Drama coursework †Response Essay

Introduction In our group we came up with lots of similarities in our thought showers. A lot of us described the Witches the same as in the green faces, long noses warts & spots, and there broom sticks. Some differences that our group came up with is that a few of us thought of modern witches, as in a normal human being look but with witch features, instead of black cats a lot of our group wrote different pet names. Our mind has been influenced about the topic by many things e.g. the media’s outlook on a stereotypical witch, children’s stories also portray witches with the green faces big hats etc. which means movies portray it like this. Also from the image created by our ancestors where the apparent witches were being burnt at the stake. Macbeth extract: focusing on the ‘outsider’ This role-play brought about issues such as how society today fears outsiders. How society today is divided into different groups, such as Goths / punks / gangster and take different paths in life. We fear the outsiders of society because we fail to understand the logic behind their culture / background. This also brings about racism / religion clashes. In the olden days most of the fear was based around witches because they were conveyed as the biggest outsiders. The storyline of our role-play was about a gothic boy who was feared & isolated from family & school because of being a Goth. We started the role play with Steven (the gothic boy) being in a school photo where is he is isolated from the rest of the school and then we went into his home life where his parents & siblings make jokes about his appearance and his way of life. We ended the play with a twist, where Steven was with all his gothic friends and his little brother (Aaron Tovee) walks past Steven and his group of gothic friends and is mocked for being what society would call â€Å"normal† and he is then conveyed as the outsider. We showed isolation in this play from the very first scene. In the first scene we had school photos were Steven (the outsider) was separated a foot away from the rest of the school that were huddled together for the photo. We portrayed an even bigger sense of frustration & isolation by this when the photographer asks Steven to step in the photo and the group moves away from him. The photographer blames Steven and again snaps at Steven to move into the photo. We did this to show how normal society blames the outsider, as if it was just easier to do so. We also showed isolation at the dinner table of Stevens’s family-home. We showed this by having all his siblings laugh and snigger at him and make comments like â€Å"drink blood† because of his gothic background. We ended that scene with Stevens father shouting at Steven telling him he’s not welcome in the home for kicking his sibling under the table (for making the comments) and telling him to get out and hang around with ‘his own kind.’ This made the whole idea of isolation seem a lot more effective because even his father, he whom he should be very close with, kicks him out of the house belting abuse at the top of his voice just because he is a Goth. We also ended our role-play with a twist on the sense of isolation where Steven is with a group of his Goth friends when his little brother walks past and his little brother feels isolated and afraid because he is the outsider there. The crucible Some similarities of ideas that we had on the idea of witchcraft from this stimuli went along the lines of how accusations were so quickly thrown around in the courtroom, and how everyone believed someone who was called a witch. Most people also thought that it was a fairly racist time and that’s why if you was black like the maid in the stimuli the blame was easily put on you. Some differences on the stimuli were about how the accused always showed a sense of fear. How society was so gullible and why the lies were started. In our role play we showed the accusation by the same sort of scene as the stimuli. We had it set in a court-room in the olden times whereas the judge’s verdict was the final, and punishment was death / something incorporating pain. We built hysteria in our role-play by levelling up the amount of volume in the courtroom until it was mayhem and chaos with everyone throwing accusations of being a witch to the accused. We marked the moment where the defence is getting shouted at and abused really badly and she gets up and accuses a man from the courtroom audience. We did this by building up the hysteria with everyone standing up shocked, and built up amount of noise slowly to a really loud volume and then when she got up and said â€Å"It’s him!† we silenced the courtroom immediately so it was just a big awkward silence. Studying this stimulus helped us understand the context at the time because it showed how gullible society was at that time period. An example of this is the fact that everyone believed that a person was a witch just by someone else’s word. The stimulus also shows that there was a big thing about racism in that time. An example of this is where the black woman was blamed for being the witch and beat brutally, the accusation was easily accepted by society because of the colour of her skin. Forum Theatre. Our class used forum theatre through studying a news article about a woman sacrificing her two babies to Satan. We then used this as a stimulus and did a whole-class courtroom drama, where we would switch places (defence, prosecution, judge, witnesses etc) This was useful to use because it made you think on the spot about the subject and it also improved your improvisation skills. Using the court-room drama attached with forum theatre was very useful because reading about just the sacrifice gave you a biased opinion about what really happened. But when we used the courtroom drama we had to act as defence as well so you started thinking about both sides of the story, and maybe reasons for why they did it. When playing the witnesses it also opened up that it might not just affect the family it could also affect other people around too. Conclusion My understanding of the topic has developed through studying the different stimuli a lot because you start to realise that witchcraft isn’t all fairytales and children’s books. It can be portrayed through children’s theatre, but also relate to serious events such as when the babies were sacrificed by the mother to Satan and such. Studying the different stimuli in different times and cultures developed our Understanding a lot too because you can see that not along ago was it that people actually were killed for being accused of witches, and everything was done through religion, and people believed in God strongly. You can see that science has developed through the ages and changed the thoughts of people today drastically through things such as the theory of evolution, which puts people in 2 minds about the creation of mankind, and even questions religion. Therefore people aren’t willing to believe things like witchcraft anymore as it has become abnormal for us to comprehend supernatural things.

Analysis of Software Services Industry Essay

Q1 – Which industry is being analyzed? The industry that will be a part of my analysis is the software services & consulting industry. I would simplify and constrict it further to consulting services based on a global development model – provide r procure services from anywhere in the world to any part of the world. I have been associated with this industry or business model for over a decade. As a business consultant I provide my services to my client & manage their IT operations, including large programs that align with their strategic needs. Software services industry started gaining a lot of attention since the mid-80s. The reason was personal computing capabilities that democratized the digitized world from large companies to households. Since then advances in networking & technologies have catapulted the world we live in into different dimensions. Since the 90s, as the Eastern Europe & Asian countries opened post-communism, with decrease in network cost & high availability, software services made a paradigm s hift. Q2 – Barriers to Entry Economies of scale The software industry is highly competitive. First we will analyze the economies to scale. Usually with all industries the overhead costs are spread with the scale of operations. However, the fixed cost in the software outsourcing industry is low. The only real fixed costs are those of buildings where industry workers sit and perform their work and sales. In comparison with the revenues, the required assets to perform the work being very low, software industry faces very low advantage related to economy of scale. Everything else, management costs, cost of administration, cost of equipment like computers etc are somewhat proportional to the number of resources employed. However, an entrant into this industry may need to pay higher salary to their employees being new in the industry, since the risk involved in joining a new company from the perspective of a potential employee, is higher compared to established names and large companies whose operations may be diversified geographically or across industries. Similarly, larger companies are able to market the services to potential customers while the cost of the sales team gets proportionately divided across delivery units. Thus a larger company is able to enjoy economies of scale over smaller, new entrants. Distribution Channels Distribution is a critical function in the software industry. Ability to market potential products or services for a particular company depends on the ability of the sales team to grow a relationship with customers. For some companies the relationship is managed by delivery teams who can interact more closely with the customer’s management group. Usually the customers have their operations unit as well as a separate vendor management unit. Usually the larger companies have their sales teams interact with the vendor management group, while the relationship with operations and domain capability groups are maintained by the core delivery group who are more oriented towards the day to day operations of the clients. Essentially, distribution channels towards the customer is maintained both by delivery as well as vendor management units. And building up the relationship with clients is usually a time-taking process and does include costs when a new customer is approached by the sales team with the capabilities of the service or product providers in the software industry. Capital Requirements The capital requirement in the industry is usually low. Small companies can operate by just renting small buildings or some even from home offices. Networking facilities can also be hired with low cost in this age. As such with low capital requirements, the industry offers as ease of entrance. Switching Costs Switching suppliers is not easy in this industry. The primary purpose of every service provider is to build a repository of knowledge sufficient enough to service the operations of the client. And since it takes time and effort to build up this repository, either through people or through documents, it is usually difficult to switch suppliers – in terms of time, cost as well as the risks involved in impacting operations in case of an unsuccessful event in managing operations. The bigger factor of switching is the comfort factor of the customers in this industry in dealing with switching of providers. As a result, this is probably the most important aspect in barriers of entry. Cost disadvantages independent of scale For a potential entrant, there are multiple barriers independent of scale. One is the need to get resources with certifications and a high level of skill. The industry builds competency and certifications usually form a precious measure of it. For eg., customers usually demand a PMP certified project manager or legal-certifications needed for resources supporting compliance related operations or CPAs supporting accounting operations. Also there are certain cost and continuity advantages related to services being sourced offshore (like India & China) as opposed to on-shore or near-shore services. Usually the ability to service clients from Offshore is so strong, it is unusual to open operations without an Offshore unit being able to service clients, just from sheer cost & continuity of service operations perspective. The industry operations are primarily driven by the labor cost arbitrage paradigm. In short, we see a number of barriers of entries in this industry, usually from distribution channels, switching costs and other costs independent of scale rather than prohibitive capital requirements in some other industries. Q3-Substitutes The primary form of substitute comes from the individual contracting as well as permanent staff categories of the clients, being managed by the client’s organization as in-house. Before software or consulting outsourcing services industry was present, all the work used to be performed in-house or with individual contractors being managed by the client’s IT division. On the other hand the mode of operations of Indian software services companies are SoW based; most companies operate in a turn-key mode rather than substituting for permanent employees and contractors. This has enabled client to concentrate on their core processes and business while keeping a lean management structure to enable their IT operations. This has cost savings associated with the expertise that they gain from companies whose primary focus is IT operations. Although the industry has moved away from in-house IT operations, but still this remains as the primary alternative for clients against the outsourced software services providing industry operating under a GDM model. Another possible substitute can be in-sourcing. In in-sourcing a company has a special contractual relationship either with a specific unit of itself or another group which specializes in managing or performing a specific function within itself. An example is that of UPS which repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees acting on behalf of Toshiba. Such in-sourcing capabilities can be performed onshore or near-shore by companies themselves or specific companies working on behalf of another. Although not in vogue as much like outsourcing, specific knowledge &capabilities of certain companies or groups of companies knowing & performing on behalf of another organization or another unit of the same company can form a powerful substitute in the future. Q4 – Pressure of Suppliers The primary supplier in this industry is labor force. Other than labor there are network service providers. The labor market demands in this industry are skill specific. Certain skills demand higher rates since the demands are high. Usually there is a demand-supply mismatch currently in the industry favoring the suppliers. The work in demand much outstrips the skills in supply. As such the suppliers currently have an upper hand over the companies that operate in this industry. As such rates of attrition and volatility of personnel changes are pretty high. As a direct result of such attrition, the cost to source appropriate skills is also high. One of the primary reasons why the industry has seen a boom of offshoring is to reduce the cost of procuring skills on-site or near-shore facilities. Both India & China, with their high number of available educated skilled resources at a comparative lower costs and less benefits is able to provide a better cost alternative to the industry. As days have passed, more and more operations are being sourced at Offshore, now including development, testing, BPOs, KPOs and in some cases architecture consulting too. Increasing costs and heavy demand of appropriate skills has made the industry highly competitive from the supplier side. However, on the other hand, the industry does not have formalized unions (primarily due to demand mismatch) and continues to be attractive in that front. Q5 – Pressure of Customers The presence of large number of customers in the industry has somewhat enabled the customers to put pressure on the service providers. Through competitive bidding, customers are pitted against one another to force pressure. Specially in a multi-vendor scenario, especially with reduction in client’s IT investment, suppliers try to encroach each other’s area of operations leading to greater pressure being exerted by the client’s with relation to cost or quality or sometimes even commanding additional work or some items to be done for free. With the increase in software services outsourcing and freely available resources in the market with specialized knowledge or skill on specific functions of the IT industry, the knowledge-gap between software providers have dwindled. With the customer in recent years cutting back on their IT investment has meant greater pressure to the software providers. In some cases customers even have asked for long term commitment through competitive fixed price bidding for multi-year operations projects without defining scope of the work appropriately. This has caused imperfect and sometimes incorrect pricing situations. With availability of a large number of providers with GDM capabilities have enabled customers exert their will over the service providers. In that respect, both from supplier and customer side, the margins of the service providers have reduced considerably as well as the growth of the industry has diminished also. Q6 – Rivalry in the industry All the factors stated above – lower barrier of entry due to low capital requirements, pressure from customers with reduction in IT expenditure and investment, pressure from suppliers due to higher cost of skilled resources & attrition and the availability of a viable alternative from in-house resources result in a very high level of intense competition. Earlier the outsourcing companies like IBM, PWC, Deloitte used to operate in onshore or near-shore locations only. But with the increase of India, China & Brazil being powerful & intense alternate destinations, the outsourcing industry has taken a powerful dimension of off-shoring resulting in lowering revenues, decreasing profit margins or in some cases being eliminated from competition. The US based companies also face greater pricing pressure from Indian locals since they already have established in USA and Indian workers prefer joining named Indian companies like Infosys, Wipro, TCS who provide them with better opportunities. The current industry does not have any market leaders as the top companies are equally competitive with mostly similar operating model utilizing aggressively the labor cost arbitrage phenomenon between societies in a globalized environment. Even the services that these companies produce are similar with very few differentiating factors (like cost or brand image). With reduced IT expenditure due to great recession companies more often than not poach other’s established customers or employees. Also the growth that was established a decade or so ago with enhanced software services offshoring enabled the companies take a very aggressive growth strategy; but with a rapid reduction of growth as well as margins, the competition has become enhanced between various industry players with higher level of competency to address potential barriers of entry. Overall the industry has been dynamic with priorities shifting across geographies and the access to competition & customers are getting easier while access to resources is getting stiffer.

