Dreamliner: Time, Budget and Project Performance Analysis Essay

1 Introduction. 1.1 In developing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing executive management’s initial decisions and project management strategies did not control the four major measurements of project success: time, budget, performance and client acceptance (Pinto, 2013, pp. 35,36). This report analyses the methodology and project management decisions that led to a project crisis and risk to Boeing’s reputation. 2 Boeing history. 2.1 Boeing Aircraft Corporation, with a heritage of aircraft design, manufacture and assembly, dates back to July 1916 (Boeing, 2004). Recent aircraft including 737, 747, 767, and 777 are all designed, assembled and supported by Boeing (Boeing, 2014). 2.2 Boeing commercial aircraft division is a successful aircraft manufacturing company with a proud history of in-house design and manufacture (Boeing, 2014). 3 New aircraft requirement. 3.1 Competition from Airbus, with its increase in market share through the 1990’s to market share leader in 2003 (Hoiness, 2006), led Boeing to decide that a mid-sized, long range aircraft was required for current and emerging markets. Boeing committed to a new aircraft line, the 787 ‘Dreamliner’ (Hoiness, 2006). A significant technology advance to carbon fibre composite fuselage and wing construction with advanced engine technology would aim to reduce fuel burn by 20%, and would provide a better operational experience for airlines and their customers (Boeing Aircraft Corporation, 2014). 4 Outsourcing and Cost overruns. 4.1 Boeing outsourced approximately 70% of development and production to  other companies in an attempt to reduce development time and costs (Denning, 2013). 4.2 Early project management decisions to move away from the Boeing model of in-house design and manufacture (Boeing, 2014), to a model of out-sourcing large subassemblies and component sections to around fifty Tier 1 partners (Boeing Company, 2013), would prove disastrous in estimating development costs (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013). Boeing’s reliance on Tier 1 companies to complete assembly integration, control Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers and solve problems in design aspects, led to cost and schedule overruns (Denning, 2013). 4.3 Initial budget estimates from Boeing set the 787 costs at about $5 billion (USD). Ostrower stated â€Å"Barclays Capital conservatively estimates the program ended up costing around $14 billion (USD), not including the penalties Boeing has had to pay customers for late deliveries† (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013) and aircraft cancellations (Bloomburg News, 2012). 4.4 The financial evidence suggests that Boeing and the 787 project management team did not fully understand the complexities of out-sourcing (Goatham, 2014). In a January 2011 speech at Seattle University, Albaugh is quoted as having said †We spent a lot more money in trying to recover than we ever would have spent if we’d tried to keep the key technologies closer to home† (Calleam Consulting Ltd, 2013). 5 Project Leadership 5.1 The Boeing Leadership project team did not understand the complexity of the Tier structure (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009). In adopting the Tier assembly approach the leadership team should have used logistics and supply chain management specialists (Denning, 2013). 5.2 Implementation of management strategies to cope with component suppliers is paramount. In a Boeing publication Hart-Smith recognised the risks in out-sourcing and assembly without sufficient design control. He stated that â€Å"in order to minimize potential problems, it is necessary for the Prime contractor to provide on-site, quality management, supplier-management, and sometimes technical support† (Hart-Smith, 2001). 5.3 The project leadership team failed to ensure each supplier received adequate design information to implement its part of the project (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009). This demonstrated they did not provide effective leadership nor sufficient communication (Pinto, 2013, p. 133). 6 Design control 6.1 Without fully understanding the complexities or difficulties in introducing a new design, and without a developed set of requirements and detailed design control, project difficulties and delays are inevitable (Denning, 2013). Other companies, for example the Toyota Motor Company, use out-sourcing successfully to trusted companies with a high degree of product design control as a method to reduce costs in production (Denning, 2013). 6.2 The Boeing model adopted was to spread the design and development to suppliers on a global scale with costs met by suppliers (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013). A strategy such as this should have been tightly controlled from the outset. Without this control, difficulties in assembly and ill-fitting parts requiring redesign added to the delays experienced by the project (Denning, 2013), with hundreds of Boeing engineers sent to various companies to solve technical problems (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009). 7 Communication and Cultural Risk. 7.1 Boeing management opted to control Tier 1 and Tier 2 integrators and their suppliers using a computer web based system, ‘Exostar’ (Denning, 2013). This system intended to provide supply chain and logistics visibility and ‘real time’ monitoring to control process, development, time and cost. Due to cultural differences and trust issues with this system, accurate and timely information was not entered by integrators and suppliers (Denning, 2013). 7.2 A Failure to understand the cultural differences with international companies and suppliers, by both integrators and Boeing management, provides evidence that the project did not adequately consider organizational culture or fully understand its effects (Pinto, 2013, p. 79). 7.3 If Boeing had relied on their own ‘tribal’ knowledge culture, rather than outsourcing to other organizations, the cultural and communication risks would have been reduced (Reuters, 2011). 8 Stakeholder management. 8.1 Knowledge of stakeholder capability, strengths, and behaviours should be part of successful project management (Pinto, 2013, p. 58). Boeing’s leadership failed to appreciate that Tier 1 integrators did not have the  capability to control the supplier nor the supply chain (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009). 9 Conclusion. 9.1 Boeing’s decision to outsource the design and manufacture of the Dreamliner, along with the introduction of new technology, led to lengthy project delays and additional expenses (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013). Poor communication from the Boeing leadership team, along with cultural misunderstandings, led some key suppliers to mistrust the control systems. Cost overruns, schedule delays and supply chain issues all led to this project failing to meet established goals within estimated parameters of cost, schedule, and quality (Pinto, 2013). 9.2 Modified management strategies were implemented to correct design flaws, provide technical and quality systems support at vast cost (Denning, 2013). These actions have contributed to a project turnaround with increased orders (Boeing, 2014). Bibliography Bloomburg News. (2012, 08 23). Daily Herald Bussiness. Retrieved 03 16, 2014, from dailyherald.com: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120823/business/708239912 Boeing. (2004). The Boeing Log Book 1881-1919. Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from History: http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/chronology/chron01.page Boeing. (2014). Boeing Commercial Planes. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/products.page Boeing Aircraft Corporation. (2014). Boeing 787 Dreamliner Provides New Sollutions for Airlines, Passangers. Retrieved 03 15, 2014, from Boeing: http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/787family/background.page Boeing Company. (2013). 787 Who’s Building the 787 Dreamliner. Retrieved 03 16, 2014, from New Airplane: http://www.newairplane.com/787/whos_building/ Calleam Consulting Ltd. (2013, 02 3). Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes. Retrieved 03 22, 2014, from Why Projects Fail: http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=4617 Denning, S. (2013). What Went Wrong At Boeing? R etrieved March 8, 2014, from Emerald insight: http://www.emeraldinsight.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/journals.htm?articleid=17086954 Goatham, R. (2014). Why Projects Fail – Boeing Commercial

Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning

How does Porters Five Forces Model assist an organisation in their strategic planning? Before understanding â€Å"how† we must know â€Å"what† Porters Five Forces model really is (Michael E. Porter, 2008). Company strive to secure a competitive advantage over their rivals, I mean who doesn’t want to be the best? Although the intensity of rivalry varies within each industry and these differences can be important in the development of strategy, but rather the five forces (Porter, 2008) being a strategy of any sort, it acts a framework in securing a strategy.The only time where strategy is irrelevant, would be when you have no competitors where ultimately the environment is a monopoly, or when you have a ton of money to throw around and waste. But having said that, it is not likely at all. Without framework, strategy will inevitably collapse, as they both come hand in hand. Thus a chain arises as the five forces (Porter, 2008) acts as a framework in assisting an or ganisation in their strategic planning, where strategic planning leads to a competitive advantage over their competitors which then leads to ultimate success of the company.Before proceeding to the question at hand on how Porters Five Forces can assist an organisation in their strategic planning, first we have to know two things, what are the Five Forces that Porter (2008) proposed, and ultimately what strategy really means? To ease this journey, let’s start with the Five Forces (Porter, 2008).Before any company enters a certain market, one must first analyse the competitive nature of the market, and this is exactly what the Five Forces (2008) aids to do, to provide a framework to determine the intensity of competition within an industry where three of the five competitive forces comes from an external sources, and the remainder coming from an internal sources. These external sources includes: Threat of potential entrants, threat of potential substitutes and rivalry of existi ng firms in the industry.Now these sources are external due to the fact that it is simply impossible to temper with. But what we can control, are the two internal sources: the bargaining power of suppliers, and the bargaining power of buyers. Being aware of the five forces can aid firms into identifying existence and the importance of each of the five forces, as well as the roles that each force plays into the success of the firms. The threat of potential entrants: Although it is possible for any company to enter and exit a market of their choice, each market has their own unique barriers to go in and out of.Therefore the essence of this force deals with the level of difficulty that a company can enter into an industry which will ultimately impact competition within the industry. Whenever a new company enters an industry, the competitive climate changes; it provides more alternatives to consumers, therefore reducing its attractiveness and the competition within the industry increase s as each company is trying to come out on top. As each industry have their own unique characteristics it allows them to build a barrier from other industries protecting them from profitability while restraining additional rivals from entering the market.These restraints and characteristics that industries create are referred to as barriers of entry. Barriers of entry are a characteristic acquired uniquely to each industry. It attempts to reduce the rate of entry of new companies which maintains the level of profitability for all current industry competitors, where if new companies enters the industry, the profit is shared amongst the original and the newly developed companies in the industry, ultimately decreasing overall profits of each company, which isn’t ideal.Conversely when profitability of an industry is high, companies will attempt to come into the industry to get a piece of the action, which then will eventually result in reducing profits due to the fact that it is divided up into more quarters. Where there’s an entry, there’s an exit, barriers to exit limits the ability of a firm to leave the market, meanwhile rivalries can worsen. So when barriers for entry and exits are high, it means that companies have a higher potential to make more profit and the opposite occurs when barriers are low.The threat of substitutes: where it refers to substitute product as those that are available in other industry which can also fulfil the need and want of the consumers. It can affect competition in an industry by placing an invisible ceiling on prices which companies within the industry can charge, due to the fact that if the cost of substitute is low then the consumers will tend to purchase substitutes, therefore limiting the prices that a company can place on certain items to gain maximum profit. For example, lemonade can be substituted for a soft drink.Generally, competitive pressures arising from substitute products increase as the relativ e price of substitute products declines and as consumer's switching costs decrease. The bargaining power of buyers is affected by the concentration and number of consumers, when buyer power is strong, they gain the power to choose between producers and ultimately equip themselves with bargaining power which then the producers will have to conform to in order to produce profit, under these conditions the buyer has the most influence in determining the price of products.Also when buyers have strong bargaining power in the exchange relationship, competition can be affected in several ways. Powerful buyers can bargain for lower prices, better product distribution, higher-quality products, as well as other factors that can create greater competition among companies. To minimise the power of buyers, companies can develop offers in which strong buyers cannot refuse, also, companies can choose to select buyers with less bargaining power.Similarly, the bargaining power of suppliers affects t he intensity of competition in an industry, for a production industry that produces goods, raw materials are needed which creates a buyer and supplier relationship between the industry and companies which produces the raw materials. Suppliers may be able to determine prices especially when there are a large number of suppliers, limited substitute raw materials, or increased switching costs. The bargaining power of suppliers is important to industry competition because suppliers can also affect the quality of exchange relationships.Competition may become more intense as powerful suppliers raise prices, reduce services, or reduce the quality of goods or services. In order to minimise the power of suppliers, industry tend to build win-win relationships with suppliers where both parties benefits from it or arrange to use multiple suppliers so if one supplier chooses to increase their prices, the company doesn’t get affected as much. Competition is also affected by the rivalry amo ng existing firms, which is usually considered as the most powerful of the five competitive forces.In most industries, business organizations are mutually dependent, industries that are concentrated versus fragmented; often display the highest level of rivalry. A competitive move by one company in pursuing an advantage over its rivals can be expected to have a noticeable effect on its competitors, and thus, may cause retaliation of other companies, for example, lowering prices, enhancing quality, adding features, providing services, extending warranties, and increasing advertising, placing themselves in a competitive advantage over the competitors.The nature of competition is often affected by a variety of factors, such as the size and number of competitors, demand changes for the industry's products, the specificity of assets within the industry, the presence of strong exit barriers, and the variety of competitors. These conditions will lead to a more challenging industry where com panies compete in, leading to price wars, advertising battles, and the addition of new products. So after going through the five forces, let’s take a look at what strategic planning really means.If we are going to have a good strategy, we must separate strategy from goals and objectives and other issues that managers often think about. Now most management practitioners make the mistake in defining strategy, a strategy is what unique position that we will be able to achieve, what our advantage is going to be at the end of the day as we take these steps accumulatively over time, how we’re going to be unique? How we’re going to have an advantage? How we’re going to sustain the advantage over time? Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). The steps we take aren’t a strategy, but somehow numerous companies make the mistake of fixating themselves on a particular action that an organisation want to approach, which then inevitably becomes their strategy but that usually leads to the downfall of the company simply because they do not know why they’re doing it and when they should stop doing it. As we all know, every industry is different, therefore, there is no universal strategy that can apply to any business.But before proceeding, a company must understand their position and the industry that they are in and their circumstances in order to find a way of obtaining a competitive advantage over the competitors, where indefinitely delivering a unique value to the consumers which rivals cannot. As the five forces (Porter, 2001) suggests that being at a competitive advantage is the idealistic way of being on top, due to the fact that every industry has their own set of economics, the five forces (Porter, 2001) without a doubt acts as a framework to extract any necessary information needed to develop strategy to gain competitive advantage.The Five forces (Porter, 2001) help you home in on what is really causing prof itability, or in fact what is causing the trends of the significance and change of the industry. This powerful framework can prevent an organisation from getting tricked or trapped into the latest trends like the technological sensation, and really allowing organisations to focus solely on the underlying fundamentals. This can be applied to any industry whether if its production or a service, high tech or low tech, emerging or developed industries (Porter, 2001).With the framework at hand, it acts as a guide or even a tick off criteria sheet into strategic planning, how should we begin? The strategy formulating process will be pretty straight forward from here after deeply understanding the five forces which Porter (2001) proposed. The first step should be the analysis of the industry that a company is trying to get into, looking at the environment to tick off all of the 5 boxes one by one, evaluating what the industry looks like, how it’s been changing over time, and what ar e the drivers of competition (Schermerhorn et al, 2011).After a careful analyse the company is then required to under the dynamics as to where the industry is going, how the buyers and substitute’s entry level are evolving, and lastly how to position the company to gain a good profit. These are all extracted from the framework proposed by Porter (2001), although competition is sometimes looked at too narrowly, with careful analysis of the five forces (Porter, 2001) will ultimately position the company in a competitive advantage.Where a competitive advantage allows an organisation to deal with the market and environmental forces much better than its competitors (Ramon, 2012), to achieve this goal, the company needs to be at its best and better than the competitors who are trying to achieve the same goal in the same industry. Rather than a goal, competitive advantage is a position that a company wants to be in, a goal is to make the competitive advantage sustainable in spite of all the mockery of rivals, although achieving and sustaining it is a challenging task, but it will set concrete roots for the company in years to come.The implementation of strategic planning tools serves a variety of purposes in companies, including the clear definition of an organization's purpose and mission, and the establishment of a standard base from which progress can be measured and future actions can be planned. I-O psychologist Ramon E, Henson (2012) and Robert E, Ployhart (2012) although having disagreements in some parts of their papers, they ultimately come forward in reinforcing the importance of competitive advantage suggesting that I-O and strategy has been â€Å"joined at hips for years† (Ramon, 2012), also suggesting hat I-O psychology should stray from the focus of individuals and start focusing more on the company as a whole as they have â€Å"much to offer† in the understanding of competitive advantage (Ployhart, 2012). Furthermore, the strategic planning tools should communicate those goals and objectives to the organisation as a whole rather than just the ones involved in the strategic planning process (O’Shannassy, 2003) to achieve a more efficient work flow. Throughout the centuries, countless strategic approaches has been formed and used and recycled, so why use Porter’s Five Forces (2008)?For example, strategy as simple rules Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). It illustrates the success story of Yahoo! , along with other successful companies coming from an unattractive market. â€Å"So how they did succeed? More generally, what are the sources of competitive advantage in high-velocity markets? What does strategy mean in the new economy? † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). The key is none-other than strategy as simple rules, it targets market confusion and rides the magic carpet to see where or what it will journey into.Although it is indeed called â€Å"simple rules†, a rule still applies to it, as one Internet executive explained: â€Å"I have a thousand opportunities a day; strategy is deciding which 50 to do. † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). As it summarises and illustrates that simple rules is all about taking risks, its essence is to capture unanticipated opportunities for ultimate success. Although for companies like Yahoo! has gained huge success, simple rules (2001) cannot apply to any industry as the authors suggests (Eisenhardt et al, 2001).If the opportunity presents itself, for anyone to use simple rules (2001) as a stepping stone to success, without a doubt, one should take the opportunity, but an opportunity does not just come without any background knowledge of a particular industry, and this is where Porter’s Five Forces (2008) comes into play, as it provides a framework for careful analysis of the industry, by analysing the industry will allow you to grab hold of the opportunities that might come about. Despite the fact that there are numerous of strategies to obtain competitive advantage, Porters Five Forces (2008) acts as a basis of all these trategies, as it is a tick-off criteria sheet which allows a company to understand their position before even implementing any sort of action. It is important as companies strives for ultimate profitability, thus the importance of a company securing a competitive advantage over their competitors is key, as even I-O psychologists supports the important of competitive advantage and that it should be a â€Å"department on its own† (Ployhart, 2012). How to implement strategy and sustaining it is another question. Although Yahoo! nd some other companies has succeeded without the five forces (Porter, 2008), it is a dangerous and risky step, and for those who doesn’t have the resource to throw around, Porters Five Forces (2008) will not only act as a friend but mentor to the journey of success. Reference John R. Schermerhorn, Paul Davidson, David Poo le, Alan Simon, Peter woods ; So Ling Chau (2011). Management 4th Asia-Pacific Edition. Queensland, Australia: John Wiley ; Sons Australia, Ltd. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). Strategy as Simple Rules. Harvard Business Review,79(1), 106-116.Porter E. Michael. THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT SHAPE STRATEGY. Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Jan2008, Vol. 86, Issue 1. RAMON M. HENSON. Industrial-Organizational and Strategy Are Integrated in Practice! Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5(2012), pp82-86. Robert E. Ployhart. From Possible to Probable: The Psychology of Competitive Advantage. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2012), 120–126. Tim O’Shannassy, (2003). Modern Strategic management: Balancing Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning for Internal and External Stakeholders. Singapore Management Review, 25(1), 53-67.

