Signature assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Signature - Assignment Example Additionally, I have gained the ability to identify, which articles and case studies are appropriate to analyze in relation to the questions asked in the course. By so doing, I have acquired verse knowledge and skills to help me in the future when am entered with a situation, which requires me to carry out research. The work that I did in class was in relation to identifying different research methods and analyzing results. However, in the work that I did, it is clear that it was more of the analysis of what the authors had done in the research rather than the indicating further explanation of the understanding of the topic or the research method itself. Therefore, in order to improve the work I did in class I would critically evaluate the research method itself and identify the areas that the method is used. Secondly, I would give different opinions on the method indicating how different authors have understood each research method. Thirdly, by using the case studies given I would include the discussion part in the essay to indicate how the research was conducted. By so doing, it will give me a better understanding of the concepts that have been provided in the articles. This will further increase the understanding of the relevant issues involved in the research including good ethical consider ations that are required for every research that is conducted. The topic on Meta-analysis as a research method was a challenge to me, as I did not quite understand how two different aspects were combined to produce results of an issue. This aspect of meta-analysis was confusing because in the study, that I researched on the case study was recent and the one that was combined with the first study was done a long time ago. Seeing that there have been changes not only in technology, but also in other sectors, it is may be correct to say that the data would be compromised. Additionally the meta-analysis research method requires a person who understands the complexity

Doing Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Doing Gender - Essay Example In most cases, it involves socially conducted perceptual, relational, and micro political practices that show certain pursuits as showings of masculine and feminine nature of human in the society. It defines the activities that are done by men and women in the society. It therefore involves individuals who per take gender as it concentrate on interactions. (Zimmrman, 1987. pg126). The act of per taking gender explains that some roles in the society are done by men while others by women. It is explained that interactions in the society defines the activities to be done either by men or women. In addition, doing gender emphasizes on gender roles as well as sex roles. It gives the division of labor in the society as either men’s or women’s. This involves doing things that are perceived to be men’s or women’s by nature and based on their masculine or feminine capabilities. Sex is a biological feature used to view if an individual is a masculine or feminine. Thus, it entails social doings which are constituted through interactions. â€Å"The recognition of the analytical independence of sex, sex category, and gender is essential for understanding the relationships among these elements and the interactional work involved in being a gendered person in society† (Zimmerman & West, 1987, pg127). Gender involves expressive behaviors that can be termed as essential in nature. In this case, interactions determine how individuals express themselves as being gender. Human beings interact with others in different aspects in the environment and assume that each has an important role in nature that can be distinguished through the natural signs portrayed and expressed by human beings. Hence, gender is more than the actions or activities that are assumed to be done by either male or female in the society. That is why being gender is defined as displaying sexu al characteristics in an individual according to

Effect of Water Velocity on Erosion Corrosion Behavior

Effect of Water Velocity on Erosion Corrosion Behavior Effect of water velocity on erosion  corrosion behavior of materials used  in marine conditions Corrosion, among others, is one of the main and considerable causes which is liable for the failure of the equipment and the material used in marine applications. Up to now, the majority of the materials that have been developed for marine applications are carbon steel, copper-base alloys, nickel-base alloys, titanium and apparently stainless steel and its variations such as super austenitic, duplex and super duplex stainless steel. (Meng, 2009) Last decade, the use of composites in maritime industry has also increased. (Jones Summerscales, 2016) One parameter, which influences the extent of corrosion on these materials is the water flow velocity, as a result of mass transfer and other incidents, such as erosion corrosion. (Scheers, 1992) For that reason, they are required to withstand to a wide range of velocities. Water can be either static during shutdown periods or have movement. At low movement speed, the cathode reactants affect the rate of the erosion corrosion process. This most usually brings about higher rates of deterioration, but there are some cases in the case of passive alloys, that this results in decreased rates. Furthermore, the provision of oxygen on the external surface of the corroding metal is extremely dependent on the water velocity. (Chandler, 1985) Oxygen can fuel the cathodic reaction in seawater which can also lead to higher corrosion rates. In conditions where the water velocity is increased, apart from the corrosion arising from the electrochemical process of corrosion, there is also mechanical action with much worse consequences. In other words, high velocity results in enhanced erosion corrosion of the components and the installation parts. The concentration gradients in the bulk of the fluid are destroyed by the turbulent conditions. The action which affects neg atively the phenomenon of erosion corrosion appears in a very thin layer of the fluid which is bordering to the pipe wall. (Scheers, 1992) In addition to, there is also the impingement attack and cavitation corrosion which are more extreme forms of erosion corrosion. Conditions offering high water velocity can be found in tubes, pipes and rotating machinery. Figure 1:Schematic of turbulent eddy mechanism for downstream undercutting of erosion-corrosion pits On this dissertation, the effects of water velocity on erosion corrosion behavior of the materials that are used in marine conditions will be examined. Furthermore, the second part of this project will include the impingement of the water from different angles while the amount of the material loss during the impingement and electrochemical corrosion varies between different angles. Cathodic can be also applied, in order to investigate the effects on the erosion corrosion during the changes in flow velocity. It is very important and crucial to know exactly the effects of velocity because the combination of the electrochemical reactions with the synergy of the mechanical reactions due to the impingement in aqueous environments can cause horrible failures of the metallic components used in industry (Meng, 2009) . In addition there is also great need to know the difference in the number and in the size of the pits while velocity is increased (Wing, et al., 2016), as long as materials have suffered and caused serious accidents before in the marine environment and in the hole marine society. Moreover, pipes are used everywhere in ships and offshore structures, so after the study engineers will construct them with bigger safety and reliability (Jin, et al., 2016). The dissertation I about the experimental investigation of the consequences on erosion corrosion behavior in materials, as long as the impact of the impingement from different angles. Afterwards, an anode will be placed on the specimen to investigate with accuracy the changes on erosion corrosion. The major aim of this project is the accurate plot of the corrosion rates, in comparison with the different flow velocities. What is more, one of the aims of this research is the determination of the difference on corrosion behavior between materials and compare the deterioration process and extent of erosion to them. In other words, erosion corrosion, might not be the same in all marine materials, therefore engineers will have a better indication of the effect on each on of them, because in conditions where high velocity occurs, as the dissolved oxygen controls the rate of corrosion in sea water (Larson King, 1954) . It is still very difficult to choose the most optimum material for a specific job in the current working environment, selecting a more erosion corrosion resistant material. (Meng, 2009) The ongoing protocols for design and selection are extremely basic and are based on empirical service data (Neville Hu, 2001). Moreover, another aim is to compare the degree of electrochemical and mechanical reactions in changing angles. The durability of steels and cast iron and other materials will be further interpreted. Lastly, the removal of the protective oxide film in stainless steels might accelerate corrosion (Bonner, 2016) Many water characteristics influence the rate of corrosion process, like Ph, dissolved gases, temperature, dissolved salts, but the one under consideration is the flow velocity. The effect of velocity on corrosion is also Ph dependent. Seawater is alkaline and it is more at the base side 7.9-9.0 and carbonate ion concentrations increase as ph increases (Sabrowski Silva, 2010). Therefore, in basic or alkaline water, the higher velocities have as a consequence enhanced supply of the cathodic reactant, oxygen. For that reason, the cathodic reaction is stimulated and higher corrosion rates take place, causing erosive damage to the metal surface (Hodgkiess, 2013). According to (Meng, 2009), an increase on velocity has as a result the acceleration of corrosion on behalf of the motion of the fluid, as well as (Neville, et al., 1995) state that the reason of the increased rate of corrosion is the enhanced turbulence and the mixing of water on account of the supply of oxygen. Furthermore, as Giourntas stats in his study (Giourntas, et al., 2015), stainless steels have the ability to abide high flow rates. However, in the presence of solids I seawater the persistence is decreased. It also states the application of cathodic protection as a very important feature. As reported by (Neville, et al., 1999), with or without the absence of solids, the E corr drifts to more positive values, during the impingement. As stated by (Neville Hu, 2001), in places with high velocity and sudden changes in direction because of pimps, elbows in pipeworks etc. higher rates occur. Moreover, as Weber reports in (Webber, 1992) the effects are divided in three categories at low flow velocity, medium and high velocity. In the first category, natural convention is responsible, while at the second corrosion increases but without any significant mechanical effect of flow. During high velocities, the damage mechanisms becomes very complex. In keeping with (Li, et al., 1994), erosion corrosion problems enlarge catastrophically but the outflow of water. In agreement with Lin and Shao, with increasing impingement angles and velocities, the erosion is developing also. The rate of 1020 steel is lower than pure aluminums. During erosion conditions, many mechanisms act but only one or two of them is the principal mechanism. (Lin Shao, 1990) Concerning (Scheers, 1992), the simultaneous effects of velocity and ph have been investigated and turn out that in mild steel, there is an increase in corrosion rate with the velocity of flow, according to the ph value. Not to mention that, L. Wang notices that erosion corrosion increases rapidly with the development of the flow velocity at 14 m/s at 80% HR (Wang, et al., 2016). The dissertation of the effects of water velocity on erosion corrosion behavior of materials is mostly experimental. First of all, all available sources, papers and books will be investigated concerning erosion corrosion on materials that are used in marine condition. Furthermore, the effects of velocity and impingement angle will be searched. Relating the experiment, specimens have to be chosen. Possibly, only the major materials of maritime industry will be selected. These will have a cylindrical shape. Furthermore, those specimens will be placed in a recirculating rig as shown in the figure below. Afterwards, saline water will pass through a pump and therefore accelerate. Water will flow through pipes, where at the end of the piping system, a nozzle is installed, in order for the flow to take the exact preferable velocity. Nozzles will be changed. Directly vertical from the direction of the flow is the stagnation point. In the figure besides is a representation of the region where the liquid jet impinges to the solid material (Neville, 1995). The velocity depends on the diameter of the nozzle. Thence, water will impinge to the specimen causing erosive and corrosive damage. With the use of an equipment, the vertical impingement will change and erosive damage from different angles will be investigated. Afterwards, the exact amount of the material that has been degragated will be investigated through scale and metallography. References Bonner, R., 2016. Passivation coatings for micro-channel Coolers. s.l.:s.n. Chandler, K., 1985. Marine and offshore corrosion. s.l.:s.n. Giourntas, L. G., Hodgkiess, T. Galloway, A., 2015. Comparative study of erosion-corrosion performance on a range of stainless steels. s.l.:s.n. Hodgkiess, T., 2013. University of Strathclyde: General-Surface Corrosion. s.l.:s.n. Jin, H. ÃŽÂ ºÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ à Ã†â€™Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½., 2016. Failure analysis of multiphase flow corrosion-erosion with three-way injecting water pipe. s.l.:s.n. Jones, G. Summerscales, J., 2016. Marine applications of advanced fibre-reinforced composites. s.l.:s.n. Larson, T. King, R., 1954. Corrosion by Water at Low Flow Velocity. s.l.:s.n. Lin, F. Shao, H., 1990. Effect of impact velocity on slurry erosion and a new design of a slurry erosion tester. s.l.:s.n. Li, Y., Burstein, G. Hutchings, I., 1994. Influence of environmental composition and electrochemical potential on the slurry erosion-corrosion of aluminium. s.l.:s.n. Meng, H., 2009. Erosion-Corrosion of marine alloys. s.l.:s.n. Neville, A., 1995. An Investigation of the Corrosion Behaviour of a Range of Engineering Materials in Marine Environments. s.l.:s.n. Neville, A., Hodgkiess, T. Dallas, J., 1995. A study of the erosion-corrosion behaviour of engineering steels for marine pumping applications. s.l.:s.n. Neville, A. Hu, X., 2001. Mechanical and electrochemical interactions during liquid-solid impingement on high-alloy stainless steels. s.l.:s.n. Neville, A., Reyes, M., Hodgkiess, T. Gledhill, A., 1999. Mechanisms of wear on a Co-base alloy in liquid-solid slurries. s.l.:s.n. Sabrowski, A. Silva, P., 2010. ph:Regulation of Seawater, the role of Carbonae and Biicarbonate. s.l.:s.n. Scheers, P., 1992. The effects of flow velocity and pH on the corrosion rate of mild steel in a synthetic m;newater. s.l.:s.n. Scheers, P., 1992. The effects of flow velocity and pH on the corrosion rate of mild steel in a synthetic minewater. s.l.:s.n. Wang, L. ÃŽÂ ºÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ à Ã†â€™Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½., 2016. Erosionecorrosion behavior of 2205 duplex stainless steel in wet gas environments. s.l.:s.n. Webber, J., 1992. Br. Corrosion. s.l.:s.n. Wing, L. ÃŽÂ ºÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ à Ã†â€™Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½., 2016. Erosionecorrosion behavior of 2205 duplex stainless steel in wet gas environments. s.l.:s.n.