Changing the Reputation of Nursing Homes

According to Sampsell (2003), In the next 25 years, 76 million baby boomers are preparing to enter the nursing home (LTC) (p. 41). For elderly people who need to strengthen medical care, special nursing home for seniors is a major provider of elderly people who usually have long-term health problems related to disability and dysfunction (Luskey and Ingman, 1994 , P. 265). Due to the anticipated increase in service demand, industry leaders will be able to understand households, consumers, and employees about nursing care facilities by implementing non-traditional principles for attracting new residents I am trying to change. The special nursing home for the elderly has made tremendous changes in the past few decades. Government regulation and pressure from consumers are driving these changes. Today's sanatorium is a highly regulated quality institution for care and treatment of elderly with severe and / or mental disorders. There is no similar rule to aid living facilities to take car e of special nursing home for the elderly. Almost half of the people living in the nursing home for the elderly are over 85 years old. Relatively small resident is under 65 years old. Most are women (72%), many of them do not have spouses (about 70% have been widows, divorced or never married), only a few families and friends are seeking support. The shortage of nursing for nurses in special nursing home for the elderly has been a problem in the medical field for many years. This shortage has a serious impact on today's social welfare facilities and special nursing home for the aged. Because 8.1% of nurses became missing in 2008, it is important to understand the situation of nurses (solving the lack of care, 2010). In order to help people understand more about the shortage of nurses, this article will discuss resource shortages, stakeholders, economic flows, changes in supply and demand, pricing. Moral care and care in a special nursing home for the elderly are essential. There are many unethical practices in special nursing home for the elderly. Since it is doubtful whether the special nursing home for the elderly is safe or not, the special nursing home for the elderly needs to take care of the elderly and those who can no longer manage it at home. Many residents believe that nursing homes are their home. - In the beginning of the 20th century, there is no sanatoria we are talking about now. If the elderly can not go anywhere, they will be sent to a devastated poor farm. On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act to provide appropriate subsidies to each state 's old aid (OAA). This in turn starts opening up private houses, allowing people to live in nursing homes and request old age allowances.

No Child Left Behind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No Child Left Behind - Essay Example According to the research findings Wang and Fahey do not propose any particular questions but write that their research project had to examine the â€Å"growth patterns of parent volunteerism by national region, metropolitan status, gender, ethnicity, and immigrant status†. Later in their article, Wang and Fahey specify that their main hypothesis is that parents living in regions with strong civic traditions are more likely to volunteer than those living in large metropolitan areas. Wang and Fahey hypothesized that, in metropolitan communities, the lack of the sense of closeness failed to encourage parents to participate in their children’s learning, whereas parents in nonmetropolitan communities would be guided by the sense of cohesion and display stronger intentions to participate. There is no explicit conceptual framework for parental volunteerism and its implications for education. However, Wang and Fahey build on previous studies and use the results of their litera ture review to create a complex conceptual image of parental volunteerism and the factors affecting it. As such, Wang and Fahey link the concept of parental volunteerism to region and metropolitan status, gender, ethnicity, and immigrant status. Since parental volunteerism is not a theoretical but practical construct, no connections between the authors’ empirical observations and real-world settings have been provided. The analysis of previous findings makes it easier for the reader to develop theoretical-empirical links based on the study results. That Wang and Fahey (2010) provide a detailed discussion of the dependent and independent variables is one of the strongest sides of their research. In this study, the dependent variable was Volunteer, whereas independent variables included the time trend (Year 2002, Year 2004, and Year 2006), the regional status trend, gender, race/ethnicity and citizenship (Wang & Fahey, 2010). The notion of trends is extremely vague, and it is r ather difficult for the reader to develop and understand strong connections between the dependent and independent variables. Unfortunately, the researchers do not explain the meaning of these dependent variables, nor do they provide any detailed explanation of the components that make up these trends. Consequentially, tracing the process and progress of the statistical analysis is rather problematic, although the research design and procedure fit in the purpose and conditions of the discussed study. Wang and Fahey (2010) used the benefits of cross-sectional study design and relied on quantitative methods of data analysis. Statistical analyses were performed with the help of SAS 9.2. The benefits of statistical analyses cannot be overstated, as they ensure greater precision and accuracy of study results. The choice of logistic regressions was justified by the need to find and explain correlations among independent and dependent variables. In this sense, the statistical procedure is c onsistent with the goal and expected outcomes of the discussed research. Nevertheless, the choice of statistical methods raises the question of the applicability and practicality of the study findings and their implications for understanding the major education processes under the influence of NCLB. Wang and Fahey (2010) claim, that they collected their data from the Current

City Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

City Demographics - Essay Example As the essay highlights crime is a social problem in Chicago and several sociological issues affect and fuel the rate of crime in the city. As such, it is important to understand that crime is a normal form of behavior in any environment, but several factors fuel the rate of crime in a specific area. From a sociological perspective, crime encompasses the violations that occur on the prerequisites of the wellbeing and welfare of any human. Any violation of human rights is a crime. In analysis of Chicago, several violations of the rights of humans, have led to numerous murder cases in the city. This paper declares that there is a lot of poverty in Chicago, a main cause for the high prevalence of crime in the city. There are various impoverished districts in Chicago where the minority in the country resides, with an example of the South Side district of Englewood. As such, there is an increasing rise of population in the city who want an improved lifestyle and social resources for their daily upkeep. There is also the rise of the culture of the young people wanting more in life and faster success, a fact that they enable through engaging in crime. There also exists the problem of guns in the city where there has been a problem to control the ownership of guns around the city. As such, there has been a focus on reducing crime in the city from every department, and especially with the increased murder of children and women. This is a social problem caused by the prevailing low educational standards in the area.

