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Burmese Days Essay Paper Example For Students

Burmese Days Essay Paper George Orwells epic Burmese Days is set in 1920s Burma under British imperialism. It centers around the governme...

Thursday, October 31, 2019

UAE's need to have Preparedness and Response Plan for Chemical Essay

UAE's need to have Preparedness and Response Plan for Chemical Terrorism Attacks - Essay Example An individual or state is liable to face criminal charges if found guilty of trying to use toxic substances for malicious gains. Furthermore, the fight against biochemical terrorism has been boosted especially through continued support of the United Nations Organization. Despite the fact that detecting such attacks has proven to be a hard nut to crack, nations cannot just sit back and watch thinking that everything is usual. Prevention is better than cure and so there is a need to categorically shun away from this inhuman act. It is only by coming up with adequate measures in the health sector and the intelligence service too. These are basically substances that are commonly used during military operations to kill or cause adverse injuries due to their physiological effects. Chemical effects range from nerve to blister and chocking effects. Nerve agents are very toxic warfare agents. They came to the existence during World War II. Some of these agents include GA-tabun, GB-sarin GD-soman, GF-cyclosarinand the VX-methylphosphonothoic acid. â€Å"G† agents are non-persistent unlike the â€Å"V† agents which are persistent (Hamid & Antu, 2006). Most of the â€Å"G† agents are blended with other substances to increase their effects hence causing the total amount of the toxic substance concentration into the skin by a bigger percentage. At room temperature, it is believed that the GB is highly volatile as GA though to a lesser extent. However, VX is a non-volatile liquid and; therefore, it is not that harmful as compared to other agents. Nerve agents are colorless and mobile liquids while o thers are characterized with a faint fruity like smell (Falkenrath et al., 1998). Victims who inhale GB and VX die after 15 minutes of absorption. Despite GA being less toxic as compared to GB and VX, its low concentration is more irritating to the eyes; its symptoms are often observed in the skin dosage rather than

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

3010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

3010 - Essay Example tiple learning styles, (4) information is presented via multiple channels, (5) grounded in personal reality, (6) conveys a clear goal, (7) earn and build on respect, and (8) create a friendly learning environment. Competent faculties are required to facilitate this to ensure efficient professional development of employees. Having professionals working in a business facilitates ease in the working environment and assurance of quality performance which is primarily the goal of every institution (Ulrich and Brockbank, p.243). 2. The legal context of employment decisions. It has been said by Bohlander and Snell (p.96) that when the HR management and all its functions are acted in compliance with the law organization and companies become more unbiased and more effective workplace. Awareness to the provisions of the law is therefore valuable in HR management especially in choosing the manpower for the organization. This way, occurrence of costly and time-consuming litigations can be prevented. 3. Building an HR Strategy. HR managers are expected to act in two manners when it comes to making decisions for the company. First is that they are fairly familiar with the business to be capable of directing the business strategy to be taken. And they play reactive role to initiate critical thinking among the members of the organization to come up with proficient strategy for the problem at hand. This criterion is necessary for HR managers to perfect to be able to help the members of the organization in arduous decision making and strategic planning (Ulrich and Brockbank, p.224). 4. HR Organization. Like in any other group of management of business, creating a clear organization is essential. This precludes confusion of authority, responsibilities and roles of each member. Selection of HR organization is base on the business organization type (Ulrich and Brockbank, p.179) and only after its fulfillment will the real value of HR management be achieved. 5. HR Competencies that

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Challenges Faced By An Organisation