Lost Characters in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises :: Hemingway Sun Also Rises Essays

The Lost Characters in The Sun Also Rises In the novel The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, the lost generation is discussed. After the WWI, many were affected in different ways. This post-war generation is described by discrimination, lack of religion, escapism and inability to act. The First character that is introduced into the novel is Cohn. He, as an outsider, is Jewish. Throughout the novel he is looked down upon in one way or another, but already he is separated from the rest which is shown when he is being described: "He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak" (p 18). This quote already shows that he is Jewish, and therefore different from the rest. Also, the fact that his streak is `hard [and] ...stubborn" shows that he is hard to deal with or be around. Even thought he is discriminated against, he is one of the very few that inform these people of the `lost generation' exactly how worthless they are when he says to Jake "You know what's the trouble with you? You're an expatriate. One of the worst type... Nobody that ever left their own country ever wrote anything worth printing. Not even in the newspapers" (p 120) and "Hello, you bums" (p50). He literally rubs into Jake's face what kind of a waste he has become once he left his country. It is r ather surprising that the one who is much disliked and discriminated against sees the worthless characteristics of the others. The significance of the word `bums' used must be noticed since a bum is an idle worthless person by definition. This very well describes the `lost generation.' Nevertheless, racism isn't the only separation that the people make. Even the concierge, who one would think would not be too proud, "[takes] great pride in telling me which of my guests were well brought up, which were of good family, who were sportsmen, a French word pronounced with the accent on the men. The only trouble was that people who did not fall into any of those three categories were very liable to be told there was no one home, chez Barnes" (p 60). This shows how important wealth and back ground is, but the ones who are part of the `lost generation' are not included into any of those simply because their background is forgotten, and they are all worthless people.

Ansoff’s Matrix Business Studies Gce

Ansoff Matrix Ansoff’s Matrix: A method by which businesses can classify their strategies for expansion. It includes; Market Penetration, Product Development, Market Development and Diversification. Market penetration Market penetration is the name given to a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing products into existing markets. Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: Maintain or increase the market share of current products – this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling †¢ Secure dominance of growth markets †¢ Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require a much more aggressive promotional campaign, supported by a pricing strategy designed to make the market unattractive for competitors †¢ Increase usage by existing customers – for example by introducing loyalty sch emes A market penetration marketing strategy is very much about â€Å"business as usual†.The business is focusing on markets and products it knows well. It is likely to have good information on competitors and on customer needs. It is unlikely, therefore, that this strategy will require much investment in new market research. Market development Market development is the name given to a growth strategy where the business seeks to sell its existing products into new markets. There are many possible ways of approaching this strategy, including: †¢ New geographical markets; for example exporting the product to a new country †¢ New product dimensions or packaging: for example New distribution channels †¢ Different pricing policies to attract different customers or create new market segments Product development Product development is the name given to a growth strategy where a business aims to introduce new products into existing markets. This strategy may require th e development of new competencies and requires the business to develop modified products which can appeal to existing markets.Diversification Diversification is the name given to the growth strategy where a business markets new products in new markets. This is an inherently more risk strategy because the business is moving into markets in which it has little or no experience. For a business to adopt a diversification strategy, therefore, it must have a clear idea about what it expects to gain from the strategy and an honest assessment of the risks.

