Barack Obama: A Legend in the Making Essay

Barack Obama is the Illinois State Senator where he served for seven years. He is currently a candidate for the 2008 presidential race alongside Hilary Clinton and John McCain. At least half a dozen African-Americans have preceded Obama as candidates to be America’s first black president, from Jesse Jackson to Virginia’s Douglas Wilder. But none has arrived at what seems to be such an opportune time with such broad appeal ( Graff, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Born on August 4, 1961, and named as Barrack Hussein Obama, Jr. by his parents who were a Kenya-born Harvard-educated economist and a Caucasian anthropologist (White, 2008). At the age of two, his parents were divorced and when his mother married an Indonesian man, the family moved to Jakarta. Although his father and step-father were Muslim, Obama chose to be a Christian wherein he attended secular and Catholic schools rather than a madrassa. He then moved back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and attend school. He went on to study political science at Columbia University in New York, and then moved to Chicago where he spent three years as a community organizer(â€Å"Profile: Barack Obama,† 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1988 he left to attend Harvard Law School, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. After Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago to practice civil rights law, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With his upbringing and educational background, Obama have made a name in the political arena. His charisma, personality and presence have made him a notable African-American politician. Part of what sets Obama apart in the Senate is his relative youth. He is one of the first senators born in the 1960s, in a chamber dominated by greatest-generation colleagues, Obama is more likely to find peers on his staff than on the Senate floor. He has cordial but not close relations with party elders. He prefers to discuss issues in his own words, and reframing topics as he goes . The senator’s highest-profile ventures have been bipartisan, including a tutelage in nuclear nonproliferation that took Obama to Eastern Europe and Russia. It was an effort to bring transparency to government and a push for immigration reform. Obama is also known for his initiative in raising e the threat of avian flu on the Senate floor and has spoken out for victims of Hurricane Katrina, pushed for alternative-energy development, and championed improved veterans’ benefits ( Graff, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obama’s biggest accomplishments as a freshman senator have taken place outside the Capitol. His â€Å"Call to Renewal† speech at Washington DC’s National City Christian Church   was perhaps the most important dissection of the political world and the role of faith made by any Democratic politician in a generation. He argued that faith was an important part of the American reform tradition but Americans must remember that it was the most religious founders who insisted on the separation of church and state so people could not be persecuted for their beliefs. More broadly, he has inspired in a generation of political activists a measure of hope for a better, more united America. Obama emphasized that Americans are seeking guidance in the uncertainty of modern life, and for politics to ignore, or even belittle that search for meaning is a disservice to the nation. He stated that,â€Å"They need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them—that they are not just destined to travel down the long highway towards nothingness† (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the reasons why Obama have made such an appeal to all over the world is because his life is the embodiment of the American dream. He came from a broken family and was brought up modestly. Despite this, he still managed to a become a community organizer, civil rights attorney, progressive leader and a loving husband to his wife and a responsible father to his two daughters. His accomplishments are a testament that anyone can   be a somebody as long as they put their   hearts and souls in achieving their dream. Obama’s journey to the presidency have given hope particularly to Black Americans that they are not a marginalized group in the American society. His story have inspired a lot of people to make a difference before its too late. References BBC. (2008 January 30). Profile: Barack Obama. Retrieved February 21, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3936013.stm Graff, G.M. (2006). The Legend of Barack Obama. Washingtonian.com. Retrieved February   Ã‚  Ã‚   2008, from http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/1836.html White, D. (2008). US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. New York Times Company. Retrieved February 21, 2008, from   Ã‚   http://usliberals.about.com/od/congressionalleadership/p/SenObama.htm

The Effective Methods to Learn New Vocabulary

Shiyu Wang EDI 300 Dr. Pole 09/26/2011 The Effective Methods To Learn New Vocabulary Vocabulary is one of the three main elements of language, and it is the base of literature. Whatever people communicate with others by any language, and the first requirement is that people must have certain vocabulary. In study activities, teachers emphasize listening, speaking, reading, and writing, but students cannot learn without vocabulary. Vocabulary learning is a process of memorizing and recognizing. If students don’t have enough vocabulary, they will spend more time to read, and they are not interested in the books they read.Learning language base is very important in English teaching, and learning language base includes knowledge and skill. For accumulating vocabulary knowledge, and pointing to the difficulties to students, some researchers provide some methods below to develop the learning qualities. In the beginning, vocabulary learning includes two sides, and they are accumulatin g and understanding. The purpose of learning vocabulary is letting students handle every word, so the best method of learning vocabulary is by reading. If they handle the sentences, they will remember the words.One disadvantage of learning by rote is that all words are in alphabetical order, and student cannot be interested in those words because of no connection with their life. This will be a very passive activity, but memorizing is active. For example, people might remember name of the person they want to make friend with. That is not because you repeat it, but also you are memory activator. The other disadvantage is that even though people remember the meanings of the words, they cannot use them to write articles.In different language environment, one word has different meanings. So, using sentence frame to develop vocabulary is a better method. If you read a sentence every day, the value will be more than that people recite twenty words. Dr. Kesler â€Å"prompted students to c ontinue using the textual information to consider the word's meaning. After reading, we revisited the words in context and how often they appeared in the text. The students then refined and generated new possible sentences that we discussed based on new textual information. (Ted 2) Reading is good, but the sentences should be found in our favorite articles. Firstly, people must love that sentence, because understanding is the basic of using. For instance, when I read Mark Twain, one sentence is written like that â€Å"†¦constantly worries about money as her family teetered between near-prosperity and genteel poverty. † This sentence describes the family economic situation exactly. Because I love this sentence, I immediately remember the word â€Å"teeter†. Then, American sociologist, Dr.Hymes stated that only studying one language is not enough, students must have the ability of communicating by the language. They must understand how to use suitable methods to exp ress the true purpose, and this expression method depends on the social cultural background. The cultural background is abundant. Generally, learning vocabulary has the firm connection with learning cultural background. Therefore, during the studying process, we might meet many words related to culture, when we learn these words, we should know the culture around the words. For that reason, they are not separated.I am an international student in the USA, so I live in a totally different culture environment, so the same meaning word has different meaning and usage in different culture environment. For example, in American people mind, â€Å"week† is from Sunday to Saturday, but in Chinese culture, â€Å"week† is from Monday to Sunday. At the same time, in different culture background, every word have abundant cultural connotation except denotation. Therefore, people should communicate with others by mixing language and culture. On the other side, good culture knowledge can not lead people communicate with others.Reading a lot of newspaper, books, and movies can let students understand the suitable environment, and they can know the true meaning of the vocabulary, so they will have the ability to communicate with other people, and get the purpose of using the new words. Using new pictures to learn and review Next, teachers should develop the interests of learning words. For changing the boring learning methods, they must use several different teaching ways to let students are interested in new vocabulary by themselves. Firstly, teachers can use new pictures to learn and review, so they can use several pictures to lead students to learn.For example, they can create many kinds of picture cards to learn fruit and vegetable words. Those cards will catch children’s attention, and this will be the best time to remember vocabulary. Secondly, teachers can use real things. Students don’t like boring lecture, but several real things are close t o the reality life, so they can see and touch the objects, so they will develop their study interests, then teachers can teach new words with letting students look at the real objects. Thirdly, teachers can let students to sing songs.If teachers can compose the songs by the new words, they can let students sing with performance, and it will build a relaxing study environment. Fourthly, playing games is also a good method to let students have study interests, and it can change the boring language situation to be an interesting course structure that students can accept. Fifthly, teachers can use some simple drawing. When they draw the pictures, they will remember the words effectively. In Janet Towell’s E-journal named Fun with vocabulary, she also introduce many other interesting ways to learn vocabulary, like color shock.It â€Å"is a technique that was originally designed for right-brained, learning disabled students to help them remember sight words. Right-brained children seem to have a special sensitivity for bright colors. † (Janet 356) This way is using different colors with different letters, so it will be a best way to learn words. The other way she Word cross game show readers is onsets and rimes, and â€Å" this technique for developing phonemic awareness can help beginning readers quickly and effectively learn many sight words using word patterns. (Janet 356) Those methods are all good for students to learn new vocabulary. Last but not least, technology will be another effective methods to learn new vocabulary. Using new technology can imitate several situations, and in teaching process. Firstly, powerpoint can be used independently without other software. Powerpoint can link to video, flash, picture, and other audio records, and teachers can show the course content by several media. Powerpoint is very active, and it cannot only catch students’ attention, but also help student remember words well.Secondly, study is a process of structure knowledge and studying actively. Therefore, teachers should let students think continuously, and get knowledge by thinking. By looking flash, students will find that words can have their living power because changing can develop memory. Thirdly, teachers try their best to using the Internet resource. On the Internet, students can read some materials that are related to the content they need to learn. They will understand the textbooks deeply, and at the same time, they will develop their reading ability. Dr.Dalton thinks that â€Å"teachers can create a digital version of a vocabulary field trip using a free program called TrackStar. It allows you to collect a series of websites and annotate them so that students follow the online journal. † (Bridget 4) They also can use advantage of online word reference tools as teaching tools, for example, â€Å"the visual thesaurus website complement its freebased content with free information such as the Behind the Dictionary and Teachers at work. † (Bridget 4) Additionally, students can exchange their thoughts with other students on the Internet.In conclusion, Emily Dickinson writes a poem called A Word that â€Å" A word is dead When it is said, Some say, I say it just Begins to live That day. † So, learning new vocabulary can be very interesting, and there are many different effective methods to remember words. Fluent language cannot exist without huge vocabulary accumulating, so enjoying vocabulary is the basic of learning language well. Without vocabulary, reading, translating, and writing cannot continue. Language learning develops by practicing and repeating, so teachers must keep students’ passion.Interest is the best teacher. The effective method to make vocabulary learning active is a necessary way teachers must research. Works Cited The Reading Teacher. Newark, Del. , etc: International Reading Association, 1989. Internet resource. Reading Teacher. Newark, Del: Internation al Reading Association, 1900. Internet resource. â€Å"Games. † Photograph. Webshots. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. ;http://vocabulary. net/games/; â€Å"Basic Vocabulary Skills Cards. † Photograph. Webshots. 22 August. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. ;http://www. ssww. com/item/basic-vocabulary-skills-cards-LR1184/;

