities and hostile acts, unilateral withdrawal of occupying forces from the Zangelan district and the city Horadiz and withdrawal of occupying forces from other recently occupied areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan. June 12, 1995 the EU Council adopted a project of â€Å"common position† on the Caucasus. In this document, among other things, noted that the Union should help Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan to overcome the difficult period of transition to democracy, based on a market economy. Thus, we have no rights to say that the European Union and the world community did not take part in the settlement of the conflicts peacefully.However, putting on hold military action, but without reaching consensus in resolving disputes or frozen conflicts, not only inhibits geopolitical development of the participating countries, but also serves as a prerequisite for the destabilization of the entire system of international relations. Our country is not an exception and we also have a hidden conflict over Western Sahara, which, due to its geographical position traditionally is a disputed territory, the possession of which at one time claimed Spain and France.Our country is embroiled in armed conflict in 1957 – 58 with Spain, the rise of nationalism also contributed to the tense situation in the region among the people of Western Sahara, and consequently, the formation of the Popular Front (POLISARIO) in May 1973, which launched an ar med struggle against the Spaniards. As a result, in 1975, were entered into the Madrid Agreement and the Western Sahara territory was divided between our country and Mauritania. But POLISARIO immediately declared the independence of the Arab Democratic Republic and supported by Algeria began fighting against our country and Mauritania.However, the neighbouring countries have given up their rights to part of the territory of Western Sahara, allowing us as a more economically and militarily powerful country to continue to fight for the right to possess the territory. Interest in the territory of Western Sahara is due not only to national-ethnic factor, but also a lot of subsoil resources are located in the area. On September 6, 1991, UN a truce was arranged, but so far the conflict finally settled as a referendum on independence has not been conducted.Search for solution to the frozen conflict is of interest to our country in view of the growing possibility of a conflict with Spain, w hose city enclaves in the territory of our country. But the number of the Moroccan population in these cities is gradually increasing over the Spanish. This situation can be a starting point for separatist thoughts. So we need to develop a general model without resolving the frozen conflicts on the basis of precedent, at least learn how to prevent and deal with them at the local, sub-national level.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Career development as a chef Essay

Professional development is the acquisition of knowledge and skills for career advancement. It enables an individual to acquire personal development which is essential for better job performance. It will entail utilizing various learning opportunities which ranges from acquiring a college degree and other formal coursework relevant for doing exemplary good in the hotel and tourism industry. There are many approaches undertaken in enhancing career development. They include lesson study, mentoring and getting advises from members of staff who have worked and are experienced in the industry. One may also get career development through active consultation, coaching, and undertaking lesson study from a learning institution. Technical skills will be developed through technical assistance and reflective supervision. In his book on leadership skills in the tourism and service industry Rogers (2008) asserts that hotel and tourism just like other careers should engage in professional development. Individuals working in these industries should participate in professional development to serve their interest in the lifelong learning. This will show a high sense of moral obligation that brings along professional competence among the employees and other members of staff in tourism and hotel industry. Career and professional development will enable institutional members in enhancing career progression, to comply with the existing and changing regulations and to keep the organization updated with the new technology and practices that is necessary for the long-term survival of the organization. Career development will possibly include informal and formal types of vocational education and training. This is in the form of post secondary and poly-technical training which leads to academic qualification or credential that are required to get or retain an employment in case the person being trained had secured an employment in an organization. Technical and professional development may be obtained in the form of pre-service or in the in-service professional development programs. These kinds of programs are usually formal, informal; they may be conducted at a group level or individualized to suit a person professional requirement of the skills needed in his job. This means that in an organization an individual may pursue professional development independently or the human resource department may undertake the task of developing skills of individuals in the company. When professional development is done on the job by the human resource department it will enhance leadership skills which are necessary for undertaking the role of decision making in the organization. For an individual to have proper leadership abilities it means that he has to acquire high analytical and conceptual skills, this is only possible through academic training (Rogers 2008) Working as a chef needs one to be highly skilled and being adept in all facets of food preparation. The role of a chef means that the person carries the responsibility of all kitchen activity. This kind of work includes plating design, making orders and purchases of inventory