Describe marketing situations in which the use of qualitative research methods would be appropriate Essay

Describe marketing situations in which the use of qualitative research methods would be appropriate. According to Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin Qualitative research is a methodology that elaborate interpretations of phenomenal of interest without depending on numerical measurement ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, pg 65 ) . It is characterised by its aims, which relate to understanding some aspect of social life, and it’s methods which generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis ( Patton, Cochrain, 2002 ) . In terms of marketing situations, qualitative research methods are appropriate to be used when the organization root for new product idea generation and development, strength and weaknesses of products/ brands and studying emotions and attitudes on societal and public affairs issues (qrca. org). To maximize understanding on the situation, there are two qualitative research methods that can be consider is Focus Groups and Questionnaires. With these methods, we identify the benefits as well as limitations of using these research methods. Focus groups can be define as an unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of people ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, p71) . An approximately 60 to 90 minute discussion is led by a trained moderator with 8 to 12 relatively homogenous but unacquainted individuals who are brought together to discuss a specific topic ( Gunn, 2004) . Focus groups allow people to discuss their feelings, anxieties and frustrations, as well as the depth of their convictions, in their own words ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, p72 ) . The benefits of focus groups can be presented for an in-depth exploration of new ideas, opinions, perceptions, and reactions to concepts and messaging. Focus groups often serve as exploratory research to assist survey design of subsequent quantitative research methods. Similarly, they can also be useful in validating and/ or clarifying results garnered from previous quantitative research and can be use to elicit â€Å" in their own words descriptions of products, services or issues being discussed. Conferences and other events present relatively low-cost opportunities to conduct focus groups with target audiences. There tend to be few interviewer effects on dialog because individuals tend to be influenced more by the group discussion than by the moderator. Participants are usually enthusiastic and spontaneous in their responses and groups tend to naturally cover more questions, opinions and comments than researchers could have anticipated. The disadvantage of the focus group however shows that the results from focus groups are qualitative and nonprojectable to larger populations. They require well-trained moderators to manage discussions, maintain focus, and minimize affects of the personalities and behaviours of individual participants on others and/or the entire group. Logistical and cost considerations include room and food set-up, and incentives are typically needed to encourage response. Questionnaires are not among the most prominent methods in qualitative research, because they commonly require subjects to respond to a stimulus, and thus they are not acting naturally. However, they have their uses, especially as a means of collecting information from a wider sample than can be reached by personal interview. Though the information is necessarily more limited, it can still be very useful. For example, where certain clearly defined facts or opinions have been identified by more qualitative methods, a questionnaire can explore how generally these apply, if that is a matter of interest. Ideally, there would then be a qualitative ‘check’ on a sample of questionnaire replies to see if respondents were interpreting items in the way intended. Alternatively, a questionnaire might be used in the first instance, followed by qualitative techniques on a sample as a check and to fill out certain features of the questionnaire replies. Interaction among techniques in this way is typical of qualitative research.