Elvis Is Still Alive? Essay

For many years there has been many doubts, and controversy about the death of probably the biggest figure of the 20th century, â€Å"The King of Rock N’ Roll†, Elvis Aaron Presley. Many people believe that he still alive and for a lot of reasons in which cannot be blamed for believing so. Elvis Presley is alive and the facts will prove it. After Elvis Presley â€Å"died† on August 16, 1977, there have been numerous alleged sightings of him. Fans have noted alleged discrepancies in the death certificate, reports of a wax dummy in his original coffin and numerous accounts of Presley planning a diversion so he could retire in peace. â€Å"The King† was just 19 years old when he began his career working with Sam Phillips, owner of the legendary Sun Records. Elvis’ first single, â€Å"Heartbreak Hotel†, released in January of 1956 and was a number-one hit. Presley quickly became the face of the newly popular sound of rock and roll for many appeara nces in the network television and successful music records. His gifted voice wasn’t the only thing that made him successful; his unique style of performing was very electrifying and charismatic, that you couldn’t just sit down and watch him perform. By November 1956, he debuted his acting career starring in the movie â€Å"Love Me Tender†. In March 24, 1958, Elvis enlisted into the U.S Army and served for two years and earned the rank of Sergeant. After returning to the United States, Elvis continued his acting career along with his music career and was still on top. On May 1, 1967, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu after being together for more than seven years and they had a child on February 1,1968 names Lisa Marie; Presley’s only child. On that same year, â€Å"The King† became very unhappy and frustrated with his career; his movies weren’t being a success like he when started back in the ‘60s and his singles were not even reaching the top 40 in the charts. Something needed to change and thus came the famous 68’ Comeback Special that was aired on television, Elvis’ first live performance since 1961, singing his rock and roll hits from back in late ‘50s and other hit singles during his acting career in which put him back in track and once again he quickly became a hit sensation. After that, Presley went on tour for many years with no resting and on 1973; he performed in the history making concert, Aloha From Hawaii that was broadcast worldwide. This was the first global concert satellite broadcast. During that time, Elvis got divorced from Priscilla and it really affected his life and he started to become very depressed and ill. He was addicted to many drugs that he used to gain energy keep doing his concert, to get some sleep and other needs that he was unable to find. Even though he was getting drugs from the doctors, he abused them with no delicacy what so ever. By the year of 1977 he became the complete opposite of his legendary image; incredibly overweight, he could barely move on stage, energy and charisma complete gone and he even had trouble remembering his songs. On August 16, 1977, The King was declared dead from a heart attack, shorlty after , they reported that his death was because a drug over dose. Firstly, we have an author named Gail Brewer – Giorgio who believed that The King faked his death in which inspired her to write a novel on that time in 1977 called Orion and it was a fictional story about a famous person who faked his own death. After the book was released in just a short time, for some reasons the books were nowhere to be found. A woman told the author that when she went to buy the book, she was told that two men in business suit came and bought all of the books. Gail called New York and explained the situation but she never received a feedback about the problem. So she asked herself in an interview; â€Å"why would someone pay an author $60,000 and not put the books back in the store? It just didn’t made sense†. Meanwhile, an investigator of the Los Angeles Sheriff Police Department had an incredibly similar experience. Monty Nicholson wrote a book called â€Å"The Presley Arrangement† in approximately the same period of time. He said; â€Å"Gail Giorgio and myself, did not even know of one another and yet we wrote the same identical facts surrounding the mystery of Elvis’ alleged death from different independent sources†. His book, just like Gail’s â€Å"Orion†, disappeared from the shelves right after it was published. Was this too much of a coincidence? Friends of Monty tried to order the books and the sellers refused to order the book. Were the fictional stories Orion and The Presley Arrangement too close to the thruth? Also, the Memphis Police officially closed the files of the death of Presley before it was even medically or scientifically possible to determine his death. All of the pictures that were taken in the death scene disappeared along with all the notes written by the medical examiners. Gail and Monty viewed a copy of Elvis Presley’s autopsy report and Monty recalled that the autopsy report was â€Å"two pages long, it lacks any of the significant informat ion that is normally found in an autopsy report. And during the course of any normal investigation, this autopsy report would be incomplete and unacceptable†. In the other hand, many fans said that the body that they saw in the casket did not look like Elvis at all. His nose was too flat, nothing like his long, pointy nose. They also said that the body had sweat on him, and bodies don’t sweat. Even Elvis’s cousin, Gene Smith, did not believe that the body in the casket was Elvis. He also said â€Å"his nose looked a little pug, his right sideburn was sticking out, his hairline looked as it has been half pasted or glued on. His hands looked just as smooth as a newborn baby’s behind you know. He was sweatin’ around his hairline, it could have been sweat, it could have been glue I don’t know but um†¦ I just didn’t believe that it was him†, Said Gene Smith. Even if that body really was him, then, why does the body looks like the young version of him back in 1958? This argument is very convincing when the facts are considered. Elvis’s coffin required several pall bearers because it we ighed 900 pounds. Attendants of the funeral reported that the air around the coffin was rather cool. It is suspected that the coffin contained an air conditioning unit to keep a wax body cool – a wax body that was a replica of the King designed to fool funeral-goers. And how did the Presley family get a 900 pound, custom made coffin ready for a funeral that was held on the day after his death? It takes a lot of time to build such an elaborate coffin. And why have the funeral so quickly? Some speculate that the immediacy was intended to make it as difficult as possible for the people who were Elvis’s biggest fans (heads of fan clubs, etc.) to attend the proceedings. It could be a concern that they might recognize the flaws in the wax replica. Elvis was an 8th degree black belt whose hands were rough with calluses, yet the body in the coffin had hands that were soft and pudgy. The body in the coffin had a pug nose and arched eyebrows (unlike Elvis) and most importantly, one of the sideburns on the â€Å"corpse† was loose and falling off. A hairdresser later reported gluing the sideburn back on the body. Back at Elvis’s home, Graceland, there are some curious facts about Presley’s grave. His second named spelled â€Å"Aaron† on the headstone even though he officially changed his name to one â€Å"a† on his birth certificate and that he was not lying beside his mother which he had an incredible bond with her, it wouldn’t make sense if he wasn’t buried next to her, instead, he was buried next to his father’s and grandmother’s grave and that would not be something that Elvis would have wanted that because back when he was â€Å"alive†. He always mentioned that if he would have died, he would have wanted to be buried beside her mother. Four months later after Elvis was reported dead, Mike Joseph and his family went to Graceland to see where Elvis was left to rest. They spend some time there, took some pictures and returned back home. Now what Joseph didn’t notice in many years was that one of the pictures he took showed a man sitting in a chair looking outside the house at the fans that walked by his headstone. Kodak examined those pictures and said that the pictures are original and were not altered at all. They were taken in sequence, uncut, and the motion number said that it was manufactured in 1977. Elvis Presley was involved in many law enforcement, he had a lot of love for law enforcement. Elvis was connected with the Memphis Police, in Denver, even the L.A.P.D. Elvis was always very interested in Law and Order, and he always wanted to work in the Federal Government. Having his desire of obtaining a Federal Badge, he one day wrote a letter to the president at that time, Richard Nixon, while The King was headed to Washington offering his services as an agent at large because he knew that he had the power and fame to get pretty much everything. So you can tell that he could easily fake a death with the power he had in the Federal Government. Gail Brewer took a copy of Elvis’s letter to Nixon and a copy of his death certificate and by comparing the writings she claims that Elvis wrote his own death certificate (see pictures at the end). Monty Nicholson asked himself that if Elvis faked his death, he would have need money to support himself. So he went to research his question and found out that three months before Elvis died, he cashed in three life insurance policy for two million dollars, shortly after his death there was a private checking account with an excess of one million dollars that mysteriously disappeared and there is still a remaining insurance policy that remains to be cashed. By the years, there were more sightings of The King. Gail Brewer received a phone call from a nurse saying that a man that looked identical to Elvis Presley entered the hospital to visit Muhammad Ali. The King and Ali were very close friends back then. The day Ali left the hospital, a picture was taken, him leaving with three men and the last one on the back was the guy that looked exactly like Elvis, or maybe it is him (see picture at the end). And lastly, the most recent rumor is about a mysterious man named Jon Cotner and many say that he is The King. He sings the same, he looks so much like Elvis and one more important detail and is that he talked like Elvis Presley. There have been many Elvis impersonators over the years, many could mimic his singing, but none can mimic his heart. The way Jon speaks is just too similar like The King did when he made jokes and made a fool out of himself during concerts, one thing I’ve been always sure is that no one could be as cool, smooth and have the swag like Elvis. Just go and listen to a cover song Jon Cotner made and compare it with Elvis’s song, you won’t tell the difference. Try â€Å"Can’t Help Falling In Love† (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtOr2xPOeeg , Jon Cotner’s cover/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH9Gw0G52_4 , Elvis Presley’s live version). In the end, Elvis had many reasons to fake his death. Elvis’s life was in danger. He had recently lost $10,000,000 in an airplane/real estate deal with a California based organization called the â€Å"Fraternity† that had links to the Mafia. It is speculated that he corroborated with the government to expose the organized crime ring in exchange for protection – perhaps in the form of a new life and identity compliments of the witness relocation program. Elvis was a prisoner of his own fame. He had many other reasons to leave his life behind. Because of his incredible popularity, he was the recipient of several death threats, and he was concerned about the safety of his wife and daughter. Sometimes when he wanted to leave Graceland, he would send out look-alikes to distract would be followers. Elvis was also known to ride in the trunk of someone else’s car to avoid detection. Once, when he fell ill in Las Vegas, he couldn’t get proper medical attenti on because the hospital was overwhelmed by fans. At the time of his alleged death, Elvis was nearing the end of his career. He was 42, his hair was graying, he was grossly overweight, and his voice was starting to weaken. He was going down hill, and he was too proud to go out with a whimper. He would never want his fans to see him in such an unhealthy condition. Elvis had shown a fascination with death on several occasions. In the days leading up to his alleged death he was reported to have visited funeral homes at odd hours of the night with close friends. Was he doing research? Elvis once faked his death by setting up an elaborate shooting in which would be killer fired blanks at Elvis who had a blood pack which he discharged. It was Elvis’s intention to see how the people closest to him would react to his death. Perhaps what he learned convinced him to do it for real. Also, one of Elvis’ favorite books is the spiritual Autobiography of Yogi. One of the central themes of this book is the relinquishing of one’s wealth and earthly possessions to achieve spiritual oneness. Elvis could do this, as well as address his other concerns of sanity and safety by faking his death and living in exile. Elvis had the means to fake his own death. He is accused of destroying himself with drugs. In reality, Elvis was a pharmaceutical expert. He took a lot of drugs, but he knew what he was doing and was extremely careful. He knew what drugs he could self-administer to create a deathlike state. Further, Elvis’s experience with the martial arts was such that he could slow his heart rate and breathing in order to feign death. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had once created a new identity for himself. He came to this county as an illegal immigrant from Holland, but through various connections managed to create an elaborate identity complete with a passport, birth certificate, driver’s license, and social security number. He would have known how to give Elvis a second life. In addition to Elvis’s ties to the government through his testimony against the Fraternity, Elvis was known to interact with the President of the United States. He was reported in government documents to use the name John Burrows as an alias when he wanted to travel. Some people believe that Elvis worked for the government as a drug agent. He did, after all have extensive contact with many people in the music business who, as we know, tend to dabble in illegal substance. And, of course, we must allow that Elvis’s connections to the government gave him access to the Witness Relocation Program. Now you can clearly see that Elvis Presley is no doubt alive and is just trying to live in peace and for reasons in which he can’t be blamed; the loss of his mother really made a negative impact in his life, the divorce with Priscilla that what bother this not only was because she was the love of his life but also just because he was â€Å"the great Elvis† and always had it his way, this time he didn’t. He definitely had no intensions what so ever to keep doing tours and continuing his career when he was so full with depression and disappointment. So he took the only escape option he had to find peace without taking his life; faking it. Will we one day see The King come out one day? Or has Elvis left the building forever and stay hidden? In the end, it doesn’t really matter what the news report says, what investigators say or d o. Whether it’s the truth or not, only one man has the power to end all this conspiracy and that is Elvis Presley himself and one day, the truth will be revealed. Elvis Presley’s casket photo Elvis’s misspelled grave stone. Elvis’s letter to Nixon (left) Elvis’s death certificate (right) The man on the background that’s been claimed to be Elvis Presley accompanied by Muhammad Ali. Picture of Jon Cotner (left) and a picture of Jon and Elvis mixed together (right)