to be used in food preparation and other relevant kitchen work, management of kitchen staff and preparation of menu. It is this menu that gives customers illustrations on food prices and how to budget their cash and spending in a hotel. Therefore, the tasks and personal decisions undertaken by a chef has a direct impact to the customers hence he is of great value to the organization. When one is appointed as a head chef he is given a task of making larger executive decisions which include giving the direction of menu and having final authority in the staff management decisions. This position is usually present in places where there are multiple restaurants. For a person to succeed in the hotel industry as a chef he has to possess notable skills. These skills must be learnt either formally or informally to enhance career development. For instance a great chef must be creative and should always be trying something new in the market and in the industry. His creativity should inspire food presentation which is a very great aspect to the overall dining experience. He should have a tremendous passion for beverages, food and cooking. He should enjoy the process of selecting foods, creating menus and preparing meal for his customers. In addition to the above qualities he should have a keen business sense and should run the kitchen in a way to produce food which is of high quality but at cost effective means as well as enabling efficiency in the process of food production. In his book Florian D, (1992) a chef should pay close attention to cooking and food service detail. This is because cooking is a science and hence each ingredient used in the process has a certain role that a chef should be continually aware of. He should understand his role in food preparation team, therefore engaging in active teamwork to ensure that organizational goals are achieved. He should work harmoniously to ensure that the company produces quality foods. In ensuring proper service delivery, a chef should work well with members of staff and management. He should practice his skills a lot as preparing food requires a high level of expertise. Therefore, a chef should never stop perfecting his or her cooking techniques. Career development as a chef will improve a person’s ability to multitask and handling perfectly many tasks at once. One should be responsible for all elements relating to a meal and ensuring that everything is completed at the right time. He should also avoid customer delay making sure they are served at the right time. It is this proper customer service that guarantees a company survival and increases the level of its competitiveness in the extensive industry. A successful chef should always be committed to preparing a high quality meal for his customers. He should do so by seeking the right and the finest ingredients and use the best proven techniques in delivering the best product at cost effective method. Professional development will increase the chef ability to think and make timely decisions when his company meets a challenge. Food preparation industry needs proper timing and hence a chef should possess proper analytical and conceptual skills that increase his ability to make decisions and solve problems immediately they arise. A firm that is able to make decision quickly and on a timely basis will be able to keep customers satisfied and operations will be able to flow smoothly Carnoll (2010). A great chef should be able to handle criticism from customers and hence ensuring proper customer relationship between the company and its esteemed customers who constitute his market; this will have a long term benefit when the company market share increases. Not everyone will like what a chef prepares therefore a great chef should take criticisms positively. In outsourcing for the right employees in a tourism and hotel industries most companies will put into consideration the possible qualities of an individual. They will probably analyze his strengths and weaknesses then from the analysis the key skills will be identified. If the strengths exceed the weaknesses with a considerable margin then this person will be hired to work in the organization. Companies will undertake an accurate review of the possible qualities of an individual based on personal attributes such as personality, values and motivations. A person’s behavior in the organization will also be greatly influenced by his emotional intelligence, his leadership skills, charismatic power, and ability to influence other members of staff in pursuing organizational goals and objectives. Personality can be defined as the inherent individual behavior that a person falls back to when all other forces of the outside world are accounted for or when under pressure from the external forces. It is the organized developed system within an individual that represents the collective action of a person’s psychological subsystems which go hand in hand to describe an individual personal trait. In his book personality psychology Cervone and Pervin (2014) he describes personality as a five factor model. This model describes and provides a great overview of personality and how it should relate with the work environment. A person with a positive personality is described as having ability to bring success to the company out of his individual behavior. He is portrayed with great respect among other members of staff and he is capable of ensuring success to the organization when customers flock the company out of his good reputation. A chef should therefore be of good personality t o achieve the hotel and tourism objectives. For an individual to improve his personality attributes he should possess the following qualities. He should be open to experience and learn new and emerging issues necessary for improving his skills and expertise. Openness to experience means that an individual is highly interested and flexible in experiencing new things. Work environment is highly dynamic and hence members of staff should adopt this kind of personality so that positive changes being desired by the organization