Emerson Self Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson's works â€Å"Self-Reliance† and Nature esteem transcendentalism as a romantic, individualistic philosophy of life in hopes of establishing contemporary concepts in society which reject traditional institutions and customs. Emerson’s thoughts are generally based on inward reflection, in which the capabilities of one’s soul and intuition are fundamental. He believes that a rejuvenated sense of personal inspiration can overpower the dogmatic constructs society imposes on its members.Emerson stresses the potential for genius and creativity in all people through the depth of philosophic interest in nature and in oneself, allowing people to find self-truth or their purpose. He further expounds upon this concept of the pursuit of self-realization by describing the process of gaining insight through opening oneself to the powers of nature in solitude and closing oneself to the influence of society in isolation. Isolation reflects Emerson’s sta tement of individualism as its emphasis is placed on the mental strength of a person over traditional systems of thought.This philosophy esteems individuals above all: society, religion, and other institutions and systems of thought. The dogmatisms imposed on human beings are part of a course one must deviate from in order to achieve individual freedom of thought and expression. A person must use society as a standard from which they must rise above by disregarding its norms. Emerson repeatedly calls on individuals to value their own thoughts, opinions, and experiences above those presented to them by others. Each individual is a unique expression of creativity and will, capable of contributing different ideas and reforms to society.Mankind’s divinity also plays a prominent role in the methods of isolation. All people, according to Emerson, have divine powers within. Success and achievement are derived from people themselves, not bestowed by another superior being. He uses th e example of â€Å"prayer as a means to effect a private end, is theft and meanness† (Self-Reliance 545). This direct link between divinity and the individual provides assurance that the individual will, when correctly exercised, can never produce evil.Individual will, in Emerson's philosophy, is not something to be rejected or hidden, as done so by many who are unable to see past society’s dictums, but rather a force to be asserted and upheld for the more advanced progress of man. In this context however, an individual who fails to be self-reliant, who does not intend to act upon his or her own thoughts and ideas, is out of step with its purpose. Such a person, in Emerson's view, cannot be productive, fulfilled, and therefore happy, as they are not living for anything real.These people are only temporarily pacified by ideals that have already been established, innovations that have already been discovered, and abilities that have already been exhausted. On the other h and, a person who is self-reliant can be assured that he or she is carrying out a divine purpose of life, as no one before them could have had the exact same ideas, strengths, or mental environment to work with. Those who flout the rules and conventions of society and religion do, however, suffer disapproval as a result.But, Emerson points out, those men who were earlier condemned are now considered some of the greatest thinkers of all time: Galileo, Socrates, Copernicus, and countless others. Amending the immediate thought process of one’s world exposes the counter ideas of those who do not want change, but is ultimately beneficial when they are given time to adjust and open their minds to new ideas. The first innate reaction of man is to reject that which is different and may pose dangers to the familiar way of life.This â€Å"terror that scares us from self-trust† (Self-Reliance 537) is the beginning of the emergence of universal conformity which, in turn, eclipses innovation and personal growth. However, the more people open themselves to their personal judgment and intuition, the more trust they will have for each other as a mutual respect for ideas will develop. People will be able to relate to each other through their processes of thought, ensuring acknowledgment amongst all for the effort and uniqueness society will experience through individual contributions.Self-reliance is not a merely a matter of averting tradition but, just as importantly, a matter of believing and doing what one is uniquely suited to believe and do. Emerson expects the self-reliant to substitute originality for imitation in every sphere of life. Referencing architecture, Emerson explains that originality will yield a product that is superior to one made by imitation: If the American artist will study with hope and love the precise thing to be done by him, considering the climate, the soil, the length of the day, the wants of the people †¦ e will create a house in which all these will find themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be satisfied also (Self-Reliance 547). A commitment to live according to one's own ideas about every matter will certainly result in benefits far greater than those which are given by adhering to former ideals of society as people will be able to almost customize the different aspects of their lives. Isolating oneself from the mental influences of others provides people a tool to aid their focus on what they really desire from themselves and their lives.Though solitude arrives at the same product as isolation, abilities and confidence in oneself, it requires a separate course of action. In solitude, one must physically disconnect from civilization and open oneself to the influences of nature and the powers of the unquantifiable. In Nature, Emerson displays the overwhelming sense of unity, harmony, and the blending of man's identity with the divine essence of nature, as the entire â€Å"universe is composed of Nature and the Soul† (Nature 493). By being in nature, one comes upon the feeling of losing his human point of view.An omniscient one is then created through the feeling that man exists as part of nature-â€Å"I am nothing. I see all† (Nature 494). Nature’s constructs, such as the sublime, help people to not only appreciate their positions in the universe, but realize the vast unknown and the consequent pettiness of everyday temporal problems. By ridding oneself of the perceived dualism between people and nature, one becomes part of all creation and is able to access the power nature exerts. Solitude also includes the awareness of time and its genuine importance that nature conveys to man.Emerson counsels the self-reliant to keep their focus on the present. â€Å"Man postpones or remembers,† (Self-Reliance 541) he explains. â€Å"He does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stan ds on tiptoe to foresee the future† (Self-Reliance 541). One who lingers in the past or worries about the future wastes one’s life in regret while another who looks to the future misses today's opportunities and pleasures. It is Emerson’s confidence in the present that leads him to establish that consistency is foolish.That a certain belief or course of action was correct, useful, or best in the past does not guarantee that it remains so in the present. Conversely, to leave behind a belief or a way of doing things does not mean that it was not useful at the time or that one was wrong to have pursued it, but it no longer applies. He refers to a rose’s ability to just grow, no matter what may happen in the future and what had happened in the past. The rose simply does what it is supposed to do, and does not let its goal out of sight by becoming distracted with mere possibilities or previous occurrences whose effects cannot be altered.The ability to live in t he moment ensures that an individual uses the potential of every moment to its fullest, ultimately creating a genuine purpose for said individual to work towards and a higher probability of fulfillment in life. This individual goal, however, comes with its own approach. Emerson acknowledges the fact that through isolation, people gear towards finding something they that they either want to achieve or experience as they are able to focus their thoughts on their own potential. Reaching a goal, however, has no preset or guideline; people must go about doing so in their own way.To demonstrate the effectiveness of an apparently inconsistent course through life, Emerson uses a sailing journey as a metaphor: â€Å"The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks† (Self-Reliance 538). The knowledge that one is following the true path to the right destination, despite apparent inconsistencies, gives one confidence to ignore the taunts of others who deride one for changi ng course. By complying with both isolation and solitude, intuition judgment and appreciation become the powers by which people liberate themselves from the constructs and opinions of others and focus on personal growth.Emerson’s perception of solitude suggests that one opens themselves to the exterior influences of nature to gain insight whereas his theory of isolation contends that people use civilization as a standard from which they must deviate. If the individual is able to progress, society will do so automatically. Therefore people must trust their own characters and way of life. Isolation also combats the notion that all people are obliged to acquiesce to societal conformities that are ultimately detrimental to both individual and communal well-being.The â€Å"norm† is not always right, society regresses instead of progresses as people refuse to change what has been, in fear of being different. Solitude results in personal acceptance to where they are in life a s people open themselves to the sublime or powers they cannot compete with, imposing a sense of humility and therefore a realistic outlook to life and one’s own potential. Consequently, nature along with the powers of the human mind embodies true happiness and fulfillment.