AMRICAN Jewish Striggle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AMRICAN Jewish Striggle - Essay Example At the same time, those from Germany called themselves Ashkenazi Jews (Rosove 50). With the American Independence, the nation granted its citizens freedom which extended to religion. Consequently, Jews had to struggle against members of their community dissenting from their Judaic religion to join among other religious inclinations, Christianity, Atheism and secular ways of life. Jews had to withstand prejudices promoted by the freedom of worship in the United States. Starting from the 1840, American Jews struggled against widespread adoption of American models in their synagogues which threatened their long-held traditions. For example, rabbis began to merge aspects of their religion with Orthodox and Protestant American denominations as others sought to adopt the Reform Judaism (Rosove 52). When the American Civil War began, Jews also found themselves split into Southern pro-slavery and Northern anti-slavery Jews. The ensuing tensions brought anti-Semitic sentiments in America to the fore. In the armies, Jews fought to have their own chaplains until the law was amended to allow this (normally, only Christian ordained ministers occupied this role). In 1872, General Order No.1; an anti-Jewish order called for the expulsion of Jews from General Ulysses Grant’s army regiment. Protests by Jews made President Abraham Lincoln reverse the order (Sarna and Golden). Politics, particularly prior to and after World War II has presented a trying existence for American Jews. The persecution of Jews by the Stalinist regime in Russia, the Nazi regime in Germany and the Holocaust show manifestations of Jewish struggles that account for significant immigration to the U.S (Charters 24). After 1948, American Jews have fought with allegiance and political identity issues around the sense of belonging to the Zionist nation of Israel and the U.S. The Palestinian and Arab World challenge on the

Collective Bargaining Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Collective Bargaining - Research Paper Example Negotiation is there in the corporate as well. When it comes to the corporate, negotiation is known as collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a process where both managerial officials and the union can place their opinion and they can have a mutual agreement on their interest (Holley, W. H. & Et. Al., â€Å"The Labor Relations Process†). Each and every person has the power to fight for their own interest, but when it is collective bargaining both the parties will have a systematic negotiation, so that both the parties remain satisfied. Collective bargaining has become a famous and a common aspect in almost every organization. Collective bargaining is a politically powerful arrangement. The managerial board decides to negotiate with their employees or with the union, so that they can have a continuous and a peaceful work process in the future (Holley, W. H. & Et. Al., â€Å"The Labor Relations Process†). In the relation to the above discussion, one incident can be observed. United Steelworkers (USW) has successfully bargained various different provisions to improve several facilities and the safety of the workers working at ArcelorMittal at 14 plants in around eight states in the US. In fact, for the on-site employees’ health and safety they have appointed few representatives and a union safety committee. USW negotiated an increase in the minimum number of safety training hours per worker as well as an agreement by the company to provide flame-resistant clothing (American Federation of Labor, â€Å"Collective Bargaining†). This development would help the organization to have continued production, good intrapersonal relationship among the employees and the superiors. It will help to reduce the medication cost on the employee. A Recent Article on Collective Bargaining The Major League Baseball (MLB) is one of the most recognized organizations in the field of baseball. MLB has their steroid policy for their players, and the investigation department is under strict observation and rules and norms. Recently, MLB had a tough time in the organization and they had to bring certain changes in the policies. And, which was done by collective bargaining. This is a pertinent example of a successful collective bargaining. The article presented about the incident describes that two particular players of the organization were found guilty out of their steroid test. And, the company had appointed a person as consultant to look into the matter. When the result or the report was out, the players did not take it seriously and they showed their doubts regarding the findings. Therefore, the higher officials decided to take an action and they brought certain changes i

Risk management practices in the service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk management practices in the service - Essay Example 14). The manual further defines the fire department's mission as "managing risk for others" (FEMA, 1996, p. 23). In carrying out this mission, the manual lists ways a fire department can manage individual risks or "things that go wrong when departments attempt to deliver services that define this mission" (FEMA, 1996, p. 24). The areas discussed include personnel, fire inspection precautions, administration and communication. Next, the manual discusses application of risk management. Recommendations are given regarding assessment of risk and bravery in the face of risk. Bravery may be accepted to save lives but it is inappropriate to risk one's life, "when there are no lives to be saved" (FEMA, 1996, p. 64). The manual describes public expectations, occupational safety and health, principles and development of incident action plans, incident commander responsibilities, and roles in the firefighting organization. Examples are given with regard to unoccupied buildings, unusual situational risks, time factors, unacceptable risks, strategies, communication, personal protective equipment, experience, judgment and training. The manual also emphasizes the importance of pre-incident planning and management of information. Even with this focus on concept and application, the manual is missing key elements that could reduce fatalities among firefighters.

Critical Thinking Reflection Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Critical Thinking Reflection - Article Example The most important information in this article is web can be dangerous and thus need to learn to control the use and addiction to social media and the web to our advantage as we take measures not to sway away from reality as we are pegged all day to these machines and networks. The fact that Russell’s Facebook, Youtube and Twitter accounts were almost dead before he posted the videos shows that by that time he was living in the real world, but after his fame, he even cut down his sleeping hour and patterns which affected his mental health. The author’s arguments are strong in the credibility of the information and his connection to the real life. For instance, viewing computers and networks as tools that helped Russell support his mission, have turned out to tear his psyche and exposing him to kudos and criticisms, with the article’s heading. Authors weaknesses can be traced his failure to argue exactly on what other uses of the web apart from the social site lik e Facebook, Youtube and Twitter can affect both socially and psychologically. In his arguments, he concentrates much on these sites which are accompanied by likes, shares, kudos and criticisms but the overall web includes other site of knowledge search, which he did not argue on their effects. The main conclusion of this article is that the web has both positive effect and negative ones. The effective use, management and control of addiction to these media are important because the uncontrolled use and overreliance can transform our perception and interactions to those of cyborgs. The best practice would be to prepare psychologically on the criticisms and kudos associated with content posted online and more so concentrate on the  productive part of the web like knowledge search and business information.  

Assess the view that the positions of men Essay Example for Free

Assess the view that the positions of men Essay Over the past few decades the roles of men and women have changed drastically. These changes occur throughout society, within a family or in a relationship. In the past, the most common relationship between the two genders would have been very different, with the men being viewed as more masculine and of higher authority, whereas the women of a society would have been viewed to have a stay at home role, where they would look after children and participate in household chores. During the 1900’s women were seen a minority, where the slightest amount of freedom would have been frowned upon. Nonetheless over the years, as we have developed, so have the different role for both genders, this now consists of sharing jobs equally in a household and around a workplace. The most obvious change within a family would be the amount of work the couple share, both in the household and outside of it. Since the 1960, where the civil rights act was released, it detailed that women were now able to work and should be offered equal opportunities as men, whereas in the past that would have been forbidden. Due to this seismic change, women are now able to provide for themselves, which in the past would have been extremely difficult as they would have essentially been dependent on their partner’s income. Gershuny, a famous sociologist, said that women who work full time would do less of the domestic labour jobs around the house. However statistics show this is incorrect. Women who work full time tend to still do 73% of the household chores, leavening only 27% to the men, who may or may not work full time. An equally significant aspect of this change would be the commercialisation of society today. Commercialisation of society is defined as the new technologies that have been introduced into today’s world in order to allow basic household chores, which would have takes several hours to do, to be completed within a few hours. The commercialisation of basic household necessities means that couples still have time to work and spend time with each other. For women, supermarket food products; means they don’t have to spend hours cooking and preparing food for the family. This would also mean, washing clothes now has become much easier due to the washing machine appliance. Due to this significant improvement, the hours of domestic labour on a woman has decreased a great deal. In spite of this, the commercialisation of products wouldn’t apply to everyone. Working class families or women would be able to afford such expensive items, however this doesn’t quite apply to poorer women; and hence they would suffer with longer hours of household chores. This also doesn’t take into account who uses these appliances; women still load and unload the dishwasher, or wash clothes. Despite having these appliances, it doesn’t necessarily mean these jobs are equally shared; the majority of women still complete them. Consequently, men and women are now becoming more equal when it comes to making decisions as a family. In the past men were off more authority and hence they were the ones that made the more important decisions. Stephen Edgell did a study in 1980 which showed that very important decisions were usually taken by men, important decisions were usually taken jointly however rarely by the wife alone, and lastly less important decisions were usually made by the wife alone. This has changed considerably over the years since the decisions are now shared equally. Pooling (where the couple have access to income and joint responsibility) has increased from 19% to 50%; on the other hand, allowance system (where men give their wives and allowance as a weekly budget) has decreased significantly from 36% to 12%. This shows a clear indication of how the roles have changed, although the increase for pooling was very little, we can judge that eventually role will get even. Moreover, we can see from the past that men and women were given gender scripts. Men were seen to be masculine and of higher standard thus they would work. This was often referred to as the instrumental role, where men were the providers. Women were viewed as having a role solely in the house where they would do household chores. This was often referred to as the expressive role, where women were the homemakers. Nonetheless this can be argued with the concept of homosexual couples. For example within a lesbian couple, they wouldn’t have suited gender scripts and hence would have to negotiate roles equally. Also the idea that now a day’s men aren’t the only providers within a family, women also work and hence can provide for themselves as well as their family. Having considered those points, there are many things to suggest things still need a lot of time in order to improve and become slightly equal. A concept that could argue the progress over the years would be the idea of dual burden which explains the roles women take upon themselves, or in other words are expected to take. Many feminists believe women are now doing two shifts, one at work which is paid work, and eventually returning home to do unpaid work. They believe men benefit from both works, as they receive a steady income as well as a clean house. Some also claim that women do three shifts, also called the triple shift. This is described as emotional work which is role which is usually related to women. Women have an extra unpaid shift where they return home to take care of the rest of the family, also called as the ‘labour of love’. Subsequently, it seems convincing to me that although roles have changed over the years, the change itself is very little because the roles within a family still aren’t as equal. Despite having the same job opportunities, the job of domestic labour in a household are far from equal. Nonetheless I believe roles will eventually change one day where they will be close to equal. However I think roles will never be fully equal.