Best Buy Co., Inc: Sustainable Customer Centricity Model Essay

Best Buy is the largest national electronics chain and the only one that remains since the closing of Circuit City in 2009 and Comp USA before that. Founded in St Paul, Minnesota in 1966 as the Sound of Music Store, it was rebranded as Best Buy in 1983 with a single flagship store in Burnsville, Minnesota. By 1993, Best Buy had become the United States second-largest consumer electronics retailer, breaking into Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of top 500 companies two years later at number 373. A partnership with Microsoft in 1999 help to boost the company’s profile and lead to the opening of its first retail store in Shanghai which was followed by stores in Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and nine European countries (Lowe, 2008 May 8). Best currently operates 1,105 big box stores in the United States. In addition to personal computers, computer equipment, and consumer video and audio products, Best Buy outlets, which are on average 44,000 square feet in size, also offer large and small appliances, and entertainment software that includes DVD’s, compact discs, video games, and computer software (Funding Universe, n.d.). Best Buy’s subsidiaries include Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and in Canada, it operates under both the Best Buy and Future Shop labels. Best Buy differentiates itself from its closest competitors, Walmart and Amazon.com, by not focusing on low cost products but by switching from an aggressive commission-based system of service to highly trained sales associates and service solutions. Having a well-trained staff who can educate the customers regarding product features, allows the customer to make informed buying decisions on big-ticket items. In addition, with Geek Squad capabilities available in-store, Best Buy is able to provide installation services, product repair and on-going support for these or other items the customer purchases (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC22). This end-to-end solution is one aspect that separates Best Buy from its competitors. This is also one of the many strengths Best Buy currently possess’. Best Buy’s customer centricity approach is key in its survival and is something often missing from their competitors. Best Buy takes the time to understand who its customer is and what they need. They then took this information and started selling solutions instead of just products. Best buy also changed the layout of the store based on customer feedback. This included bundling together related products, offering installation help for all electronics, and improving store productivity by adding more technology experts to the sales floor and deploying touch screen monitors with product information. Future plans also include a 10% reduction in US square footage over the next 3 to 5 years. A reduced floor plan will not only be more cost efficient but will provide an overall easier shopping experience for the customer (Briggs, 2011 April 14). Customer centricity is necessary in today’s competitive market and it is a concept Best Buy continues to excel at. One of Best Buy’s weaknesses includes the decline of net income and operating margins. Although this could be a function of increased costs, it is more likely due to pricing pressure (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC20). The economic decline and consumer pressure has forced the prices of consumer electronic products to be lowered. This decrease in prices has caused the decline in margins which negatively affect net income and operating margins. Another area of concern is the increase in accounts receivable and inventory. Best Buy had a 1% increase in inventory from 2008 to 2009 and a 12.5% increase in revenue accompanied by a 240% increase in accounts receivable (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC20). This creates a potential risk for losses due to bad debts. Best Buy is weak in their ability to quickly adjust inventory level to the demand, in order to reduce costs related to inventory. Best Buy did not recognize the economic downturn and was not successful in adjusting their inventory levels (Sien na College, 2009 April 17). This is an area for improvement for Best Buy as the economic downturn has created an oversupplied market. Best Buy’s best opportunities lie in their series of acquisitions into their Best Buy family. Best has gained valuable experience in the process of integrating new companies and service providers with their keen ability to know where to expand and is a key component in their ability to differentiate their company from others in the marketplace (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC23). Best Buy also has room for opportunities as they have expanded upon their global presence. This global presence exceeded expectation late in 2009 with a 15% uptick in international sales. European stores experienced a 4% gain in same store sales, while Best Buy’s China store sales jumped 34% (Lindner, 2010 March 25). This global presence also opens up opportunities to trace global technology trends first hand and opens the door to newly developing markets. It also provides a wide range of places to test and introduce new products and analyze customer needs. Best Buy faces many threats beginning with the economic decline. Today’s customer has less disposable income and Best Buy sells luxury goods and not necessity items. The future of the economy including consumer confidence, unemployment, tax rates, fuel costs, and the availability of consumer credit are all factors that could affect consumer spending and Best Buys earnings. Another concern for Best Buy is increased competition particularly from online competitors like Amazon.com. Amazon has an advantage over Best Buy because they are able to maintain a lower cost structure compared to a brick and mortar store like Best Buy and can push those savings through to their product pricing and selection. With an increasing trend in the consumer electronics industry to shop online, Amazon.com is positioned perfectly to maintain strong market growth and potentially steal some market share away from Best Buy (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC22). Best Buy will have to continue to differentiate themselves from their internet competitors with their unmatched customer centered model of business. Based on the findings of the SWOT analysis, Best Buy should continue to develop and implement their customer centricity model. This customer based model creates better customer satisfaction, promotes growth, and creates a unique experience. On the other side, Best Buy needs to address their decline in net operating income. This means cashing in on opportunities such as expanding their global presence which has had much success in generating profits. Best Buy should also be conscientious of their inventory levels in comparison to revenue increase. They need to adjust for the economic downturn while continuing to offer a good mix of products accompanied with superior service. Best Buy needs to stay on top of technology trends in order to keep up with online sales threats from Amazon.com and others. Best Buy’s focus should be on the continual improving of the in-store shopping experience that currently differentiates them from competitors like Amazon. This means added customer service, technology experts, and services that take the customer from the initial purchase all the way through installation and use. Best Buy’s corporate level strategy revolves around their customer centricity model and is the core of their company mission and goals. To implement this strategy and achieve a competitive advantage, Best Buy maintains a wide variety of products to meet customer needs but also goes beyond the initial sale into service offerings. Best Buy has used their customer centricity model, which is built around a significant database of customer information, to construct a diversified portfolio of product offerings (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC22). This vital database allows Best Buy to structure customer needs to the locations they are requested, which in turn helps keep costs lower by shipping the correct inventory to the correct locations. This is important because it helps to offset the extra costs required to provide high-level training to sales associates and service professionals. This structuring of inventory is a large part of their business-level strategy and is advantageous for Best Buy because each market contains the products most desired and avoids items not sought after by customers. Best Buy’s customer based structure is only as strong as their greatest service professional and staff member. Best Buy recognizes this and invests a lot into their employees. Best Buy has a reputation for retaining their talent and is widely recognized for superior service. Highly trained sales professionals, like the members found at Best Buy stores, have become a unique resource in the consumer electronics industry, where technology is changing at an unprecedented rate, and this is a significant source of competitive advantage for Best Buy (Hill & Jones, 2013, pC23). Currently, Best Buy has recently gone through an organizational change due to the departure of CEO Brian Dunn, U.S. retail chief Mike Vitelli, and chief administrative officer Tim Sheehan. New CEO, Hubert Joly, is in the process of outlining new strategies that will strengthen operations and financial performance. He has stated that he will continue to build on their strong customer service model and their multi-channel shopping experience (Best Buy News Release, 2012 November 13). While this falls in stride with Best Buy’s previous strategy, Joly has also stated that Best Buy has been slow in capturing their fair share of the online channel. This leads me to my first recommendation, having a larger e-commerce presence. While Best Buy can’t duplicate their high-level customer service experience found in-store they can expand on sales by offering a broad range of products online. From here, customers can be invited to visit stores in person for services that may aide in the set-up and installation of products purchased online. I also recommend that Best Buy address their issues with outstanding debt by temporarily halting expansion and focus on their current strengths. While acquisitions have been very profitable for Best Buy, they may want to slow down temporarily as the economy starts to recover and consumer spending slowly begins to increase. While Best Buy has faced a lot of hardship in recent years, they also have made smart strategic decisions that have kept them pliable. Best Buy’s new leadership has a lot to work with and should also introduce fresh organizational change that will help propel Best Buy into profitable territory. References Best Buy News Release. (2012, November 13). Best buy holds analyst and investor day to provide assessment of the company and to outline priorities to reinvigorate performance and rejuvenate its business. Retrieved from http://pr.bby.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=244152&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1758160&high

How to Craft Customer Case Studies That Convince And Convert

How to Craft Customer Case Studies That Convince And Convert The struggle is real for marketers because they are in the midst of a customer trust crisis. And things are only getting worse. Studies show that only 48% of the general population in the United States trust businesses. Earning the trust of customers can be difficult, so deliver what you promise when it comes to your products. Writing a case study is a great way to do just that. Today, we’re talking to Whitney Deterding, product marketing specialist, who focuses on the company’s case studies. You’ll learn from her that case studies need to resonate with your prospects and have a purpose. She shares best practices to use when selecting customers and avoiding pitfalls. Discover how to craft case studies that move your prospects down the funnel. Case studies need to have social proof to build trust; gives people insight into how great your product or service is direct from the customer’s mouth ’s Customer Success Team has direct connection to customers; identify which customers should be used in case studies and testimonials Sales Team deals with prospects all the time and become aware of the problems they face and trends in various industries Incent is a common tactic used to get customers to be in case studies; both and its customers reap benefits Send personal Thank You messages or gifts to the customers to show how appreciative and grateful you are for their time Questions to Ask: What is the problem that your service/product solved? What steps were taken relieve a pain point and generate results? Do research beforehand to help you discover and uncover unique things that a customer might discuss Transcribe and listen to interview recordings to highlight quotes and case studies Present case studies with the customer’s logo, headshot, demographics, and other items to make it authentic and give readers something valuable to pull out Once you’ve done the interview, there are many ways you can use that information to move prospects through the funnel Measuring the ROI of a case study depends on how it’s being used; include a call to action to measure conversions Common pitfalls include trying to do too many case studies together they tell the same story, and don’t control the interview be able to pivot Links: Edelman Trust Barometer Joanna Wiebe ’s Customer Stories Write and send a review to receive a care package If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Whitney Deterding: â€Å"The most important thing about a case study is that it gives people insight into how great your product or service is direct from the customer’s mouth.† â€Å"The beauty of a case study is that once you’ve done the interview, once you have that information at your fingertips, there are so many ways you can use it, and you can pepper it throughout the entire funnel.† You want to make sure that regardless of what experience someone’s having, as a reader, they’re going to pull out something valuable from it.†