A new teenage magazine with the target Essay Example for Free

A new teenage magazine with the target Essay ? The brief was to produce a new teenage magazine with the target audiences of either or both male or female within the target range of 13 to 19 years old. In the process of the production we could working in groups or individually. Working in a group of three produce front page and a double page spread article for the new magazine. In the production each member of the group need to have a minimum of three original pictures. Before staring the production i made a project schedule to with deadline for each sections of the production. To fulfil the brief i started researching similar text. It would best suit me to produce a magazine for male audience hence researched magazines complementing boy’s titles such as TOPGEAR, EVO and MAX POWER. The mise en scene and the conventions of all these magazines had resemblance regards to the design, layout. For example the magazine names where all in bold fonts with use of strong colours representing stereotypical macho man characteristics. Technical codes such as the high angle shots used to denote the power of the cars. All the magazines included vast number of images that consist of Mid shots, Mid Close Up and Mid Long shots of the cars facing the magazine to grab the attention of the readers so that they won’t be bored of reading a long article. The researches into similar text help me to decide some important aspects of the magazine. I carried out a questionnaire and interviews. the questionnaire was give to both males and females. I found that there was a demand for teenage car magazine in the market but my founding’s showed that females didn’t have much of interest in cars. The males where asked if they would or won’t buy the magazine the majority said they would if the magazines contented more of their interests of sex and cars. Whereas female’s lacked interest. in the questionnaire the done most participants were interested customising their cars. And that they find the cost of insurance and fuel to high some when considering to sale their cars. I have chosen my target audience to be male so both of the interviewee i interviewed where males between 16-19 drives. From this i would be able observe the interests and the difficulty first hand. To meet the demand of the targeted audience i have decided to have an article on ways to get cheaper and more affordable insurance. The format that I have decided to adopt is similar to the one of the other Car magazines and as this I found from the interview was preferable by my target audience. I have chosen the name TOPSPEED which follows the stereotype that most male readers want â€Å"fast cars† and â€Å"babes†. I would be reviewing a car that relates to target audience cars that has small engine and cheaper insurance category so that student can financially afford to drive it. The planning involved a subject matter research where the main research was done for Ford Fiesta ST in areas like car specification and it’s stability for young drives using i cold write up the double page spared article. The other area i researched was for student car insurance. This could be used to write up a mini article to help and give advice for getting cheap car insurance. I had never used Photoshop before so the whole process was an opportunity to learn new skill. I got some practise on Photoshop and Publisher before i started the final production. The technical skills that we practised in class include lighting. Regarding lighting, it can be used to create a particular mood. I started off by brainstorming me ideas. Finally deciding on car giving information and review car of a car that is affordable to teenagers as my target market will be more interested in rather than an expensive car that they may have trouble affording. I had descried to review the new Ford Fiesta ST because this would perfectly for my targeted audience since it had a small engine which uses less fuel plus it had i low insurance category meaning lower insurance premium. The Ford Fiesta ST was the sport version denoting speed and boy racers. Regards the design Ford was a very good looking Supermini which would easily grab the attention of the targeted audience. Analyzing the questionnaire cost of insurance was other area where young drivers had difficulties so i had decided to add tip to get cheap insurance. I write up a draft article using the information from the research which i will later improve for a magazine standard. Use this i experiment different layout for front cover and the double page spread and the use of font size different colours so that i had clear idea what work and what doesn’t in a car magazine plus this help with how i want to take the pictures. I experimented with different typeface for the magazine name with different font’s colours and size to see which suits best for the front cover. Before the photo shoot i had to have a miscellaneous paperwork and productions design which includes the location of the shoot which is in Edgware i won’t do any alteration to set design which is the car showroom. The showroom will have a good lighting so there is no need for me to arrange any sort of lighting for the shoot. I could have different action for the cars open doors or turn the wheel sideways will show the wheels properly and give the car character. The miscellaneous paperwork need to be done for risks assessment, equipment book forms, access permission and call sheets to be taken to the shoot location signed and dated by the person give the permission to take the photos The photo shoot was hard to arrange I called up several Ford dealerships to organise a photo shoot but only a couple of the dealership agreed to let me take pictures in there showrooms. The space around the car was limited for that reason most of the pictures i took was close up shoot or mid shoots i wasn’t able to get any long shoot which would have helped show all the outer features of the car. The showroom had too much light i couldn’t take some of the photos that i wanted. The car was parked in way that i could get pictures from back of the car. I wanted to take close up pictures of the speed-o-meter of the car but the staring wheel came was obstruction which i couldn’t get clear picture. The staring wheel was locked which meant i couldn’t turn the wheel sideways which is a convention in must car magazines. I didn’t want the background of the photos i took using Photoshop i cut them out with the Magic wand tool and using the smudge tool smoothen the edges. I did this with most of the photos i wanted to use in the production. i decides to use black background for the red car. This is because the colour of the car would stand out and it strong male on your face colours. When i placed the photos on the cover page over a black background you could still see the ragged edges around the car. To solve this problem i added drop back shadow which covered the edges. I decided to use all caps and with modern but simple bold fonts in white colour that would stand out with black background. I downloaded a font from internet that you could make barcode with it this way i could customize the barcode specifically for my magazine. Inside the magazine for the main headings i used the same fonts as i had on the front cover. Experimenting with the layout I found one that would suit the best for the double page article. I divided the columns into equal sizes with little gaps between to make it easy to read. I give white border around the all the pictures used in the double page spared and place them on top of each other to give it a nice effect. When i improved my draft article and paste it into the columns of the double page spread using auto flow the article was too long and didn’t fit into the area i wanted it. I thought that teens would be bored to read a long article so i decided to shorten it. I decided to have a different colour background for the mini article about insurance. A new teenage magazine with the target. (2017, Aug 02).

Gordon Rule- Ethics In Communication Research Paper

Gordon Rule- Ethics In Communication - Research Paper Example Ethical communication includes being honest in all communications, keeping confidential information undisclosed, and not discussing personal or business situations of others in public or in front of someone that has got nothing to do with it. Ethics play an essential role as far as communication is concerned. In order to make communication a successful one, it is important that we implement ethical principles. This encourages the communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect needs and characteristics of communicators. The importance of ethics of care and responsibility in a communication is quite clear. Applying ethical frameworks in communication contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society. Moreover, it emphasizes an ethic of caring and commits to the courageous expression of personal opinions in pursuit of fairness and justice. Implementing ethics in communication also builds a sense of care and responsibility between the communicators such as advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing some complex situations along with respecting privacy and confidentiality. These principles also result in effective group communication, such as teamwork, critical thinking, creativity, and diversity in the workplace. Thus, ethical communication in groups means that group members respect and encourage diverse opinions, do not tolerate communication that degrades others. Maintain privacy if an important information is shared by a group member. Lastly, make a habit of listening and understanding the situation first before evaluating and critiquing. It is absolutely wrong to come up with a conclusion without giving a chance to person to justify himself.