How Military Leavers Can Benefit the Private Industry

How Military Leavers Can Benefit the Private Industry ISSUE TO BE EXAMINED Each year British businesses clamour after the best and brightest coming out of business schools. However, these same businesses often overlook a body of potential employees not only with good or better training, but also with the experience to go with it. Given that military personnel provide a valuable and often taken for granted service to our country, often putting their own lives in danger to defend others, it seems more should be done to assist them in the transition back into civilian life. Such personnel also offer a viable resource for British business, leaving the military with some of the arguably best training in the world and often significantly more experience in a wide variety of areas than others their age who did not undertake military service. This research aims to examine the benefits of military leavers’, particularly officers’, experience and training to private industry. It is hoped findings from this study will aid both military leavers and industry in the UK in connecting, so as to encourage productive employment relationships between the two. Possible outcomes of this research may include some type of publication of findings, or recommendations for military leavers and employers, which would assist employers it taking advantage of this valuable resource and military leavers in finding suitable civilian employment. Specifically, this research undertakes four objectives: To examine the success of military officers in private industry, and how their military training contributed to their success. To identify what specific skills are readily transferable to private industry, and how these can best be articulated to those in hiring positions. To increase awareness amongst those in hiring positions of the often overlooked talent pool of military leavers available to their industry sectors. To consider what private industry must do, if anything, to ensure smooth transition for leavers moving into civilian positions. RELEVANT LITERATURE This project will include a review of literature relevant to the four objectives above. This will include reports and research in former military officers and how they have achieved successful employment in private industry. For example, Shuit (2003) describes the training, people skills, and self-discipline former junior officers bring to the corporate sector. Many others offer similar information (Abrashoff 2002; Anon 2004; Bowers 1996; Joinson 1997; Zicarelli 2000). Specific reports of success across a number of military leavers, rather than concentration on a few case-study type accounts, will be emphasised. Also considered will be the specific skills acquired by military officers that are readily transferable into the civilian workplace. As it is necessary to limit skills to a workable group for research purposes, basic management skills will be emphasised. All officers can be assumed to have received both training and experience in these skills, often much in excess of their civilian counterparts. For example, Questionline reports â€Å"service leavers have spent more time being trained than ninety-nine per cent of civilians†¦ They will be valued, if the employer is able to understand what they are† (Anon 2002). They also argue that British military training is among the best in the world, and has â€Å"considerable civilian value when stripped of its purely military elements and translated into the right language† (Anon 2002). Bowers (1996) similarly contends â€Å"business-management experts say the military builds skills th at can be as valuable in the office as in a war zone† (1). Identifying skills common between the military and private industry will assist both military leavers and HR managers in identifying transferable skills (Anon 2004; Joinson 1997; Zicarelli 2000). Examination of literature will document reasons private employers may overlook leaving military personnel as potential hires. This is undertaken to make recommendations on ways the placement of former military officers in private industry may be improved. For example, Zicarelli (2005) notes that HR positions are increasingly held by people without military experience or reference. As such, understanding and appreciate of military attributes can no longer be assumed. Additionally, many military leavers had to perservere in searching for civilian positions, often learning through turn-downs how to finally present their experience in a way understandable to the typical civilian HR manager (Shuit 2003; Investors Business Daily 2004). Methods employers or organisations have found successful in aiding military officers in transitioning into civilian employment will be analysed, with the purpose of developing broad recommendations for use in the private sector. These will include tactics employed by individual HR managers and company-wide programmes. For example, American companies such as Home Depot, Coors and General Motors have programmes specifically designed to recruit military leavers (ICFAI (2004; Zicarelli 2005). British employers with similar programmes, if any, will also be reviewed. It is anticipated that data in this section will included both information for the individual HR manager and concerning developing company-wide initiatives. Finally, the literature considered in this review will concentrate on those leaving the British military who seek and / or obtain employment in the UK. Supporting literature from countries with similar militaries and economies, such as Australia, Canada, and the United States will be additionally considered from a supportive standpoint. METHODOLOGY Data will be collected from two groups of people: former military officers who have successfully transitioned into civilian employment, and HR personnel in charge of hiring. Open-ended questions designed from issues arising through the review of relevant literature will be used. It is anticipated these open-ended questions will solicit a variety of responses, but will also allow documentation of actual perceptions and observations from interviewees, rather than reduce their experiences to a defined group of possible responses. It is anticipated that questions will be framed within the four stated objectives, however, this framework may be adapted if significant findings from the literature review warrant such change. The planned sample size is ten interviews for each group. While this is statistically too small a sample to make relevant statistical conclusions, the purpose of this research is to articulate transferable skills and raise awareness to the benefits in hiring military leavers, neither of which require the statistical justification of a large sample size. This is additionally a large enough group of interviews to allow broad generalisations about issues outlined in the project objectives to be examined without the possible skewing of one person’s atypical experience that might occur with a sample of only two or three interviews. In addition, ten is a workable number of interviews for the researcher to conduct within the project time guidelines. Companies in a variety of civilian pursuits will be examined, with additionally at least two small, two medium, and two large organisations present in the sample of HR managers. A list of companies currently hiring for management positions will be gathered from Internet and newspaper advertisements. These companies will then be drawn at random to establish an order for contact, with each contacted by letter and follow-up phone calls. Interviews of approximately one hour will be requested, with an overview of the questions to be asked provided with the letter. Contact of companies will continue until ten interviews are secured. Former military officers will be identified through two means. First, the researcher will seek recommendations from those in private industry as to successful former military officers. If ten persons willing to participate in interviews are not acquired through this method, HR managers interviewed as part of the first group of this research will be asked to provide names in their companies or others of potential interviewees. Both groups of interviewees will be promised and supplied with a copy of the final research project. Data will be analysed to develop a skills set that is clearly identified as relevant, the benefits and drawbacks of hiring military leavers, and ways to increase companies’ awareness of potential post-military hires. This will be done first by thorough examination of the transcripts of each interview, followed by statistical gathering of the number of times and importance each item considered was provided by the interviewees. Similarities present in items identified in the interviews will be described and supported with relevant quotes from interview transcripts. A summary of the most relevant answers to each question will be included in an appendix to the report. Obviously, it is not possible to consider all types of military leavers with their myriad of training and experience, or all the needs of private industry that such personnel could fulfil. Therefore, this study will concentrate on the basic management skills typically acquired by all military personnel achieving a rank of at least junior officer. It will examine how this basic management acumen translates into successful civilian employment. Also, since a large number of military personnel go into the defense industry and it already typically recruits military leavers, only companies and positions outside the defense sector will be considered. REQUIRED RESOURCES It is anticipated the most significant resources this project will require are time and people. Twenty interviews of approximately one hour each will be conducted, not to mention the time required to arrange such interviews and analyse results. Getting busy workers to provide an hour of their day for an interview that do not immediately benefit them may not be so easy. It is important to line up persons to interview that can make contributions to the areas considered in the research. The project requires little capital outlay beyond letters, copying of the final report and postage. A small tape-recorder may be used to better document interviews, in which case this would be an additional expense. In addition, it may be necessary to interview some people over their lunch times, in which case politeness would require the researcher to foot the dining bill. PROJECT PLAN The literature review will be completed within thirty days of the project approval, and interview questions developed. These questions will then be submitted to the supervisor for feedback and recommendations. Towards the end of this period, a list of companies and individuals that may be potential interviewees will be developed. Interviews should be arranged within two weeks, and completed within the next two to three weeks. After that, data will be analysed and a project report draft written, which will be forwarded to the project supervisor for comments. Finally, the final report will be generated. Tentative Project Plan: Week 1 Begin literature review research. Week 2 Continue literature review research. Week 3 Continue literature review research. Week 4 Write literature review, create interview questions. Week 5 Begin compiling interview list, interview questions to supervisor. Week 6 Finish compiling interview list, write and send out letters. Week 7 Follow-up letters with phone calls, arrange interviews. Week 8 Continue arranging interviews, begin conducting interviews. Week 9 Continue conducting interviews. Week 10 Finish conducting interviews. Week 11 Analyse data, begin writing project report. Week 12 Finish draft of project report, draft to supervisor. Week 13 Make changes to draft as recommended by supervisor. Week 14 Make changes / rewrite draft. This project plan will both ensure the project is completed in a timely manner and is flexible enough to allow for contingencies. REFERENCES Abrashoff, D.M. (2002) It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, New York: Warner Books. Alkhafaji, A. (2003) Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control in a Dynamic Environment, Oxford: Haworth Press. Anon (2002) â€Å"Military skills in a civilian workplace,† Questionline website, October 2002. Available at http://www.questonline.co.uk/ magazine_sections/leaders/military_skills_in_a_civilian_workplace, accessed 21 May 2005. Anon (2004) â€Å"Army is major contributor to UK plc,† Personnel Today, May 4, 2004, p. 4. Bass, B. (1997) Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military and Educational Impact, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Bowers, F. (1996) â€Å"Generals trade their army boots for wingtips in trek to civilian jobs,† Christian Science Monitor, December 2, 1996, Vol. 89, Issue 5, p1. ICFAI (2004) â€Å"Home Depot’s Cultural Evolution,† Case Study, ICFAI Center for Management Research. Available at www.icmrinda.org, accessed 21 May 2005. Investors Business Daily (2004) Military and Political Leaders and Success: 55 Top Military and Political Leaders and How They Achieved Greatness, Higher Education. Joinson, C. (1997) â€Å"What HR can learn from military veterans,† HR Magazine, June 1997, Vol. 42, Issue 6, pp. 116-119. Shuit, D.P. (2003) â€Å"Combat ready and business prepared,† Workforce Management, November 2003, Vol. 82, Issue 12, pp. 24-25. Wightman, S., McAleer, E. (1995) â€Å"Management development: the neglected domain,† Journal of European industrial Training, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 3-10. Zicarelli, R. (2000) â€Å"The Military Advantage,† Veteran’s Business Journal, January / February 2005, pp. 20-26.