Alternative Sources of Energy as a Replacement of Oil

Alternative Sources of Energy as a Replacement of Oil Alternative Sources of Energy as a Replacement of Oil Modern society depends on electricity, which is the main type of available energy. Most of the electricity is generated using nonrenewable resources. Accessible oil and gas reserves are slightly higher than their current annual extraction. However, when comparing the figures related to the assessment of known reserves of most available fuels with the numbers of their current consumption, humanity can estimate the maximum time, for which these reserves may be sufficient. For oil, time is 65 years; for gas, it is 44 years; for coal, it is 320 years. In order to solve the energy problems by technical means, specialists offer two contrasting scenarios: the development of new techniques of energy production and the development of technology for energy efficiency. Thus, the development of new techniques of energy production using alternative sources of energy and the ability to replace oil and gas by them should be considered. Solar Energy Today, for the conversion of solar radiation into electrical energy, people have two possibilities: to use solar energy as a heat source to generate electricity by conventional means (for instance, using turbo) or directly convert solar energy into electricity in solar cells. The implementation of both options is still undeveloped. Solar energy is used for melting substances, heating, distillation of water, as well as heating after concentration by mirrors. As solar energy is distributed over a large area (in other words, has a low density), any system for the direct use of solar energy should have a collecting device (collector) with a sufficient surface. The simplest device of this kind is the flat-plate collector, a black stove, well insulated from the bottom. It is covered with glass or plastic that transmits light, but does not allow the infrared heat radiation. In the space, between the plate and black glass tube, through which water, oil, mercury, air, sulfur dioxide flow, are placed. Solar radiation penetrating through glass or plastic in the collector pipe is absorbed by the black stove and heat the working medium in the tubes. Thermal radiation cannot escape from the reservoir; therefore, the temperature in it is much higher (200-500 C pa) than the ambient air temperature. This reflects the so-called greenhouse effect. Ordinary garden greenhouses, in fact, are simple solar collectors. However, the farther away the equipment is from the tropics, the less effective the horizontal collector is, since turning it after the sun is too difficult and expensive. Therefore, these collectors are usually set at a certain optimum angle to the south. More difficult and expensive collector is a concave mirror, which focuses the incident radiation in a small volume around a certain geometric point - focus. The reflective surface of the mirror is made of metallized plastic or made up of many small plane mirrors attached to a large parabolic base. Due to the special mechanisms, this type of collector is constantly turned to the sun; thus, it can collect the largest possible amount of solar radiation. The temperature in the working space of mirror reaches 3000 C (Orloff, 2008). Arguments against the Use of Solar Energy Solar energy refers to the type of energy, which consumes a lot of material resources for production. Large-scale use of solar energy results in a substantial increase of demand of materials and, consequently, the labor force for the production of raw materials, enrichment, obtaining materials, manufacturing heliostats, collectors, other equipment, transportation. Calculations show that the production of 1 MWh of electricity per year would cost between 10 000 and 40 000 hours of human labor, comparing with the figure 200-500 000 hours in traditional energy sphere. Electricity produced by of the solar rays is much more expensive than the energy obtained by conventional methods. Biofuels Bioethanol is, in fact, a normal ethanol, which is produced by hydrolysis or fermentation of sugar-containing plants or straw and husks with subsequent distillation or purification. Biodiesel is a type of biofuel on the basis of vegetable or animal fats (oils), as well as the products of esterification, which are used in pure form or as various blends with diesel fuel. Any type of vegetable oil can be used for the production of biodiesel, but, as a rule, for these purposes specific oils are used such as canola (84%), sunflower (13%) and soybean (2%) oils. The main advantages of biodiesel are: Renewable energy sources; Preservation of natural resources; Can be used in conventional, unmodified diesel engines; Storage conditions are similar to conventional diesel fuel; The possibility of extending the life of diesel engines is higher than of fuel oil; The production and use of biodiesel have about 80% less carbon dioxide emissions, and almost 100% - sulfur dioxide (reducing pollution) (Brown, 2007). Moreover, the use of 5% bioethanol results in reduced carbon emissions by 3.5% and E85 (85% alcohol fuel) by 50%. In the biofuels, the presence of 15% ethanol reduces CO2 in the exhaust gas by 25%, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides - by 5-15%. In addition to the environmental benefits, the use of biofuels makes a considerable commercial value; General Motors, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler created hundreds of thousands vehicles, operating on a conventional gasoline, as well as on a gasoline mixed with ethanol. Oil companies are also looking for an alternative and increasingly conceive projects for the production of biofuels. Thus, this year known oil company Shell will produce ethanol with Brazil's Cosan, the largest exporter of sugar cane, and will invest in the project hundreds of millions of dollars (Brown, 2007). Wind Energy Resources of wind energy are more than a hundred times higher than the water energy of all the rivers of the world. Total wind energy potential of the Earth is 1200 TW. The average wind speed at a height of 20-30 m above the surface of the Earth should be large enough that the power of the air flow, passing through the properly oriented vertical section, reaches a value that is acceptable for conversion. Wind power stations are built mostly DC. Fantail drives the dynamo-electric generator, which also charges the parallel connected batteries. The battery pack is automatically connected to the generator at a time, when the voltage at its output terminals is greater than on the battery terminals and is also automatically turned off. Theoretically, coefficient of the efficiency of energy use of the air flow can be equal to 59.3%. In practice, the maximum coefficient of beneficial use of wind energy in the real wind turbine is about 50%. In addition, some of the energy of the air flow is lost in the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy, which is carried out with an efficiency of typically 75-95%. Taking into account all these factors, the specific electric power supplied by real wind power units, apparently, is 30-40% of the capacity of the air flow (Melis, 2001). The most crucial argument against this type of alternative energy is the high cost of a wind machine. Geothermal Energy Energy land or geothermal energy is based on the use of the natural heat of the earth. The upper part of the earth's crust is the thermal gradient, equal to 20-30 C per 1 km depth, and, according to White (1965), the amount of heat contained in the earth's crust to a depth of 10 km (excluding the surface temperature), is about 12,6*10 26 J. These resources are equivalent to the heat content of 4,6 1016 tons of coal, which is more than 70 thousand times greater than the heat content of technically and economically recoverable coal resources of the world. For electricity production in the fields of hot water, a method based on the use of the vapor formed by evaporation of hot liquid on the surface is used. This method uses the phenomenon that when the hot water under high pressure in wells goes from the pool to the surface, its pressure falls, and about 20% of the liquid boils and turns to steam. This vapor is separated from the water and sent to the turbine. Water coming out of the separator can be subjected to further processing, depending on its mineral composition. This water can be pumped back into the rocks at once, or if it is economically justified, with a preliminary extraction of its minerals (Orloff, 2008). Arguments against the Use of Geothermal Energy High prime cost, high cost of facilities for producing energy from geysers are the principal arguments against this type of alternative energy. Furthermore, obtaining geothermal energy directly from magma is not technically feasible. However, geothermal heat in the upper part of the crust (to a depth of 10 km) is too scattered to solve world's energy problems. Resources suitable for industrial use are separate fields of geothermal energy, focusing on accessible depth. They have a certain amount of heat, sufficient for their use for the production of electricity or heat. Technologies, needed to use energy of the hot dry rock, just begin to develop. Ocean Thermal Energy Last decade is characterized by certain success in the use of ocean thermal energy. Thus, stations for mini-OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) are created. For the first time in the history of technology, mini-OTEC system could give the external load utility power, at the same time covering its own needs. Experience gained in the operation of mini-OTEC, will faster enable to build a more powerful OTEC-1 and begin to design more powerful systems of this type. Arguments against are the technological complexity of implementing and high cost of the construction of such a facility (Horton, 2008). The Energy of the Tides For centuries, people have speculated on the cause of tides. Today, it is reliably known that this powerful natural phenomenon, a rhythmic movement of sea water, is caused by gravity of the Moon and the Sun. The maximum possible power from one tide to another can be expressed by the equation W=p*g*S*R2,where p is the density of water, g is the acceleration due to gravity, S is the area of the Tidal Basin, R is the difference in level at high tide. As it can be seen from the formula for tidal energy, some places are the most suitable on the coast, where the tides have large amplitude, while contour and coastal features can make a big closed "basins". Capacity of plants in some areas can reach 2-20 MW. First maritime tidal power station with capacity of 635 kW was built in 1913 in the Bay of Dee near Liverpool. In 1935, the building of a tidal power plant in the U.S. was begun. Americans dammed part of Passamakvodi Bay on the East Coast, spent $ 7 million, but the work was stopped. Argentine experts offered to use substantially high tidal waves in the Strait of Magellan, but the government did not approve the expensive project. Since 1967, at the mouth of the Rance River in France, at high tide of 13 meters, a tidal power station with the capacity of 240 thousand kW with an annual return 540 thousand kW has been working. Soviet engineer Bernstein developed a convenient way of blocks building on TPS, hauled afloat to the right places, and calculated the cost-effective procedure for the inclusion of TPS in the grid in the hours of their peak load by consumers (Horton, 2008). Arguments against this kind of alternative energy are inconvenience for the construction due to the lack of conditions (mismatch in seabed, etc.) and high cost of installation. The Energy of Sea Currents Inexhaustible supplies of the kinetic energy of ocean currents, accumulated in the oceans and seas, can be converted into the mechanical energy and electricity using turbines, immersed in water (like windmills, "immersed" in the atmosphere). One of the projects of waves using is based on the principle of an oscillating water column. In the gigantic "boxes" without a bottom and with holes at the top, water level rises and falls down under the influence of waves. The water column in the box acts like a piston: sucks air and forces it into the turbine blades. Currently, in some countries, and especially in England, an intensive work in terms of using of waves energy is being carried out. The British Isles have a very long coastline; in many places, the sea is stormy for a long time. Scientists estimate that 120 GW can be obtained up by the energy of the waves of the British territorial waters, which is twice more than the capacity of all power plants owned by the British Central Electri city Authority. Argument against this type of alternative energy is its low efficiency. One can expect to use only about 10% of the energy flow. There are also the technical difficulties of tools development: harmonization of inertia of turbine wheels with the amount of air in ducts in such a way that inertia keeps constant speed of turbine shafts in a wide range of conditions on the sea surface. Different types of alternative energy sources, their description "for" and arguments "against" their replacement of oil were considered. Nonetheless, it is also necessary to consider the reality (Zehner, 2012). The thing is that the current global financial system is totally dependent on the ever-increasing supply of oil and natural gas. Global financial and economic systems are built on the aspiration of the sustainable economic "growth". This growth of economic activity increases the amount of spent energy. At the moment, the global economy is able to perceive only fossil fuels (primarily oil and natural gas) as the form of energy, reserves of which are rapidly running out. A barrel of oil contains the energy equivalent of almost 25 thousand hours of human labor. Moreover, just one gallon of gasoline is the equivalent of 200-500 hours of human labor. Almost all of the work done in the world economy, such as all manufacturing, construction and transport, is done with energy, which is derived from fuel. In 2012, the production of one calorie of food, consumed in the United States, required ten calories of fossil fuel. 20% of the use of fuel resources in the U.S. is in the food chain, which means that their consumption of the food industry can compete with cars. Modern medicine, water and maintenance of the army are entirely based on oil and its chemical derivatives. In the U.S., the infrastructure of Internet supporting takes 10% of the produced energy. The dynamics of oil production is described by a Gaussian curve. An ever-increasing abundance of oil is on the upward slope of the curve; its increasing scarcity and high cost are on the downward. Conclusion Summarizing the above, alternative energy sources are a great option for development. However, the reality is that any source of alternative energy is able to cover the world's energy needs as it is 31 billion barrels a year, and it continues to grow. No source of alternative energy can produce energy without the cost of oil and gas for its production. None of them is cheap enough, clean (do not pollute the environment) and available in quantities of at least close to the immense volume of everyday consumption of oil and natural gas in the world. Discovering and extracting raw materials, such as silver, copper, platinum, uranium, which is necessary for the construction of solar panels and wind turbines, requires a huge amount of oil and other scarce resources. Oil is also needed for the development of alternative energy installations, distribution, support and their adaptation to the currently existing infrastructure. The reality is that it is preferred to invest world financial capi tal in military technology instead of investments in alternative energy sources, foreseeing future energy conflicts, namely the war for the remaining resources. The current system of market economy, the main purpose of which is to make more money and use more energy, will not allow the implementation of alternative energy sources, until reserves of oil and gas will end. As the exhaustion of oil and gas in the world's current economic model is inevitable, reserves of other forms of energy are not enough for a full-scale commercial operation, humanity is constrained to await for several depressive decades as long as the energy deficit will not be filled, and the world economic system will not be radically restructured.