Kodak Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Kodak - Case Study Example Besides, the Company has been creating differentiated value offerings in new growth markets, waiting to be revolutionized. The Company’s four selected growth products include consumer inkjet in CDG division, and commercial inkjet, workflow software and services, and packaging solutions in GCG division (Kodak Annual Report, 2010). The Company’s business strategy is aligned with performance-Based compensation. The component of compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers’ yearly target overall direct compensation is variable and based on performance and equity price rise, which can go to the limit of 69% to 87% (162) (Kodak Annual Report, 2010). Market competition has been one of the big pressures, creating risky situations on Kodak’s income, total profits, and its market share as well. Market is quite powerful and highly competitive. Market for new products lacks the leverage that old players have from the scale of distributors. Besides, Kodak faces price competition on global front, affecting Kodak’s functional and financial position from product pricing and across the industry pricing pressures. Therefore, Kodak is highly under pressure to reduce prices to remain in the market although it is affecting the company’s overall profit levels and income (Kodak Annual Report, 2010). Kodak business model in 2010 was focused on primary growth strategy, which was negatively impacted because of competitive pricing and increasing commodity costs in relatively mature product categories, such as Prepress Solutions, Digital Capture and Devices, and Entertainment Imaging. Goals for 2011 were aimed at Kodak business model in 2010 was focused on primary growth strategy, which was negatively impacted because of competitive pricing and increasing commodity costs in relatively mature product categories, such as Prepress Solutions, Digital Capture and Devices, and Entertainment Imaging. Goals for 2011 were aimed at The Company has

Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms Research Paper

Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms - Research Paper Example School uniforms convey the message that a school is a place for learning. Many schools in the United States and in other parts of the world are at odds over school uniforms. In many cases, it has been reported that students feel that their right of self-expression has been taken away with the rule of mandatory school uniforms. Although students feel that their right of self-expression is taken away from them, there are several benefits of school uniforms. I believe that the advantages of school uniforms outweigh the disadvantages. One of the many advantages of school uniforms is that they minimize the stress for students and their families. For example, parents and students do not have to worry about buying new clothes frequently for schools (Walsh pp. 38). Students are very sensitive about their image and self-esteem when they are in schools. For example, if one of the students starts wearing branded clothes, his or her peers would feel inferior and their self-esteem would decrease (Brunsma pp. 50). The supportive arguments regarding school uniforms also claim that students feel equal when they wear school uniforms. I would support this argument with further explanation. The standard of living is different among different families. There are some families, which are in a better financial position than others. A school is a place where students from different economic and cultural background come and learn. By wearing school uniforms, students do not get feel inferior to others. However, if students are allowed to choose their dresses for schools, they would be influenced by students from different cultures and different economic background. This would result in an increase in problems for parents and teachers. The rule of mandatory school uniforms would make all students look equal regardless of their financial position and cultural background.  

Business Codes of Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Codes of Ethics - Essay Example A well designed code of ethics will help highlight the resources available to achieve various goals set at the personal and corporate levels. A good code of ethics document will inspire confidence in all business associates – like suppliers, clients and employees. The rest of the essay will critically analyze the codes of ethics of two accounting firms and evaluate their merits in the process. The two firms chosen for the exercise are KPMG and Grant Thornton (Budd, 2007). â€Å"At KPMG, our promise of professionalism to each other, our clients, and the capital markets we serve, compels us to align our culture of integrity with our values, words, and actions. By setting high standards for ourselves, and our clients, our commitment to upholding KPMG’s values is clear: There is never a situation when compromising our standards is either expected or acceptable. To support our culture of integrity, KPMG has further developed a robust ethics program that includes our Code of Conduct, as well as the Ethics and Compliance Hotline†. (Budd, 2007) The above passage captures the essence of what KPMG stands for as an organization. The language is unambiguous and the sentences are well structured – two essential qualities for business writing. It also makes it clear how imperative ethics are to the firm – not compromising their standards in any situation. Keeping pace with the times they have developed a easy to use Ethics and Compliance Hotline, which can be availed by all business associates. So, in this regard, KPMG adheres to international standards of maintaining ethical business conduct (Shearer, 2002). â€Å"Being at the cutting edge of professional development is vital for an accounting and advisory organization operating in a dynamic business and regulatory environment. By taking an active role in entities that liaise with regulators, promoting high-quality professional standards and insisting upon high standards of ethical behavior, senior

Week8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week8 - Assignment Example This is especially beneficial for the people living in the remote parts of certain developing countries. Apart from transactions other augmented services like balance enquiry, credit or debit alerts, payment alerts can be viewed through mobile banking. It also helps the customers to make money transfers instantly. A part from the customers, the banks also benefit from mobile banking as they can promote or sell products loans, credit cards for a specific target market segment (Unhelkar, p.471). According to security experts mobile banking is safer as compared to internet banking. However there are various security threats. Users can be exposed to fake messages known as ‘smishing’. Each and every device may not have the facility to perform mobile banking. There are certain banks that do not even provide the facility of mobile banking. The increase in the use of blackberry and smart phones is a key indicator that mobile banking is here stay. Besides, people never wanted to stay in long queues to make bill payments. As far as BOA is concerned customization can really help the bank to target different groups of customers. The company can launch different types of mobile application to target different market segments. However the key to the success would be to follow the KISS (keep it short and simple) approach as customers are likely to hate it if the applications are far too complicated. Another key area would be customer education. Many customers are still a bit hesitant to use mobile banking or internet baking so to speak due to security concerns. Raising awareness among people regarding the safe and sound use of mobile applications related to mobile banking can help the bank to attract new customers. The increasing number of usage of smart phones or black berry is for once the key motivator for offering mobile banking. Add to that mobile banking get be a great platform for the competitors also to gain new market or to

EXAM PREPARATION (MARKETING RESEARCH) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

EXAM PREPARATION (MARKETING RESEARCH) - Essay Example Another example of categorical data is the use of geography and demographic data to predict behaviour of the consumer. In demography and geography survey, the consumers respond to their state of residence or the city, or the country of origin (Texas, California, and Chicago). However, the study should limit the states or the cities from where it operates from or have subsidiaries. To assess the specific geographic market segmentation, business composition, growth patterns, and the demand difference among the zones or areas of operation, one should also use categorical data. These data can be collected using three criteria. The common approach is the use of open-ended questionnaire that would require coding after data collection (respond allowed to write their thought). Another example involves the use of lists of items in a form to enable the respondent select the options. The categorical data allows the use of multiple response questions (respondent selects). The questions must be c oded to make the selection and subsequent analysis easy. The reason for assigning numbers to labels facilitates data analysis. Analysis is possible through the assessment of modal frequencies and percentages. The nominal data are not suitable for studies that seek to establish the comparison and to rank between products in different geographical and demographic zones. Besides, one cannot use these data in studies that require averages and comparison. Studies seeking to establish ranking or ordering of products and other business variables use ordinal data. In simple terms, the ordinal data determines natural order hence referred to as the rating scale. One can rate (excellent, good, fair, unsatisfactory, and poor) services or products. Such data is useful when one seeks to leverage on the respondent willingness to rank or make their preferred list of items through their selection strategies. Unlike categorical data, which