The Challenges Faced By An Organisation Organization is a place where number of people work with each other to achieved a mutual Goal and Management is interested in an organization mainly from an instrumental point of view. For a company, organization is a means to an end to achieve its goals, which are to create value for its stakeholders (stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers, community). Therefore Management behaviour can be describe in terms of structure Culture In which the relationship between management structure and culture and its effect on business performance should be analyze very carefully to sustain the Organization growth and its development. Now for improving organizations overall effectiveness is a constant key objective for all executives so that organization will benefit significantly through: -Increased productivity -Faster decision making -Less internal conflict Organizational effectiveness stems from the organization being able to do the things it   Needs to do with minimum use of resource. In fact not doing things that dont need to be done   is perhaps the single biggest contribution to becoming truly effective. Making Tasks simpler so there is less work, avoiding mistakes so that there is no rework, quality systems to get things done consistently, training to enable a task to be done quicker are all examples.   However,   the organisation doesnt   become more effective spontaneously.   It requires time,   effort, know  ­how   and will.   Individuals,   particularly those with management   responsibilities need to have the skills and competencies to analyse what is going on, to propose solutions to problems,   and implement the changes in the workplace and to have the confidence that   consistent   long-term improvement   is what   will make the organisation competitive.   If the gains in effectiveness are not to be eroded the whole process needs to be set in a culture of continuous improvement so that each improvement builds on its predecessors and is not lost just as easily as it was gained through apathy or through attention shifting elsewhere. Refer to the case study of Barclays banks when there is an acquisition with Lehman Brothers in September 2008 Barclays had to face number of hurdles and problems to overcome Organizational Behavior of the Lehman Brother but without an effective measures and decision making it would not be organized and successful acquisition so to understand the important part of Management theories for Organizational Behavior we have to understand effective management behavior that grouped into 6 management qualities. Values new Ideas: Effective Management can be through when we give importance and respect to new ideas present by the employees and give them rewards for this and let the employee try new, potentially better methods for an organizational growth. Values Others View: This includes Involve sub ordinates in important decisions, take time to listen and understand, provides feedback when subordinates shares ideas Appreciate Differences among others: Recognizes that individuals needs and abilities differ, Values the experiences and perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds 4) Takes Action to Solve Problems and Conflicts Takes steps to improve bad relationships, Takes action to resolve interpersonal conflicts, Finds win/win solutions, Learns from his/her mistakes, Sorts essential from unimportant information 5) Communicates Expectations Communicates what he/she expects to be accomplished, Provides understandable performance data 6) Principled Maintains consistency between words and actions, Models the behavior he/she expects from others, Recruits and promotes fairly regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or age The above mentioned 6 qualities are used to make an Organization effective. In case of Barclays Acquisition they started to implement this technique to boost the employee performance and to make them believe that they are still very attached with the organization and have a same respect as it was in Lehman Brothers. Barclays find out number of key organizational behavior issues with the acquisition like Integration, Organizational Culture of Both Barclays and Lehmans and Motivation. EXAMPLE REATED TO EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT U. S. Network Appliance Inc. (NetApp), founded in 1992, has been an industry leader in networked storage solutions. Since its inception, the founder of NetApp great importance for the development of a healthy work environment and friendly staff the company. Emphasis was placed on trust and integrity, team spirit and ambition to reach higher goals. The company had a policy of openness, flexible working hours and offer a host of other benefits for their employees. The company is employee-friendly policies have been recognized by leading magazines as one of the best places to work. For the year 2009, NetApp ranked first in the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Fortune magazine. In January 2009 ranked U. S. Network Appliance Inc. (NetApp), a leading solution for network storage company, No. 1 on the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune magazine had 4. The position of the company significantly the 14 th in 2008 (see annex I for a list of 15 of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2009) improved. The list was compiled by Great Place to (TMP) for work on behalf Institute5 Fortune magazine. According to GPW NetApp is a serious matter. Serious about customer service to compete seriously with serious and that a large work area. In 2009, NetApp # 1 Best Company to Work for in America is was established after investigations GPW, the 528 companies with new jobs in 2008, replacing an increase of around 12% 0.7 With this, NetApp INC8 Google, which held the title for two consecutive years 2007 and 2008. Occasionally, Dan Warmenhoven, CEO of NetApp, We are delighted and honored to be in the top of the prestigious list of Fortune. Our employees are the heart of our society and the strength of our global culture. values of the culture that teamwork, productivity, leadership and innovation We help clients create more discoveries to retain the best talent and deliver superior returns for our shareholders. I am very proud of what we have achieved and what the value of our employees every day: a shared workspace successfully NetApp personnel policies on the welfare of employees. Policies on the development of healthy and motivated employees. AfterGwen McDonald (McDonald), Vice-president, Human Resources,NetApp, We are clear that our people are our cornerstone of our success is actually taught by our leaders, both in terms of what we say and do.. NetApp Management believes that customers who do business with the value proposition of the companys corporate culture is measured. When the culture was strong enough that customers would be attracted to be inclined to establish business relations with the company of others. Emphasizes this fact, NetApp staff about the unique culture of the educated workforce. NetApp staffs have always been motivated by the words of appreciation and were aware that they were valued in society. There were several awards and recognition programs structured to recognize the contributions of personnel in various areas. Among them was the share