Chemistry class xii project Essay Example for Free

Chemistry class xii project Essay Theory What is rust? Rust is the common name of a compound, iron oxide. Iron oxide, the chemical Effie, is common because iron combines very readily with oxygen so readily, in fact, that pure Iron Is only rarely found In nature. Iron (or steel) rusting Is an example of corrosion an electrochemical process involving an anode (a piece of metal that readily gives up electrons), an electrolyte (a liquid that helps electrons move) and a cathode (a piece of metal that readily accepts electrons). Causes When a piece of metal corrodes, the electrolyte helps provide oxygen to the anode. As oxygen combines with the metal, electrons are liberated. When they flow through the electrolyte to the cathode, the metal of the anode disappears, swept away by the electrical flow or converted into metal actions in a form such as rust. For iron to become Iron oxide, three things are required: Iron, water and oxygen. Here’s what happens when the three get together: When a drop of water hits an Iron object, two things begin to happen almost immediately. First, the water, a good electrolyte, combines with carbon dioxide in the air to form a weak carbonic acid, an even better electrolyte. As the acid is formed and the iron dissolved, some of the water will begin o break down Into Its component pieces hydrogen and oxygen. The free oxygen and dissolved iron bond into iron oxide, in the process freeing electrons. The electrons liberated from the anode portion of the iron flow to the cathode, which may be a piece of a metal less electrically reactive than iron, or another point on the piece of Iron Itself, Consequences Rusting has a number of effects on metal objects. It makes them look orange and rough. It makes them weaker, by replacing the strong Iron or steel with flaky powder. Some oxides on some metals such as aluminum form Just a thin layer on top which lows down further corrosion, but rust can slowly eat away at even the biggest piece of iron. If a piece of Iron’s strength Is important for safety, such as a bridge support or a car’s brake caliper. It Is a good Idea to Inspect It for rust damage every now and then. Rust also can cause metal parts that are supposed to slide over one another to become stuck. Rust can make holes In sheet metal. Rusty car mufflers sometimes develop holes in them, and the sheet steel making the outer bodies of cars will often rust through, making holes. Rust Is a lot less magnetic than Iron. An iron magnet will probably still work almost as ell when It has a thin coating of rust on It, but If It has rusted so badly that most of the metal is gone, then it will not work very well as a magnet. 1 OFF which is a metallic conductor. So if some electrical connection is made with iron, it’s likely to go bad when the iron surface rusts. Rust is associated with degradation of iron-based tools and structures. As rust has a much higher volume than the originating mass of iron, its build-up can also cause failure by forcing apart adjacent parts ? a phenomenon sometimes known as â€Å"rust packing†. It was the cause of the collapse of the Missus river bridge in 1983, when he bearings rusted internally and pushed one corner of the road slab off its support. Rust was also an important factor in the Silver Bridge disaster of 1967 in West Virginia, when a steel suspension bridge collapsed in less than a minute, killing 46 drivers and passengers on the bridge at the time. Prevention and Protection Because of the widespread use and importance of iron and steel products, the prevention or slowing of rust is the basis of major economic activities in a number of specialized technologies. A brief overview of methods is presented here; for detailed overage, see the cross-referenced articles. Rust is permeable to air and water, therefore the interior metallic iron beneath a rust layer continues to corrode. Rust prevention thus requires coatings that preclude rust formation. Some methods of prevention of rusting are as follows: Gallivanting:- Globalization consists of an application on the object to be protected of a layer of metallic zinc by either hot-dip gallivanting or electroplating. Zinc is traditionally used because it is cheap, adheres well to steel, and provides catholic protection to the steel surface in case of damage of the zinc layer. In more corrosive environments (such as salt water), cadmium plating is preferred. Coating and Painting:- Rust formation can be controlled with coatings, such as paint, lacquer, or varnish that isolate the iron from the environment. Large structures with enclosed box sections, such as ships and modern automobiles, often have a wax-based product (technically a â€Å"slashing oil†) injected into these sections. Such treatments usually also contain rust inhibitors. Covering steel with concrete can provide some protection to steel because of the alkaline pH environment at the steel-concrete interface. Humidity Control:- Rust can be avoided by controlling the moisture in the atmosphere. An example of this is the use of silica gel packets to control humidity in equipment shipped by sea. Metal Coupling:-Len this method, the iron is coupled with other metal and if the metal is above iron in electrochemical series(meaner more electrostatics)then in the galvanic cell is formed by the contact of the iron and that metal, iron will go under reduction it will be safe from rusting. If the metal is below iron in electrochemical series then iron will go under oxidation and rusting will be facilitated. Chemistry class xii project. (2018, Oct 12).

Comparative study of two large corporates Essay

Comparative study of two large corporates - Essay Example ciples which trigger corporate finance are the dividend, financing, and investment principles, as well as the goal of company value maximisation which form the main part of the corporate financial hypothesis (Sundaram and Andrew 350-363). Most of the companies are hold by the shareholders and inside the companies are managers, whose primary goal is to increase the wealth of shareholder and also to foster the progress of the share value. Therefore, the objective of company or the financial management is to constantly strive to increase the wealth of shareholder through dynamic and productive efficiency (Alpaslan 41-50). Another goal of financial management is to benefit the society because consumer and employees are part of the society (Ehrhardt and Brigham 10-11). It is the biggest aerospace company of the world and the top manufacturer of military aircraft and commercial jetliners combined. Boeing Company manufactures and designs rotocraft, missiles, defence and electronic system, satellites, as well as launch advanced information and vehicles and also the communications systems. It is a main service supplier to NASA and also a main contractor for Global Space Station (â€Å"About Us†). It offers various commercial and military airline services. Boeing Company offers support service and products to large group of customers in almost 150 countries. It is also one of the leading U.S. exporters and has a tradition of innovation and aerospace leadership. The company expanded their services and product line in order to meet the rising customer needs. Their wide range of abilities include incorporating military platforms warfighter and the defence system through the network –centric processes; creating more efficient, new members of their airplane family; arranging funding solutions for their customers; and creating highly developed technology solutions which reach across various business units. Having it’s headquarter in Chicago, the company employs over

Shaping a Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Shaping a Life - Essay Example The realization came to me that I have lost a lot of time and that I was not getting any younger. I felt the need for a purpose for living so I decided to make things better by being focused of what I want to achieve in life. Things begun to change as I gathered myself up with my social life improving by the day, recuperating the self-esteem I have lost when I was walking without direction. Hard times pushed me to find comfort in relationships but the contentment I have been looking for was never satisfied so that finding the man who later became my husband gave me a fresh hope on love and life. I finally learned to trust a man on a deeper level where I know my respect to a person is equally reciprocated, making my marriage to my husband another big event in my life that has left an indelible impact. November 17, 2005 is a day to cherish for me and my husband exchanged vows on this wonderful day and wonderful things just kept coming. As we expressed our love to each other, our greate st blessings have been showered upon us in the coming years. My husband and I now have two beautiful children whom we cherish. As for me, their birth has been life changing. It made me feel a greater sense of value, leading me to reset my priorities. I can now say I am a mother full of love that I could shower upon my children and husband, making sure they will always be assured of the support and love expected from me.

Bridge design Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Bridge design - Coursework Example This old bridge carries gas pipelines along with phone cables which are needed to be accommodated in new design as well. Also this bridge provides a secondary path over the railway lines, thus providing an easy and safe transportation of pedestrians across the railway lines. Idea of stayed bridge was first introduced in 16th century which was then furnished to produce an engineered cable stayed bridge after Second World War. This engineered bridge was constructed in Europe to provide pedestrians with the shortest path to their destination. Cable stayed bridges are considered to be like ordinary suspension bridge as their physical appearance resemble a lot. These bridges differ from suspension bridges in a way that the suspension bridges are having two towers but cable stayed bridges make use of only a single tower to hold all the load of deck and traffic moving on the deck. In cable stayed bridges, the single tower is responsible of holding all the compressional forces acting on the bridge and tension is distributed by making use of stays. Such bridges are having specialized orthotropic decks which are furnished with continuous girders and stays for support. The analysis of such bridges is carried out by making use of linear elastic analysis. This technique is used because of the triangulated force approach used in the construction of stayed bridge. In real time applications, bridge is subjected to a number of torsional and shear forces that are being applied through the environment like, air currents, deformation of structure, load distributions etc. but currently we are not concerned with these parameters and considering only the live and dead loads. A typical suspension bridge force vector is shown below: The purpose of conducting this research is to come up with the best bridge design which is economically as well as socially feasible. Major concern is to construct a project which can be conveniently handled by the crew of county works while erecting