Assignment-Progress Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignment-Progress Report - Essay Example This was in a blind taste that was being conducted by the French wine experts. This was a significant victory for the company, mainly because it established Stag Leap cabernet as a leading wine manufacturer. It further made countries such as Australia, American, and North America to be recognized as leading wine manufacturers. One of the famous wine products for the organization is the Cask 23, and it is a blend of the Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the Fay and SLV vineyards. This wine is not produced yearly, but seasonally, based on the availability of grapes in the above mentioned vineyards. Other wine products include the single and estate vineyard collection, as well as the Chardonnay, a wine product from the Arcadia vineyard owned by the company. The Napa Valley collection is also a series of wines, made from the vineyards found in the Napa Valley (Phillips, 2010). These wines include Karia, Merlot, Artemis, etc. In gathering information for this project, I am going to use internet sources, journals and books. The internet is a rich source of information, and I would benefit from the company’s website, and online wine reviews, while gathering information concerning this project. Journals are also important sources of information, and they are reliable because information contained in them is pe er reviewed. The books to be used will be the most current books, and written by reputable authors in the field of

Glass beaker Essay Example for Free

Glass beaker Essay Our experiment will be repeated three times, and we will use the same stopwatch. We will place the candle onto the safety mat and light it. Carefully, one of us will cover the lit candle with the beaker, whilst the other shall start the stopwatch. As soon as the candle goes out the stopwatch shall be stopped, measured and the result will be recorded into the results table. This shall be repeated two more times for the same beaker and the results will also be recorded into the results table. We will carry out this method four more times for the measured beakers, and then we will do the same with the Gas Jar. The difference in method between the Gas Jar and the other beakers is that we know the volumes of the other beakers, but the volume of the Gas Jar is unknown. For the Gas Jar, we will put a candle onto a safety mat, light it, and then cover it with the Gas Jar. We will start the stopwatch and record how many seconds the candle is lit for. As soon as the candle goes out, the stopwatch will be stopped. We will record the amount of time the candle is lit for, into the results table. Then I will find the average result of the three tests for each beaker. I will find this by using this formula. This average will then be recorded into my results table. Then I will draw my graph. On my graph, the seconds will be on the y axis and the volumes of the beakers will be on the x axis. I will plot all of my results onto my graph and measure a line of best fit. On the line of best fit will be all of the approximate results of the seconds the candle is lit for, for all volumes of beakers. To find the volume of the gas jar, I will plot the time that the candle was lit for on the line of best fit. Then I will follow my finger from the line, horizontally, to the y axis, and see what the approximate volume of the Gas Jar is. Results TIME CANDLE IS LIT FOR (s) Volume of Glass Beaker (cm 3) Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 AVERAGEAnalysis From my results I have found out the Gas Jar has an approximate volume of 200 cm cubed. I conclude that it is possible to find out the volume of a beaker when all you know is how long a candle burns for when it is placed underneath. The graph proves my prediction to be correct. I said that the larger the beaker, the longer the candle will burn for, which would then give my graph a positive correlation. This is what happened. When the size of the beaker went up, so did the amount of time the candle beneath it. There was a relationship between the variables I was measuring The larger the Beaker, the longer the candle will burn for. I proved that there is more oxygen in a large beaker than a small beaker, as the small beakers candle did not stay lit for as long as a larger beakers candle. Evaluation I have achieved the aim that I wrote at the beginning of my experiment. I have found out whether it is the candle or the size of the beaker that determines how long the candle burns for. I have also found out that you can determine the volume of a gas jar, just by timing how long the candle burns for when placed underneath. My plan was quite good. I have achieved all that I wanted to achieve, and found out all that I wanted to find out. I have gained everything from my experiment that I had aimed to gain, and without any problems. I dont think that I could have changed anything to make it better, except to maybe do more tests to get my average from, because they will, of course, be more accurate. I didnt change anything to make anything work better, it already worked perfectly fine. My results were very good, all of my results were consistent as they were quite close to each other. Also they followed my prediction perfectly, I had no problems. From my results I have calculated that the Gas Jar had an approximate volume of 200 cm cubed. The actual volume of the gas jar is 210 cm cubed. This result is extremely close to my approximation, which means that my results were very accurate. I also believe that my experiment was a very fair test, we followed our method exactly and had no reason to change anything. I think that my results were pretty reliable. There was an obvious line of best fit in which many of the results fitted in with. I did have one anomalous reading though, but it was not far off track. An Anomalous reading is a reading that didnt follow the same pattern as the others. This might have occurred because of a number of reasons. For example, We couldve made an error in taking measurements or we might not have filled up the gaps in the beaker enough etc. I think, that by carrying out a further experiment, we would extend our knowledge by changing the experiment a little, by maybe changing a different variable or by having more tests. Either way, we would learn a lot more on this specific subject. Katrina Farrant 10HA Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