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY - Essay Example Of most significance is my desire to be able to contribute positively to the lives of people I meet. To do this, I consider a rational and consistent approach to be essential. Emotionally I strive to keep up a continued positive and compassionate attitude, so that the people I encounter can accept me as someone who does not influence them negatively. Instead, I would prefer to be understood as a person who is able to help by accepting and listening to others without preconceptions or prejudices, or even my own emotional state influencing my interactions. While I do understand that this approach is important in the practice of psychology, it is also clear that this helps in all my interactions with people: professional, in the academic context, and personally within my family and friendship circle. The most important relationships in my life are with my close family members. To ensure that these relationships grow is an ongoing goal. I believe that these relationships contribute to success in everything I do. They certainly help me to maintain a balanced, rational, and consistent approach in my life. The honestly expressed opinions of those close to me help me to make difficult decisions with the security that I am advised by people who care for me. Further, I want to focus on becoming someone my family can look to when their decisions are difficult. We should be able to offer reciprocal and non-judgmental support to one another in all situations, so that we are all able to succeed personally and professionally. I believe that this kind of support â€Å"at home† will help anyone to succeed in their lives. In order to satisfy my academic needs, I aim to achieve a doctoral degree. I enjoy academic study so continuing to pursue new knowledge and skills contributes to my personal well-being. To achieve well within an academic sphere also allows me to build and maintain a good self-image – I feel that I am working hard to meet my potential, while moving closer

Study skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Study skills - Essay Example HARMON, P. (2007). Business process change a guide for business managers and BPM and six sigma professionals. Amsterdam, Elsevier. [Online]. Available from: http://www.worldcat.org/title/business-process-change-a-guide-for-business-managers-and-bpm-and-six-sigma-professionals/oclc/162131603 According to Aalst et al., (2003) the core purpose for the formation of any business venture is to make profit. For the profit to be realized in the business, input, and the output must be balanced in a manner that the input is less than the output. Profit maximization requires efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the resources of an organization. Management of the resources of an organization thus needs the development of a well-organized management plan that will ensure that there is no wastage of the resources as well as utilizing the available to their maximum potential. The most significant resource in an organization that can be manipulated by the management is a human resource. The employees of a business can be motivated for achievement of the intended goals of the business; thus, an appropriate means of managing the human resource is a crucial strategy that must be developed in an organization ( Harmon, 2007). HARTMANN, P. (2014). New business creation: systems for institutionalized radical innovation management. [Online]. Available from: http://www.worldcat.org/title/new-business-creation-systems-for-institutionalized-radical-innovation-management/oclc/880892027 According to Teece (2010), strategic management of a business is a systematic process that involves the formulation of the goals and objectives of the institution. In the process of formulating the objectives of the organization, the management must take into consideration the available resources, the operational environment of the business as well as a timeline for the achievement

Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity - Essay Example The most important element to point out is that every kind of faith is very critical in relations to spiritual perceptive and healing process especially when nursing caregiver is completely from a different faith. However, much has been linked to Christian philosophy and faith of healing. According to Kliewer & Saultz (2006), nursing and healthcare service is one of the most critical professions that call for a response of diversity from both cultural aspects and religious concepts of life. In the past, nursing care practices has made recommendable achievements in bridging the gap between religious practices and patients care in the healthcare industry. As such, there are concerns to carry out an evaluation on the importance of healthcare diversity because some religious faiths believe that healthcare practices interfere with their faith in God while others accept healthcare practices as an activity ordained by God to inspire positive health of the believers. As a healthcare provider, there is a need to assimilate healthcare diversity that embraces religious inclusion into the service centers because it would help to prevent the believers from feeling isolated. The above approach is quite important since it integrates well with faith and spiritual philosophy with lon g-term healthcare effects across denominations. A practical approach can best be illustrated through Baha’i, Buddhism and Sikhism amongst other religious denominations. The Baha’i religion forms the youngest faith of independent believers across the world. The above religion was founded by Prophet Baha’u’llah who has gained recognition by the believers as an anointed prophet of God. Baha’i religion respects humanity and a perception that all mankind is of one biological and spiritually unity. Baha’i teachings are streamlined towards morals and benevolent of the society. Besides, the religion denounces any act of slavery while encouraging equity of gender with only one wife in

Analysis of The World Chinese Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis of The World Chinese Film - Essay Example The migrant worker has an alignment with the theme park employee in a sense they both happen to be working in the park. The migrant worker does a construction job in the park where he builds structures while the theme employee works in a park where he is able to create and recreate landmarks. Their jobs have an alignment to each other since they work within the same vicinity even though their worlds are different. Therefore, the movie best explains a tantalizing situation in which people find themselves engraved in. â€Å"Whether in their jobs at World Park or as ladies of the evening, these women are ostensibly empowered through employment but actually are marginalized and victimized by a sexually commercialized society,† (Szeto, 2009, pp.102). The presentation of the life in an urbanized setting explains various atrocities that may occur to people. The critical and cultural appraisal of the movie brings out the shows how the presentation of the issues. Both the migrant worker and the theme employee experience exploitation according to the film as it tries to show how difficult it is working in a big city where one is a stranger without city life experience. The film portrays the modernization of China from its ancient cultural society to modern China through the migrants moving from the province to the city in search of jobs. â€Å"China’s modernization and economic growth have been rapid and far-reaching even to the remote areas such as the provincial city of Datong in northeast China,† (Szeto, 2009, pp.108). From the film, the province symbolizes the ancient cultural society while the city symbolizes the new or modern society of China. Even though at this point China has not attained maximum modernization, it has an average attitude with a desire to modernize in the near future.