Similarities in the General Human Resource Practices Article

Similarities in the General Human Resource Practices - Article Example The technique actually examines the relationship between a single dependent variable and more than one independent variable. It is the most common type of method used. It shows a linear relationship holding the lowest sum of the squared variances. The assumptions such as normality, equal variance and linearity and finely and clearly examined by the researcher. A coefficient knows as beta are taken which is the marginal impacts of each variable. This technique is usually used by the firm for its forecasting. This technique is actually the variation of multiple regressions and allows the firms to predict different events. The technique used non-metric dependent variables and the actual objective of the technique is to achieve a probabilistic assessment of binary choice. The independent variable used by the researchers is either continuous or discrete. Later, a contingency table is formed holding the classification of observations and the observations and predicted results are matched. Then the researcher sum the events that are predicted to occur and they actually occur and sum the events that the researcher predicted not to occur and they actually do not occur. These two sums are added and divided by the total number of events. This shows the effectiveness of the model and helps to predict the choices. Â  

Nurse Graduate Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nurse Graduate Challenges - Essay Example The transition of newly graduated nurses (NGOs) into professional service is on its surface, no different from the transition of a newly graduated teacher into becoming full-fledged professors. But an essential difference lies in the need for NGOs to alter their personal perceptions and shape them in accordance with their upcoming professional responsibilities (Heslop, McIntyre and Ives, 2001). Duchscher (2010) defines it as "consist[ing] of a nonlinear experience that moves the new practitioner through personal and professional, intellectual and emotive, skill and role relationship changes and contains within it experiences, meanings and expectations." This transition is also characterized as the evolution of the nursing student into hospital staff following four stages: (1) honeymoon, where the graduates are expectedly anxious to get a moving on their careers; (2) shock, where the professional value and intellectual credence of the graduates are forced to face the realities of the industry; (3) recovery, when the graduates begin to have a full rein on their careers and start to have the hang of things; and finally, (4) resolution, when the graduates are able to establish habits and form long-term goals (Kramer & Schmalenberg, 1978).This NG transition has been classified as the initial twelve months into practice where character transformations, perception changes, intellectual enhancement, emotional adjustment, physical development and even social maturity are attained (Duchscher, 2010).... Duchscher (2010) defines it as â€Å"consist[ing] of a nonlinear experience that moves the new practitioner through personal and professional, intellectual and emotive, skill and role relationship changes and contains within it experiences, meanings and expectations.† This transition is also characterized as the evolution of the nursing student into hospital staff following four stages: (1) honeymoon, where the graduates are expectedly anxious to get a moving on their careers; (2) shock, where the professional value and intellectual credence of the graduates are forced to face the realities of the industry; (3) recovery, when the graduates begin to have a full rein on their careers and start to have the hang of things; and finally, (4) resolution, when the graduates are able to establish habits and form long-term goals (Kramer & Schmalenberg, 1978). This NG transition has been classified as the initial twelve months into practice where character transformations, perception cha nges, intellectual enhancement, emotional adjustment, physical development and even social maturity are attained (Duchscher, 2010). Challenges Associated with Transition The main crisis in the transition of graduating nursing students into practicing or professional nurses lies in the difficulty to translate their numbers into the field (Duchscher, 2010). That is, the number of students that are apparently graduating is not equivalent, actually less than the number of nurses entering service in health institutions and hospitals. Somehow, a large fraction of the graduates opt out of the industry and take on employment in private facilities or even to some

Financal Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financal Management - Essay Example A project should be accepted if the NPV is positive, otherwise it should be rejected. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) - It is the sum total of cash inflows after discounting, which is equal to the discounted rate of cash out flows. The IRR technique is crucial for taking the capital investment decision. A particular project should accept IRR, only if it is greater than Cut-off rate, otherwise such project should be rejected. In case of Wandering Lights Limited, it is better to adopt NPV method rather than IRR method, because while assessing the financial viability, technical feasibility, and taking the appropriate capital budgeting decision of Wandering Lights Limited, it is suitable to undertake NPV as the capital budgeting decision. Wandering Lights Ltd has decided to launch a new product in the market. The product is garden lights. For the production of the new product the company has to introduce new plant and machinery in the business. The estimated cost of the plant and machinery is â‚ ¤3375000. In order to install the new plant and machinery the company additional fund has to be brought into the company as the capital is not sufficient to install the new facility. Wandering lights have two options before them to finance their project. Either they can issue new share or it can borrow funds. Borrowing is the method in which the company borrows fund from any institutions or banks as loans upon an agreement to pay interest at a fixed rate. Borrowings also may be in the form of different securities issued by the company. The companies have different methods for borrowing money. â€Å"There are two main methods by which a company can borrow money: (1) by issuing fixed-income (debt) securities – like bonds, notes, bills and corporate papers – and (2) by taking out a loan at a bank or lending institution.† (When companies borrow money. 2007). Wandering lights can depend on either of the following methods for financing the new project. Most

Social Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Security - Essay Example Full employment does not mean zero unemployment but means a situation where an economy experiences only structural and frictional unemployment and an absence of cyclical unemployment. This is because structural and frictional unemployment are considered unavoidable and work positively to some extent too. The rate associated with full employment is known as the full-employment rate of unemployment or as the natural rate of unemployment (NRU) and is considered to be consistent with a level of unemployment that predominantly comprises voluntarily unemployed workers.1 An economy at its natural rate of unemployment is said to be producing a non-inflationary potential output.2 Zero unemployment is not a desired state, because at this level inflationary pressures start to build in form of rising wages. This increases costs, which are in turn passed on to customers as higher prices, and this leads to inflation. Unemployment is an excess amount of labor on the labor market. An unemployed person is defined as one who is willing to work but is out of work. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed workers divided by the civilian labor force, this includes both the unemployed and those with jobs. Frictional unemployment is unemployment which results from people moving between jobs and new workers entering the labor force.3 Frictional unemployment refers to workers who are searching for jobs and those that are waiting to work in the near future. A certain amount of frictional unemployment is unavoidable and inevitable, however this type of unemployment can be reduced to some extent by providing better information about job opportunities and availability of workers. Structural Unemployment Structural unemployment is more likely to be a longer term phenomenon than frictional unemployment and consequently have a greater impact. 2 Barbiero Thomas, Brue Stanley and McConnell Campbell. Macroeconomics: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, (2002): 160 3 James, Elijah M. Macroeconomics: A Problem Solving Approach. Prentice Hall Canada Inc. (1997): 419 Structural Unemployment is caused by a mismatch between the skills (or location) of job seekers and the requirements (or location) of available jobs. It is the type of unemployment that arises when there is a decline in the number of jobs available in a particular region or industry, and this is caused by changes in the demand pattern of consumers. If there is a permanent decline in the demand for leather shoes, the

End of Semester wrap up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

End of Semester wrap up - Essay Example The organisation that has been studied is a healthcare institution. Since healthcare involves the exchange of personal information and various other security concerns that emanate thereafter, the model for information assurance has been strategically placed with goals like training and development, as well as entrepreneurial control that will help in better orientation for the implementation of the system. Risk, in case of varied operational decisions, is seen as a focus of single determinants of behaviour arising from risk theories. (Stephenson, 2004)1 Various unresolved contradictions can be reconciled by examining the usefulness of placing risk propensity and risk proportion in a more central role than has been previously recognised through effective risk assessment programs. Based on such analysis, it is believed that the propensity of risk dominates both the actual and perceived characteristics of the situation as a determinant of risk behaviour. (Stephenson, 2004) Such an observation can safely justify the finding that suggests that apart from being central to any and every business or organisation, risk is something that entrepreneurs in general, are averse to. This can be attributed to the fact that at the end of the day, any loss of information has far reaching implications of its own and is deeply rooted in the genesis of risk taking and management. Coming back to the issue of the risk averse nature of businesses in context of the XYZ organisation, the one question we need to ask before proceeding any further is whether mere risk assessment is enough to act as a strong foundation for resolving all those difficulties arising out of risk management in case of