The Waste Heat Energy Such As Motorcycle Engineering Essay

The Waste Heat Energy Such As Motorcycle Engineering Essay The concept of using the waste heat energy such as motorcycle exhaust, heat exchanger, home exchangers, electrical equipment, industrial process and others to generate electrical energy is the main idea of this project. The energy produced will be used to power the battery charger. Battery chargers refer to a device that used to put energy into a secondary cell or rechargeable battery by forcing an electric current through it. The charging protocol depends on the size and type of the battery being charge. Existing battery charger is mainly relied on electricity to supply the energy. As electricity consumption one of the main concern nowadays. This is because it contributes to high household expenditure. In this project, we will design a new battery charger that mainly powered by thermal energy and it will backup by normal electricity source. A thermoelectric generator (TEG) module is used to harvest heat from the surrounding and convert into electricity. During the time when the electricity supply from TEG is insufficient, a microcontroller-based monitoring and switching circuit will switch to normal electricity source. An analysis and comparison of the energy consumption between the proposed battery charger and existing one will be carried out. Thermoelectric powered battery charger consists of thermoelectric generator (TEG), power management, DC to DC boost up converter, charger circuit and switching circuit. Thermoelectric modules can convert heat energy to electrical power directly (Jose Antonio B. V. et al., 2009). The Basic principle of a TEG is the Seebeck effect. Imposing different temperature on both ends of a thermoelectric generator, the devices can output a certain electrical energy which is proportional to the temperature difference of both ends of the device. The energy produce will be used to charge the battery charger and has the capability to reduce the power consumption. It is also in order to support and move towards a green technology application. PROBLEM STATEMENT The demand for electrical energy around the world is increasing every year, every month and every day. The human needs the electrical energy to live their lives. Nowadays, lots of electrical equipments were design to use electrical energy in the most efficient way. However, the existing source of energy will be depleted one day. Based on the World Resource Institute, fossil fuel such as oil, natural gas and coal make up a total 80 percent of the total energy consumption in the world (Damasa, 2006). The reproductions of fossil fuels are almost impossible as they require millions of year to be produced by the anaerobic decomposition of remains of organisms that settle to the sea bottom (Habjanec, 2009). To overcome this problem, it is important to find a new source of energy to replace the existing energy. This new energy is known as renewable energy (RE). Renewable energy means the energy that comes from the neutral source. The research for renewable energy is grown rapidly. Renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydro has limited resources and depend on weather and topography. Heat is one of the renewable energy. More than half of the energy consumed worldwide is wasted in the form if excess heat (Quick, 2009). Heat waste energy produced and released without attempted to capture it and reuse it since heat is a kind of energy. Nowadays, global warming become a big issues caused by the heat released to the environment. In order to converse the environment, the power will enable to supply small amount of power to electronic devices. OBJECTIVE This project has the following objectives: To design a prototype of an efficient, reliable thermoelectric battery charger to charge the battery. To analyze the productivity, profits, etc. compared to the existing battery charger. To analyze the time taken, complexity efforts to design electronic devices for thermoelectric battery charger. SCOPE OF WORK Hardware Proteus 7 professional will be used to design and running the simulation circuit on the hardware for thermoelectric powered battery charger. This software is choosing based on their characteristic that easy to use, and easy to run hardware simulation and software. Software MPLAB will be used to write a programming assembly language for the microcontroller in the switching circuit. This switching circuit used as a backup system for the battery charger when the voltage produced from TEG is insufficient by supplying the normal supply. PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE This project has the following significance: The ability to reduce power consumption by harvesting thermal energy from the surrounding The energy produced from thermoelectric will used as a main source of battery charger and backup by normal electricity source. In order to support and move towards a green technology application THESIS ORGANIZATION CHAPTER 1 (INTRODUCTION) This Chapter will present the introduction of the project, which is brief information and scope of the project is discussed. It is also including the objectives of the project, software and hardware proposed and thesis organization. CHAPTER 2 (LITERATURE REVIEW) This Chapter discussed the literature review and detail about information and scope of the project. It consists of general theory and provides information about thermoelectric powered battery charger. CHAPTER 3 (METHODOLOGY) This chapter will discuss briefly about the methodology of this project. It consists of several phase which are project planning, design, simulation and project fabrication. A proper planning is needed to be done to complete this project. CHAPTER 4 (RESULTS) This chapter contains all the result obtained in this study. All the simulation result for the hardware will be performed in graph form. The result for thermoelectric powered battery charger will be performed in table. CHAPTER 5 (DISCUSSION) In this chapter the discussion of designed thermoelectric powered battery charger will be carried out. This provides a general discussion of the output result. CHAPTER 6 (SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION) This chapter contains a brief summary of this project. A future recommendation will be carried out. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION During 1821, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovers a circuit from two dissimilar metals with junction at a different temperature would deflect a compass magnet (Lazaridis, G., 2009). It was quickly realize that the temperature different could produce electrical potential which can drive an electric current in a closed loop circuit. The voltage is found to be proportional to the temperature different between the two junctions. This is then named as Seebeck Effect after his name. In 1834, one decade after Seebeck effect was found, Jean Charles Anthanesa Peltier a French physicist investigate the thermocouple effect and found that the electrical current would produced heating as well as cooling at the two different material. This phenomenon was called Peltier Effect. In the middle of nineteenth century, Irish-born William (Lord Kelvin) completes the thermoelectric theory by trying together what Seebeck and Peltier had observed (Peter D. Heinz, 2012). THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR (TEG) Thermoelectric generators use the Seebeck effect to produce electrical power from a temperature different caused by heat energy flow [3]. Thermoelectric generator can convert heat energy into electrical energy directly (Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., 2011). Thermoelectric power generation have advantages in term of free maintenance, quiet in operation and involving no moving or complex part. The Thermoelectric generator works by heating one face and cooling the other face of thermoelectric module and in the thermoelectric circuit is connected a load (Jose Antonio B. V., 2009). The thermoelectric generator is formed based on two elements which are N-type and P-type semiconductors. The N-type and P-type semiconductors are connected in series electrically and in parallel thermoelectrically among two ceramics layers (Jose Antonio B. V., 2009) The bigger temperature different, the higher the voltage can be generated (Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., 2011). The electron flows from hot to cold side through the N-type, and the electrons hole flows from hot to cold side through the P-type will allows the combination of electrical produced in series and increased the voltage and power output. Figure 1.1 shows the diagram for thermoelectric generator. As the heat flows from hot to cold side, the voltage will produced. http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/thumb/8/8b/Thermoelectric_Generator_Diagram.svg/277px-Thermoelectric_Generator_Diagram.svg.pnghttp://images.iop.org/objects/phw/news/15/5/7/valley.jpg Figure 1: Basic thermoelectric generator diagram. The voltage produce from the heat flow is proportional with the temperature different between the hot and cold plate. This phenomenon can be shown by the following equation: V = ÃŽÂ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã¢â‚¬ T 1 Where V is the resulting voltage, ÃŽÂ ± is the Seebeck coefficient and ΆT is the temperature different. THERMOELCTRIC BATTERY CHARGER EXISTING WORK In the previous year, the research about TEG and it application has growth rapidly. In 2011, on Power Engineering and Optimization Conference, Ahmad Nazri A. R. et al., has develop Heat Energy Harvesting for Portable Power Supply (PosHEAT). In this research, his investigate the best material to design thermoelectric generator by using Bismuth Terlluride (Bi2Te3). Heat source for this research was taken from motorcycle engine. The voltage produce from the TEG stored in the rechargeable batteries and will used to charge the mobile phone. The portable and compact thermoelectric generator was designs to make it is easy to used and carry. From the experiment conduct, the maximum voltage produced when the temperature different 75dT/oC is 4.4V. It is sufficient to charge a mobile phone, PSP, MP3, MP4 and other digital products anywhere and anytime. Jose Antonio B. V., 2009, was research about Thermoelectric Generator Using Water Gas Heater Energy for Battery Charging. In this research he designs a prototype of a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for the thermoelectric (TE) module in order to increase the energy conversion in the battery charging. A SEPIC (single-ended primary inductance converter) DC-DC converter is applied and controller by a microcontroller and to achieve the maximum power of point tracking is used the perturbation and observation (PO) algorithm. The performance of the battery charging by using PO MPPT is compared to the battery charging directly to the TE module. The source of heat conversion in this research comes from water gas heater. From the experiment conduct the MPPT improved the energy delivery to the battery charger compared to the direct connection. The principle of using thermoelectric heat converter is used to design a battery charger for a lab-top computer. In 1995, Marmudur R., Roger S., on Thermoelectric Power Generation for Battery Charger, develop a battery charger to charge a lab-top computer that consists of thermoelectric converter system, that powered by butane gas and DC-DC boost up converter. In this research, the voltage produced from the heat is 5watts and can be used to charge the lab-top computer. In another word, the heat conversion from butane gas can expand the internal batteries for lab-top computer. Besides that, a battery charger by using compost also has been research. On 2010, Caitlin Ahearn, investigate about heat conversion by using compost pile. The energy produced will be used to charge a battery. From the experiment, by using the copper slab insulated with extruded polystyrene at placed at the center of compost pile, would transfer 86% ±2% heat from hot side to the cold side. At the 60oC  ±1 oC temperature different can produced 463mW ±6mW, which is this amount sufficient to charge a battery. To improve the energy transfer, more researches were conducted. In 2012, Xu Yingyin et al., was investigate about the DC to DC boost up converter by using two controls mode, maximum power tracking (MPPT) and power matching (PM). The performance of MPPT and PM were investigated by using mathematical model and transfer function. The results for this research shown in Figure 2 below. Figure 2.1: Input power curve and control mode From the Figure 2.1, it show when Pin_max CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION This chapter is very important to provide information of the methods that being used in completing this project. STARTMETHODOLOGY PROCESS FLOW Literature Review Project Proposal Technical Project 1 Project Seminar 1 Design and Build System Design Hardware Success? NO Design Software YES Success? NO Implementation and Testing YES Success? NO YES End Conclusion Thesis Writing Analysis Literature review Literature review is a very important part of the research process. The general purposed of the literature review is to gain knowledge and understanding of the current state about the selected research topics. This chapter was conducted to investigate the past researches that have been done in suspension system include passive and active. It is because the research in this field has already been done before. All the works in this project is based on the previous research. Design Hardware The new battery charger that mainly powered by thermal energy and it will backup by normal electricity source will be design. Design Software During the time when the electricity supply from TEG is insufficient, a microcontroller-based monitoring and switching circuit will switch to normal electricity source. The software will be design to switch the system. Implementation and testing Once the system has been fabricated, the implementation and testing will be conducted and the time to the thermoelectric charge the battery will be taken. Correction might be done if needed. Analysis From the testing process, analysis of time taken to complete the battery to charge will be obtained and will be comparing with the existing battery charger. Conclusion and thesis writing A thesis will be written for submission, which includes all process stated above along with conclusion obtained from this work and some recommendations for future project

Red Clouds Revenge Essay -- English Literature Essays

Red Cloud's Revenge Red Cloud’s Revenge is a historical novel about the grim recollection of detailed events and days/months before the showdown between the US Cavalry & Sioux Indians on the northern plains of 1867. Fetterman, Brown & Grummond rode out ahead of seventy-eight soldiers that day on December 21st 1866. In hopes of driving out some Sioux Indians and bring some scalps home. Many soldiers’ guard was down when Fetterman’s entire force disappeared over Trail Lodge Ridge. None of them were ever seen alive again. Seven months after the tragic bloodshed of the Fetterman Massacre by a band of Lakota; Sargent Seamus Donegan was stationed near Fort Phil Kearney recovering from the horror and bloodbath in which he participated. Several Sergeants searching for him after the Fetterman Massacre directed orders in expectation of Donegan. Traveling along the Bighorn River/Mountains to Fort C.F. Smith, two thirds away from his destination Seamus along with the small camp he stopped at was attacked by a band of Lakota Indians. Narrowly escaping with his life, Donegan set off again to Fort C.F. Smith and fatefully stumbled upon James W. Thompson’s path. Private Thompson told Donegan that Chief Iron Bull requested his presence at sundown. After his encounter with the Crow Indians and discussions of peace/alliance with Chief Iron Bull, Thompson then took Seamus to Fort C.F. Smith by horseback. Several silent days following Donegan’s arrival, his long time frie...

Canterbury Tales Comparison :: essays papers

Canterbury Tales Comparison "If gold rusts, what shall iron do" (502)? This question seems to be the basis of the comparison between the parson and the reeve. One, a good man on the inside and out, the other, a wonderful fascade to hide his true personality. Althgough completely different, one tries to imitate the other to make himself appear a good man. The parson embodied what a preacher of the Lord should be. He was honest, kind, truthful, "benign, and wonderfully diligent" (485). Although he was a righteous man eh did not belittle or condemn those who were not as holy as he was. However he woudl highly scold those who were "obstinate" (523). He was a man who practied what he preached and led people not by his words, but his good actions. He would even give the poor parishoners some of his own moeney and possessions. He felt that it was imporrible "to find a filthy shepherd and a clean sheep" (506) and that if he was a priest (a man who is closer to God than most) is corrupt, then how could he expect his parishoners to be honest? There is no counter representation for the parson because with all of the good deeds he has done for others, when Chaucer says he believes "there is not better priest anywhere" (526) he believes it to be true, and so does the reader. The reeve was a thin, "choleric" (589) man. He was very clever and wilely, and could not be tricked by other. He was very knowledgable about about predicting what the yeild of his crops would be. Most people were afraid of him and he had a plesant home in a meadow. It would seem that he would have a sort of unhappy dreary home, but that was not the case. A lot of his master's properties were under his control and power, and he tricked his lorfd into getting most things. He would lend and sell the lords own properties back to him, and he privately had more riches than his lord. He also learned the trade of being a craftsman and a carpenter at a young age. However wicked the reeve may be on the inside, he tries to make others see him as a good man.

Atmospheric Oxygen, Giant Paleozoic Insects and the Evolution of Aeria

Animal gigantism was prevalent during the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. Gigantism in flying insects occurred in abundance; however, arthropods, such as arthropleurids, also experienced gigantism. Arthropleurids existed during the Paleozoic era and were the largest land dwelling arthropods in the history of the Earth. 1m long millipedes are classified as arthropleurids. Amphibians such as the terrestrial labyrinthodont amphibians also became gigantic during the Carboniferous period. Large amphibians reached body lengths of up to 2m. However, these amphibians are limited by respiration through the skin, which is known to restrict maximum body size. The wingspan of a certain extinct dragon fly exceeded 70cm and the wingspan of late Paleozoic Paleodictyoptera was between .9-43cm. There are a few hypotheses that have been aimed at explaining the gigantism during the Paleozoic era. Some are predatory defense and enhanced flight performance. However, the most plausible is the idea that the oxygen increase in the atmosphere caused the increase in body size. Increased oxygen partial pressure caused an increase in diffusive flux in the tracheal system. This led to the adaptation of the bodies of insects, amphibians, and arthropods to the new environment. Carboniferous - is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 Ma (million years ago), to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 Ma (ICS 2004). Geological records of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide Since plants have been able to survive on land by carbon dioxide fixation, also known as terrestrializaion, the earth’s atmosphere has undergone a ... ...f terrestrial arthropods with diffusion-limited respiratory systems is consistent with the levels of atmospheric oxygen. (This can be seen in the charts included in the article) A second peak of insect gigantism appears to occur in the Cretaceous period when the atmosphere was also hyperoxic, or contained a high concentration of oxygen. References Orr, W. C. and Sohal, R. S. (1994). Extension of life-span by overexpression of superoxide dismutase and catalase in Drosophila melanogaster. Science 263, 1128–1130. Tyler, R. H., Brar, H., Singh, M., Latorre, A., Graves, J. L., Mueller, L. D., Rose, M. R. and Ayala, F. J. (1993). The effect of superoxide dismutase alleles on aging in Drosophila. Genetica 91, 143–149. Withers, P.C. (1981). The effects of ambient air pressure on oxygen consumption of resting and hovering honeybees. J. comp. Physiol.