Essay --

IMPAIRMENT AWARE ROUTING In WDM technology, the capacity of a fiber is divided into several subscribers by using light paths. In these paths traffic flows. Traffic between a pair of nodes may not fill up the available bandwidth of a light path. The network performance is affected by the transmission impairments which are due to the non ideal optical components. Since we have optical amplifier, optical switches and other optical devices and soon we have all optical equipments with the time and it is possibility that the entire network will be optical network. Transparent Optical Network Opaque Network There are two types of networks. These are opaque network and transparent network. In opaque network we have to do Optical-Electrical-Optical conversion at all nodes in the path. This type of network is costly because if we make a nationwide network then we will have to use a large no. of routers. But to make it less expensive we can use translucent network. In translucent network the regeneration is done only on a few nodes instead of all nodes. Transparent Network The other network that is transparent is less costly because there is no need of OEO conversion at the intermediate nodes. We can send analog signal in the transparent network. The size of transparent network is determined by impairments effects such as Chromatic dispersion (CD), attenuation, crosstalk, noise etc. Effects of Transmission Impairments on Routing and Wavelength Assignment When signal travels from source to destination then it may be ruined by linear and non-linear impairments. Linear impairments are amplifier noise, Group velocity dispersion (GVD), polarization mode dispersion (PMD), component crosstalk. The nonlinear impairments are self-phase modulation... ...s called Physical layer blocking. Advantages ïÆ'Ëœ Network load decreases by using IABP and IAFF ïÆ'Ëœ About 30 % reduction in blocking ïÆ'Ëœ Call admission criteria not only depends on the resource availability but also on quality of light path’s signal ïÆ'Ëœ A light path with good signal quality ïÆ'Ëœ Network resources are in intelligent control ïÆ'Ëœ Network used more efficiently Disadvantages ïÆ'Ëœ This technology cannot compute a route with minimal impairments ïÆ'Ëœ To find a qualified route path for the connection request it needs more than one trial ïÆ'Ëœ Algorithm does not consider residual-dispersion accumulation, power divergence, polarization-dependent loss gain (PDLIPDG), filter concatenation, signal transient, fiber nonlinearities. ïÆ'Ëœ When the data rate increases to 40 Gbps and furthermore, impairments become even more difficult ïÆ'Ëœ As load increases the call blocking increases

Acceptance of the Homosexual Lifestyle: An Evaluation and Comparison be

Acceptance of the Homosexual Lifestyle: An Evaluation and Comparison between the United States and Other Locations The idea of homosexual behavior has created a number of responses worldwide. Currently, the United States has many levels of acceptance of homosexuality. There are places on this earth that have the same outlook as the United States, and there are places that are completely opposite. By looking at these different perspectives, the public could obtain some valuable points in the battle of acceptance. My objective is to give these old ideas a new audience, to show the wide range of acceptance throughout the world, and to compare the United States and other nations challenged to acknowledge a different lifestyle. There are countries that have the same or a similar variety of reactions that are known in the U.S., such as Canada. There are supporters, but there are also many people who reject the homosexual lifestyle. One extreme to the acceptance of gays was illustrated when a Canadian politician made a comment about making homosexuality illegal. The National Post described the public reaction to this blaring comment, â€Å"you could almost hear the collective coast-to-coast gasp of horror† (Kay, 2003, p.A18). Even though this is one politicians belief, the Canadian mass media and market advertising try to make the gay lifestyle look as normal as heterosexual life. If they could fully succeed, it could be considered the, â€Å"greatest PR triumph in history† (Kay, 2003, p.A18). However, like the United States, many citizens of Canada are hesitant to give in. They’re hesitant because this lifestyle is so different. Also, it isn’t in compliance with the Bible. Many families of homosexuals don’t support them; the publ... ...homosexuality. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. Morrison, J. (2004). Man's face slashed in King East bar; Hate crimes unit asked to investigate savage 2 a.m. attack. The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved May 12, 2004, from Lexis-Nexis database on the World Wide Web: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe PR Newswire.(2004, February 23). PlanetOut Partners Launches Families Channel on Gay.com and PlanetOut.com. Retrieved May, 12, 2004, from Lexis-Nexis database on the World Wide Web: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe Stanard, A. (2004, April 10). Gay tourist find acceptance in Buenos Aires: Peso devaluation makes cultured city affordable. The Associated Press. Retrieved April 28, 2004, from Lexis-Nexis database on the World Wide Web: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe Watanabe, T. & Iwata, J. (1989). Love of the Samuri. GMP Publishers Ltd. London.

Censorship of the Internet for Children Essay -- Computers Technology

Censorship of the Internet for Children The Internet is one of the most profound and important technological advancements of this era. It has touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. The Internet has become so embedded into our everyday life that for many, life would almost be unbearable without an internet connection. The Internet has enabled so many people who are so far away from each other a means of communication. It eased the burden of contacting loved ones across the world from each other. Not only does the Internet provide a digital communication playground for users, it also provides them with a sea of invaluable resources. The wealth of information that is available on the Internet is both overwhelming and incredible. Almost everything imaginable to the human mind can be found on the Internet. Whether or not some of this information is legitimate, it still exists and is available to anyone who wants to access it. The Internet has empowered the individuals who are connected t o it with an abundance of resources and information. The Internet has brought about a new means of doing business. It seems that all business models today include the Internet some how. On the surface, the Internet may seem great, wonderful and ingenious however, the ability for everyone to access the Internet is both a blessing and also a curse. It is beautiful that the Internet and its contents are available to everyone, but that â€Å"everyone† includes children who are under the age of 18. The implications of this type of access are extremely problematic both socially and ethically. According to Internet World Stats, the estimated population of the world is about 6.45 billion people with approximately... ...itehouse.com/ â€Å"Whitehouse.com† [11] http://www.craiglist.com â€Å"Visit the Best in Adult Sites† [12] http://www.snapshotspy.com/stats.htm â€Å"Child Computer Usage Statistics† [13] http://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarian.htm â€Å"Utilitarianism† [14] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031025-1.html â€Å"Protection From Pornography Week, 2003†, President of the U.S, Oct. 25, 2003 [15] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58610-2002Nov15.html â€Å"Congress Approves ‘Dot-Kids’ Measure†, David Maguire, Nov. 12, 2002 [16] http://www.kids.us/sitelist.html â€Å"Current Site List† [17] http://www.icra.org/ â€Å"Internet Content Rating Association† [18] http://www.icra.org/_en/about/ â€Å"ICRA At A Glance† [19] http://www.isc.meiji.ac.jp/~sumwel_h/links/linkJ04.htm â€Å"Laws of Japan† [20] http://www.ageofconsent.com/japan.htm â€Å"Age of Consent for Japan†