Urban Regeneration & Mega Event Case Study Olympics 2012 Essay

Urban Regeneration & Mega Event Case Study Olympics 2012 - Essay Example The purpose of the study is to determine whether or not a net benefit, either from economic gain or legacy, or both, is likely in the case of the London Olympics. Key concepts and theories Urban regeneration - Officially, the term ‘regeneration’ is described as ‘the positive transformation of a place – whether residential, commercial, or open space – that has previously displayed symptoms of physical, social and/or economic decline’ (Dept. of Culture, Media and Sports, 2004) Mega-event - The term ‘mega-events’ is used to refer to those high-profile events that last for a short duration but which require a great deal of expense and years of preparation. Mega-events are generally seen as having a great potential to promote tourism, and are expected to have a strong economic impact for the country hosting the event (Hiller, 2000, p. 439). Boosterism – The term ‘boosterism’ generally refers to ‘the necessary exaggeration that accompanies human endeavors’ (Amato, 1993, p. 50). In urban regeneration for mega-events, ‘boosterism’ refers to the exaggerat ed optimism in extolling the benefits of hosting a mega-event. Legacy planning – The term ‘legacy planning’ in relation to mega-sporting events refers to planning for deriving the maximum benefit of what is left of all the developments after the games have ended (Parliament HL, 2005). Crowding out – ‘Crowding out’ happens when visitors to the mega-event discourage regular visitors from taking their trip at the same time because of the difficulty of finding accommodations and getting access to other services; also known as ‘displacement’ (Barclay, 2009, p. 64). Supply-side leakages – ‘Supply-side leakages’ refer to the temporary entry of external firms which sell products during the Games, but whose revenues do not benefit the locality (Barclay, 2009, p. 64). Outline plan of the final essay 1. Introduction The introduction provides the background of the topic and an explanation for the importance of studying suc h a topic (Single, 2009, p. 70). This portion gives the context for understanding what the rest of the research will be about. The case study focuses on trying to weigh the economic costs against the economic benefits and the legacy the Olympic Games will create. 2. Urban regeneration The concept of urban regeneration is introduced first because it is the most important concept on which the case study is based. In explaining urban regeneration, the emphasis is placed on renewal and reconstruction of degraded part of the city. All projects that are undertaken as ‘regeneration’ projects should therefore enhance the areas of aspects of the city that are already in need of repair or upgrading. 3. Mega-event and its role in urban regeneration In this section, the idea of ‘mega-event’ is linked with that of ‘urban regeneration’. The two concepts are not or do not seem to be naturally related. The first refers to entertainment, something spectacular. The second refers to reconstruction. By discussing these two concepts in relation with each other, the importance of mega-events as a way of staging urban regeneration projects is given focus. 4. Urban regeneration for Olympics 2012 This section introduces the 2012 Olympic

Tax Cuts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Tax Cuts - Essay Example Using the economic terms tackled in class, ways in which tax cuts could help revive the U.S. economy will be thoroughly explained. The concept of aggregate supply and demand allows us to have a better understanding of macroeconomic condition and the impact of implementing government decisions through fiscal policy. Specifically under the supply-side of economics, it is believed that implementing a significant increase in taxes could affect the entire economy by reducing the possible trading practices among the economic participants within a nation. Because of the sudden increase in government tax collection, the local people will be left with little money to spend on basic consumer goods. As a result of decreased trading practices between the people and businesses, potential investors are discouraged from investing more money. Therefore, reviving the U.S. economy through increased in government tax collection is not possible. In times of serious economic crisis, implementing a temporary tax cut through the use of a fiscal policy will empower the people to have more money to spend on basic commodities. This particular economic strategy is effective in terms of increasing the aggregate demand for locally made goods and services. Even though the country is going through a serious economic condition, the fact that people are encouraged to continuously spend their savings to purchase locally made goods and services will somehow improve the overall economic situation. Rather than borrowing large amount of money from international sources, implementing tax cuts is not a bad choice since the government will still be able to collect huge amount of tax collection from the business sectors. Basically, the tax multiplier effects of implementing tax cuts is the key behind enabling a country revive a slow growth economic condition. In the long run, there is a stronger possibility that the economic condition of a country will gradually recover from a poor

A brief of taxation case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A brief of taxation case - Essay Example In 1938, the property was sold a net sales of $2,500.00 (after deducting $500.00 sales expenses).The petitioner reported 50% of the net sales value ($1250.00) as taxable income (Bittker 277). Analysis: According to the petitioner, the property she had inherited was in the form of equity which according to the tax laws was zero tax based. The amount collected from the sales should have been treated as her net gain from the sales of equity (Yin 208). The IRS commissioner to the contrary argued that the petitioner had inherited land and building and not equity. He cited that before the selling, the petitioner was allowed depreciation deductions of $25,000 in excess on the premises. Likewise, the commissioner pointed out that the petitioner received money equivalent to the net sales on top of the debt amount transferred to the buyer of the property (Yin 214). First, the court addressed the meaning of the word ‘’property’’ and whether it was a synonym of ‘’Equity’’. The court agreed with the IRS commissioner in addressing how to treat inherited ’’property’’. In the ruling the court agreed that there was no evidence whatsoever to conclude that both words meant the same thing. Secondly, court said that by replacing the word ’’property’’ with ‘’equity’’ under the tax law would attract negative complications in the future cases. The major problem would have occurred while determining the value of depreciation to be subjected on a property. Subsequently, the action would undermine some of administrative rules in existence (Yin 250). The court secondly determined that the value the petitioner realized from selling the ‘’property’’ should be subject to the conclusion made under the first issue. The court maintained that there must exist actual money receipt or receipt of any other property on a transaction for it to be subjected to a taxable gain. Finally, the court ruled

Synthesis of 4‐methylcyclohexene Essay Example for Free

Synthesis of 4†methylcyclohexene Essay Abstract 4-methylcyclohexanol was synthesized to 4-methylcyclohexene using dehydration. 4-methylcyclohexanol was heated to reflux and the subsequent distillate (4-methylcyclohexe) was collected. It was then purified using sodium chloride to separate products and an anhydrous solid was then added and filtered. The resulting product had a mass of 0.399 g and a percent yield of 41%. The product was positively identified and characterized as 4-methylcyclohexene via IR and Br2 test. Introduction To synthesize 4-methylcyclohexene from 4-methylcyclohexanol the starting material can be dehydrated resulting in the desired compound. For dehydration to be possible the OH group on the 4-methylcyclohexene must first be converted into H2O by means of an acid-base reaction using a strong acid catalyst such as phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid. The H2O will then become the favored leaving group and leave on its own resulting in the formation of a carbocation in excess water. The water will remove the acidic hydrogen on the carbocation producing the desired alkene as well as regenerating the acid catalyst (fig. 2). A time effective way to collect the 4-methylcyclohexene is to heat the reaction to reflux as it is taking place. This allows the product to be separated from the starting materials by means of the boiling point discrepancy between the isolated alkene (101-102 C) and the starting alcohol (171-173 C). After the distillate is collected any impurities of water and phosphoric acid can be extracted by adding sodium chloride, drying the resulting organic layer with an anhydrous solid, and  filtration. IR of both the starting alcohol and the resulting alkene can be compared as a means of identification and characterization as well as a Br2 test to ensure the correct product was formed. Procedure and Observations A mixture of 4-methylcyclohexanol (1.5mL), 85% phosphoric acid (0.40mL), and six drops of concentrated sulfuric acid were heated to reflux. The mixture turned a dark brown upon reaction and darkened with exposure to heat. Initially the heating temperature reached 190C but was then lowered and maintained within the range of 160-180C until the reaction mixture stopped boiling. The resulting distillate was collected and removed. The stillhead the distillate was collected in was then washed with sodium chloride (1.0ml) and the subsequent mixture was added to the product. This mixture was shaken and aqueous and organic layers were allowed to form. The aqueous layer was removed from the organic and the organic dried with anhydrous solid and filtered through a cotton-plugged pipet. The mass of the product as well as a percent yield was determined. An IR was taken and compared to the starting material as well as a Br2 test. Results and Calculations 4-methylcyclohexanol starting mass: 1.164 g actual 4-methylcyclohexene mass: 0.399 g 4-methylcyclohexanol molecular weight = 114 g/mol 4-methylcyclohexene molecular weight = 96 g/mol Percent yield calculations: % yield = (actual yield/ theoretical yield) * 100% 1.164 g 4-methylcyclohexanol * 1mol 4-methylcyclohexanol/114 g * 1 mol 4-methylcyclohexanol/ 1 mol 4-methylcyclohexene * 96 g/ 1 mol 4-methylcyclohexene = 0.980 g 4-methylcyclohexene (theoretical yield) 0.399 g/ 0.980 g = 0.407 * 100% = 40.7% = 41% Br2 test: 4-methylcyclohexene: 140 drops to reach excess 4-methylcyclohexanol: 1 drop to reach excess Discussion and Conclusion In conclusion, 4-methylcyclohexene was successfully synthesized via dehydration from 4-methylcyclohexanol. This result was verified by comparing the IR spectra of both compounds as well as by performing a Br2 test. The IR spectra for the synthesized material lacked the broad O-H peak found in the spectra of the starting material and which is characteristic of a compound containing an alcohol as well as containing peaks for both sp2 and sp3 hybridized C-H groups, both of which are consistent with the stereochemistry of 4-methylcyclohexene. Moreover, the results of the Br2 test supported the positive characterization of the product as 4-methylcyclohexene. 140 drops Bromine were required until the compound turned red consistent with the chemistry of Bromine and the alkene forming 1,2†dibromo†4†methylcyclohexane and explaining why the mixture remained colorless for so long. The product was synthesized with a decent to poor percent yield as evidenced by the 41%. This poor yield very likely was caused by the excess heat initially added to the reflux reaction, the result of which was charring and possibly by too much acid catalyst being added to the starting material.