New Forms of Work, Organisation and Career Sy2001 C Essay

New Forms of Work, Organisation and Career Sy2001 C - Essay Example â€Å"A virtual organization is a group of individuals whose members and resources may be dispersed geographically and institutionally, yet who function as coherent unit through the use of cyber infrastructure (CI)† (Beyond Being There p.3) This paper tends to discuss the multifaceted effects of virtual organizations in business, organizational structure, and career. Tremendous changes have been visible in the area of organizational management for the past few decades. Unlike traditional organizations, modern companies are able to store every valuable data in their specially designed software. This information system is highly integrated with the enterprise planning (ERP) of a company. Technological advancement has enabled business operators to focus more on the advantages of outsourcing. It enables them to reduce labor cost and time for the accomplishment of intended tasks. Coordinated resource/knowledge sharing is the main facet of virtual organization. Not only VOs but also many of the traditional organizations also take advantage of the broad information technology to strengthen the area of their service. Technology helps big organizations to collaborate and coordinate their resources and people from all around the globe. Computer and computer-based communication facilities are the inevitable requirement for virtual management. Cyber infrast ructure helps organizations to integrate the whole system and enable easy access to resources and information. According to the writers, â€Å"VOs enable system-level science, facilitate access to resources, enhance problem-solving processes, and are a key to national economic and scientific competitiveness.† (Beyond Being There p.5). Virtual Organizations primarily have document processors for storing organizational data. It ensures instant access to organization’s HR information. This is normally known as Human Resource Information System (HRIS) which is highly useful in HR

Presented Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Presented - Essay Example These territories are considered â€Å"black hole† of finance because of its notoriety of hiding money to escape from taxes. UK Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that tax evasion cost governments billions if not trillion of tax revenues. These revenues which could have been used to finance a lot of things from human development to stimulating the economy had been foregone due to tax evasion. For example, the trillions of dollars being channeled in UKs offshore territories could have netted hundreds of millions of dollars had they been legally taxed. They could have been used to finance education in poor countries to break the cycle of poverty, or to inject funds in social services in countries where malnutrition is acute to save lives. It could also be used to finance a budding business to create value, jobs and further revenue for the government. If tax evasion becomes very pervasive, government will lost its source of revenue to fund the performance its many roles and in effect, will become ineffective. Thus, human development will stagnate because positive interventions will not materialize due to the lack of funds. The poor will remain poor or even become poorer and the rich will remain rich and even richer. Tax evasion can be done legally by several means. One of the legal tax avoidance that is often resorted to through the shifting of profits to jurisdictions that do not levy corporate tax which UKs offshore territories are notorious. Taxation serves as an equalizer to take money from those who have it to fund human development. UKs offshore territories defeat this purpose by serving as tax haven for the mega rich which would have been taxed had they been more transparent in their transactions. These explain why it is such an issue when UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that they will be tackling tax evasion and transparency in the next G8 summit because his country is guilty of providing tax havens both to corporations

Food Crisis Essay Example for Free

Food Crisis Essay According to World Bank, they blame that the food crisis in Africa are causing by trade barrier. A lot of countries in Africa are restricted importing food from the border. Due to unfertilized land in a lot of parts in Africa, it causes people to discourage to be a farmer, so the food supply is less. However, African population is increasing rapidly. Therefore, the demand for food will just keep increasing. As a result, the demand for food would exceed supply for food in Africa. Before I move on to the next examples, I need to explain about the result of the demand exceed supply. Identical products around the world should fix in the law of one price, which mean that the identical products should sell at the same price around the world. This is because if it is not the same price, the country that sell high price would go to buy the low price product from another country and sell it to their country. Therefore, the country that sell product for low price with get a result in increasing demand which result in increasing in price. The supply for the high price product will be more because people import to sell in country, which result in decreasing in price. At the result, both countries will sell product at the same price. This will cause the exporter by the rest of the world need to sell the product at the same price (world price). Therefore, we can draw it in the graph as vertical lines while the supply in the country as an upward-sloping and the demand is downward-sloping, but food is necessary product, so the line should be more inelastic. Now we can plot all of this in to a graph, and a graph will look like this. The import is horizontal because of the world price, so they need to supply at this price. As you can see from the graph, the import is restrict at only the small amount according to Africa, only 5 percent of the food import, which resulting in demand exceeding supply, so we can apply this to the food crisis by trade restriction. Therefore, the price of food is increasing because there is high demand for food than supply in Africa, while the farmer is not encouraging by the government because only a little profit goes to them even though the price is high due to the government policy, so he Africa people suffer from hunger due to the unaffordable price of food. Not only Africa that face food crisis, but also the world is suffered during 2008. According to Europe, they claim that the world food crisis is because the trade restriction of many countries in the world such as Argentina, Russia, Japan and South Korea. These trade restrictions cause the price of food in the world to increase. People cannot afford the high price. Thus, the food crisis occurs and suffers many countries around the world. Food crisis occur in the country may lead to other problem. For example, the protest in Egypt also cause by raising cost of food in the country because of trade restriction. In long term solution to solve food crisis should be that the government should not intervene food price because food is necessary product; they choose restrict on the unnecessary product such as cigarette or alcohol instead. 20 million people in Africa are suffering from hunger nowadays due to this food crisis causing by trade restriction.