of rewards program, which involves an incentive program to encourage employees to share their knowledge. It is now clear that the importance of an effective organization. Say, if an organization is effective is not certain to survive in this era of competition, losing to determine the reason. Therefore, the organization ineffective. INEFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION Such an organization will be termed as effective organization as its members do not work for organizations goals. The behavioral approach establishes a direct relationship between integration of organizational and individual goals and organizational effectiveness. It should, however, be noted that organizational effectiveness is not the result only of integration of two goals, rather are a lot of other variables affecting it. But still we can say, that as human factor is one of them important and the only active factor integrating other factors in the organization. This analysis holds good from management of organization point of view. For example in an organization where number of employees compete with each other not in positive manners his could affect directly to the organization as if individuals are not align in a proper positive direction then the organization will definitely face a great Obstacles, Now to manage all this things we understand that human factor is one of the most important and viable factor to see within an organization and should be managed properly, As in the case study of Barclays we discussed in the class we have seen that how employees were managed because of their importance in their organization and to retain them and to make them happier how Barclays made strategies to cope up that situation of successful integration. So we have to closely analyze that what factors affect organizational effectiveness. OBSTACLES / FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND ITS PERFORMANCE: This is a very important and difficult task for the manager, who is analyzing the organization, is to identify the factors underlying organizational effectiveness. The major set of factors or variables that potentially have their influence on effectiveness are: 1. Organizational characteristics 2. Environmental characteristics 3. Employee characteristics 4. Managerial policies and practices. For example Barclays acquisition with Lehman brother would have definitely affect organization as above factors affect a lot as both companies have different Organizational Characteristic, Environmental characteristics, Employee characteristics and also Managerial policies and practices. Organizational characteristics which affect the effectiveness are of two types: 1. Organizational structure and 2. Technology Organizational structure influences the effectiveness in the following ways: Structure in terms of functional specialization, size centralization of decision making and even formalization is likely to increase productivity and efficiency. Job satisfaction of the employees is also related to the organizational structure, equitable division of work and delegation or authority and responsibility and proper direction are likely to generate the feeling of satisfaction among people at work. Technology and organizational structure are interrelated. The type of technology determines the nature and structure of Organization, Change of technology will require a lot of changes in the organization in the form of: a. Change in operation e.g. from labor-intensive to capital intensive b. Shifting of employees to either different departments within the same factory or to some other factory of the organization. c. Change in span of control d. Creating of new and winding up of the few departments. e. Change in them materials which are used f. Retraining and provision of more knowledge about the latest technology to the workers. If the organization fails to change the structure according to needs of technology, it will never prove to be effective. needs of technology and it will never prove to be effective. Environmental Characteristic Management should have experts who will suggest adjustments which are to be made in the organizational set up to comply with environmental changes. 1. External environment 2. Internal environment Employee Characteristics Human factor is the most important factor which influences the goal achievement of organizations. If there is a close integration among the individual and organizational goals, the organizational will be highly effective as explained in the behavioral approach to the effectiveness. If the organization, without compromising with its fundamental programmers and policies, could readjust to accommodate legitimate aspirations of the employees, In employees, it should do so the achieve effectiveness. In case there is a conflict between the individual and the group goals and the issued relate to the very existence of the organization, the organization will have to take a firm stand to deal with the situation. To help in achieving the effectiveness of the organization, the employees the effectiveness of the organization, the employees should have the following characteristics: a. They should be attracted towards and satisfied with the organization. b. They should be committed to the organization. c. Their motives, goals and needs should not be in conflict with the organizational goals. d. The employees should be able and knowledgeable. e. They should have their role clarity. f. The job turnover should be very low, if any. EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH ADAPTIVE COPING STYLE AND HOW THESE OBSTACLES OVERCOME: 1. Sensing of Change. The first basic stage in the cycle is the sensing of change in some part of the internal and external environment. Failure to perceive changes in the environment or incorrectly perceiving the changes is the major factor for the failure of the organization to cope with environment. The organizations should have effective Management Information System for effectively coping with the environment. 2. The second stage in the cycle is the import of relevant information about the change into those parts of the organization that can act upon it. However, it is very difficult to decide which imputes are to be taken from the environment and organizations often fail to perceive the relevant inputs, particularly the information. 3. Changing Conversation Process. Inputs are taken by the organization from the environment for further processing, this is known as the conversion process. The conversion process should be modified according to environmental requirements as indicated by the information. 4. Stabilizing Internal Changes. The fourth stage of the cycle is to stabilize the internal changes while taking care of undesired changes in related systems which have resulted from the desired changes. This is necessary because each sub system in the organization is dependent upon others and change in one may affect others but this effect may be positive or negative. 5. Exporting New Outputs. When the internal change is established, the organization becomes in a position to export new outputs which are in accordance with the environmental requirements. Some different and additional attempts may be required for exporting the new outputs. If the organization fails to adopt the new methods, it may become ineffective.. 