Risks and Benefits of Children Using the Internet

Risks and Benefits of Children Using the Internet INTRODUCTION Technology tools such as radio, television, telephones, computers, and the Internet can provide access to knowledge in sectors such as entertainment, education and human rights, offering a new realm of choices that enable the person to improve their knowledge for future needs. The curiosity of the Internet makes children and young people to try to know or learn as much as possible about new things to be more advanced than adults in using the Internet. Optimists view the emergence of the Internet as a chance for democratic and community-based participation, for creativity, self-expression and play, and to enhance the expansion of knowledge, whereas pessimists lament the end of childhood, innocence, traditional values and authority (Livingstone, 2002) Children are being described as the ICT generation or the computer generation in information and communication with this technology. Now, many children know more than or as much as their parents or teachers know about these technologies. This scenario shows that internet can be one of the tools to develop the children knowledge in this new urban life. When a child has a project or homework to do, the internet is a portal to extensive amounts of information, a superb resource for children nowadays. There are many useful sources to be found, such as libraries, bookstores, news room and even virtual school. While the Internet is an amazing resource, parents have reasonable concerns about how they can secure a wholly beneficial Internet experience for the children. There are few risks for children who use online services such as internet. Children are particularly at risk because they often use the computer unsupervised and because they are more likely than young people to participate in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or social activities. In another survey, it was disclosed that 9 out of 10 children and teenagers between 8-16 years old had seen pornographic websites accidentally while searching for information for their school home-works (Utusan Malaysia, 2005) Maximizing the benefit of the internet for children may require more than just controlling what they have access to but to monitor how much time their child spends online, whom the child come in contact with online, and what is viewed. In a newspaper column, a journalist relates the flow of harmful information in the Internet with escalating numbers of murder and rape by young juveniles in the year 2003 in Malaysia (Abdul Malek, 2004). Some solution can be implemented to balance the abundant educational value with the need for security and protection. Something entirely new is the idea of a web browser with filtering because children are anxious to explore cyberspace, so parents need to supervise their children and give them guidance about using the Internet. Filters can give parents and guardians a false sense of security to believe that children are protected when they are not around. However, did the use of this web filters provide more benefits in the development of knowledge or it just constrain for children learning process through internet. For these such of reasons, the aim of this study is to examine the kind of monitor the children that participate in the activities by using web filter software and to know how the use give a significant or effect to development of children knowledge in learning process through internet. The underlying of these reasons also, there are several questions that need to be resolved in order to answer some questions that may arise in this paper: Can be internet be beneficial to development of children knowledge? Can we allowing the children to make full use of internet outweigh the risks of exposing to harmful or inappropriate content to them? How dangerous exactly is the internet for unsupervised children? Do the benefits of using web filter in controlling children activities through internet? Is it practical/ necessary to monitor the availability of internet content to children? Who should responsible for this? Method In this study also involved a survey aimed at obtaining a general view of the concern about the development of childrens knowledge through the Internet. Target respondents for this paper is in an area of housing in urban areas of the Taman Bukit Kemuning, Section 32 Shah Alam that most residents here have the internet as a tool as one way of living. The survey involved responses via questionnaire to be answered by the parents of 20 families who have children under the age of 6 to 17 years and have Internet service at home. This range of ages had been chose because most of children at these ages are fascinating in using internet seeking materials or information for homework while they currently still study in school. Of the total respondents, 12 of which are made up by mothers and the rest are among fathers. From the survey results will conclude a few questions and the actual scenario happens and also about topics discussed through the feedback given by them. Development of Children Knowledge through Internet The participation of children and young people in the Internet is considered a positive development towards enhancing their educational skills and knowledge. This type of skills is more than accessing an online encyclopedia and looking up a subject. It is making use of sites that are designed specifically to help them with their homework. Some online services provide specific areas to assist with homework given by teachers, including the ability to send questions or homework problems through e-mail to the experts in that subject area and receive responses within seconds. In Malaysia, the full support and encouragement from the Malaysian government to the use of ICT in schools can be seen from the development of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and other programs related to ICT such as provide and increase the number of computer laboratories to facilitate schools in Malaysia whether in urban or rural areas(Syahirah, 2006). A total of 70% of respondents said they provide Internet service at home is to facilities for their children to develop their learning process. Only 25% said it was for equipment for their own work and 5% were said to provide Internet services because it is considered a mandatory tool in every home today. This shows that parents today are also aware of the importance of the Internet as a learning tool for children in exploring their knowledge to be more advance than others. Many of people communicate through e-mail with family and friends around the world and use the social network website and chat engine to make new friends who share common interests and children are not excluded. The Potential Risks of the Internet on Children The Internet has changed the way we communicate, learn and live by opening up our world to endless possibilities. The Internet has an amazing potential as a learning and communication tool, but it also contains hidden threats to the safety and well-being of children, including online gaming sites that can result in unhealthy addiction, cyber bullying and victimization through mobile phones that can bring about severe consequences to a childs self-confidence and personal development, as well as exploitative marketing that may have financial consequences on the child and his parents. Another threat that may not be immediately obvious but is of great concern is the potential for children to be exposed to sexual harassment, exploitation and pornography through online chats and social networking sites. Children are also vulnerable as targets of fraudsters who try to gain knowledge about them to abuse, terrorize, blackmail, steal or even kidnap them. Besides, they also expose to inappropriate and potentially dangerous contact. The predators may use the Internet to befriend vulnerable children and teens by pretending to be another child or a trustworthy adult, or by playing on teens desire for romance and adventure, and then trying to persuade kids to meet them in person. The children are also potential risk by the cyber bullies. Most people play nice online, but some use the Internet to harass, belittle, or try to intimidate others. Attacks may range from name calling to physical threats and are rarely seen by parents. Furthermore, the children are also invasion of their privacy and online fraud. Children may innocently share photographs or personal information about themselves or their families on personal Web pages, when playing games, or in registration forms. Such information could put children at risk from Internet thieves or child predators. To counter these threats, parents and caregivers are primarily responsible for protecting their charges, by supervising their access to cyberspace, coaching children in personal safety and installing parental control software. Schools, public authorities, community groups, Internet service providers, media industries and regulatory bodies also have a responsibility to ensure that children are properly advised on the benefits and perils of cyberspace and equipped with the skills to safeguard themselves. Web Filter to Monitor Child Safety on Internet A Web filter is a program that can screen an incoming Web page to determine whether some or all of it should not be displayed to the user. The filter checks the origin or content of a Web page against a set of rules provided by company or person who has installed the Web filter. A Web filter allows an enterprise or individual user to block out pages from Web sites that are likely to include objectionable advertising, pornographic content, spyware, viruses, and other objectionable content. Vendors of Web filters claim that their products will reduce recreational Internet surfing among employees and secure networks from Web-based threats. Web filters have been around since the early days of the Web and they can play an important role in preventing young children from accessing inappropriate content. But theyre not a replacement for parental involvements. Before installing and configuring a filter, parents need to decide if their child needs to have software controlling how they can use the Internet and, if so, how the filter should be configured. Filters can be a convenient way to keep young children from stumbling onto material that might gross them out or disturb them. Young children generally seek out a limited number of sites, but its certainly possible for them to stumble onto inappropriate ones. The Responsible Party of these Issues Keeping children safe on the Internet is everyones job. Parents need to stay in close touch with their kids as they explore the Internet. Teachers need to help students use the Internet appropriately and safely. Community groups, including libraries, after-school programs, and others should help educate the public about safe surfing. Kids and teens need to learn to take responsibility for their own behavior with guidance from their families and communities. Its not at all uncommon for kids to know more about the Internet and computers than their parents or teachers. If thats the case in your home or classroom, dont despair. You can use this as an opportunity to turn the tables by having your child teach you a thing or two about the Internet. Ask her where she likes to go on the Internet and what she thinks you might enjoy on the Net. Get your child to talk with you about whats good and not so good about his Internet experience. Also, no matter how Web-literate your kid is, you shoul d still provide guidance. You cant automate good parenting. Just as adults need to help kids stay safe, they also need to learn not to overreact when they find out a child or teenager has been exposed to inappropriate material or strayed from a rule. Whatever you do, dont blame or punish your child if he tells you about an uncomfortable online encounter. Your best strategy is to work with him, so you both can learn from what happened and figure out how to keep it from happening again. The challenges posed by the Internet can be positive. Learning to make good choices on the Internet can serve young people well by helping them to think critically about the choices they will face. Today its the Internet; tomorrow it may be deciding whether its safe to get into the car of someone a teen meets at a party. Later it will be deciding whether a commercial offer really is too good to be true or whether it really makes sense to vote for a certain candidate or follow a spiritual guru. Learning how to make good choices is a skill that will last a lifetime. References: N.a. (2005) 90% sekolah layari laman lucah. Utusan Malaysia. 27th July Livingstone, S. (2002). Young People and New Media, Childhood and the changing media environment, London: SAGE Publications,p 2. Abdul Malek, Yusri. (2004). Laman Web-Rogol-Boleh pengaruhi remaja jadikan kanak-kanak mangsa seks ganas. Op cit., n. 12. Syahirah Abdul Shukor (2006). Protecting Children s Rights in the Internet: Challenges A Preliminary Study Based on the Malaysian Experience, UK: Keele University, Staffordshire. Educational Cyber Playground (1997), Internet Safety Rules For Parents learn how to keep children safe on the Internet.