Discuss why adopting a model of social pedagogy for work with children Essay

Discuss why adopting a model of social pedagogy for work with children young people and families may be beneficial. What barriers may there be for implementing this model in the UK - Essay Example The distinct divisions were evident at diverse levels whether conceptual, organizational, professional, and in relation to training and education. Nevertheless, the UK has witnessed significant changes in administrative reorganization of the responsibility for children’s services and a change in the manner in which individuals envision provision for both children and young people (Coussee et al. 2010, p.789). Social pedagogy delineates education in the expansive sense of the word or a perspective entailing social action that aims at facilitating human welfare via child-rearing and education practices; to safeguard or ease social problems by availing individuals with the capacity to cope with life, and effect changes within their circumstances. The fundamental notion of social pedagogy centres on facilitating social functioning, inclusion, involvement, social identity and competence as fully functional members of the society (Petrie et al. 2006, p.19). Social pedagogy in practice incorporates an all encompassing and personal approach to child care in all its facets that connects education and care, and support for families (Kyriacou 2009, p.101). In addition, social pedagogy avails a prospective approach to training at diverse levels that integrates education, psychology, and philosophy with the spheres of child care, family support, and the advancement of children’s rights. Social pedagogy can be viewed as an activity and a collection of ideas that, while mirroring the broader concerns for the welfare of children, is organic and adjustable to the attributes of the society, and mirrors humanistic values grounded in a representation of children as active agents in society (Smith 2012, p.46). As such, social pedagogy operates in â€Å"the here and now† and employs â€Å"the moment† as a launch pad for pedagogical practice. Social pedagogues have been implemented

Business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business report - Essay Example The cash rate or the interest rate of monetary policy has been stable for the past financial year and half, and the board had already taken some time to evaluate the implication of substantially reducing the rate of interest on the monetary policy. Finally, the Reserve Bank of Australia has done a crucial job in controlling the lending rate by reducing the cost of borrowing. Also. Since the Australian dollar was week against the U.S dollar, the reserve bank operated with favorable monetary policies to prevent the collapse of the Australian Economy. Therefore, the economy is stable and there is a predictable growth in the first half of 2015. The growth will boost investment, the rate of return to commercial banks and employment. One of the most important elements in the performance of any economy is the amount of workforce or the employment status of the population. High level of employment results in a high output of the economy and consequently a high level of development. However, the level of employment is not the only determinant of economic growth, especially when it comes to global markets. The prices of oil have proved to a significant determinant of macroeconomics and research has already pointed out that the increase in the prices of oil is hazardous to global markets. The prices of commodities have been observed to decline and the price of oil has significantly fallen over the last couple of months; which has resulted to a lower level of demand as a result of high level of supply. Interestingly, since oil is arguably the core driver of any economy, lower price of the energy is tipped to strengthen the global output and the rates of inflations are temporarily expected to fall. This study will look to explain the current economic situation in Australia and making a forecast for the rates of cash of the Central Banks, keeping in mind the drop in the prices of the oil in the global market. With the cost of oil falling in the

Historical topics since 1500s Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Historical topics since 1500s - Assignment Example They were devoted, loyal and keen followers of the law. The force was created by Sultan Murad in 1383 (Rice, 1999). Devshirme. This was a Turkish term referring to blood tax. During this period, the Ottoman empire sent the military to abduct young guys. They were then converted to Islam. The ablest were trained for military and civil war. The age of the recruit was from 7 to 10 years (Menage, 1966). Mamluks. This is an Arabic word meaning property. It may also mean the slave of the king or white slave. It is, therefore, an Arabic designation of slaves. This dynasty lasted from 1250-1517. Mamluks had a special status in relation to the ordinary slaves and were considered to be real lords with status above freeborn Muslims. Oyo. This was a Yoruba kingdom or kingdom. It covered parts of Benin and Nigeria. In modern day, it is an inland state in southwestern Nigeria, and its capital is at Ibadan. It is the 14th largest state. It contains a number of natural features, and the climate is equatorial with relatively high humidity. Marco Polo. This was a Venetian merchant .his travels are recorded in livres des Merveilles. he was born in Venice hence Venetian nationality. He was born in 1254 and died in 1324. His book was highly publicized and introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China (Polo, 1854). Battle of Lepanto . This was a battle between Islamists and Christians. This fight took place in 1571 on 7th October. It was a naval engagement and it was between the Christians and the ottoman. The Islam were defeated at the end and more than 50000 casualties were reported. Enclosure. An enclosure is an area that is sealed off. Economic history defines compound as the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay. The appropriation of land can be done through a fence or other methods such as enclosing through a stone wall or such. St. Petersburg. This is the second largest

Business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business report - Essay Example The cash rate or the interest rate of monetary policy has been stable for the past financial year and half, and the board had already taken some time to evaluate the implication of substantially reducing the rate of interest on the monetary policy. Finally, the Reserve Bank of Australia has done a crucial job in controlling the lending rate by reducing the cost of borrowing. Also. Since the Australian dollar was week against the U.S dollar, the reserve bank operated with favorable monetary policies to prevent the collapse of the Australian Economy. Therefore, the economy is stable and there is a predictable growth in the first half of 2015. The growth will boost investment, the rate of return to commercial banks and employment. One of the most important elements in the performance of any economy is the amount of workforce or the employment status of the population. High level of employment results in a high output of the economy and consequently a high level of development. However, the level of employment is not the only determinant of economic growth, especially when it comes to global markets. The prices of oil have proved to a significant determinant of macroeconomics and research has already pointed out that the increase in the prices of oil is hazardous to global markets. The prices of commodities have been observed to decline and the price of oil has significantly fallen over the last couple of months; which has resulted to a lower level of demand as a result of high level of supply. Interestingly, since oil is arguably the core driver of any economy, lower price of the energy is tipped to strengthen the global output and the rates of inflations are temporarily expected to fall. This study will look to explain the current economic situation in Australia and making a forecast for the rates of cash of the Central Banks, keeping in mind the drop in the prices of the oil in the global market. With the cost of oil falling in the

History of Biligual Education Essay Example for Free

History of Biligual Education Essay My project was to go and find out about bilingual education’s history, process, and the experts in the field of bilingual education. Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages fluently. Bilingualists study Bilingualism and bilingual education, which is teaching all subjects in school through two different languages. Bilingual Education was first adopted in Ohio in 1839, due to the increase of German-Americans (Rethinking). By the end of the 19th century, many states had adopted bilingual education laws to meet the demands of new immigrants due to industrialization. When World War I came many Americans changed their views of bilingual education, due to the fear of German-Americans and the government’s new Americanization policies, including English-only instruction. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Movement Era and the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, when bilingual education was reintroduced into the United States. â€Å"The courts decision in the landmark Lau v. Nichols case required schools to take affirmative steps to overcome language barriers impeding childrens access to the curriculum. Congress immediately endorsed this principle in the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974.†(Rethinking). In California, bilingual education was banned until 1967. In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan signed legislation (SB 53) that authorized bilingual education, before the Bilingual Education Act of 1968. A blow for bilingual education came in 2002, when President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act got rid of the Bilingual E ducation Act of 1968, changing the way people look at bilingual education. In 1998 California, under Ron Unz’s Proposition 227, reverted Ronald Reagan’s SB 53. This Proposition later confirms Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act and the country’s renewed interest in English only instruction, due to the Iraq War. Many critics of bilingual education believe that bilingual education is failed, but proponents of bilingual education feel bilingual education is a better option than English-only instruction. Critics of bilingual education believe that children who receive bilingual education will not be able to help students learn English as well as English-only students. One of the critics of bilingual education, Rosalie Pedalino Porter of the Institute for Research in English Acquisition and Development (READ), believes that â€Å"the expectations for bilingual schooling were threefold: better and more rapid learning of English; better mastery of school subjects; and higher self-esteem among students, which could lead to higher academic achievement and fewer school dropouts. Unfortunately, none of these goals was achievedThe goal [of English immersion] is threefold: early literacy development in English, subject matter instruction in English with a special curriculum, and early inclusion of LEP students in mainstream classrooms for maximum exposure to native speakers of English and for greater integration of diverse student populations(Porter). However, â€Å"controlled studies consistently show that children in such properly organized bilingual classes acquire at least as much English as those in all-English classes and usually acquire more†(Krasen). Another proponent of bilingual education, Jay Greene provided research that â€Å"the use of the native language in instructing limited English proficient children has moderate beneficial effect s and that efforts to eliminate the use of the native language in instruction harm children by denying them access to beneficial approaches†(Greene). In addition to the belief that children who receive bilingual education will not be able to help students learn English as well as English-only students, critics of bilingual education believe that the passage of Proposition 227, caused test scores to increase. Proponents of 227 from the READ Institute argue that, the test scores from 1998-2000, show that minority English language learning students in California have done better on the SAT 9 test than those in bilingual education had done before (Mora). Kenji Hakuta, shows in his article, Points on SAT-9 Performance and Proposition 227, â€Å"test scores rose in districts in California that kept bilingual education, as well as in districts that never had bilingual education† (Hakuta). In addition, â€Å" Scores increase about 1.5 to 2 points per year after a new test is introduced. Thus, test score inflation accounts for about half of the increase in grades two and three in the SAT9 reading test since 1998, and all of the inc rease in grades four through seven SAT9 reading scores in California have actually declined slightly in grades eight through eleven†(Linn et. al). Research done by these bilingualists show that Proposition 227 has not increased the minority English language-learning students in California’s English skills. Critics of bilingual education believe that poorly trained teachers and complicated bilingual education structures cause more confusion than English-only programs. Susan Headden, writing in U.S. News World Report, comments, â€Å"Poorly trained teachers further complicate the picture. . . . The paucity of qualified candidates has forced desperate superintendents to waive some credentialing requirements and recruit instructors from abroad. The result is teachers who themselves struggle with English† Advocates cite that just because bilingual education needs improvement doesn’t mean it should be eliminated. Critics of bilingual education look at the success of Canada’s French immersion policy in schools. In kindergarten and first grade native-English speakers are taught entirely in French. Then gradually, English is introduced and by the end of elementary school, most students become fluent in French and English. However, more impressive is the bilingual education of European countries. Since there are eleven different official languages of the European Union, students are taught multiple languages .The study of first foreign language begins in first year of primary school, then an additional language is added in the second year of secondary school and the fourth year of secondary school. By the time students exit college with a Baccalaureate degree, they will know at least four languages. From, my research I was able to find proponents and critics of bilingual education. I noticed that there were many more proponents of bilingual education, among them are Kenji Hakuta of Stanfor d University, Colin Baker of the University of Wales, Stephen Krashen of the University of Southern California, Wayne P. Thomas and Virginia Collier at George Mason University, and Jim Cummins of the University of Toronto. Critics of bilingual education include politicians, George Bush, Susan Headden, and Rosalie Pedalino Porter. Perhaps we should be looking to other nations to solve our educational issues, as neither English-only nor bilingual education seems to work. References *Based on an Analysis by National Association of Bilingual Education. (2002, Winter). History of Bilingual Education. Rethinking Schools. Retrieved May 10, 2007, from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/langhst.shtml * Greene, J. (1997). A meta-analysis of the Rossell and Baker review of bilingual education research. Bilingual Research Journal , 21(3), 103-122. *Hakuta, K. (2000). Points on SAT-9 Performance and Proposition 227. Lecture presented at Stanford University , Cubberley Hall 228, 485 Lasuen Mall Stanford, California. *Headden, S. (1995, September 25). One Nation, One Language? U.S. News World Report, 38+. Retrieved May 10, 2007, from http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/articles/onenation.html *Krasen, S. (1996). Under Attack: The Case Against Bilingual Education. Culver City, CA: Language Education Associates. *Linn, R., Graue, E., Sanders, N. (1990). Comparing state and district test results to national norms: The validity of claims that ‘everyone is above average. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice , (9), 5-13. *Mora, J. K. (n.d.). What Do the SAT-9 Scores for Language Minority Students Really Mean? Retrieved May 10, 2007, from San Diego State University Web site: http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/SAT9analysis.htm *Porter, R. P. (1999, December). The Benefits of English Immersion. Educational Leadership, 1(57), 52-56.