6. Obtaining Feedback. The last stage in the cycle is the obtaining of feedback on the outcome of the changes for further sensing of the state of the external environment and the degree of integration of the internal environment. This stage is very much related with the first stage because process of sensing may be the same. Failure at any of these stages may result into ineffectiveness. A successful coping suggests that all of the stages must be successfully negotiated. Following are the major organizational conditions for effective coping: 1. The Organization must have a proper communication system through which reliable and valid information may be passed. 2. Enough internal flexibility should be there so that changes can be brought absorbed by the organization. 3. Successful coping requires integration and commitment to the organizational goals which provides willingness for change. There should be supportive internal climate which can support good communication, reduction in inflexibility and stimulation of self protection. The Most important factor that likely to determine the successful performance of work organizations is Organizational Culture There are four steps in the integration of organizational cultures in international expansions that result from mergers or acquisition The two groups have to establish the purpose, goal, and focus of their merger They have to develop mechanisms to identify the most important organizational structures and management roles They have to determine who has authority over the resources needed for getting things done They have to identify the expectations of all involved parties and facilitate communication between both departments and individuals in the structure Three aspects of organizational functioning that are important in determining MNC organizational culture The general relationship between the employees and their organization The hierarchical system of authority that defines the roles of managers and subordinates The general views that employees hold about the MNCs purpose, destiny, goals, and their places in them. Guideline to Overcome such diversity i.e. Culture in an organization Select team members for their task-related abilities Team members must recognize and be prepared to deal with their differences Team leader must help the group to identify and define its overall goal Members must have equal power so that everyone can participate in the process All members must have mutual respect for each other. Managers must give teams positive feedback on their process and output Example related to Cultural Environment: The company plays an important role in the success of the organization. A corporate culture helps to attract the best talent in the industry. The case describes the corporate culture of Google Inc. Google is one of the few companies that have successfully blended technological innovation with a strong corporate culture The case provides insight into the work environment, and recruitment process at Google. The case also provides insight into how Google fostered innovation among employees. The case ends with a critique of Googles organizational culture Google Inc. (Google) is considered one of the most successful Internet start-ups. In 2003, favorite search engines in the world was for their accuracy and speed in obtaining results. Apart from the technological advantage over its competitors, Google is successful because of its ability to attract and retain the best talents of these employees. And the process was possible thanks to Googles corporate culture. During the Internet bubble in late 1990, Google was the only company that does not suffer wear, while the experience of other employees of large tech companies had sales of 20-25% Googles corporate culture is legendary in Silicon Valley. Googlehas been a symbol of successful Internet companies. For many, the successful combination of company culture and technology in Silicon Valley. It is estimated that Google has succeeded because it had removed the unnecessary bureaucracy and hierarchy gave its engineers to work hands free. But not everyone in the culture of Google was impressed. Some think that Google could not complete support their growth with the current culture. It is believed that Google had exceeded its informal culture, and it would be informal, from now on, the confusion among employees and customers. In addition, Google also crucial for their establishment and the lack of unity of command at the highest level. Google founders Larry Page (Larry) and Sergey Bring (Sergio) graduated in computer science from Stanford in 1995. In January 1996, the work of Larry and Sergey in their project aims to extend the summer through a search engine. They wanted a technology that has provided the necessary information from the enormous amount of data available on the Internet to grow because of its ability to identify and analyze the links in its search engine Back Backrub which refers to a site particular. Backrub in 1997 had received great popularity due to its unique approach to solving the problems of Internet research. During the first half of 1998, Larry and Sergey were focused on perfecting his technique. To store large amounts of data, they bought a terabyte of disk storage (a billion bytes is a terabyte) at bargain prices. Larry dormitory use data Center while Sergey room via an office. So far, they knew your search technology best available technology and other. They began an active participation with potential partners in the Technology Licensing YourSearch Engine Research technology. Larry and Sergey contact lots of people plus friends and family. One of the people they got in contact with was David File , the creator of Yahoo, a leading portal2. File complimented them for the solid equipment they had build, although did not come into any contract among them. Instead, he motivate them to set up their own company After collecting another $ 1 million from family and friends, the office of Larry and Sergey, 7 opened in September 1998. California office was in the garage of a friends house in Menlo Park. The name of Google, but by an accident, said the companys mission and organize the data available on the Internet most of the selected type. The site is set www.google.com and operation of the duo their first employee Stanford colleague Craig Silverstein (Silverstein), later chief technology officer of Google. . Google has an informal work culture in the (home) Googolplex. Both Larry and Sergey wanted to make Google a great place to work. Because of their faith, the Googolplex, decorated with lava lamps and painted in bright colors of the Google logo (Refer Figure I for Google Logo). Googles have been allowed to bring pets in the workplace, and were willing even with snacks, lunch and dinner by a famous chef Charlie Ayers. The room was Googolplex Google snack cereals, gummy bears, cashew nuts and other snacks and fruit juices, soft drinks and cappuccino Sergey and Larry have also focused on hiring people with good humor. They have been personally involved in hiring. To attract major change in Google Top Ten Reasons to Google on its website (Refer Table II). Google has hired people with different abilities and characteristics (see Table III).When hiring, Google for its academic excellence, as in the class of SAT test scores and other graduates