Literature Review Online Billing System

CDMA BY OKAFOR CHIDUBEM KELVIN 10690152 A SEMINAR REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MOSHOOD ABIOLA POLYTECHNIC,ABEOKUTA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE AWARD OF NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN COMPUTER SCIENCE NOVEMBER, 2012 CHAPTER 1 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Mobile communications are rapidly becoming more and more necessary for everyday activities. With so many more users to accommodate, more efficient use of bandwidth is a priority among cellular phone system operators. Equally important is the security and reliability of these calls.One solution that has been offered is a CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS SYSTEM. CDMA is one method for implementing a multiple access communication system. MULTIPLE ACCESS is a technique where many subscribers or local stations can share the use of the use of a communication channel at the same time or nearly so despite the fact originate from widely different locations. A channel can be thought of as merely a portion of the limited radio resource, which is temporarily allocated for a specific purpose, such as someone’s phone call.A multiple access method is a definition of how the radio spectrum is divided into channels and how the channels are allocated to the many users of the system. Since there are multiple users transmitting over the same channel, a method must be established so that individual users will not disrupt one another. There are essentially three ways to do this. Code Division Multiple Access is a new technology used in wireless communication devices. This technology made its commercial debut in the early nineties.Significant advantage of the CDMA is the fact that unlike other modulation schemes it does not have to allocate part of the frequency for each user. It allocates whole frequency spectrum to each user, distinguishing each signal with the unique pseudo-random sequence. CDMA stands for â€Å"Code Division Multiple Access. † It is a form of spread-spectrum, an advanced digital wireless transmissi on technique. Instead of using frequencies or time slots, as do traditional technologies, it uses mathematical codes to transmit and distinguish between multiple wireless conversations.Its bandwidth is much wider than that required for simple point-to-point communications at the same data rate because it uses noise-like carrier waves to spread the information contained in a signal of interest over a much greater bandwidth. However, because the conversations taking place are distinguished by digital codes, many users can share the same bandwidth simultaneously. We are moving into a new era of communications and information technology. Personal Competitiveness in business in relies more and more on increase personal productivity and responsiveness.Today everybody is on the move and mobile is the only way to keep contact with that person. 1 But now a days peoples want multimedia facilities from their mobile handset. But it requires high data rate, hi efficiency and many more technical things, which are available in third generation. (CDMA) so the CDMA TECHNOLOGY makes existing mobile handset more efficient and attractive. CDMA (3G) mobile devices and services will transform wireless communications into on-line, real-time connectivity. 3G wireless technology will allow an individual to have immediate access to location-specific ervices that offer information on demand. The first generation of mobile phones consisted of the analog models that emerged in the early 1980s. The second generation of digital mobile phones appeared about ten years later along with the first digital mobile networks. During the second generation, the mobile telecommunications industry experienced exponential growth both in terms of subscribers as well as new types of value-added services. Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the preferred means of personal communication, creating the world's largest consumer electronics industry.The rapid and efficient deployment of new wireless data and Inte rnet services has emerged as a critical priority for communications equipment manufacturers. Network components that enable wireless data services are fundamental to the next-generation network infrastructure. Wireless data services are expected to see the same explosive growth in demand that Internet service and wireless voice services have seen in recent years. 1. What is CDMA? Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital cellular spread-spectrum modulation technique that implements distributed voice and data networks.CDMA works by converting speech into digital information, which is then transmitted as a radio signal over a wireless network. CDMA does not assign a specific frequency to each user, but the full available spectrum. Each signal is encoded differently using a unique code. This way CDMA enables a large number of users to share the same frequency band at the same time, without interference. The receiving device is instructed to use the code to extract the data out of the received signal. 2 CHAPTER 2 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 HistoryThe first generation of cellular systems, which include the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Systems), was introduced in the early 1980s. These systems used analog frequency modulation (FM) and have a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) based media access control (MAC) architecture. Within a few years, market demands and capacity requirements began to grow hitting the practical limitations. These limitations motivated the development of the second generation cellular systems, which improved compatibility and accommodated higher capacity than the first generation systems.These systems use digital modulation and processing techniques. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) and (narrowband) CDMA belong to the second generation systems. CDMA was introduced in 1994, by Qualcomm, Inc. Using direct sequence code division multiple access, it claimed to provide 10 times more ca pacity than analog systems ? far more than TDMA or GSM. Today, CDMA is the basis to the third generation market in the United States and other places in the world. 2. 2 Background A cellular system is called so because it divides the service area into small transmission areas called cells.Each cell contains a base station (BTS), which consists of a transceiver and a receiver in order to connect   to mobile phones in the cell. Each cell is assigned a group of radio channels (frequencies). 3 2. 3 The Cellular Challenge The world's first cellular networks were introduced in the early 1980s, using analog radio transmission technologies such as AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System). Within a few years, cellular systems began to hit a capacity ceiling as millions of new subscribers signed up for service, demanding more and more airtime. Dropped calls and network busy signals became common in many areas.To accommodate more traffic within a limited amount of radio spectrum, the industry dev eloped a new set of digital wireless technologies called TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile). TDMA and GSM used a time-sharing protocol to provide three to four times more capacity than analog systems. But just as TDMA was being standardized, an even better solution was found in CDMA. 2. 4 Commercial Development The founders of QUALCOMM realized that CDMA technology could be used in commercial cellular communications to make even better use of the radio spectrum than other technologies.They developed the key advances that made CDMA suitable for cellular, then demonstrated a working prototype and began to license the technology to telecom equipment manufacturers. The first CDMA networks were commercially launched in 1995, and provided roughly 10 times more capacity than analog networks – far more than TDMA or GSM. Since then, CDMA has become the fastest-growing of all wireless technologies, with over 100 million subscribers worldwide. In add ition to supporting more traffic, CDMA brings many other benefits to carriers and consumers, including better voice quality, broader coverage and stronger security. CHAPTER 3 3. 0 DISCUSSION 3. 1 Multiple Access Systems A Multiple access system is the technology that specifies the way multiple users can share the same transmission medium. There are three main types of multiple access system, each of which has its own way of sharing the bandwidth:   ? Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) FDMA and TDMA are narrowband technologies, and CDMA is wideband. FDMA and TDMA In the FDMA technology, signals from various users are assigned different frequencies.When a frequency channel is assigned to a user, no other user of the same cell or in the neighboring cell can use it at the same time. In the TDMA technology, the information from each user is conveyed in time intervals cal led time slots. A few users using a different time slot might share the same frequency. When all the available time slots in a given frequency are used, a new user connecting to the system must be assigned a time slot on a different frequency. In a way, TDMA is very similar to a computer with only one processor that seems to run multiple processes simultaneously.Only one person is actually using the frequency channel at any given moment, and then has to give up the channel to allow other users to use it. Code division multiple access (CDMA) systems are spread spectrum systems in which the users are able to transmit simultaneously in the same frequency channel and use the entire system's spectrum. 5 2. FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS In this technique, the available bandwidth is split up into non-overlapping frequency bands and these disjoint sub bands of frequency are allocated to the different users on a continuous time basis.In order to reduce interference between users allocat ed adjacent channel bands, channel bands are used to act as buffer zones, as illustrated in figure(1). These guard bands are necessary because of the impossibility of achieving ideal filtering for separating the different users. It could be compared to AM or FM broadcasting radio where each station has a frequency assigned. 3. 3 TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS In this technique, each user is allocated the full spectral occupancy of The channel, but only for a short duration of time called time slot.Buffers zones are in the form of guard times are inserted between the assigned time slots. This is done to reduce interference between users by allowing for time uncertainty that arises due to system imperfections, especially in synchronization scheme. 3. 4 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS The above drawbacks are overcome in this third technique in which the users are spread across both frequency and time in the same Channel. This is a hybrid combination of FDMA and TDMA. For example, frequenc y hopping may be employed to ensure during each successive time slot, the frequency bands assigned to the users are recorded in random manner.During time slot 1, user 1 occupies frequency band 1, user 2 occupies frequency band 2, user 3 occupies band 3 and so on. During time slot 2, user 1 hops to frequency band 3, user 2 hops to band 1, user 3 hops to band 2, and so on. An important advantage of CDMA over FDMA and TDMA is that it can provide for secure communication. 6 3. 5 Generating the CDMA signal In the CDMA technique the signal transmissions among the multiple users completely overlap in both time and frequency. The separation between the users is made by assigning each user a unique code.Generally, CDMA converts analog voice signal to a digital signal, encodes the digital signals, and separates voice and control data into data streams called channels. Generating a CDMA signal is a five steps process: The first step is analog to digital conversion or A/D. The incoming voice si gnal is an analog signal meaning that it is changing constantly, taking on all possible values of amplitude range. The CDMA uses a digital signal for its further manipulations. That digital signal is characterized by discrete states. In that step the analog voice signal is quantized to form a digital signal consists of a few levels.The second step is voice coding or Vocoding. Voice encoding is the process of compressing the audio into as small a stream of bits as possible. The vocoder takes advantage of the pauses in speech to accomplish maximum compression. The Vocoder’s rate must be variable to fit the rate of the user’s speech activity. The third step is encoding and interleaving. This step purpose is to reduce the errors when receiving the signal. Interleaving is a method of reducing the effects of burst errors and recovering lost bits. The symbols are interleaved such that originally neighboring symbols will be transmitted far away from each other.In addition to t hat, the various encoding methods add redundancy to the signals to help the recovery of information at the receiver in case of errors. The forth step is channelizing. The signal of each user if further encoded to create a separation between different users. A unique identification code is given to each user and the signals of all users are transmitted together, sharing the same frequency and time. The CDMA receiver decodes the signal by multiplying it by a decoding sequence of the desired user. 7 Two common codes types are Walsh code and PN (pseudo random noise) code: The Walsh code is used for forward CDMA channel (e. . cell to mobile direction of communication). Walsh codes are orthogonal, meaning that the code of each user can be decoded at the receiver only by using the same Walsh code used to transmit the signal. The PN code is used for reverse CDMA channel (e. g. mobile to cell direction of communication). A series of digital signals 0? s and 1? s goes into an antipodal mappin g device to produce bit stream of negative and positive 1? s. Each user signal is then multiplied by the PN code series. At this moment the signals occupy a wide frequencies spectrum. The PN sequence rate is much higher than that of the original signal. It is enerated in a deterministic manner, and is repetitive. However there are about 4. 4 trillion combinations of this code, and for practical purposes we may assume that this sequence is truly random. The data signal and the PN sequence can be described mathematically as follows: The data signal b(t) is expressed as [pic] Where – [pic]  is an independent identically distributed random variable representing the i-th data bit. [pic]  is a unit rectangular pulse given by   [pic]  = 1 for 0 ? t ? T and zero otherwise. T is the data bit duration. The data signal b(t) is spread using the PN sequence a(t). This PN sequence is expressed as [pic] Where pic]  is the j-th chip of the periodic PN sequence. [pic]  is a unit r ectangular pulse duration TC. The sequence a(t) is a binary sequence like b(t), but at a much higher rate as mentioned before. 8 The fifth step is digital to radio frequency (RF) conversion. The stream of bits should be somehow delivered from one end to the other. The RF is a method of carrying the information through the air Digital data signals are combined into one signal and converted to a RF signal for that transmission process. Returning to mathematical representation: The spread data is modulated by the carrier at frequency wc radians/s, phase q and power P.The transmitted signal s(t) is then expressed as [pic] 9 3. 6ADVANTAGES ? INCRESED VOICE CAPACITY: Voice is the major source of traffic and revenue for wireless operators, but packet data will emerge in coming years as an important source of incremental revenue. CDMA2000 delivers the highest voice capacity and packet data throughput using the least amount of spectrum for the lowest cost. ? HIGHER DATA THROUGHPUT: Today's c ommercial CDMA2000 1X networks (phase 1) support a peak data rate of 153. 6 kbps. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, commercial in Korea, enables peak rates of up to 2. 4 Mbps and CDMA2000 1xEV-DV will be capable of delivering data of 3. 9 Mbps. ? INCREASED BATTERY LIFE: CDMA2000 significantly enhances battery performance. Benefits include: †¢ Quick paging channel operation ? Improved reverse link performance ? New common channel structure and operation ? Reverse link gated transmission ? TRANSMIT DIVERSITY: Transmit diversity consists of de-multiplexing and modulating data into two orthogonal signals, each of them transmitted from a different antenna at the same frequency. The two orthogonal signals are generated using either Orthogonal Transmit Diversity (OTD) or Space-Time Spreading (STS).The receiver reconstructs the original signal using the diversity signals, thus taking advantage of the additional space and/or frequency diversity. DISADVANTAGES 1. Multi-user interference or multiple acce ss interference(MAI) 2. Multi-path fading 3. near- for problem 10 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION CDMA is radically a new concept in wireless communication. It has gained widespread international acceptance by cellular radio system operators as an upgrade that will dramatically increase both their systems capacity and the service quality.Moreover it spread spectrum technology is both more secure , less probable to intercept and jam, highly private and offer higher transmission quality than TDMA because of its increase resistance to multipath distortion . The principle type of CDMA systems are direct sequence CDMA, frequency hopping CDMA and multicarrier CDMA. The major problem in CDMA is the multiple Access interference (MAI) which arises due the deviation of the spreading codes from perfect orthogonally.Capacity of CDMA is interference limited . the obvious way to increase capacity of the CDMA is to reduce the level of interference. This is achieved by reducing cross correlation, power contro l and with antenna arrays. 11 REFERENCE Reference Books:- †¢ Simon Haykins –Communication Systems-John Willy & Sons , Fourth edition †¢ CDMA TECHNIQUES FOR THIRD GENERATION MOBILE SYSTEM by Francis Swarts ,PETER Van Rooyan , Ian Opperman & Michael P. Loyyer Reference Websites:- †¢ http://www. telecomresearch. com 12