Market Oriented Development Strategy for Niger Delta

Market Oriented Development Strategy for Niger Delta ADOPT MARKET-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR NIGER DELTA DEVELOPMENT. PURPOSE: To provide you with advice on policy strategy for market-oriented development for Niger Delta development and a recommended course of action. BACKGROUND: Conflicts in Niger Delta have generated domestic and international concerns. For more than 20 years, Niger Delta has experienced recurring conflicts often followed by violence which have been inspired, largely, by broad range of economic factors (for example, increased sense of marginalization, exploitation and injustice by the Niger Delta people, and increased poverty and inequality), political factors (for example, long-lasting corruption, mismanagement of allocated resources, and insensitivity of government to the needs and concerns of the Niger Delta people), environmental factors (for example, land degradation and other environmental disasters) and socio-cultural factors (for example, poor value orientation, particularly amongst the youth). Conflicts in Niger Delta have revealed a paradox in the economic development of the region. Niger Delta has remained the driving force of Nigerias oil and gas wealth, having the second highest recognized oil reserves in Africa and being the eight largest oil exporter in the world. Despite the abundance of natural resources, particularly oil and gas, in Niger Delta, and the huge amount of financial resource allocations from the federal government to, and financial investments by oil companies and donor agencies in, the region, Niger Delta has continued to produce disappointing economic development results. There has been a complete disconnection between the level of socio-economic developments in Niger Delta and the amount of financial resources that government, donor agencies, and oil companies operating in Niger Delta have invested in the region. These huge financial resources do not reflect in the living standards of the Niger Delta people; hence they have had insignificant impact on economic development in the region. The paradox in the economic development of Niger Delta has stimulated difficult development challenges, most especially as the conflicts between communities and oil companies, and government, as well as amongst communities, over resource allocations continue to manifest. Though the past governments have adopted many intervention programmes, through various government agencies, which have, indeed, helped to stabilize security situation in the region and created opportunity for economic development engagements, however, the fundamental causes of conflicts have not been tackled. The fundamental causes of conflicts reside in chronic poverty and inequality in Niger Delta. These are still largely deep-rooted in the regions checkered history of marginalization and deprivation, and are connected very much with the continuing forms of instability in the region. ISSUES: The key issue is the paradox in the economic development of Niger Delta. Development results in Niger Delta have been disappointing, despite the abundance of natural resources in the region, and huge amount of financial resources that government, oil companies and donor agencies have invested in the region (See Attachment A in the Appendix). Another issue is the continued difficult development challenges in Niger Delta, for example, administrative oversight, deteriorating socio-economic infrastructures, increasing poverty, inequality and unemployment, declining value orientation amongst young people, and long-lasting conflicts, despite governments interventions. These development challenges have continued to undermine intervention programmes by various government agencies. As a result, the fundamental causes of conflicts in Niger Delta have remained unsolved. These issues have revealed the imperative for a market-oriented economic development strategy. This is particularly important now that the security situation in the region has been stabilized to a large extent. The premise is that for the economic challenges in Niger Delta to be solved, development strategy needs to capture what the Niger Delta people perceive to be their interests, concerns and needs. The precept is that the federal government should focus on providing co-dependent elements of market-oriented development, for example, creating enabling environment for private sector participation in infrastructure development, while the private sector and donor agencies should assist the government in building the capacities of the Niger Delta people and strengthening the policymaking environment. ANALYSIS: Conflicts in Niger Delta have, historically, been framed on resource allocations. In all the conflicts, government has always been blamed for not returning to Niger Delta the proceeds that are derived from the sale of resources produced in the region. In recent years, as part of governments intervention programme to develop the region, government has set up agencies, for example, the Niger Delta Development Commission (in 2000), the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (in 2009), the Presidential Amnesty Programme (in 2009), and the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Programme (in 2012). Through these agencies government has channelled funds for the development of the region. Available data shows that between 2010 and 2014, federal government has allocated about NGN7.4 trillion to Niger Delta. This amount came from different sources, for example, statutory oil revenue allocation, federal allocations to Niger Delta states, budgetary allocations to the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Niger Delta Development Commission, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Programme, and Ecological Fund, Pipeline Security Contracts for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, allocations from the Millennium Development Goals, financial contributions from international oil companies, and financial support from development donors (See Attachments A B). What these mean is that the fundamental problem with the development of Niger Delta is not lack of agencies to implement development plans, or allocation of funds to the region, but managing the funds allocated to the region. The processes for managing the funds allocated to Niger Delta have been deficient in transparency and accountability. The issues with the management of funds allocated to the region speak volumes about the poor governance structures and processes of various development plans. Findings from the reports published by the National Bureau of Statistics and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative between 2010 and 2013 have shown that there is presence of overlap and duplication of projects amongst agencies that are involved in Niger Delta development. The overlap and duplication are as a result of absence of a coherent development plan that is shared by the agencies. This has created inefficiency in project delivery, as resources are unevenly distributed. For example, while many projects are abandoned for lack of funds, other projects are duplicated. Other findings from studies done on states and local governments in the Niger Delta region have shown that there is lack of community engagement in the design and implementation of development programmes, as well as in budgeting processes for infrastructure projects. Many development projects do not include the preferences of the communities; hence the projects are often not tailored to the needs of the people. OPTIONS: There are three options to consider: Option A: Adopt a coherent market-oriented economic development strategy for Niger Delta development. Option B: Review the effectiveness of all the existing development plans that have been developed by various government agencies involved in Niger Delta development, and integrate the relevant initiatives into the strategy in option A. Option C: Recommend to Mr President to mandate all the relevant government agencies involved in Niger Delta development to collaborate and consolidate efforts towards developing the strategy in option A. RATIONALES: The current development plans for Niger Delta do not work for the vast majority of the poor people in the region because of the reasons (and more) stated in the analysis above. Therefore, the region needs a coherent market-oriented economic development strategy that will focus largely on tackling the fundamental issues poverty and inequality. Niger Delta development requires market-based systems that benefit the people, include the people in policy/decision making processes, have efficient governance structures and processes for managing funds allocated to the region, and can be sustained. The proposed strategy is not a new plan, rather an operational instrument, with a unified governance framework that is shared by all agencies involved in Niger Delta development, for implementing the existing development plans. To support Option A, the following cases are made: Case 1: Market systems must be beneficial to the poor: This makes the case that the market systems must be all-inclusive; well-organized; represent the interests of the poor; and sustainable in order to work for the poor. Case 2: Markets are integral part of peoples livelihood: The underlying principle here is that poor people rely largely on the market systems for their means of livelihood. Thus, peoples lives can be improved significantly through functional and sustainable market systems. Case 3: Social inclusion is essential for reducing poverty and closing inequality gap: This presents the case that the key to reducing poverty and closing inequality gap facing Niger Delta is enhancing the opportunities for people to participate in policy/decision making processes. Case 4: Access to the market systems: The guiding principle here is that access to the market systems creates an economic virtuous circle, where peoples standard of living is improved, productivity is enhanced, incomes are increased, food security is strengthened, and hunger and poverty are reduced. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The activities that will be carried out in respect of Options A and B will be funded from the budgetary allocations of the government agencies that will be involved in the processes. There is enough scope within their budgets to undertake the activities. Option C has no financial implications. RECOMMENDATIONS: The Honourable Minister is graciously invited to: Agree to adopt the strategy proposed in this brief to ensure consolidation of the gains from the stabilized security situation in, and development of, Niger Delta. Note that the proposed strategy is not a new plan, but an operational instrument, with a unified governance framework, for implementing the existing development plans. Agree to direct for a review of all the existing development plans developed for Niger Delta development. Agree to recommend to Mr President to direct all the relevant agencies involved in Niger Delta development to collaborate and consolidate efforts towards developing the proposed strategy.