were needed. For an interview call from Google, a person must be a first class university .Google management should also encourage innovation and creativity in the workplace. Clear that to maintain growth, the company had come up with new products and features. However, the company had problems, these ideas are translated into successful products, knock. Silverstein said: Weve always had good ideas, but we had no good way to express or catch them. To resolve the problem, Google implemented an internal web site to pursue new ideas Many analysts believe that fluctuations in Googles zero percent during the dotcom boom, the evidence from tissue culture. But not everyone was convinced that Google was entitled to its work culture. They found that the company was to manage growth. A 12-hour day became the norm in the industry. Googles hiring process has been criticized by analysts. It was noted that Google is too narrow in its approach; it is displayed in the stands and graduate certificates of the candidates instead of experience. Commenting on the hiring process, said a Google, If youre already at Cisco for 20 years, who do not. But the government defended the contracting process say they have intelligence and reason more valuable than experience. Performance of the Organization can be sometimes seems to be very easy but actually it is not the case. So most of the important thing in any organization is to look for is Manpower Humanreource and the environment in which all the employees are working both internally and externally both have to analyze with an close eye to take any advancement in any decision making in an organization The changing nature of modern work organizations and attempt to challenge and criticize the validity of this statement. Yes, As now the Modern work environment changes a lot due to Global attraction and as the whole world is becoming a global village now one which is more effective organization will survive. In this era Mergers Acquisition, Technology Advancement, Outsourcing, Modern HR like Rewards, Incentive, Retention, Training and Development took place a far more level just take an any example in developed or developing nation these practices are very common especially in Banking Industries examples like Barclays and Lehman and for Technology now a days SAP is used every Organization to integrate all his regions, Departments, Supply Chain Customers now these practices are also common in developing nation like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh etc. Major Merger Acquisition 1990s Top 10 Merger Acquisition deals globally by value (in mil. USD) from 1990 to 1999: Category Year Buyer Purchased 1 1999 Vodafone Air touch PLC Mannesmann 2 1999 Pfizer Warner-Lambert 3 1998 Exxon Mobil 4 1998 Citicorp Travelers Group 5 1999 SBC Communications Ameritech Corporation 6 1999 Vodafone Group Air Touch Communications 7 1998 Bell Atlantic GTE 8 1998 BP Amoco 9 1999 Qwest Communications US WEST 10 1997 WorldCom MCI Communications 2000s Top 10 MA deals worldwide by value (in mil. USD) from 2000 to 2009: Category Year Buyer Purchased 1 2000 Fusion: America Online Inc. (AOL) Time Warner 2 2000 Glico Welcome Plc. SmithKline Beecham Plc. 3 2004 Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. Shell Transport Trading Co 4 2006 ATHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTT Inc BellSouth Corporation 5 2001 Comcast Corporation ATHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTT Broadband Internet Sacs 6 2009 Pfizer Inc. Wyeth 7 2000 Spin-off: Nortel Networks Corporation 8 2002 Pfizer Inc. Pharmacia Corporation 9 2004 JP Morgan Chase Co Banc One Corp 10 2008 Imbed Inc. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc As shown in the above table it is clearly indicated the facts that the number of MA are increasing day by day so the organization who handle his Human resource well can lead in this race. Defining MWO (Modern Work Organization) Definitions of MWO usually need to be understood against its presumed antidote, i.e. the scientific management principles associated with the names of Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford. Using the categorization of Atkinson (1984), MWO is related to functional flexibility, rather than numerical or wage flexibility. Other terms which have been in use to describe the phenomenon include High Performance Work Organisation and High-Involvement management (cp. Besant 2003). Attila and Ylà ¶stalo (2002; 2005), in their research on Finland, talk about pro-active workplaces, key characteristics of which are that workers have increased possibilities to exert influence, and at the same time increased responsibility. A pro-active work organisation is simultaneously (a) able to implement new workplace practices within operational activities (for example semi-autonomous teams); (b) able to coordinate work across organisation (for example flat organisation or interaction) and (c) it has an active HRM policy as support and assistance (for example training). This is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 1 (from BDL 2002). Systematic approach towards Modern Organization: Systematic approach is very useful for this modern era to make an organization effective make the work which is really want to be in the systematic manner. The Following are the systematic approaches which are used to be modern organization. -Way work is coordinated across the organisation -Way work is organized within operational activities -Supporting Human Resource Policies -Flatter Hierarchy -Information Flow -Team/Management Interaction -Semi-autonomous work teams -Investment in training -Reward Systems -Performance Measurement -Multi-skilling through Job Rotation Decentral organisational structures: Flat hierarchies and decentralization of decision-making (reduction of the number of management layers; fewer different functions, i.e. job enlargement; improved flow of information between shop floor and management); Semi-autonomous work teams; Process focus; Direct cooperation links with stakeholders (customers, business partners, public authorities, RD units etc.) at every hierarchic level; Corporate cultures which focus on people and learning: Systematic approach to skill acquisition (lifelong learning) with a focus on widening skills rather than simply adapting skills to changing functional requirements; Strong focus on soft skills such as communication skills, team-working, conflict management etc.; Wide participation in training, also involving less qualified members of staff; Innovative performance measurement reward schemes: Management by objectives (for teams and individuals); Financial and non-financial performance measures; Performance-related remuneration. While each of these components have been extensively dealt with in the management literature, evidence suggests that they provide the biggest benefit to companies if deployed in a systematic approach Impact on Workers: While decentralization of control is generally praised as an ideal means to achieve greater labor flexibility as well as higher motivation and (following from that) higher productivity, there are also risks involved. It is certain that increasing responsibility and self-control at all hierarchical levels tends to increase the work pressure as perceived by employees (Voß 1998, Gottschall Voß 2005; Cullen e