Time Value Essay Example for Free

Time Value Essay One of the most important concepts about saving and investing is the time value of money. It can be used to compare investment alternatives and to solve problems involving loans, mortgages, leases, savings, and annuities. This means money paid out or received in the future is not equivalent to money paid out or received today because inflation erodes money’s buying power. Basically, the power of time is on a person’s side and the premise that cash in hand today is more valuable than the same amount in the future due to its capability of earning interest. There are three factors affecting how much an investment will grow: time, money, and interest rate. Time Value of Money is a concept that is very important in financial management. It affects business, personal, and government finance (Harvey, 2012) Within this paper we will discuss the definition of Time Value of Money and identifies the importance of financial managers understanding the concept. Time, Money and Interest Rates Time has an important impact on the future value of money. Time is referred to as â€Å"N†, or â€Å"number,† and signifies the number of times something happens to your money. The earlier an individual invests, the more time their investment has to compound interest and increase in value. The effects of time on the value of money need to be taken into account when assessing investments. Investments (Money) with interest rates compounding frequently will yield higher returns. The higher the interest rate, the more money an individual will earn. However, and individual must understand an investment with a higher interest rate generally has a greater risk. Risk is the uncertainty the yield on an investment will deviate from what is expected. Generally, Present and Future Price of Money 2 having a savings or investment plan with a fixed interest rate guarantees a specific return but can provide a moderate risk. The last item to take into consideration with interest rates is ensuring the interest rate is higher than the rate of inflation. Inflation is the steady rise in the general level of prices of a market basket of goods. If the average interest rates rise, the amount a person earns from this type of investment will not increase. Another consideration with interest rates is ensuring the interest rate is higher than the rate of inflation. Need for Financial Managers Anyone who manages finances in a company setting , deals with consumer finance or running their own business is a financial manager and needs to understand the concept of Time Value of Money. A financial manager’s job it to compare the cost and benefits of alternatives that occur at different times. This is done by restating money values through time in Time Value of Money calculations. These calculations estimate what effect time will have on money. For these professionals to make decisions that will assist a client in taking advantages of low interest rates or investing wisely a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the Time Value of Money is needed. Understanding this concept allows them to make better decisions. If they don’t understand the concept then they could make an unfavorable decision resulting in loss of money for the client or their business (Time Value of Money, 2013) Future Value and Present Value As an investor, you cannot control the rate of return on an investment. The actual yield is determined by the market as a whole, in the form of people buying and selling the investments at Present and Future Price of Money 3 a price that, coupled with the investment’s payouts, determines the yield. There are two fundamental formulas used to calculate the time value of money; the â€Å"future value† and the â€Å"present value† formulas. They’re basically the same formulas, but rearranged to solve for different values. The future value formula can answer the question, ‘how much money will I have if I invest a certain amount now, at a given rate of return†? The formula is FV=PV*(1+R)N, where FV is the future value (how much you’ll have later), PV is the present value (how much you’ll have now), R is the periodic rate of return or the percentage that your money will grow in each unit period of time. N is the number of unit periods of time in the overall time span. The following are examples of the calculation of future values: a) Solve for FV $150,537. 19 invested for seven years at an interest rate of 5% will yield a future value of $211,820. 94. FV = 150,537. 19 (1+ . 05)7 = 150,537. 19 (1. 05) 7 = 150,537. 19 (1. 40710042265625) = $211,820. 94 b) Solve for FV $237,891. 22 invested for eight years at an interest rate of 3% will yield a future value of $301. 353. 48. FV = 237,891. 22 (1 + . 03) 8 = 237,891. 22 (1. 03) 8 = 237,891. 22 (1. 266770081387616) = $301,353. 48 c) Solve for FV $320,891. 12 invested for 10 years at an interest rate of 11% will yield a future value of $911,144. 98. FV = 320,891. 12 (1 + . 11) 10 = 320,891. 12(1. 11) 10 = 320,891. 12 (2. 839420986069016) = $911,144.98 d) Solve for FV $520,520. 22 invested for 13 years at an interest rate of 13% will yield a future value of $2,549,513. 82. FV = 520,520. 22 (1 + . 13) 13 = 520,520. 22(1. 13) 13 = 520,520. 22(4. 898011103216606) = $2,549,513. 