The Importance Of Transparency In Lobbying Laws Politics Essay

The Importance Of Transparency In Lobbying Laws Politics Essay This paper underlines the importance of understanding that only setting laws for regulating lobbying practices as anti-corruption measures is not enough. Making the practice as transparent as possible is the key to reach out to civil society. This paper will focus on the lobbying system in Lithuania, where despite having lobbying laws/ regulation of interest groups it has been unsuccessful in integrating the support of civil society. I argue that this is due to the lack of transparency in the lobbying system. This essay will apply a model on how effective it would be to make lobbying costly combined with transparency, that would result in lowering corruption and integrate civilian advocacy in political systems to step up to the democratization process. Outline of Paper: SECTION I INTRODUCTION SECTION II INSIGHTS OF INTEREST GROUPS AND LOBBYING IN DEVELOPING DEMOCRACIES SECTION III CASE OF LITHUANIA SECTION IV ANALYSIS SECTION V RECOMMENDATION-MAKING LOBBYING COSTLY SECTION VI CONCLUSION SECTION VII BIBLIOGRAPHY SECTION I-Introduction All political regimes have organizations like interest groups whether the type of system is democratic, authoritarian or totalitarian. Interest groups have not been studied extensively or analyzed in developing democracies the way they have been in developed democracies. An important characteristic of interest group organization in developing democracies is the history of their authoritarian past. These better described as power groups, tend to dominate interest group and lobbying activities. They differ from the more institutionalized and formalized interest group activity of developed democracies. By institutionalization we are referring to an increasingly independent civil society, a rising range of interests and interest groups and a political culture that views interest group activity and lobbying as legitimate and vital to the long term sustainable democratization process. (Thomas, Hrebenar, 2008). In order for a constitutional democracy to emerge, general societal behavioral change must occur in which a) no significant political group attempts to overthrow the democratic regime; b) even during severe political and economic predicaments, the public will seek political change from within the democratic process; and c) all political players will act to resolve conflict through established constitutional standards. (Przeworski, 1991; ODonnell, 1992; Linz and Stepan, 1996). The objective of this paper is to show that making interest group and lobbying activities transparent and regulated, could result in the emergence of not only a constitutional democracy but in decreasing corruption levels within the political system. In section 2, I will present the specificities of developing democracies interest groups, while in section 3 I will focus on Lithuania. I will analyze the Lithuanian findings in section 4, recommend a blend of transparency lobbying laws coupled with making lobbying costly (based on models) as a corruption deterrent in section 5, and conclude in section 6. SECTION II-Features of interest group systems in developing democracies One of the major roles that interest groups perform in established democracies is being a major medium of representation for various sections of society. This is not really the case in developing democracies. In advanced democracies, because a large percentage of the population belong to interest groups, there is more transparency in their activities and may be even more important than political parties in performing a mass representational task (Thomas, 2001). In developing democracies there are common patterns of interest group activity that are typical of their authoritarian days. This can obstruct the development of an independent civil society and the establishment of an extensive and effective interest group system. The restricted independence of interest groups from the past, where in some countries they were banned as in communist systems may influence their independent functioning under a developing democracy. Special interests were often generally viewed as illegitimate in authoritarian regimes. The general public was socialized to believe that interest groups worked against the national interest. Many developing democracies face a major challenge to foster a political culture that includes acceptance of interest group activities and a belief in their political efficiency so that extent that citizens will join and use them as a major means representational voices. (Thomas, 2001) Informal groups were the norm under the authoritarian regimes and remain a dominant force as opposed to institutionalized structures. Therefore, a very narrow range of groups likely exists when the system begins to transition to democracy. Elites have been very successful in using power groups and so have little incentive to develop formalized and institutional interests that might reduce and destroy their power. Therefore there is little interest group and lobbying structures in a newly democratizing country to provide the foundation for the development of a professional advocacy sector. In 2005 in Lithuania there were only seven individuals who could be considered contract lobbyists, (Thomas,2001) in Bulgaria there were none till 2006. (Thomas, 2004). There are less formalized lobbying strategies and tactics in developing democracies to voice political preferences as compared to those in established democracies. The main tactic used is through insider contact of elite-power groups with public officials. In many societies corruption and payoffs also form major influence. Though protest groups may emerge through the course of these actions, and demonstrations may be used, they seldom affect efficient public policy decision making. (Thomas, 2001). SECTION III-Case Study of Lithuania The lobbying community in Lithuania is underdeveloped, corrupt and negatively perceived by society. This is attributable to their legacy of communism which heavily influences the efficiency with which interest groups and lobbyists operate. This results in rising suspicion among the eyes of the public and government officials which impedes the development of an effective lobbying community. Lithuanian interest groups do not use sophisticated lobbying practices and access is largely based on personal connections and corrupt practices. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). Two international indexes illustrated how modernized Lithuania has become since the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to the Heritage Foundation the 2006 Index lists Lithuania as the 23rd most Free Nation. Transparency Internationals 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index holds Lithuania as its 44th least corrupt nation. Overall these international indexes portray Lithuania as a country with moderate levels of corruption, a growing and active interest group system with business interests balanced by an efficient labor movement, with a civil society comprised of a responsible media and the general public willing to engage in regular interest group politics. This, however, is not the case according to a 2005 University of Utah research project, where they found that Lithuanian interest groups and lobbyists were majorly characterized by interests of government elites and business leaders. Interest group and lobbying activity in Lithuania is underdeveloped and unsophisticated in the sense that it is repressed by low perceptions of political effectiveness by the general mass and dominated by business interests. Negative perceptions of lobbying and the ineffective lobby laws contribute to the burgeoning and unrefined state of lobbying in Lithuania. These pessimistic public attitudes are amplified by the effects of communist attitudes and the Lithuanian lobbying law which presents significant obstacles to the formation of interest groups (extensive registration processes) and the implementation of lobbying activities. The prevalence of corruption and long-established personal connections are major lobbying tactics and result in a dichotomy in the minds of the public in differentiating between private and public interests. The present law also fails to elucidate increased transparency and legitimacy of lobbying activities, which are the core artifices of an efficient democ racy. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). Labor is weak as a political and lobbying force in Lithuania due to the legacy of its control by communist leaders, and it results in its failure to use modern strategies of lobbying. The labor sector is small and fragmented. However, the business community has transitioned to sophisticated interest group and lobbying systems. This is due to its extensive resources and contacts that the business communities have with the Lithuanian Parliament and the executive branch. It can be said that only those interest groups with a great deal of resources have power in Lithuania. A significant factor to take into consideration in business lobbying is the financial resources that these communities have and that there are more than 100 members of the Lithuanian Parliament that have business connections and interests but only four that represent labor. There are few professional lobbyists who are registered (only 11 registered lobbyists in Lithuania in 2005). Many groups come to the Lithuanian Par liament with their complaints but fail to suggest possible solutions and courses of political action to solve these problems. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). The lack of a professional lobbying community in Lithuania may persist in the future because the use of personal contacts to contact public officials makes the development of a lobbying bodies redundant, the lack of knowledge among groups about sophisticated lobbying tactics may include a lack of knowledge about the value professional lobbyists, and the small population of Lithuania infers that informal politics prevails as a result of personal contacts. Hence, there is not enough pressure or incentive to develop advanced interest group techniques including professional lobbying groups. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). Corruption is widespread in Lithuania and affects the interest group system. It affects how people go about lobbying, including using bribes to public officials, passing contracts to friends etc. Corruption in the system contributes directly to the very negative view of interest groups and lobbying by the public (Baltic Times, 2004). Corrupt methods of lobbying (bribery and gratuities) are not accepted as ethical, but identified as the most effective and practiced methods of lobbying that can be used for interest group to achieve desired results. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). The lobby law is unsuccessful in Lithuania because it is too restrictive. While many individuals engage in activities that are legit lobbying, negative views on the part of the public and public officials along with a troublesome registration process and expensive registration fee, dissuades most individuals engaged in lobbying activity from registering. The general consensus is that the lobby law is not feasible, is ineffective and is likely not applicable to a developing democracy with an emerging interest group system like Lithuania. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). Since there are very few registered lobbyists, most lobbying is conducted through unregulated and non-transparent means. Thus the law does not account for the predominant amount of the actual lobbying that takes place in Lithuania. A regulatory system that would be more efficient is a monitoring system which requires reporting of lobbying activity, more information and transparency on lobbyists and their interests, and also providing information on the money that is spent on lobbying. Since the Lithuanian lobbying law is associated with corruption and negative perceptions, registering is a major disadvantage to those who legally register as paid lobbyists. (Hrebenar; McBeth; Morgan, 2008). Overall, there is a disincentive to do so. By simply integrating lobbying laws into a regulatory system will not result in dramatically reducing corruption levels. Lobbying practices should be transparent to the public, the civil society needs to understand the need for the lobbyists activities and be active advocates of it, and therefore transform them into a crucial component of a functioning democracy. SECTION IV-Analysis In order for a successful democracy to emerge, it is vital that the civil society has the confidence in their political infrastructure. Interest groups and lobbyists work towards the benefits of society, and it is important that the general public feel safe and confident in order to integrate voices in parliament. Building an effective interest group and lobbying system in burgeoning democracies requires taking more aggressive steps to fight corruption altogether, since it lies deeply rooted in their systems. Interest group politics and lobbying must be included into the medias discussion of politics. As a matter of fact, in order to tackle it from the bottom, regulated media scrutiny is required. Taking into account the suspicion that most citizens hold and is wary of most political moves, they must learn and understand that such politics are legitimate and acceptable. To achieve this, it may be plausible to introduce studies of legitimate lobbying activities in school/university curriculums. In the Lithuanian system the more difficult aspect to change is probably the civic society ideals and beliefs and the attitudes of the Lithuanian population and elites. An effective interest group and lobbying system is especially difficult to build in a post-authoritarian state, given their ingrained be lief systems and ideals. Lithuanian democracy is nearly two decades old and clearly the interest group and lobbying system has not emerged as a strongly constructed cornerstone. The lack of citizen knowledge about the significance of an independent and politically sophisticated civil society to modern democratic politics indicates that the core requirement of a transparent lobbying system was amiss from the beginning. SECTION V-A Recommendation-Making lobbying costly A way in which extraneous and meaningless lobbying can be overcome is by making the activity itself expensive. Someone considering whether to become a lobbyist has to consider the costs of lobbying activities. These costs consist of organizational costs and informational costs. If they want to perform seriously as lobbyists, they have to show that the information that they obtain is reliable and based on sound evidence and information. In some cases, intricate technical information is difficult and costly to obtain. Lobbyists may have to pay for high costs to obtain expert information to credibly provide what is demanded by the authorities in question. These high costs may sometimes dissuade certain lobbyists from entering the entire race altogether unless they have credible motives to do so. We can refer to Potters and Van Winden (1992) model of persuasive costly lobbying and try to understand it in mathematical equations: Lobbyist incurs a cost C ≠¥ 0 when lobbying  · when C = 0 informative lobbying only occurs when d ≠¤ ( ÃŽ ¸H ÃŽ ¸L ) / 2  · when ÃŽ ¸=ÃŽ ¸H there is no risk of false reporting  · when ÃŽ ¸= ÃŽ ¸L and C > 0, the lobbyist now has to incur a cost to report. Hypothesis: policy maker takes lobbyists claims at face value, and interprets lack of lobbying as ÃŽ ¸= ÃŽ ¸L To understand the incentive for the lobbyist at equilibrium cost, when ÃŽ ¸=ÃŽ ¸H the lobbyist incurs the costs only when (qH qH d) 2 C ≠¥ (qL qH d) 2 C ≠¤ (qH qL) (2 d + qH qL) when q = qL the lobbyist refrains from lobbying only when (qL qL d) 2 ≠¥ (qL qH d) 2 C C ≠¥ (qH qL) (2 d (qH qL) ) There is a range of lobbying costs for which the lobbyist communicates with the policy maker in the high states of the world. In this case the policy maker acknowledges this and always implements his preferred policy. Is the lobbyist better off when costs are positive and d > ( ÃŽ ¸H ÃŽ ¸L ) / 2? C = 0 ⇒ p = E ( ÃŽ ¸ ) and E (ul(p,q)) = 0.5 ( ( E ( ÃŽ ¸ ) ÃŽ ¸H d)2 + 0.5 ( ( E ( ÃŽ ¸ ) ÃŽ ¸L d)2 C > 0 : E (ul(p,q)) = 0.5 ( d2 C ) + 0.5 ( d2 ) = d2 C/2 the lobbyist is better off when C < (qH qL)2 / 2 From this model, we clearly get the intuition that if registered lobbying activities are made costly the lobbyist will have lesser incentive to engage in unnecessary meaningless lobbying activities. Therefore, transparency coupled with making lobbying costly could discourage selfish lobbying practices. SECTION VI-Conclusion In any political power structure the actual bodies that create laws as well as the tools for implementing them are usually at the top of the political hierarchy. Here, we seem to be finding more and more, that it is easier to compromise amongst themselves than to continue guarding and representing the more plebeian interests. This is even more true today where we have a vital separation between national politics and globalization which in principle are at loggerheads. As a result politicians are even more compromised and helpless against the over-powering globalized corporate interests and instinctively know that it is a losing battle to fight against them. As we are now witnessing, politics everywhere is bereft of political ideology and entirely married to economic priorities. In such an atmosphere, creating moral strictures to hem the growing influence of special interest bodies (a majority of which are corporate or backed by very powerful groups (NRA and the Jewish Lobby in the USA are examples) is a dead cause. The BEA scandal in the UK is a fine example of how Politicians hide under a a blanket cover (they have specially created for their own benefit) of national security a catch 22 situation, because, according to them, it cannot be transparent for the very same reason that it is secretive. Increasing, governments everywhere have found this the most useful tool to degrade democracy everywhere. Organizations which use corrupt practices will not take to transparency operation and regulation of lobbying. They will feel exposed as this is associated with changes in laws such as the political parties in proportion to its funding, in terms of laws governing the methods of financing campaigns. While discussing lobbying, unions should also be taken into account, which often become the most influential lobbyists. In the process of building a representative democracy it is necessary to create mechanisms which openly discuss issues that they can be resolved in favor of society and not just for the benefit of private or group interests. A cornerstone to this objective may be a combination of effective and modern lobbying laws, meeting the goals of representative democracy based on principles of transparency and publicity. In developing democracies like Lithuania, it is vital to keep the civil society informed about regulated lobbying activities which are designed to benefit the public . Otherwise there is the risk of them being left to speculate the evils of interest group activities, which their legacies have socialized them to do so.

Inconsistent Terminology for Emerging Technologies :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Inconsistent Terminology for Emerging Technologies Emerging technologies affect not only the computing world but other worlds as well. In the past ten years the English language has expanded to include new terms such as blog and instant messaging. Unfortunately, not all new words are reviewed and approved by a central source and often common terminology fragments into different styles and usage. Perhaps the word web site best typifies this behavior. Although a web site is hardly new in terms of technology, publications have been rife with inconsistent usage. However, of the various permutations, the etymology of web site is the most practical. Most traditional sources such as the American Psychological Association Style Guide seem to skirt the issue altogether with a list that includes Web and e-mail, but not site. Or, when electronic sources are cited, they are listed as being found â€Å"on-line† (APA). While traditional style guides have often outlined best practices for grammar and terminology, only a few published style guides are dedicated to the forum of the World Wide Web. One of the oldest web-dedicated style guides, the Yale Style Guide, makes no direct reference to the usage of the term web site, but consistently refers to it as Web site. Additionally, Gerry McGovern’s Web Content Style Guide adheres to the one-word usage of website. However, the same book curiously advises two different usages of the word web. The use of a capitalized Web is recommended when the word is used on its own to refer to the World Wide Web (example; The Web has grown immensely in popularity.). The second use is a lowercase web, when the word is used as an adjective, such as web users (McGovern 2002). A brief look at online web dictionaries and terminology guides may indicate that Web site is the most popular term. Webopaedia uses the Web site as an entry, as well as NetLingo. But when turning to the experts of the Web, such as Jakob Nielsen, one will discover that Nielsen voices stong opinions about web usability standards but goes against the grain in his use of the term website. In 1997, Wired magazine launched a short-lived companion site to its published handbook WiredStyle with the following explanation for its use of Web site: "Web" is a proper noun, and so deserves its initial cap. When using "Web" as a modifier, we keep the cap and strongly resist the urge to close "Web" up with other nouns.