Friday, October 25, 2019

Billy Joel :: Free Essays

William Martin Joel, born May 9, 1949, in The Bronx, NY, grew up in a comfortable Long Island suburb, Levittown, during the years following World War II. His German-born father, Howard Joel, who was imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau during the war, moved to America after his release, to begin a new life in New York. That new life included adopting a new faith for his son--although Joel Sr. was Jewish, young Billy was raised in a predominately Catholic neighborhood and frequently attended mass and confession. Joel's father secured work as an engineer with General Electric while his mother, Rosalind, set to work raising Billy and his sister Judy. Both of Joel's parents provided early musical influences: his father was a classically trained, self-disciplined pianist, and his mother had once sung in the chorus for Gilbert and Sullivan. Though he scored well on tests, his teachers refused to graduate him from high school due to his many absences from skipping school. It was also during these years that Joel discovered the power of music. In 1962, Joel saw a live performance for the first time when he went with friends to hear James Brown at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Other early influences included Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles. Joel was deeply affected by the British invasion, so much so that he modeled his own budding style after the Beatles' Paul McCartney, "I idolized The Beatles, especially Paul - nobody could come up with the melodies he could". On February 21st, 1964, Joel joined his first band, the Echos (in 1965 known as the Lost Souls, in 1966 The Memerald Loard), on the organ and vocals and began composing simplistic songs. "The first gig I did was when I was 15, in 1964. I played in a band at Holy Family Church in Hicksville. Billy Joel :: Free Essays William Martin Joel, born May 9, 1949, in The Bronx, NY, grew up in a comfortable Long Island suburb, Levittown, during the years following World War II. His German-born father, Howard Joel, who was imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau during the war, moved to America after his release, to begin a new life in New York. That new life included adopting a new faith for his son--although Joel Sr. was Jewish, young Billy was raised in a predominately Catholic neighborhood and frequently attended mass and confession. Joel's father secured work as an engineer with General Electric while his mother, Rosalind, set to work raising Billy and his sister Judy. Both of Joel's parents provided early musical influences: his father was a classically trained, self-disciplined pianist, and his mother had once sung in the chorus for Gilbert and Sullivan. Though he scored well on tests, his teachers refused to graduate him from high school due to his many absences from skipping school. It was also during these years that Joel discovered the power of music. In 1962, Joel saw a live performance for the first time when he went with friends to hear James Brown at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Other early influences included Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles. Joel was deeply affected by the British invasion, so much so that he modeled his own budding style after the Beatles' Paul McCartney, "I idolized The Beatles, especially Paul - nobody could come up with the melodies he could". On February 21st, 1964, Joel joined his first band, the Echos (in 1965 known as the Lost Souls, in 1966 The Memerald Loard), on the organ and vocals and began composing simplistic songs. "The first gig I did was when I was 15, in 1964. I played in a band at Holy Family Church in Hicksville.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Johnson’s Dictionary and the language of learning Essay