82 The present value formula is based on the same fundamental formula, but it’s â€Å"solved† for the PV term and assumes you will know the FV amount. The present value formula can Present and Future Price of Money 4 answer the question, ‘how much money would I have to invest now in order to have X dollars at a specific future date? ’. That formula is PV = FV/(1 + R) n where all the terms mean the same thing, except that R in this formula is typically referred to as the â€Å"discounted rate†, because its purpose is to lower a future amount of money to show what it is worth to you now (McCracken, 2014). The following are examples of the calculation of present value: a) If you receive a dividend of $562,126. 17 in 7 years at an interest rate of 5%. You initial investment would have been $399,492. 57. PV = 562,126. 17/(1 + . 05) 7 = 562,126. 17 / (1. 05) 7 = 562,126. 17/1. 40710042265625 = $299,492. 57 b) If you receive a dividend of $225,003. 21 in 6 years at an interest rate of 6%. Your initial investment would have been $158,618. 38. PV = 225,003. 21/(1 + . 06) 6 = 225,003. 21/(1. 06) 6 = 225,003. 21/1. 418519112256 = $158,618. 38 c) If you receive a dividend of $321,567. 35 in 5 years at an interest rate of 18%. Your initial investment would have been $140,560. 05. PV = 321,567. 35/(1 + . 18) 5 = $140,560. 05/(1. 18) 5 = 321,567. 35/2. 2877577568 = $140,560. 05 d) If your receive a dividend of $63,000. 05 in 12 years at an interest rate of 5%. Your initial investment would have been $35,080. 75. PV = 63,000. 05/(1 + . 05) 12 = 63,000. 05/ (1. 05) 12 = 63,000. 05/1. 795856326022129 = $35,080. 79 Annuity Present and Future Price of Money 5. An annuity is a series of identical payments occurring at equal time intervals. When the payments appear at the end of each time period, the annuity is said to be an ordinary annuity or an annuity in arrears. Present value calculations allow us to determine the amount of the recurring payments in an ordinary annuity if we know the other components: present value, interest rate, and the length of the annuity. Present value calculations involve the compounding of interest. This means that any interest earned is invested and will earn interest at the same rate as the principal. So, you earn interest on your interest. The compounding of interest can be very significant when the interest rate and the number of years are sizable. The present value of an annuity, represented by a series of equal payments, receipts or rents involve five components: (1) Present Value (2) Amount of each identical cash payments (3) Time between the identical cash payments (4) Number of periods that the payments will occur, length of the annuity and, (5) Interest rate or target rate used for discounting the series of payments. If you have any 4 of the 5 components, you have the information you need to calculate the unknown component. Calculations of Annuity. Suppose you are to receive a stream of annual payments of $325,891. 12 every year for 12 years starting at the end of this year. The interest rate is 6%. What is the present value of these 12 payments. PVA = PMT [( 1- (1 /(1 + r) n )) /r ] = 325,891. 22[(1- (1/(1 + . 06) 12))/. 06] = 325,891. 22[(1- (1/(1 . 06) 12))/. 06] Present and Future Price of Money 6 = 325,891. 22[(1 – (1/20121964718355))/. 06] = 325,891. 22[(1-. 496969363577001)/. 06] = 325,891. 22[. 503030636422999/. 06] = 325,891. 22 x 8. 383843940383317 = $2,732,221. 13 is the present value of the 12 payments. Suppose you are to receive a payment of $437,891. 24 at the end of each year for five years. You are depositing these payments in a bank account that pays 15% interest. Given these five payments and this interest rate, how much will be in your bank account in five years? FVA = PMT [((1 + r) n – 1) /r] = 437,891. 24 [((1 + . 15) 5 – 1)/. 15] = 437,891. 24 [((1. 15) 5 – 1)/. 15] = 437,891. 24 [(2. 0113571875 -1) /. 15] = 437,891. 24 [1. 0113571875/. 15] = 437,897. 24 x 6. 74238125 = $2,952,429. 69 will be in your bank account at the end of 5 years. Conclusion Present Value and Future calculations seem to be a simple way to compare money at different periods of time. Utilizing the future value calculation a person is able to determine the estimated future value of investments based on periodic, constant payments and constant interest rate. It ca also be used to calculate the future of loans payments. Time Value Money is a basic tool in finance that is used every day. Utilizing this concept can help individuals and companies weight all the options so the best decision can be made to Present and Future Price of Money 7 prosper in the future. Understanding and having the knowledge about saving and investing is very important to our generation, especially with the very bleak look of social security. References Biger, N. (2008). Explanation of present values and net present values. Harvey, C. R. (2012). Time Value of Money. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from The Free Dictionary: http://financial-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/Time+value+of+money McCracken, M. , (n. d. ) The time value of money. Retrieved January 2014 from http://www. teachmefinance. com/timevalueofmoney. html Present and Future Price of Money 8 Time Value of Money Overview. (n. d. ) Retrieved January 17, 2013, from University of West Florida: http://uwf. edu/rconstand/fin4424web/T2-TimeValue/T2-TimeValuePO1. htm Present and Future Price of Money.