Cross Cultural Group Presentation Essay

What is important about Germany? Germany is an industry leader in areas such as automobiles and healthcare, to name a few. With globalization and reducing trade boundaries Germany has in fact become a trade partner for many Indian firms. Thus understanding business etiquettes, culture and protocol will supplement international businessmen and enhance cross cultural negotiation. The Rational German: Based on research findings, Germany’s geographical location and history have had a substantial effect on its culture and thus on the way that Germans negotiate. Some historical events helps us understand more about Germany, its people and the effects on negotiations: Pre-Unification Era: Before Charles V formed Prussia, Germany was largely comprised of small princely states (similar to India) in conflict with each other over resources. This brought upon the Germans a constant state of uncertainty and continuous battle. This however also made the Germans tough and seasoned negotiators. Unification & Prussia: This era was also responsible to developing many traits of the German culture which are insightful for deriving value out of a negotiation. With the formation of Prussia came – economic stability, growth and social structure. Germans preferred the certainty of an economically stable state and developed a keen sense of hierarchy. As the German state began to develop – so did the socio-political structure. Germans thus over the years formed very bureaucratic agencies of governance through methodical planning and reason. World Wars: Both the world wars left Germany crippled. However, Hitler’s action made certain that Germany would have to heavily rely on diplomatic relations before considering the use military force. It also made Germans develop a sense of fairness when dealing with people from other cultural backgrounds. Points to Ponder: Now that we understand where German people come from, we think it’s essential to shed some light on the salient features of the culture and how they impact a negotiation: Business Relationship: Germans traditionally believe in building trust over a period of time. This is usually an outcome of dependability, analytical thinking and intellect. Germans, unlike Indians, enter negotiations with a sense of trust. This is important from an Indian point of view as ability to generate and maximize value from a negotiation takes place over a long period of time. Interestingly enough trying to establish rapport in a hurried manner may arouse suspicion from a German counterpart. Trust one built, goes a long way in a business relationship, as Germans tend to be wary of uncertainty. Hence it is important to think strategically in long term and develop a mutually beneficial relationship from the start. One of the easiest ways to establish credibility with a German during a negotiation is to rely on a third party who has already established a level of trust and dependence on the German side. Displaying authority on the subject matter at hand, by professional qualifications will let the negotiating party earn respect in the eyes of their German counterparts, thus providing an upper hand will negotiating. Even though Germans are reserved and formal in nature, it’s possible to build long lasting relationships with them. A sure indicator of a relationship in the making is when a German decides to tell you embarrassing stories about himself. However it’s best not to repeat the stories to others as Germans tend to very proud people and can get hurt very easily. They also might expect you to be equally candid once the relationship has been built. During negotiations Germans tend to give more air time to the person who they think is technically sound in that matter. Hence it’s often a great idea to have your degrees printed out on the visiting card in order to establish a sense of authority when negotiating with them. Also Germans have a grounded belief that the workers in their country are better than the most the world and its best not to challenge this assumption. Business Communication: Although German is the official language of the country most of the business people speak British English. Most of the younger generation is well travelled and is fluent in business conversation. It is advisable to talk in short, complete sentences and in a slow firm voice to keep any negotiation without bringing in confusion. Germans tend to very direct in their communications and sometimes this can be misunderstood as being rude. Being very direct Germans dislike vague statements and diplomacy during any formal business discussions including negotiations. In fact too much diplomacy is likely to confuse a German. They will ask explanations, but is it possible that a German will walk out of a negotiation if the deal is unacceptable and/ or against company policy. It is also possible that a blunt â€Å"NO† can come your way, without substantial explanations. Germans tend to use body language very sparingly. Excessive use of body language may confuse your German counterpart. This can be an obstacle, especially during group negotiations as it will be difficult to judge the direction of the negotiation. Facial expression although limited can act as an indicator to judge if the proposal you have put forth has been liked or disliked. Maintaining eye contact is very crucial when talking to any German and is considered as a sign of trust and sincerity. This eye contact can border on staring. The American OK sign, with thumb and index finger forming a circle, is an obscene gesture in Germany, as is putting the thumb between index and middle finger in a fist. These should be strictly avoided. Initial Meeting Following are some of the points which should be noted when starting a negotiation: * â€Å"Shall we start with business† – will be used often as a conversation starter and is not considered rude in the German context. * Meetings need to be scheduled at least a week in advance and should not be cancelled at a short notice * There has to be reasonable explanation given when arriving late for a meeting and this is taken very negatively. * Planning is crucial when negotiating with Germans as it is very probable that they will be well prepared in any negotiation. Negotiating with Germans Style and Attitude of Negotiating: Unlike Indians, Germans believe in arriving at a win-win proposition. They tend to start negotiating respecting the other party and with a sense of trust, which they expect to be reciprocated. Interestingly, except for dispute resolution, any form a negotiation for a German is a joint problem solving activity rather and they expect both the parties to be involved equally in arriving at the solution. Many a times, a German would concentrate on dwelling over the technical aspects of a solution before entering the negotiation. Although co-operative in nature Germans may be unwilling to compromise completely unless this is their only option. While negotiating it is advisable to avoid open confrontation but remain calm, friendly and persistent. In case of a dispute resolution, one might try to find common ground by providing logical arguments based on data. Since many German negotiators will be thorough in their planning and data collection before the negotiation, it is sensible to have the same level of preparedness when you’re the opposite party. Many a times, during the negotiation a German might want to have additional data about certain aspects of the negotiation, which will help them analyze the solution better. Refusing to provide that data may reflect as lack of trust. Germans would prefer if data sharing was open and transparent and would not hesitate to reciprocate in the same manner. Germans are slow negotiators. The meticulous planning and data collection done before hand results in a very rigid and structured negotiation approach. Thus Germans would prefer going into sequential negotiating – debating each singular point, rather than packaging certain issues. This compartmentalized approach can be detrimental towards value maximization. Hence Germans find it difficult to negotiate with people from the south asia and middle east. At such times it is advisable to clearly state which objectives are linked and interdependent. Bargaining Traditionally Germans do not like the idea of bargaining and consider negotiation as a necessary evil. Business people do not give drastic concessions in this country so when if the bargaining stage in the negotiation is long drawn the variance in the final price would be not very far away from the original price. Even though German people may not agree, they tend to be aggressive during negotiations. These outcomes are more likely to be based on negotiation strategy developed during planning the negotiation. Threats, warnings and walkouts may be occasionally used. In this case it’s better to open with an offer which is already a part of your estimated ZOPA. Extreme offers can upset a German. Germans many a times employ defensive tactics such as blocking, asking probing or direct questions, or keeping a rigid position. Opening with written offers and introducing written terms and conditions may be effective as this will allow for proper preparation and could help shorten the b argaining process. Germans will likely find both benefits desirable. Corruption and bribery are very rare in Germany. It is strongly advisable to stay away from giving gifts of significant value or making offers that could be read as bribery. With Germans one must be careful when using pressure tactics such as applying time pressure, making expiring offers, or nibbling. Germans may consider these inappropriate unless they are strongly interested in your offer and clearly understand the logic behind the approach. Otherwise, while the negotiation is not necessarily over, it may become less constructive. Decision Making Germans tend to respect hierarchy because it helps maintain an element of control, not because they believe that bosses are better managers. So more than often when a German states that a decision during a negotiation is not within his authority, it would help to provide him with more data and information to get the approval from his immediate superiors. Decision making is a well planned and executed process in Germany and hence takes substantial amount of time. Patience is required to see the decision through and once made is very unlikely to change. Agreements and Contracts Both agreements and contracts in Germany tend to be legally binding unless stated otherwise. It is always advisable to consult a legal advisor before signing any contract to understand its process. These contracts (once signed) are usually dependable and considered binding. Once signed any amendment to the agreement or contract can be meet with serious opposition. Surprisingly German love for punctuality is often not extended towards contract drafting – as they would prefer to have everything in writing. References: * http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0b6DChPi0UUC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=why+are+germans+logical+?&source=bl&ots=UAyhMKCScy&sig=3Nxe8sfCspiubwZel99itdZ3QxI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OZfUUK6bHY_rrQevl4CQDg&ved=0CGcQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=why%20are%20germans%20logical%20%3F&f=false * http://www.german-business-etiquette.com/22-successful-negotiations.html

Justice Systems in Egypt and in the United States

Justice System in Egypt and the United States Brian L. Goodman Daymar College Outline Abstract Introduction III. The Legal Systems A. The United States Legal System B. The Egypt Legal System IV. Types of Crimes V. Components of Justice System in the United States VI. Components of Justice System in Egypt VII. Crimes A. United States B. Egypt VIII. Notes IX. References Abstract Justice System in Egypt and the United States are similar in many ways. Egypt Justice System bases its criminal code on British, Napoleon, and Italian models. There are three main categories of crime in Egypt law; they are minor offenses, misdemeanors and felonies. Egypt law requires that a detained person be brought before a magistrate with 48 hours or released. The United States Justice System enforces the law and defends the interests of the United States according to the law to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic, and to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime. The United States Justice System uses five components such as; local law enforcements, court trails, court cases, trial with grand jury and decision and punishment. Justice System in Egypt and the United States The United States is a federal system. The national government has enumerated powers, and the fifty states retain substantial authority. Both the national government and each state government is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Written constitutions, both federal and state, form a system of separated powers, checks and balances among the branches. Egypt bases its criminal codes and courts operations primarily on British, Italian, and Napoleonic models. Criminal court procedures had been substantially modified by heritage of Islamic legal and social patterns and the legacy of numerous kinds of courts that formerly existed. In ancient Egypt, the rulers, called pharaohs, created the laws of the land and enforced them. The pharaohs had strict laws and at times, some very harsh punishments to maintain control over the people. The Egyptians had harsh punishments for breaking the law. The laws were based on common sense view of right and wrong. It depended on which crime the criminal did to figure out which punishment they would receive. Not only would it disgrace them, but it would disgrace their whole family. Now, Egypt uses criminal codes. The criminal codes listed three main categories of crime: minor offenses, misdemeanors, and felonies. Lower courts handled the majority of these cases. Capitol crimes that carried a possible death sentence includes murder, manslaughter, arson or the uses of explosives that caused death, rape, treason, and endangerment of state security. In Egypt few convictions for capital crimes, however, resulted in execution. Egypt laws required that a detained person be brought before a magistrate and formally charged within 48 hours or released. The accused are entitled to post bail and had the right to defended by legal counsel. Searches can not be conducted without a warrant. The justice system in the United States is one of the most unique in the world. It consists of two separate levels of courts, state and federal.. Most of the laws that govern our day-to-day living are state laws; violations of federal law include offenses involving federal government employees, kidnapping or evading arrest, and fraud such as income tax or postal fraud. There are two types of trials: criminal and civil. In a criminal trial, the government is prosecuting an individual for an offense that threatens the security of individual citizens. Usually, criminal trials involve actions taken as a result of malicious intent, Civil trials are disputes between two parties. In both instances, the person that charges are eing brought against is the defendant; in criminal trials, the government is the prosecution – in civil trials. References â€Å"Introduction to the Justice System† â€Å"An Overview of the Court System in the United Statesâ€Å" www. library. thinkquest. org The United States Department of Justice, www. justice. gov History of Criminal Justice System, www. lawandliberty. org Andrews, Mark  "Law and the Legal System in Ancient Egypt;† www. touregypt. net/featurestories/law. htm â€Å"Islam Mythsâ€Å", www. muslim-canada. org/Islam_myths. htm Justice Systems in Egypt and the United States