Developing a Leadership Philosophy Essay -- Developing a Philosophy of

Developing a Leadership Philosophy It is very telling that one of our last activities focuses on reflection and communication. It is telling because these are the two characteristics emphasized throughout each of my leadership classes. Reflection deals with a leader’s ability to internalize learning. Communication incorporates a leader’s ability to develop relationships and influence them effectively. I firmly believe both characteristics are the keys to effective leadership. A number of experts concur believing that a leader must start with knowledge of oneself and develop that into an ability to communicate, share ideas, visions, and listen to others. KNOWING ONESELF Bolman and Deal (1994) summarize management and leadership as follows, â€Å"management provides consistency, control, and efficiency. But leadership is needed to foster purpose, passion, and imagination† (p.77). Fullan (2001) points to the Bolman and Deal description of leadership and focuses on the fostering of purpose. Fullan (2001) agrees with Sergiovanni’s thoughts that, â€Å"authentic leaders anchor their practice in ideas, values, and commitments, exhibit distinctive qualities of style and substance, and can be trusted to be morally diligent in advancing the enterprises lead† (p.14). Fullan (2001) posits that the moral purpose of a leader and the success of an organization are synonymous. FINDING A MORAL COMPASS Where does a leader find his/her moral purpose? Bolman and Deal (2001) write that a leader must â€Å"lead from something deep in [his/her] heart† (p.23). For me, my moral purpose/compass is deeply rooted in my Christian faith. I have a firm belief in what is right and wrong, ethical and unethical. These concepts are not ambiguous for me. I have resour... ...pose to elevate others, to give what one has to help others realize their potential, grow, and achieve their goals. Works Cited Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (1994). Looking for leadership: Another search party’s report. Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(1), 77-96. Fullan, Michael. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Guiney, E. (2001). Coaching isn’t just for athletes: The role of teacher leaders. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(10), 740-743. Maxwell, John C. (1998). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: Follow them and people will follow you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Warren, Rick. (2002). A purpose driven life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. *John Maxwell’s principles are adapted from â€Å"The Influential Leader: Unleashing the Power in People† nationwide satellite simulcast from Atlanta, Georgia, 29 April 2005.

Colonialism, Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions. Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous. The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialists. The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness and amoralness. Colonialism, Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions. Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous. The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialists. The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness and amoralness.

Essay --

Literature Review Can comparative modelling techniques successfully model an entire genome? Introduction There is a need of detailed description and understanding the structure and function of many proteins. Although the structure and function of protein is best determined experimentally but it can be predicted by comparative modelling (Sanchez and Sali, 1998). Homology modelling or comparative modelling is used to constructs a three-dimensional model of a protein by comparing its sequence similarity to one or more known structures of protein (Jacobson and Sali, 2004). Comparative modelling of protein structure is relevant to functional annotation of proteins based on structure and consequently enhances the impact of genome sequencing, functional genomics and structural genomics on medicine and biology (John and Sali 2003). The complete genetic information about amino acid sequences of different proteins is only provided us by genome sequencing efforts. We are now challenged with assigning, understanding, controlling, and modifying the functions of various proteins encoded by these genomes. This task is generally simplified by native protein three-dimensional structures. The experimental methods used to determine the three-dimensional structures are X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (Jacobson and Sali, 2004). These techniques have significant advances but unfortunately many protein structures are not easily accessible by experiments. The computational methods resolved the huge gap between the number of available sequences of amino acid and experimentally solved protein structures (Xiang, 2006). Over the last two years, in the comprehensive public databases, such as SwissProt/TrEMBL and GenPept... ...e than a factor of two (Vitkup et al., 2001). Alignment errors due to both their impact and frequency are the most important single limitation on comparative modelling. Conclusively, from the genome projects, comparative modelling proficiently increases the value of sequence information while it is not yet possible to accurately model all proteins. The main holdups are the difficulties in detection of weak similarities for sequence structure alignment and for fold recognition and absence of structurally defined members in many families of protein. Although only 400 domain folds out of the total of a few thousand are known so in the next ten years, the structure of most globular folds likely is to be determined. Therefore, comparative modelling possibly will be applicable to most of the domains of globular protein close to the completion of the human genome project.

Cyclical Political Theory Essay

Personally, I subscribe to the opinion that what we have in this world is a necessary connection between things. Technically, something can not come out of nothing. Actions are interrelated and whether we accept it or not, they overlap. Thus, I accept George Modelski’s position in his cyclical political theory. However for me, this principle is not only limited to only political events but all areas of life. In the case of World War I and World War II, I hold the position that both of them are not two separate political events. Why do I hold this claim? The truth is that if we look at both events critically, one would see that both wars are one and the same, only that it was fought in different locations and at different years. I provide the reasons for my position below. To begin with, the issues that surrounded the war are one and the same. The Germans wanted to dominate Europe and knew that to achieve this, they had to root out some other powerful nations like France, Britain, Russia and America. The German leaders also felt threatened by the expansion of Russia and wanted to root them out before they could overshadow the Germans. Furthermore, both of them were between colonial Lords. Apart from this, both wars was a scenario where the good guys are trying to stop the bad guys – the Allies being the good guys while Germany and their alliance being the bad guys. In both wars, we see elements of ideological propagation where one party wanted to feed their ideas to the other party. Summarily, I believe that the world war two was just a way of bringing what could have been brought to an end in World War I to an end. It involved the same set of people who were fight for the same cause and wanted to achieve the same results. Reference: †¢ Microsoft Encarta Dictionary 2008, â€Å"World War I†. †¢ Colby University Website, â€Å"German Responsibility for the Outbreak of the War† Retrieved August 5, 2008 from http://www. colby. edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyC1. html †¢ Daniel Pipes, â€Å"Similarities in treason during World War II, the Cold War, and now† Retrieved from http://www. danielpipes. org/comments/11660 August 5