are quickly integrated. A chef who aims at maximizing his service in the industry should not be rigid to changes as this can easily make the company to lag behind when customers view the services as being old fashioned and out of date. Most of the individuals are more close minded and rigid to organization changes and in how they approach new experiences; therefore, it is the work of management to ensure that this kind of rigidity is discouraged amongst its workers through behavior changes and sometimes motiv ation speeches. Conscientiousness is another personality attribute a person should possess in order to become successful in his career. A person who is high in conscientiousness will tend to be diligent and dutiful according to the way he approaches his work and life matters. Therefore for one to become a great chef and ensure success in the hotel industry a person should be able to possess this kind of personality. The individual will be able to plan his work early in advance and work towards achieving the set individual and organizational objectives. Diligence calls for individual discipline in how a person plans his work and the way he undertakes tasks to accomplish a certain goal. Florian. D (1992) for a chef to be successful in his career he should possess a personality trait of extraversion. This is a highly recognizable personality trait as it can easily be felt and seen by those who have a close interaction with the chef. A chef should be able to interact with other members of staff in the kitchen department so as to ensure that the right food is prepared and served. He should contribute his ideas and views on proper methods of food preparation. With this kind of an approach they will be able to work together to achieve the organization goal and hence adding value to the company. Value addition is seen when the hotel revenues increases and the profits retained are re invested in the company; this is only possible when chefs just as other members of staff work towards achieving organizational goals. A person with an introversion personality trait is unable to interact with co workers and hence making it difficult for the company to achieve both its short te rm and long term goals. An introvert will tend to draw energy from reflection and will prefer working on his own or in small groups. For a chef who wants to succeed in his career introversion will automatically lead to failure as this kind of an occupation calls for teamwork. A successful chef should possess a high level of agreeableness. This personality trait aims at ensuring the level of friendliness and hostility that an individual member display when interacting with others. A person considered to have high level of agreeableness is perceived to be more trustworthy and those with a lower level of agreeableness are perceived as more oppositional and more suspicious. Therefore, a chef should possess a personality trait in agreeableness. This will make it easy to work in a group and in a team since he can easily be trusted hence making teamwork easy. It is as result that decision making process will be fastened making service delivery easy and more timely. A company with proper service delivery will be rated as a successful company hence succeeding in its bid to attract more customers and markets. A chef should also possess a low personality trait of neuroticism. This means that he is able to control his emotion. A person who is highly neurotic will tend to be less stable. He get angry quickly thus demonstrating negative emotions which are not desirable for an organization environment. A person who shows emotional stability is regarded as being pleasant and resistant to stress. A chef who possesses such positive traits will not get angered quickly if criticized in his tasks. He will be able to rectify errors, omission and mistakes committed in his work. By doing this an organization is guaranteed of success since high quality services can easily be offered. The members of staff will be able to learn their mistakes and rectify them for the advantage of the company. To ensure proper service delivery a chef should understand the personality traits of individual co workers as this is very critical to the success of the organization. Personality is a key driver of individual behavior. Therefore, it calls for the members of staff and the overall company to consider this critical aspect that is very important in the success of any organization. An individual personality trait should be modeled to suit organizational needs to ensure long term success of the company. Jackson (2002) an individual values and motivators will have a big impact on his performance in the company and in the overall hotel and tourism industry. A person attitude is his or her prospective in performing a certain task. Simply it aims at answering what is the motivating factor behind a person in pursuit of the organization goals? A strong attitude of achievement brings a positive effect and success to the organization unlike a weak attitude which discourages goal attainment. Pervin (2014) a person’s attitude has a close impact on the personality of an individual although it varies from one person to another. For a chef to remain outstanding in performance he should therefore posses a strong attitude and a great determination for success in relation to his work place or in the company he is working for. It is by possessing this trait that he will be able to generate good outcome. According to Mc Cleland D.C (1951) an employee who would like to succeed in his position in a tourism and hotel industry should possess general creativity ability. This means that person is able to use his analytical and conceptual skills in making fast and efficient decisions necessary to solve a problem as early as it occurs and with the immediate effect it so desires. A chef will require creativity in drawing fast hand solutions for the challenges his organization is faced to. He should be able to influence people positively. This includes both members of staff and customers. It is by doing this that