Codification refers to the methods and process by which a language is standardized. These specific methods include the creation and the use of style and language guides, dictionaries and the grammar textbooks. It is important to realize that codification is an ongoing process. The most important period in the codification of English, is the 18th century that was characterized with the publication of hundreds of grammar and dictionary. These included dictionaries such as â€Å"Samuel Johnson’s Monumental Dictionary,† in 1755 among other dictionaries (Johnson & Lynch, 2003). History of English Codification in Dictionary and Grammar books Codification of English language can be traced back in Britain, in the 18th century. During that time, perspective norms were stipulated by authors such as John Walker and Thomas Sheridan. On the other hand, in the United States, the codification of English was mainly initiated and undertaken by Noah Webster, on an orthographic and lexical level. Britain attributes its present lexicographical work of Samuel Johnson (Hickey, 2011). When analyzing the English’s recent history, it is important to distinguish between the actual term standard and the notion of standard. It is important to understand that the earliest reference to the term Standard English in the Oxford English dictionary dates back in the year 1836 (Hickey, 2011). Standard English in the codified sense refers to the development of the 18th-century development. There are several reasons as to why the English could have risen then, however, there were precursors to the 18th-century notion of English. Some researchers argue that the earliest codification of English began in the 16th century via the publication of grammars and dictionaries most of which are intended to teach the English language to the rural squires mainly after the Union Act of 1536 between Wales and England. The Standard English was mainly codified between the 16th and 17th centuries. Ascertaining and improving the English tongue began in 1712, Bishop Lowth’s grammar in 1762 and the Samuel Johnson first appeared in 1755. The codification process was characterized with three main influences which were paramount (Kemmer, 2009). †¢ The kings English in the form of legal and administrative language. †¢ Literary English which was in the form of acceptable language that was mainly used by great literature and for the purposes of printing and publishing. †¢ The English of education and church or commonly referred to as â€Å"Oxford English†. There was no point in which the state was involved. The Codification process also greatly affected the spoken form of the English standard language. The Received Pronunciation was mainly codified through education influence especially that of nineteenth-century public schools, followed from the 20th Century by television, radio and cinema. It is perceived that about 3 to 5 percent of the British tend to speak Received Pronunciation today (Kemmer, 2009). Commissioning of Dictionaries The growing use of written language created the need for materials that presented the need for materials that portrayed the aspect of the language, in a way that could be looked up by all the individuals that desired information about the English language. This was initially meant for the non-native speakers, however, later on the English native speakers that wanted to know about the new and developed part of the language also looked for such materials. The initial dictionaries were mainly a list of hard words. This mainly involved, the list of new â€Å"loan† words that were from the classical language and the new British colonies overseas. By the eighteenth century, dictionary writing was mainly a recognized activity and the learned men and scholars were being commissioned by various publishers to write such materials (Kemmer, 2009). Other places in Europe, language academies were being established so as to codify and also normalize all the aspects of the language. However, this trend was not adopted in the English-speaking lands and there was never a recognized academy for standardization in either United States or Britain. The publication of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary which was of the English language was a significant milestone in the development of a dictionary and other reference materials (DeMaria, 1986). The dictionary adopted more or less a descriptivist stance that is very modern and was at odds with the former prescriptive view of the earlier dictionary producers. Johnson recognized change as a normal process and refused to see change as a degeneration (Hitchings, 2005). By the time the Johnson dictionary was developed, the spelling system was already in place and recognizably the same as that of the modern English with relatively few orthographic peculiarities (Reddick & Johnson, 1990). On the other hand, political independence in the United States led to the push for distinguishing cultural factors. As a result, Noah Webster, came up with a dictionary that contained regional, American based definitions so as to distinguish it from the British English (Kemmer, 2009). Noah Webster went to the extent of creating his own dictionary which contained some American-dialect definitions. This provides the required orthographic distinction without changing significant mutual intelligibility. He mainly incorporates the use of â€Å"ize† instead of â€Å"ise† for the verbs and the elimination of suffix u in the suffix â€Å"–our† (Kemmer, 2009). The criteria for including words in the dictionary Every year, numerous English words and expressions develop and thus the major dictionaries do keep track of such words so as to determine those to add and those that are not acceptable. We are going to analyze how the Oxford dictionary carries out this initiative (Oxford University Press, 2014). The Oxford University Press has one of the largest and vast languages research program in the world (Oxford University Press, 2014). Their most important resource are the Oxford Reading Programme and the Oxford English Corpus. The Corpus mainly entails documents that have been sourced from the internet whereas the reading program refers to an electronic collection of extracts and quotations mainly drawn from a variety of popular fiction, songwriting and scientific journals (Oxford University Press, 2014). This is mainly based from the contributions of the network of readers based across the globe who are constantly on the lookout for new words and meaning and also other languages. The Oxford University Press, continually keeps track of the two programs so as to be able to track new words that come into the English language. Upon having evidence that a new term is used by various sources and not just by one individual or writer, the word therefore becomes a candidate for the inclusion into one of the Institution’s dictionaries (Oxford University Press, 2014). In the previous centuries, most dictionaries were confined to a list of words that most writers thought would be useful, even when there was no proof that individuals had used the words before. It is important to note that this does not work in the same manner in today. Personal inventions are not allowed in the modern dictionaries and only terms that have been utilized for a period of time and by a wide group of people, can be accepted into the dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2014). Distinction between Prescriptive and Descriptive Dictionary Prescriptivism refers to the enforcement and the assertion of a specific set of rules by an institution or a person. With regards to dictionaries, prescriptivism refers to the situation where the dictionary explains the language rules that should be followed and the norms and usages that should also be avoided (Barrett, 2012). Prescriptions and proscriptions are traditional and generally represent receipt of wisdom. On the other hand, descriptivism in a lexicographical context refers to the language usage and behaviors. The fact is that basically all the English language dictionaries are descriptive in nature. The main editors always refer to it as recording the language and how the words are spelled and used. Descriptive languages, thus describe the language and include words that are commonly used even those that are non-standard and often include non-standard spelling. Prescriptive dictionaries are more concerned about the standard or correct English. In other words, they prescribe the proper spelling and usage of words (Barrett, 2012). From the analysis above, it is right to state that the prescriptive dictionaries tend to promote Standard English, unlike the descriptive dictionaries which mainly describe the language. Conclusion The paper effectively analyses the codification of English, history of how English was codified in dictionaries and grammar books, reasons why the dictionaries were codified, and criteria used for including words in the dictionary and the extent to which dictionary is considered to be either descriptive or prescriptive. References   Barrett, G. (2012, September). Comparing and Arguing About Dictionaries. Retrieved from Way Word Radio: http://www.waywordradio.org/how-do-you-rank-dictionaries/ DeMaria, R. (1986). Johnson’s Dictionary and the language of learning. Oxford: Clarendon. Hickey, R. (2011). Standard English and standards of English. 1-31. Hitchings, H. (2005). Defining the world : the extraordinary story of Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Johnson, S., & Lynch, J. (2003). Samuel Johnson’s dictionary : selections from the 1755 work that defined the English language. New York: Walker & Co. Kemmer, S. (2009). The History of English. Retrieved from Rice University: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Histengl/spelling.html Oxford University Press. (2014). How do you decide whether a new word should be included in an Oxford dictionary? Retrieved from Oxford Dictionaries: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/how-do-you-decide-whether-a-new-word-should-be-included-in-an-oxford-dictionary Reddick, A. H., & Johnson, S. (1990). The making of Johnson’s dictionary, 1746-1773. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Source document