Entrenched Authoritarian State Essay

Despite elements of democracy, with the Kaiser at the Head of the Constitution and holding such significant powers, Wilhelminian Germany was clearly structured to maintain authority and keep the power concentrated at the top. The issue is whether or not in practice the state was totally authoritarian and how far Germany was stuck in authoritarianism, or in other words; how much potential for advancement towards democracy there was. It also needs to be established what is meant by an ‘authoritarian state’ as the Kaiser’s power can be seen in the reflection of other powers; the Kaiser was the head of the army & appointed the Chancellor, therefore the authoritarianism & power of these two can be seen to reflect the authoritarianism & power of the Kaiser. Even areas where the strength of influence from Prussian elite is dominant can be seen as indicating an authoritarian state as the elite thrive in authoritarianism & bureaucrats flourish under strong monarchy. True democracy must involve ‘the people’, rather than just the bureaucrats, having a strong influence & active part in how the country is run, as only then is everyone’s interests given a fair chance to be considered. EXAMPLES However, the ‘Structuralist’ theory, heavily influenced by Marxism, argues the traditional Prussian elite were not supporting the Kaiser’s power, but seeking to fill the power vacuum left by his weak personality and the limited constitutional power of the Reichstag. This can be seen as being actively done when, instead of making an enemy of the new industrial elite, they form an alliance with them. It could be argued that this alliance actually encouraged authoritarianism as it suppressed the forces of democracy, but with the Prussian elite directing society rather than the Kaiser authoritarianism can be said to have decreased whether or not democracy decreased with it. Further evidence of the influence of the traditional elite is the success of the hugely influential Navy League with its one million members and other pressure groups. While on the surface it seems to support a more ‘history from below’ theory as it was supported by the ‘grass roots’ of political activity, it was actually heavily funded by industrialist who had allied with the elite, meaning it was possibly vulnerable to the control of the elite. Also, even by the eve of the First World War, the elite appeared to be maintaining their power because even Bethmann’s 1910 constitutional plan to alter the rich-bias 3 tier Bundesrat voting system was dropped in the face of Conservative opposition. The Conservative elite flexed their muscle again with their successful pressure on watering down the inheritance tax in the 1905 budget. However the Army Bill that was later passed included an inheritance tax, but this did not happen until 1913, so whether or not this shows the power of the elite depends on whether emphasis is put on how long it was held off for by the Conservatives or that they were not powerful enough to prevent it. The Conservative elite within the government, such as the Chairman, also tried to maintain power by conducting policies of moderate reform to weaken the socialist opposition, mainly the SPD, but the policies did not have the desired great effect. The SPD did support the 1913 Army Bill despite their beliefs supposedly being anti-navy expansion as it was Imperialist, but this does not suggest the opposition from the SPD had been lessened because the bill was actually supported by them because it involved taxing the rich. In fact, statistics show that the SPD was strengthened over the years; by 1912 it held 110 seats in the Reichstag, replacing the Centre Party as the largest party. Furthermore, this rise in number was directly in the wake of Bethmann’s ‘Imperil Insurnce Code’ demonstrating socialists couldn’t be ‘paid off’ by welfare policies. Bismarck famously described the Constitution as an ‘empty vessel whose contents are determined by those in power’ suggesting the direction in which Germany is steered is entirely dependent on who is the Kaiser, only changing with succession of Kaisers. This is very much a view belonging to the ‘personal rule’ theory on who held the power that the system was based on court flattery, favouritism & cliques due to the Kaiser’s instability. The structure of the Constitution, although supposedly democratic, demonstrates how power was concentrated at the top. It was the ‘authorities’ (the Kaiser and the Chancellor), not the Reichstag or Bundesrat, calling the shots on what was to be discussed. This, combined with the allowance of the Kaiser to dismiss the Chancellor or dissolve the Reichstag, could essentially enable the Kaiser to severely hinder the progression of any policies that displeased him. The power to dismiss the Chancellor was not an empty power; it was exercised by Wilhelm in 1909 due to Bulow’s failure to defend the Kaiser to the rest of the government after the Daily Telegraph Affair, proving the Kaiser could & would use the powers he had. However, this could not just be done on a whim, but rather Wilhelm had to wait for a sufficient reason, such as the failure of passing a budget, to be seen to be in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution. Moreover, the public clearly thought they were a democracy as they objected to the Kaiser giving the impression in the Daily Telegraph that he made all the decisions in government & were angered that he admitted to having not read the Constitution. Furthermore, that the public were allowed free critical press, evidenced in the newspaper criticisms of the Daily Telegraph incident & Zabern Affair, can be argued to be a clear indicator that Germany was not ‘entrenched’ in authoritarianism because in truly authoritarian states, such as Russia, criticism in newspapers would be censored and opposition or pressure, like that of the SPD or Nationalist groups, would be boycotted. Therefore, the public outcry to these events showed that among the public there was a spirit of democracy, not a belief in authoritarianism, suggesting Germany was not entrenched in authoritarianism, but ready and prepared to become more democratic. Any attempts of authoritarianism being increased were generally met with public opposition. However, public opinion & the freedom of it is not necessarily enough to constitute an un-authoritarian state; the limitations of the Reichstag highlighted the lack of ‘true’ democracy being the â₠¬Ëœdemocracy in the Undemocratic State’ as the Reichstag is limited in its power. The Reichstag was supposedly the source of democracy for Germany, but has since been called by Karl Liebknecht merely a ‘fig-leaf’ for absolutism, the veil covering the truth that Germany was still authoritarian. The Reichstag was made of weak, divided parties causing occasional failure to support one another & meaning no strong bloc against the authorities as the separate parties views often differed. For instance Schiederman’s call for the resignation of Bethmann was ignored & not openly supported by fellow politicians. Even when the Reichstag did agree & make own demands as a whole they were often ignored because both the Chancellor and the army were only responsible to the Kaiser, for example Bethmann did not resign after the Reichstag’s vote of no confidence following the Zabern Affair and Bulow easily silenced demand for constitutional change after the Daily Telegraph Affair with an apology. While the Reichstag was important in respect that it was needed to pass legislation, Bismarck had reduced their powers; firstly with his 1874 Septenimal Act where the Reichstag could only vote on the military budget once every seven years and then his switch to protectionism in 1879 increasing the government’s income gave financial independency from the Reichstag. On the other hand, despite this overall decrease of Reichstag powers, there was an indication their influence was on the up again by the eve of WW1 with the Reichstag allowed to vote on military budget every five years instead. This could be seen as showing gradual change and enough high demand for change to have effects like these, thus shedding light on the potential for democratic advancement & the willingness of the public for reduction in authority, meaning authoritarianism was not entrenched in German society. In conclusion, the power the Kaiser had over the Chancellor, the Constitution & the army equated to an authoritarian state, but by no means was it stuck, or ‘entrenched’, in authoritarianism. The growing assertive nature of the Reichstag combined with popularity of different pressure groups and rise of socialist movements like the SPD, shows that there was, firstly a definite willingness for change, secondly the potential for change & lastly that gradual pushes for decrease in authoritarianism were starting to be made. Germany was still an authoritarian state, but if the First World War had not happened, turning Germany upside down, power may have shifted from the Prussian elite to the Reichstag, the Reichstag’s increasing assertiveness & demands might have evolved into a stronger power and the SPD may have grown so large that the socialist movement could have transformed Germany into a socialist state & decreased the Kaiser’s power itself.

Foundations of Human Development Essay

Human development is based on biological development, psychological development, and social development, these three aspects of human development interact with each other, because it helps to create an individual’s identity and personality. Our development defines who we are, our interactions and how we view the environment around us. To understand bio-psycho-social dimensions of human development, having culture competency, and comprehending the general systems theory and how these theory systems works are crucial parts of being an effective human service professional Bio-Psycho-Social Dimensions of Human Development Various aspects of human development are combined together to make-up an individual’s growth and development. Human development contains three dimensions which are, biological development, psychological development, . Each theory differs in terms of the weight or importance it assigns to these biological, psychological, or social factors. Nonetheless, they each acknowledge there is an important inter-relationship between nature biology and temperament and nurture the social environment and life experience in the formation of personality experiences in the formation of personality. These aspects of human development or behavior can be developed by an individual’s culture, family, and community. During an individual’s life span, the foundation of human development begins to change, which is a direct result of an individual’s social environment. The diversity of the human population such as; a person’s cultural and ethnic background, can be understood by using the strength perspective. This method can help a human service professional to understand the client’s way of communicating, whether if they are using verbal and non-verbal gestures. As a human service professional develops and have an understanding of the client, they can become more skillful in the way that different cultures. The Bio-Psycho-Social Model of Human Behavior Simone Hoermann, Ph.D., Corinne E. Zupanick, Psy.D. & Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. The Connection between General Systems Theory and Social Order Systems theory  covers a broad range of theoretical and methodological practices across many disciplines. Generally, systems theory is concerned with the structure of complex systems, with a special emphasis about how parts relate to each other and to the whole system. In the social sciences, this usually means understanding how individuals relate to each other and to their society as a whole, and the effect that social pressures have on individuals. Social Work Social workers can hold a variety of different roles. What binds them together is a core concern for improving social conditions for individuals and promoting social justice. Applied Systems Theory Social workers employ systems theory in order to understand the dynamic interrelations between individuals, families, institutions and societies. Generally, they want to identify how a system functions, what aspects of that system have a negative impact on people and understand how they can cause positive change in that system. Individuals and Families On the micro level of social work, workers use systems theory to understand the dynamics, relationships and roles within families, and how these things affect individuals therein. For instance, they want to know that parents and children are taking upon their proper responsibilities, that parents are providing for the safety of their children and that these roles are stable and beneficial to everyone involved. General systems theory at a simple level can be defined as: elements, which are in exchange, and which are bounded. These components constitute a system, which functions or operates within a field or an environment. Elements can be virtually anything you wish to label as such, the exchanges are any relationships that exist between elements, and the boundary is what you can see, hear, feel, or sense that separates from the background or environment. â€Å"General Systems Theory: A Framework for Analysis and Social Change†Robert J. Gregory, Ph.D. School of Psychology by Smart, Barry 04/1999, ISBN 0761955178 Explain the concept of human diversity and cultural competence? One of the most predominant theories is Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, which assumes that. People learn through observing others’ behavior,  attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors which is called observational learning, that is an indirect form of learning known as vicarious learning and indirect forms of reinforcement which is called vicarious reinforcement .Bandura renamed SLT as social cognitive theory to accommodate the ever increasing importance in his thinking of cognitive factors .SLT has also been enriched by Bandura with his views about the effects of a person’s belief in their own effectiveness in specific situations also known as self –efficacy. According to Bandura, social learning involves a few factors such as, attention where the individual must pay attention to the model and must be able to remember the behavior they have observed so basically retention per se. The observer must be able to replicate the action and must have the motivation to demonstrate what they have learnt .Although motivation to imitate behavior of a model is quite complex. As certain factors have to be taken into consideration, the observer or learner must like the model and identify with the model, as humans tend to imitate people who are like themselves. An observer is more likely to imitate a model that is consistent across situations than someone who behaves in different ways depending on the situation. Also it has been argued by Bandura that people can learn from observing others, not necessarily experiencing the consequences of these actions, themselves. Throughout this essay a detailed account with appropriate reasoning and causes of SLT will be given. What is the importance of equality, diversity and recognizing rights in early year’s services? 1. Legal – having proper policies and procedures in place should prevent successful compensation payouts for proven discrimination. 2. Ethical – it’s morally right to want to provide equal treatment to all stakeholders, especially children and parents/guardians. 3. Social – children can learn to be better citizens in a culturally diverse society, if given the right orientation from the beginning. Why is equality and diversity important in a mental health profession? One could argue it isn’t and that best person should always be chosen regardless as It is mainly a political ideal. However in this case there may in fact be an argument for it as follows. it may be important for those suffering mental issues to feel they are part of a wider community and having a wide selection of diversity etc. (2013, 02). Explain the Social Learning Theory. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 02, 2013, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Explain-The-Social-Learning-Theory-1420930.html