Deception Point Page 5

Rachel nodded. She was both. Four minutes later, Rachel Sexton exited the NRO and climbed into the waiting helicopter. Before she had even buckled herself in, the craft was airborne, banking hard across the Virginia woods. Rachel gazed out at the blur of trees beneath her and felt her pulse rising. It would have risen faster had she known this chopper would never reach the White House. 5 The frigid wind battered the fabric of the ThermaTech tent, but Delta-One hardly noticed. He and Delta-Three were focused on their comrade, who was manipulating the joystick in his hand with surgical dexterity. The screen before them displayed a live video transmission from a pinpoint camera mounted aboard the microrobot. The ultimate surveillance tool, Delta-One thought, still amazed every time they powered it up. Lately, in the world of micromechanics, fact seemed to be out-pacing fiction. Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) – microbots – were the newest tool in high-tech surveillance – â€Å"fly on the wall technology,† they called it. Literally. Although microscopic, remote-controlled robots sounded like science fiction, in fact they had been around since the 1990s. Discovery magazine had run a cover story in May 1997 on microbots, featuring both â€Å"flying† and â€Å"swimming† models. The swimmers – nanosubs the size of salt grains – could be injected into the human bloodstream a la the movie Fantastic Voyage. They were now being used by advanced medical facilities to help doctors navigate arteries by remote control, observe live intravenous video transmissions, and locate arterial blockages without ever lifting a scalpel. Contrary to intuition, building a flying microbot was even simpler business. The aerodynamics technology for getting a machine to fly had been around since Kitty Hawk, and all that remained had been the issue of miniaturization. The first flying microbots, designed by NASA as unmanned exploration tools for future Mars missions, had been several inches long. Now, however, advances in nanotechnology, lightweight energy-absorbent materials, and micromechanics had made the flying microbots a reality. The true breakthrough had come from the new field biomimics – copying Mother Nature. Miniature dragonflies, as it turned out, were the ideal prototype for these agile and efficient flying microbots. The PH2 model Delta-Two was currently flying was only one centimeter long – the size of a mosquito – and employed a dual pair of transparent, hinged, silicon-leaf wings, giving it unparalleled mobility and efficiency in the air. The microbot's refueling mechanism had been another breakthrough. The first microbot prototypes could only recharge their energy cells by hovering directly beneath a bright light source, not ideal for stealth or use in dark locales. The newer prototypes, however, could recharge simply by parking within a few inches of a magnetic field. Conveniently, in modern society, magnetic fields were ubiquitous and discreetly placed – power outlets, computer monitors, electric motors, audio speakers, cellphones – it seemed there was never any shortage of obscure recharging stations. Once a microbot had been introduced successfully into a locale, it could transmit audio and video almost indefinitely. The Delta Force's PH2 had been transmitting for over a week now with no trouble whatsoever. Now, like an insect hovering inside a cavernous barn, the airborne microbot hung silently in the still air of the structure's massive central room. With a bird's-eye view of the space below, the microbot circled silently above unsuspecting occupants – technicians, scientists, specialists in numerous fields of study. As the PH2 circled, Delta-One spotted two familiar faces engaged in conversation. They would be a telling mark. He told Delta-Two to drop down and have a listen. Manipulating the controls, Delta-Two switched on the robot's sound sensors, oriented the microbot's parabolic amplifier, and decreased the robot's elevation until it was ten feet over the scientists' heads. The transmission was faint, but discernible. â€Å"I still can't believe it,† one scientist was saying. The excitement in his voice had not diminished since his arrival here forty-eight hours ago. The man with whom he was talking obviously shared the enthusiasm. â€Å"In your lifetime†¦ did you ever think you would witness anything like this?† â€Å"Never,† the scientist replied, beaming. â€Å"It's all a magnificent dream.† Delta-One had heard enough. Clearly everything inside was proceeding as expected. Delta-Two maneuvered the microbot away from the conversation and flew it back to its hiding place. He parked the tiny device undetected near the cylinder of an electric generator. The PH2's power cells immediately began recharging for the next mission. 6 Rachel Sexton's thoughts were lost in the morning's bizarre developments as her PaveHawk transport tore across the morning sky, and it was not until the helicopter rocketed out across Chesapeake Bay that she realized they were heading in entirely the wrong direction. The initial flash of confusion instantly gave way to trepidation. â€Å"Hey!† she yelled to the pilot. â€Å"What are you doing?† Her voice was barely audible over the rotors. â€Å"You're supposed to be taking me to the White House!† The pilot shook his head. â€Å"Sorry, ma'am. The President is not at the White House this morning.† Rachel tried to remember if Pickering had specifically mentioned the White House or whether she had simply assumed. â€Å"So where is the President?† â€Å"Your meeting with him is elsewhere.† No shit. â€Å"Where elsewhere?† â€Å"Not far now.† â€Å"That's not what I asked.† â€Å"Sixteen more miles.† Rachel scowled at him. This guy should be a politician. â€Å"Do you dodge bullets as well as you dodge questions?† The pilot did not answer. It took less than seven minutes for the chopper to cross the Chesapeake. When land was in sight again, the pilot banked north and skirted a narrow peninsula, where Rachel saw a series of runways and military-looking buildings. The pilot dropped down toward them, and Rachel then realized what this place was. The six launchpads and charred rocket towers were a good clue, but if that was not enough, the roof of one of the buildings had been painted with two enormous words: WALLOPS ISLAND. Wallops Island was one of NASA's oldest launch sites. Still used today for satellite launches and testing of experimental aircraft, Wallops was NASA's base away from the spotlight. The President is at Wallops Island? It made no sense. The chopper pilot aligned his trajectory with a series of three runways that ran the length of the narrow peninsula. They seemed to be heading for the far end of the center runway. The pilot began to slow. â€Å"You will be meeting the President in his office.† Rachel turned, wondering if the guy was joking. â€Å"The President of the United States has an office on Wallops Island?† The pilot looked dead serious. â€Å"The President of the United States has an office wherever he likes, ma'am.† He pointed toward the end of the runway. Rachel saw the mammoth shape glistening in the distance, and her heart almost stopped. Even at three hundred yards, she recognized the light blue hull of the modified 747. â€Å"I'm meeting him aboard the†¦ â€Å" â€Å"Yes, ma'am. His home away from home.† Rachel stared out at the massive aircraft. The military's cryptic designation for this prestigious plane was VC-25-A, although the rest of the world knew it by another name: Air Force One. â€Å"Looks like you're in the new one this morning,† the pilot said, motioning to the numbers on the plane's tail fin. Rachel nodded blankly. Few Americans knew that there were actually two Air Force Ones in service – a pair of identical, specially configured 747-200-Bs, one with the tail number 28000 and the other 29000. Both planes had cruising speeds of 600 mph and had been modified for in-flight refueling, giving them virtually unlimited range.