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Innovation, logistic

Why has flower production internationalization over the past few decades? First, once the flowers were cut, they were extremely perishable. As the result, the longevity of cut flower is the main concern for the retailers. Although the flowers were delivered though a perfect distribution system with boxes protected and temperature control, the longevity was still shortened for one or two days. Second, transport costs for flowers shipped overseas ranged from 60%-90% of the total cost to produce a flower. Besides, the air freight cost for flower was based on volume which exults in the over-packed cost.Through international production, traders may decrease the logistical cost and the waste of over-packed. In addition, the greenhouse technique may get over the difficulty of climate. 3-2: How are the flower clusters in the various countries connected? 1 . International auction International auction published the price and advise on industry for growers. 2. Dissemination of production techn ology Dutch suppliers started to spread the Information on production such as product innovation, and invested in foreign production and logistic In late 1950. 3.LTO(Land- en Tinnitus Organist Underlain ) The organization provided the programs to Improve management. Besides, It also facilitated studying trips to foreign countries to promote exchange among growers. 3-3: How do they compete? Traders among different countries competed on price, Innovation, logistic and even packaging at the auction. At beginning, the price of the flower Is high, and then It decreased at a steady rate. Buyers can decide the acceptable price and the quantity they want. Finally traders may make some adjustment on production according to the deal price and volume.