the company is able to retain its existing customers and attracting other customers in a bid to enlarging the companies’ available market. He should be able to make decisions faster coupled with advice from other members of the organization. Quick decision making is necessary for ensuring positive service delivery in the hotel industry. In his book on hotel management Rogers (2007) pointed out that a chef should be highly equipped with relevant knowledge pertaining to the tasks under him or he is obligated to do. He should restrain from undertaking technical duties which he is not relevant with. He should ensure moral fulfillment amongst his co workers and partners in the industry that he works in. Moral fulfillment is directly related to motivation. Therefore members of staff who are highly motivated will work hard in ensuring that organization objectives are met and ensure that they are achieved on a timely basis. A chef should maintain a high level of intellectual status and ability to think and making wise decisions when required to do so. Everything a chef sets to do should ensure motivation to his co workers hence making them to invest more efforts in attaining the organizational goals. A successful chef should portray positive emotional intelligence and hence ability to control his emotions regarding his job and service delivery. Emotional intelligence is that individual ability to control, perceive and evaluate emotions when they arise .According to Robbins et al (2008) emotions and moods are dominant factors which employees’ experiences. Emotions are described as intense feelings directed at someone while moods just as emotions are feelings which are not so intense still directed to someone. Having positive emotion and mood means that the chef will work efficiently with others, and will not be quick anger or over-react in the event of provocation. To prevent negative moods and emotions a chef should avoid being stressed, prevent social activities that affect his individual behavior negatively. He should exercise a lot during his free time to reduce the level of accumulated stress during the day time when at work. According to McGrogan (2007) a personâ€⠄¢s level of productivity should be great during the daytime since it is at this time that he will be able to focus and concentrate. This is unlike during the night when many people are exhausted hence a chef should display this character. Florian (1992) asserts that a great chef should possess proper leadership skills in ensuring that the process of service delivery is accurately undertaken. He should be able to control and govern his subordinates and guide them towards the process of attaining the objectives and the goals of the organization. Acting as a chief chef he has a role of guiding the assistant chefs in service delivery. He should have charisma and should have a proper vision and risk taking qualities that are necessary in ensuring investments in the tourism and hotel industry he works for. A successful chef may be required to work in a leadership position. At this level he has the responsibility to represent the subordinates in decision making process. He needs to be a visionary leader who thinks about the future and dealing with tough issues that directly affect the organizations activities. To have the following attributes and leadership skills a chef should be of high integrity with ability to be trusted Carnoll (2010). He should show a high level of competence in the tasks he undertakes similarly to the tasks he delegates among the subordinates. He should be loyal, consistent and open to the executives above him in the organization hierarchy. It is this commitment in work that ensures overall success of the company’s activities. He should be able to act as liaison, conflict manager, and ability to train and develop skills as well as trouble shooting any event that may befall a company. A successful chef, Rogers (2007) argued that he should possess exemplary ability to influence other positively making them to work as he desires and for the advantage of the company he is working for. He should display personal power in his task of service delivery as this relates to being unique in how he serves his market and customers. Expert and referent factors are also important in his work since he should show his expertise as a chef and how he can use that skill to achieve the long term goal of bringing success to the company he should try to eliminate work politics as this will lead to increased stress, reducing performance in service delivery and job dissatisfaction. All this brings poor performance to the tourism industry in its pursuit to achieve better productivity and revenue generation. Conclusion For a chef to ensure success in his work of service delivery in the hotel industry he should try hard to eradicate organizational politics to increase productivity of the organization objectives. Organizational politics have been observed to bring enemity among workmates. This is very dangerous as it limits teamwork, which is very necessary in attaining organizational goals. References Carroll, C. M. (2010). Tasting success: Your guide to becoming a professional chef. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2014). Personality psychology. Singapore: Wiley. Grogan-Kaylor, A., Ruffolo, M. C., Ortega, R. M., & Clarke, J. (January 01, 2008). Behaviors of the individuals in an organization setting.Individual behavior, 32, 1, 35-49.Jackson, B. (2002). Organization behaviour. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Golden Books Centre. McClelland, D. C. (1951). Personality. New York: Sloane. Robbins, S. P. (2000). Organizational Behaviour. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall. Robbins, S. P., Campbell, T. T., & Judge, T. A. (2010). Organizational behaviour. Harlow [u.a.: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Rogers, C. (2008). Leadership skills in the tourism and service industry. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Florian, D. (1992). A chef. New York: Greenwillow Books. Source document