Labor Relations Project and Presentation Essay

Labor Relations is a very delicate part of a business that should be properly reviewed and studied before implementing or changing a businesses conduct. Happy Trails is a medium-sized company that is trying to minimize cost to continue to serve its tenants with a cost effective service. Unfortunately cost has to be reviewed in all possible ways and strategies. We will be covering a few of the advantages and disadvantages of unionizing. A recommendation will be given to help guide Happy Trails. A review will also be conducted of the issues a union might raise during the organizing effort. The steps that should be covered by the LPN’s will also be presented. We will then present the labor practice that the LPN’s should avoid. We will then advise the independent living home management on what we feel they should do. We will cover the arguments and defense the hospital will rise to the unions organizing issues. Then we will take a look at what the company must do if they resist unionization. We will then see what unfair labor practices need to be avoided by management. We will finalize this paper by reviewing what activities Happy Trail management should and should not engage in. Advantages & Disadvantages The advisement to unionize, or not, is a complicated stance. There are advantages and disadvantages on both sides of the decision. With a decision to unionize, the LPNs would be protected and guaranteed wages and certain work conditions. On the other hand, Unionizing immediately creates an adverse relationship between members and the employer sometimes out weighing the benefits. In the event that a group of employees has a community of interests coupled with concerns about their treatment as an employee by an employer for any reason, the employees have the right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). Recommendation In this case, the recommendation for the LPN’s would be to unionize. This would protect them from being over (or under) worked, insure that proper wages and entitlements were established, as well as make sure Happy Trails was not expecting or giving RN level care through the lesser qualified LPNs. Steps to Unionize For the group of LPN’s at Happy Trails, the first step would be to contact the local healthcare union representative mentioned in the overview. This would be a perfect starting resource for information, questions and answers. This is also the step in which the union should become clear about what issues are important and expected to be addressed by the collective bargaining. For the LPN’s at Happy Trails, their issues should be concentrated on wages, minimum hours worked, overtime terms, benefits, as well as clearly understanding the scope of their expected duties. Secondly, the LPN’s would need to decide to join an already established industry union, or to create a union of their own. In either case, a sufficient number of authorization cards (or petition signatures) must be acquired, and the union must be voted in during a union representation election, or by asking the employer to voluntarily recognize the union. The National Labor Relations Board supervises and the union election, and certifies the results (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). The last step is to win a strong union contract. The LPNs in this case would need to negotiate wages paid, overtime payment terms, benefits, and minimum expected hours worked. Any union is only as valuable as the contract agreed upon. Unfair Labor Practices that should be Avoided by the LPNs Generally, most unfair labor practices are committed by the union or the employer. The only unfair labor practice the LPNs should avoid is to not try to coerce their fellow workers to join the union. Should Happy Trails Oppose Unionization? Although unionization of groups like nurses is typically non-traditional, over the past 10 years there have been many registered nurses’ groups that have unionized across the country because of the demand for their employment and the shortage of nurses. Because of the need to have every American be able to afford healthcare, licensed practical nurses are in demand more because of their lower wages. Happy Trails should not oppose unionization. There are many other healthcare facilities in the area who are working with unions Happy Trails would benefit by negotiating with a union also. Because of the unhappy nurses at Happy Trails, trying to block unionization would probably be the worse step for the organization take. Employees may feel that management’s trying to manipulate them and this can decrease employee morale. The nurses may go to any of the other facilities to seek work and representation by the union for better working conditions. If Happy Trails loses more nurses, it may be hard to recruit new workers. Steps to Resist Unionization Tactics and strategies must be implemented in order to resist unionization. One strategy that has been used in the past is to hire consulting firms, also known as union busters (Bennett-Alexander & Hartmann, 2007). These firms use methods that discourage employees from voting to have union representation. This strategy is a costly one and should only be used if basic steps are not working. One important step to avoiding unionization is through employee relations (Thomas & Associates, 2009). Employee relations programs have the employees best interest in mind. An effective program will help employee/employer communication, which can help resolve any issues or dissatisfaction. If step one does not stop union organizing, the next step is to prevent the union from gaining employee support. Throughout this step the company should inform the LPN’s of the cons of signing a union authorization card. If the employees are informed and feel valuable to the company they will be less likely to sign a union card. Information can be provided through meetings, letters, and bulletin boards. If an election campaign begins because 30 percent of employees signed cards, the next step is to resolve any employee issues and to legally convince employees that their best interests are served by rejecting the union. Happy Trails would need to build a strong campaign and reinforce the value of the existing benefits and the excellent working conditions. Arguments against Unionization by Happy Trails Arguments Happy Trails can use against unionization include the following: †¢ Funding the workers’ salary if a union exists †¢ Relationships between employee and employer may be threatened with a union †¢ Union dues paid by employees is taken from their paycheck †¢ The union cannot guarantee anything What unfair labor practices need to be avoided by management? a) Management should not try to control or interfere with union affairs. They should not try to get their favorite/certain candidate to be elected to the union office. b) Management should not discriminate against employees who join or is in favor of brining in a union. They should not discriminate against employees â€Å"who exercise their rights under the law (e.g., terminating, demoting, or giving poor working schedules to such employees).† (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007, pg 666) c) Management should not interfere, threaten or restrain their employees from exercising their rights under the labor law legislation, for example, they should not tell employees that they are not allowed to have unions or they will be punished or terminated if they do bring a union). d) Management should not refuse to bargain with the union. And they should not refuse to bargain in good faith. †¢ Happy Trails’ management team may engage in any number of activities during the unionization. Which of the following would you advise? Explain why or why not? Activities during Unionization Promote LPNs, offer bonuses, and place some into leadership and management roles. Unionization can be a long process but is quite beneficial for the LPN’s. Unions are typically formed because employees are unhappy with their pay, working conditions, or poor benefits. For that reason the activity management should engage in is to actively promote LPN’s, offer bonuses, and place some into leadership and management roles. This is the best tactic to use and could benefit Happy Trails as well as the LPN’s. However, the company has to make sure the tactics do not interfere with the employees’ efforts to unionize. Raises and opportunities must be given to everyone, not just union supporters; otherwise the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) could view the act as illegal and as unfair labor practices. As long as the employer bargains in good faith no law has been broken. Tell employees salary increases must cease to finance the collective bargaining agreement. This option is not viable therefore I do not recommend it. Utilizing scare tactics and threatening to cease salary increases will do more harm than good. Strikes could occur, which would have a negative impact on the company. The LPN’s shouldn’t feel like they are being punished for going with the union. Explain current employee benefits to the LPN’s, comparing them to union promises. Though this option is informative it is timely. There are cons to being in a union such as dues and possible strikes. Providing information to employees could sway their decision especially if they are not familiar with the union practices. However, overall the union has benefited employees, which is why this method could be more wasteful than effective. Most union members have better benefits and pay than non-union members. The LPN’s are aware of the superior wages and benefits other LPN’s in the areas have received therefore there is not much to explain. Threaten to close facility due to union campaign Being that Happy Trails is a health care facility, closing the facility would not be practical. It would also be considered discrimination against employees if they closed the facility down due to the union campaign. The NLRA does not allow discrimination against employees for participating in union activities. By staying open, they have the upper hand and it would give them more opportunity to explain the disadvantages of a union to their employees. Assist in circulation of antiunion petitions. During a unionizing campaign an employer cannot assist in antiunion petitions. Assisting in this activity could be considered interference by the employer. Participating in these activities is illegal and viewed as unfair labor practices. Counter union exaggerated claims on flyers. We recommend the management not to send the flyers with exaggerated counter offers to union claims. The management is not supposed to â€Å"promise wage increases or other benefits if employees don’t join the union.† (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007, pg 673) And they are not supposed to e-mail, post or circulate any intimidating letters or leaflets (flyers). The management can however give pay raises or benefits, but they have to give them all across the boards, not only to the union supporters. However, this tactic is limited if the management decides to do this after the union has applied for the certificate or has given notice to the management to bargain its first agreement. Tell employees they do not need to talk to union organizers, that they may vote against the union, and that the independent living home does not welcome the union. We recommend the management to talk with the employees, and tell them that they have the option to join the union, but it’s not mandatory for them to join. They can also tell the employees that the independent living home does not welcome the union, but if the employees vote for the union, the management will follow the good faith bargaining agreement. Solicit employees to request the return of their authorization cards. We would recommend the management not to ask employees to return the authorization cards (badges) that mean you are letting them go. Employers can not threaten to fire, lay-off or terminate employees for supporting or joining a union. Tell employees they may be replaced if they vote for the union. We would recommend the management not to tell employees that they will be replaced if they vote for the union. That would mean the management is threatening the employees. Management can’t threaten to fire, lay-off or terminate employees for supporting or joining a union. Appeal to the employees to defeat the union. We would recommend the management to talk with the employees and tell them not to vote in favor of the union. The independent living home will do everything possible to raise the wages and benefits as much as possible if the union is defeated. The management has to be careful not to negatively influence the employees against the union. The management can also tell the employees, that if the union is organized, we will treat the collective bargaining process with full faith and not follow any unfair labor practices. The management also can state that we will follow exactly what the law requires. Statistics for union members in United States and California (Statistics, 2013): [pic] Conclusion When making huge changes that change an employees, benefits, pay, rights, and responsibilities it is very important and should be done very carefully. A company must remember how important these changes are to people and what issues could be created if the employees feel they are not being taken into consideration. When an employee feels violated they can go to extreme measure like becoming part of a union. A union can become a huge burden for a company and cost employees money. Many of the reasons why employees look at unions can usually be avoided and handled in house. Employees should also remember that a union cost money and they should search for a union that is worth their money. Unfortunately sometimes employees end up loosing more than winning when they become part of a union. If the people in the union are not doing their job and looking out for all employees then they might just be spending their money and not getting what they deserve. References: Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). Employment law for business (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Ch. 14-Labor Law. Pg. 666 & 673. Labor Union Statistics. Retrieved on February 17, 2013. http://www.bls.gov/ro9/unionca.htm Thomas & Associates (2009). Avoiding Unions. Retrieved February 18, 2013 from http://www.employersattorneys.com/employment-law/California-employer-how-to-