HR Team Project

This theory is bas De on effort and performance, which ultimately determines the outcome of a task o r duty. When looking at Top Expectancy, we see a clear correlation between the effort level f the employee and performance level. Pertaining to the Top expectancy, students in the case reached this low point of motivation because after putting in as much off rot as possible in the line situation, they realized that all the effort they put would b e sabotaged by the other foreign workers in the line.Thus, making the employee feel as if t here best efforts will never get them to the performance level needed to complete the j bob. This case situation also connected to Photo expectancy, which connects a specific perform menace level to a certain outcome. The specified outcome of the line was to remove a d stack the ketchup bottles quickly as possible without any boxes falling off the line. The s dents felt that at any performance level the outcome would still result in crates fall Eng off the line due to the counterproductive actions of the foreign workers.The probably tit of success was solely in the hands of the foreign workers, thus making the studs ants feel unmotivated to complete the job because the outcomes did not reflect their e efforts. The Students smashed the bottles in retaliation because they knew that the bottle s would be damaged regardless of their performance on the line. In the moment of anger r, the students page 2 wanted to feel in control, and thought that if the bottles were to break, it woo old feel better if they did it instead of the foreign workers. Another component of the expect Nancy theory is Valence.An employee may see the outcome as desirable or undesirable (La imbiber, 2010). In the academic journal, valence is connected to the expectancy of the employee through Individual perceptions. Due to the strenuous work and the negative work cue True of line duty, the students had an undesirable perception of the working envier moment. This is another factor that led to the destruction of the bottles. 2) Identify Ramie's leadership style using the Behavior Perspective of Leadership Give examples of his behavior from the case to support your answer.If Rah m had been a Transformational leader what would he have done to change the way things were happening on the bottling line? 2. Ramie's leadership style using the behavior perspective of leadership is the directive leadership style. The way Ihram performs his job such as trying to effectively manage the plant and fulfilling his duties can be supported by the directive leadership style. L adders that take on this type of leadership â€Å"assign specific tasks,sets goals and deadlines,clarify w Ark duties and procedures,define work procedures and plan work activities. (Machines & Steel n 2012,peg. 333) One of the ways Ihram portrays the style of directive leadership is whenever t he jobs had changed , he would give written instructions and descriptions as to what is ex pe cked of them. † Upon arrival they met Ihram, the Plant Manager, who gave them a set of job Instructions, which took all of 5 minutes and directed them to George, the lead oven operator(co k) if they had any additional questions. â€Å"(case study)Ihram always dealt with introducing them t o the work area and page 3 giving written job descriptions.Whenever Ihram was not in the working work ins area, he would have an employee who was to work as a supervisor in the area. The supervisor RSI were assigned so that they would be mentors to the new employees, and to clarify or listen to a NY concerns the employees had related to the job. However, in the case of the students that joy indeed neither was the supervisor willing to listen, nor was the plant manager who said to deal the pr bobbles on their own. Ihram also demonstrates directive leadership through the aspect of not willing g to listen to employee problems and concerns. The student said that while they were pale eased to be working at the plant, they had concerns about how George was treating them. Ihram t hen went into a long explanation about his management philosophy and how he felt it was m ore effective this ‘hands off policy' has served him in managing the plant I† (case study) Ihram did not care about listening to the concerns of the employees and to be supportive of them. He believed that all employee were mature and responsible adults, therefore the problems they h d with other employees Were to be solved by themselves.Getting Ihram involved in problem ms that employees had between each other felt as if he was treating them like children-Therefore it was suggested to the students that any concerns with George or any other employees should did erectly dealt with the person to get a solution. Hence, under the behavioral perspective of leaders hip Ihram best portrayed the directive leadership through his work performance. If Ihram was to be a transformational leader the way he was man aging the Pl ant would have been a more welcoming and positive environment.Transformational lea deer motivate employees to achieve the organization's vision. â€Å"Transformational leadership raises the level of human conduct and ethical aspiration of both leader and follower. It alters an d elevates the Page 4 motives, values, and goals of followers through the vital teaching role of lead reship, enabling leaders, and followers to be united in the pursuit Of higher Kerr ashcan. 201 3, peg. 1 2) A positive environment would have been formed in the company with employees being approachable and having freedom to suggest their opinions. F Ihram was to f allow ramifications leadership, he would have changed the attitudes of employee sees who were working on the bottling line. Being an ignorant leader has led to employees be ins disobedient. The machine operator had been rude enough to change the speed the mach en was at frequently. â€Å"Very quickly, however the two realized that the se two women had a relatively low opinion of seasonal workers and they apparently experienced considerable delight in VA raying the speed of the line. They could increase speed sufficiently to make it impossible for Robe art and Bill to remove and stack every case of ketchup. Case study) Ihram should have bee n able to come up with a solution to the concerns that students had With the operator if he was t o be a transformational leader. Also if this leadership style was used the students w loudly it hesitate to ask questions and raise their concerns to him about working in the company. In addition,the bottling line wouldn't have faced problems such as Robert and Bill throwing t he bottles against the wall if the transformational leadership style was followed. It can be under stood that for every action there is a reaction and in this situation it causes a harmful work environ moment.According to David Conrad it is said † the more connected managers are, the better they can und erstand what motivates members of their team, analyze what's really going on, and find sol suctions that meet the needs of their people and their company. † (Conrad, 2014) These are truly the steps that should have been taken by Ihram if he were to be a transformational leader who once auroras his employees to work together for the company. By meeting the needs of people e and finding Page 5 solution to them will allow employees to have a positive feeling about the woo receptacle and will decrease any levels of employee absenteeism.However, this is not the case of the Plant due to Ramie's directive leadership style but if Ihram changes his style of leading the Plant ,it will benefit both him and the employee. 3) Identify and describe (a) the sources of conflict The Students experienced conflict that ultimately led to their termination. The sources of conflict for the students started with the poor communication of Ihram, who explained the tasks and duties too quickly and didn' t introduce them to the other worker RSI. This created a social divide between the students and the other workers.Also, the workers had mix of incompatible goals and differentiation because the goals of the force gnu workers were counter productive, and the students had goals of increasing productivity y. These opposite goals and beliefs created tension between these two groups. The for sign workers have a negative perspective on seasonal workers, which conflicts wit h goals of production and decreases employee interest. † the prevailing perspective in c inflict management relies on the implicit assumption that employee interests should d be subordinated to the demands of production and authority† (Gross et al. 2013) Their interests and beliefs did not coincide with the production environment, which relies on efficiencies and productive actions. Page 6 Lastly, a prominent source of conflict was the use of ambiguous rules. The am bigamous working environment gave the fore ign workers the opportunity to interfere WI the the students work. There are not rules implemented to keep the line at a certain s peed. (b) the conflict management styles used by the students and the permanent staff. The conflict management style used by the students toward George was prop elm solving.Although they began to avoid the problem, they soon realized that they had t do something about the issue. The students used the problems solving style with George by attempting to solve the issue through a win win orientation. However, George completely dismissed their concerns, which should have signaled the student s to use a forcing style due to the unethical behavior. When the students were at the line e, they used a compromising style to solve the issue. They proposed to use hand signals to communicate to the foreign workers. They striver to achieve a mutual gain in order to keep a consistent flow in the line.The students attempted to build a trust wit h the reign workers by mak ing conditional promises. After this failed, the student s avoided the situation and retaliated by breaking the bottles. (c) Select the Structural Approaches to Conflict Management that might best help resolve the conflict on the bottling line. Gives reasons for your choice. In order to improve the line, structural approaches to conflict management SSH old have been implemented. The management staff should emphasize subordinated goals t o Increase Page 7 cooperative thinking.When everyone has the same ultimate goal, the worker s will work together to achieve the higher main goal of the operation. If the students and the permanent workers emphasized the subordinated goals of the organization, there would be less competitiveness between the two groups of workers. Improving communication and mutual understanding is also an approach that t could resolve this conflict. The loud production environment and quick pace made it very h art for the student workers to communicate with the foreig n workers. Also, the language barrier didn't help the situation either. ROR to starting the job, Ihram should have TA ken more time for the foreign workers to meet the student workers and assist them wit engage barrier. After the conflict occurred, the students should have tried t o find a quiet space to attempt to discuss the problem with the foreign workers. This s essential in creating a mutual understanding of goals. The students need the foreign w errors to know that they are serious about completing the tasks and duties, and want t o work together instead of compete. 4) (a) Identify and discuss the sources of power used by the permanent staff and the students in the case.Page 8 The sources of power identified in this case can be seen between three differ .NET parties. The iris is between the three newly hired workers John, Bill, and Robert and Rah m. Ihram is the plant manager of H. J Heinz, he provides the students their job instructions . After giving instructions, he leaves almost immediately but what is seen is that John, Bill, a ND Robert listen to the plant manager on the given job instructions. Ihram is seen to have e coercive power which is defined as â€Å"the ability for a manager to punish subordinate. (textbook) When Ihram catches Bill throwing the case against the wall, he exerts his core give power and fires both Bill and Robert. According to Mollification's article he states the t too much coercive power has a negative impact on employees job satisfaction† â€Å"Most SC hollers in management and psychology believe that using coercive power (punishment) as a means to influence subordinates and staff has much more negative effects than positive e, due to its adverse physical and mental effects† ( Anomalousness et al , 2014) The second is between John, Bill, and Robert and George, the lead oven opera tort (cook).George is seen to have legitimate power because he is simply of a higher working position informally because he is a p ermanent staff. Also, George partially has coercive power because he threatened the three students to make work harder for them if the eye talk to Ihram again. The third relation is between Robert and Bill's relation with the woman who w ere operating the conveyer belt. They display a small level of expert power because as perm anent staff, they are have the knowledge and know how to speed up the line.They used t his knowledge Page 9 in a negative way and made the boys work harder when they increased the s peed of the conveyer belt. Which led to Robert and Bill them fired (b) Identify and fully describe two influence tactics that the student might have used to improve the way they were being treated by the permanent staff. Two influence tactics that the students could have used to improve the way the eye were being treated is by persuasion and upward appeal. Persuasion would be a strong TA stick to use by stating a logical arguments, and emotional appeals.John, Bill, and Robert cool d have tried to talk to George about their financial situation and tell him how his stereotyping them as â€Å"rich college kids† is completely wrong because if they were rich, why would they b e working for H. J Heinz during their summer vacation? Additionally, when Robert and Bill w ere facing robbers with the woman operating the conveyer belt and speeding it up ran dimly, they should have talked to their coworkers right away and tell them to stop.The SE condo tactic the boys could have tried was upward appeal. This approach deals with gaining s purport from higher authority. They could have reported this childish behavior coming fro m the woman working the conveyer belt to higher management and speak to Ihram. If Rah m doesn't help, then they should have reported this mistreatment to the HRS department and seek help from there. 5) Use the Communication Process Model and the Barriers to Communication ( Noise) to fully explain why communication broke down on the bottling.Pa ge 10 5. The communication break down in bottling will be supported by both the com ammunition process model and barriers to communication. Based on the communication process model there had been a communication break down since their was low proficiency in the communication channel, the codebooks had not been similar and some employees did not ha eve sufficient experience in encoding the messages.

Effects on Performance Management

Effects on Performance Management and the Company when Nepotism and Cronyism is Present. Cronyism is Present. Whether deliberate or unintentional, workplace nepotism and cronyism threatens positive corporate culture as well as the company's overall performance management. Managers who give special treatment to their family members or their favorites decrease the morale of the other employees and do not pay attention to the areas of need that the employee may be facing in their Job performance.Finding yourself on the non-receiving end of desirable assignments can be rough-?especially when the recipient also lacks adequate employment lubrications. The organization being discussed is a relatively small organization; there are approximately twenty full-time employees and seventeen part-time employees. The organization serves adults with developmental disabilities on cite and in the community. They are a non-profit organization and rely on state funded money as well as fundraisers.Their p erformance evaluation they work with does not have any weight when considering raises or pay scale. There have been two directors in the last ten years and both directors suffered from performance management issues. However, since the latest director has been in charge the organizational culture is also changing rapidly. The previous director hired her daughter and the daughter's best friend. When both were hired neither had the required skills to perform their duties. They both rapidly moved up the ladder of success during the director's time.A couple of years prior to the director's retirement an â€Å"assistant director† position was created to train the upcoming replacement. She also happened to be a family friend. This friend had experience as a support coordinator and some college experience. After the new director took over, the entire center seemed to be recreated. The â€Å"daughter† was made a program manager and the â€Å"friend† was made a program ma nager. Once these positions were filled and time went on, cronyism became very visible among the center staff.The â€Å"daughter† had now been moved into an â€Å"invented position† since she was unable to perform her managerial duties, as told to staff, yet her salary and status seemed to remain intact. The â€Å"friend† however seemed to shine brighter daily and chain of command communicated regularly. The morale of the organization started falling and stories and complaints traveled quickly between staff. It was starting to be evident that the word â€Å"team† did not exist. If rooms needed assistance, coverage, or other types of conflict arose there was not anyone to come and offer support.The staff knew they had to call the program manager per chain of command but she was never available. After months of back and forth from trying to get answers from the director and when questioned, the program manager, who also happens to have tightened the bond of friendship with this director would lie and say it is handled or Just not show up when needed the staff began feeling like no matter how much they complained or tried fixing the situation the director valued the friendships more than the organizations culture all together.Every year when it is time to do performance evaluations the direct support staff would cringe. They all knew that no matter what was on the form that they signed it did not matter because â€Å"if† there was a raise to be given, it would be a standard 1%-3% across the board. The facts that the â€Å"mangers† actually had a larger salary increased their raises due to the percentage factor.This past year most staff filled out their own evaluations and wrote their own goal to work towards the following year and the managers Just signed off and passed to the director. The character of cronyism is proactive and dynamic. Goanna (1991) notes that loyalty has two true-hearted dimensions: emotional and behav ioral. The emotional aspect of loyalty results from gratitude. Since emotions are invisible, one's loyalty is evaluated through the behavioral dimension.In situations where loyalty is a highly valued characteristic, individuals tend to display loyal behaviors in order to receive positive evaluations and personal benefits, in this case no consequences for not being supportive to the program staff or not being held accountable for her lack of performance. Additionally, it may not be easy to distinguish between behaviors hat emerge from true-hearted gratitude and behaviors that result purely from â€Å"impression management. † That is why this definition of cronyism is based on the notion of perceived loyalty.The lower ranked employees are likely to play an active role. For instance, a program staff may want to influence the perception her supervisor by uncritically agreeing with the program manager on work or non-work related issues or by speaking highly of that program manager in the presence of the director of the center. (Deluge and Perry, 1994). This perceived loyalty plays a major factor when the yearly evaluations roll around. Since there is not clear Job descriptions or expectations in any area of the organization there would not be anything to effectively measure or evaluate.Popularity or convenience plays more of a role. When the evaluations rotate through the managers, they have many other things that rank higher in priority so it is usually rushed through and passed back to the director to file. In a healthy organizational culture personal relationships and loyalty, to a certain degree, may be functional and does not necessarily breed cronyism. Coffee and Jones (1996), argue that sociability, which refers to sincere approachability among members f an organization, raises morale, fosters teamwork, and promotes creativity.However, when the stress on relationships is so great that it is turned into strong in- group bias and when loyalty becomes un reserved, cronyism is likely to occur. There is a more complex system of social interactions that arise spontaneously as people associate with one another. Dissimilar to the formal structure, which accentuates official positions in terms of authority and responsibility, the informal structure emphasizes people and their unofficial relationships (Newsroom and Davis, 1993).The informal system develops to fulfill needs that cannot be met by the formal system. Increasing informal relationships with the right people, which may include subordinates, peers, and superiors, can be a useful means of acquiring power Nouns, 1992). The coupled relationship between the superior and subordinate in the context of cronyism tends to be governed by their personal ties rather than assigned Job duties or responsibilities.These casual relationships may override organizational hierarchy and involve an element of â€Å"power-seeking,† where individuals exchange ore than friendship among themselves t o further individual goals that cannot be met through formal channels. Studies suggest that the mere act of categorizing people as â€Å"cliques† and out-groups have a tendency to result in favoritism (Teasel et al. , 1971; Turner et al. , 1983). Clique members are given high levels of trust, interaction, support and rewards while out-group members receive low levels of each and often denied valuable opportunities (Vehicle, 1997).These behaviors breed a competition among the staff that creates stress among the employees since they hank that if they are not a member of that clique or friendship they may not get any of the â€Å"rewards† they feel those clique members receive. Some examples of this description within the organization is when an instructor, someone with no authority, brings gifts or constantly offering flattering compliments to feel as though she is in the â€Å"clique† status and when an opportunity arises like a special outing or work opportunity that is praise worthy she usually gets it.The opposite end of the spectrum however is the employee that constantly goes above and beyond her jugular Job duties to help others and seems knowledgeable of her position gets constantly overlooked for promotions, raises, or passed by because she chooses to focus more in her Job rather than the social side of relationships. Personal loyalty toward the program manager or director is different from loyalty to the organization or organizational commitment.The director or program manager's cronies may not be committed to the organization as a whole. In fact, the increase of a deep sense of obligation toward the director or program manager may surpass connection toward the organization (Chem. and Francesco, 2000). An example could be that if the director leaves the organization, her cronies will try to follow suit. Being trusted supporters, â€Å"clique† members of a work unit tend to cultivate a feeling of gratitude towards the program manager or director.These same employees are likely to be pleased with their work due to the existence of receptive bonds in their working relationships. These same employees shared motivational factors and experienced less role-related stress like Job overload, insufficiency, ambiguity, or conflict. Unfortunately, out-group employees who do not possess these same connections seem to have lower Job distraction because even if they are the â€Å"cream of the crop,† their chances of climbing the ladder of success are slim.This has an antagonistic impact on their sense of self-worth as they become trapped in organizations that require friendships to â€Å"earn† promotions (Hurley et al. , 1997). This reason alone should be evidence enough that performance evaluations should be considered more serious than they are in this particular company. They are likely to feel a sense of inequality when they perceive that in-group members, regardless of competency, manage to be prom oted much faster than they do.It is not surprising to find that out-group members are more likely to file grievances (Coleman et al. , 1993). The clique group of employees is likely to show low commitment to the organization. This is where prominence on loyalty to the director or manager may transform into negative organizational performance when the directors personal goals struggle with those of the organization. Although cultural influence plays an important part here, the practice of cronyism, with its stress on loyalty toward management rather than the organization, greatly emphasizes such influence.When the company's strategic plan ND evaluation standards are stated to be practiced one way in the personnel handbook and the actual actions of the management staff proves otherwise the staff could view that situation as an opportunity to slack on their personal performance and not care whether or not the company actual succeeds or not. Obligation is related to organizational depen dability or the degree to which an organization is perceived to be looking after the interests of its employees in practices such as Job security and career development (Buchanan, 1974; Steers, 1977).Due to in-group bias, the hard work of out-group members is often unrecognized by their previous. Furthermore, out-group members do not experience the Job security and preferred rewards in-group members enjoy. They are often overlooked in terms of opportunities for personal achievement. While in-group members are delegated key roles in the organization, and the out-group members are merely assigned peripheral functions that are easily expendable (Change, 1999).Ingratiation, an attempt by individuals to increase their attractiveness in the eyes of others, is one particular rising influence strategy whereby ingratiation behaviors are driven by attempts to influence someone higher in the formal hierarchy of an organization Porter et al. , 1983). Loyalty is adored in cronyism; employees may openly reaffirm the manager's views and defend her appearance and prestige. They may also acknowledge the power distance in the hierarchy ladder and show their submissiveness in order to win the manager or directors heart (Fisher, 1977).The noticeable benefit associated with the in-group status encourages ingratiation behaviors. In addition to having impacts on individuals working in an organization, it can also greatly impact the clientele the organization serves; cronyism also produces significant consequences at the group or organizational level. Personal feelings can seriously bias Judgment. Positive affect toward employees makes managers less likely to give them negative performance feedback. With this being said, incompetence among in-group members has a tendency to be hidden and covered up in the organization.Since in-group members are rewarded on the basis of loyalty rather than competence, they do not see the need to excel and may at best achieve average performance. Addit ionally, these same employees tend to channel their energy and attention to ingratiating themselves with the manager or director or other related political behaviors. This ultimately distracts the employee from completing their proper Job duties (Coffee and Jones, 1996). Talent, which would otherwise rise to the top, is blocked and stifled by lack of opportunity. This leads to talented people leaving the organization.The constant leeching away of talent inevitably weakens the strength of the organization (Redding and Whish, 1993). Finally, the quality of decision making is a victim of cronyism. Any leader who is surrounded by â€Å"yes men† is unable to benefit from the diverse perspectives, experience, and knowledge of their employees. Worse still, with stress on conformity, ideas are unlikely to be fined and improved through group discussion and debate. The result of having such differentiated treatment can cause hostility between the two groups, consequently harmfully affe cting their cooperation and sense of teamwork.Progressively, the relation between the in-group and out-group employees suffers as the unjustified practices continue, and the leader's cronies are perceived to be getting more benefits than deserved (You kill, 1994). Over time, the morale of the out- group will be eroded by their feelings of alienation, powerlessness, and inequity as favoritism of in-group employees renders the relationship between performance and reward less obvious (Preponderates and Topple, 1996). Cronyism stems from the fact that management is able to manipulate rewards and punishments for their employees.The greater their ability to do so, the greater is the personal dependence of employees on them. Missies, (1998) maintains that favored â€Å"clique† treatment may be reduced by making evaluation criteria explicit, objective, and public. To sum up, presence of competent managers and directors are likely to reduce crony behaviors. It is instinctual that comp etent managers tend to reward and promote competency among their employees. But, incompetent managers and directors would feel heartened by competent employees, and inevitably drive away competent employees (Bodleian and Ramekins, 1998).Preponderates (1993) notes that â€Å"yes men† tend to be concentrated among less able workers and among workers with less able managers. In conclusion, the organizational problem of nepotism eventually stemmed to accepted cronyism. By management allowing this to take place the employees began feeling resentment and the organizations moral dropped dramatically. In this particular organization, the clientele are the main ones affected by these behaviors to take place.