Functions and Elements of Self Organising Networks

Functions and Elements of Self Organising Networks CHAPTER 1 In this chapter I will be discussing about the main functions of SON, its components, elements and how does it atomizes the whole LTE network infrastructure. I have organised this chapter in the following way and will explain each of the component respectively. OAM Automatic Configuration Features Neighbour Relation Automatic Neighbour Relation management Connectivity Management Self Test Automatic Inventory So, lets get started with the detain explanation, description and working of the OAM system first. 1OAM (Operation, Administration and Management) 1.1Introduction OAM stands for Operation, Administration and Management systems. As we have discussed in the earlier chapters that most of the network operations today is controlled and managed by a central entity which is known as the OAM system. Mainly in a centralized system architecture all the Self-Configuration, Self-Optimization and Self-Healing operations are controlled through the OAM system. In the next paragraph a brief description of what functions does the Operation, Administration and Management system take care of is explained. Operations system deals in both the administration and management systems. It is basically a centralized control structure which keeps coordination between both the other systems. Administration system as it stands control all the administrative tasks like networks design, assignment of addresses, keeping network up to date and other administrative functions. And lastly the Maintenance system maintains and keeps the network running through keeping check of all the elements, executing appropriate diagnostic functions, monitoring network and resetting the components or whole network if required. All these components work parallel to keep the network in operational state. 1.2Architecture For any network to operate optimally it is very necessary to keep check on all the elements. The operator of network should have a system through which he can make sure that there is no fault and network is running normally. In the figure 1.1 below a high level OAM architecture architecture is represented. OAM Architecture Fig1.1 As it is clear through fig 1.1 that OAM has further devided management layers and provided dedicated servers to each management layer to deal with its functions. All the management servers serves their corresponding nodes layer by layer to perform the management tasks. Network protocols has been defined at each interface onto the Network Element or end user for execution of effortless management functions. Though the architecture diagram we can conclude two main logical functions that devides the OAM according to their functions and roles. These functions are given below, Network Management function Element Management function Mainly in the network managements systems, OAM is addressed as the entity which controls, maintains and configures the network. The term OAM is used in the 3GPP documentation for the network management functions. As five main sub-functions of Network Management Systems are derived from the main functions of OAM and hence NMS is also reffered as the OAM systems in many contexts. OAM when demand lot of provisonal functions then it is known as the OAMP, P stands for provision in this situation. The functional elements of Network Management System is given in the figure 1.2 below. Fig 1.2 In the next part I will be discussing two very important management functions related to the OAM architecture and those are as follows, 1.3Element Management System (EMS) As we know network element is an entity composed of the physical hardware. Processes and executions are performed on those physical devices to provide service the users. Therefore, a management technique to manage these elements of the network is known as the Element Management System. The management system a very broad topic but I will keep focus on the main components which integrates with the SON technique for the optimization of cellular networks. As we can see in the fig 1.1 the Network management system collects all the data from EMS and EMS gathers all useful measurements for the NE respectively. The difference is NMS mainly execute the aggregated measurements from NEs to accomplish required functions but EMS works on individual NE at a time. Below is the high-level architecture of the EMS and the components it interacts with. Fig 1.2 Furthermore, I would give a brief description of the components shown in the fig 1.2 above. The EMS connects to the NMS server to provide all the collected and aggregated information or measurement from the network elements. NMS makes decisions based on these collected data from EMS. The client is used to show or present the data to user with a user friendly graphic user interface. The operator can login through the client to configure and maintain network when needed. The database function is to store all the usable measurements and information. These measurements are used when a fault occurs in the Network Element. Evaluating and comparing the network performances with these measurements give a complete sight of what might be causing the errors in the network. And the last component which is the Network Element is same we have discussed earlier, a physical device used to execute all the processes and functions. A question that arises here is that the network elements can be managed and configured through accessing the devices itself so why do we need a central Element Management System? Therefore, the need of this management function is explained as follows. 1.3.1Requirement of EMS Network are getting very complex as new functionalities and services are added very frequently. And with that, new vendors and service providers are introducing themselves in market. As the network size is enhancing the operations at the network element end is also increasing. This operation management demands high cost and effort. Therefore, to minimize the cost, effort and a centralized solution to manage the networks were provided by the 3GPP. An appropriate and user-friendly interface is very vital to perform and manage managerial tasks with ease. Some main issues which the operators of telecom companies were facing are described in the next paragraph. Firstly, Due to the development of fresh network elements and services there was a need to provision diverse elements from different vendors. For example, even in a single network GSM, UMTS and LTE can work side by side therefore a management system was required which can gather all the data from all the network elements. Secondly, the complexity issues were raising as of now many multiple functionalities are merging into one single functionality which makes the network complex. And lastly but the most important is the cost. The cost associated in dealing with each element individually was very high, therefore to manage complete network and its services remotely and through a central entity which has all the data and measurements from all the network elements can reduce huge costs. Progressing through EMS now I will explain the functions and services EMS provides to the network and how it interacts with its upper layer that is the Network Management System. 1.3.2Functions of EMS Element Management System basically manages the base stations that is eNodeBs in the LTE network architecture in accordance with SON. The main functions which EMS features while managing the network elements are given below. 1.3.2.1Provisioning and Installation of NE When a base station that is eNodeB is connected to a power station but not yet configured and basic setup is not initiated, eNodeBs at this point needs to connect to the network to perform basic functions. So, the Self-Configuration function of SON is initiated to make a connection, eNodeB for connectivity requires an IP-address and OAM support to start functionating. For obtaining basic configuration and parameter settings the eNodeB connects to the OAM system. Now the EMS element in the OAM must provision, support and provide these basic configuration settings to the eNodeB. The EMS checks is they can provide the service base station is asking for. The inventory management server is checked for this purpose. Once the resources are available and identified the configurations are uploaded onto the base stations and correct parameters are set up. At this point the network elements are ready to be interconnected with the network and start functioning. This technique is used in the Self-Configuration function of SON for the basic connectivity with the network. Furthermore, this function of EMS also maintains the backup and restore points for the network element. Downloading, installing the patches and newly updated software on the eNodeBs are handled by the EM system too. The inventory system database in the EM system contains all the required parameter settings used by the eNodeBs for the self-configuration and auto-connectivity once powered on. Every element in the modern telecom services are automated through SON and a technician is only needed when something couldnt be resolved automatically. At that point the engineer or operator just login through the EMS graphical user interface and handles all the faults and errors with ease. 1.3.2.2Managing User terminals and maintaining QOS In a wide scale network, there are thousand of base stations and thousands of user-equipment are connected to these base stations. Therefore, to manage this big network is not easy at the operators end. The capital expenditure to deploy base stations and then the operational expenditure to maintain each single base station requires huge amount of cost and with cost excessive human effort is required to maintain base stations. Therefore, EM system manages these user terminals by gathering the statistics of all the users cell through cell and saves these measurements into the database. So, the message status between the base station and UE are attained in the shape of statistical reports. The vital data collected in these statistics are given below, All the successful calls. All the failed calls. Dropped calls. Successful HOs. Failed HOs. The traffic capacity that is throughput. By gaining all these important statistics from the network the EM system analyzes and makes appropriate decisions when needed. Not only this but EMS uses these measurements to maintain the Quality of Service too. 1.3.2.3Network Support Network support mainly aims in the activities related to the maintenance of the network. And as discussed earlier operators goal is to decrease the cost as much as they can. As much the network is well managed and well driven the cost will decrease. So, quality of management systems is inversely proportion to the cost. With the cost, there is one more concern that operators are facing and that is the lack of professional technicians. And both concerns can be mitigated through the automatic solutions. Therefore, automatic network systems reduce human intervention and cuts the cost too. And for the support of network automatically EMS functionalities are evolved. Main functionality that EMS provides for the network support are given below. Debugging and resolving software issues such as bugs and errors. EMS provides a method to automatically resolve these errors remotely. All the security statistics are handled by EMS which the network requires to handle and secure vital information and data. All the network faults and issues at the element level are mitigated through the EMS. As Network management system deals with the combined data and information from several network elements. But the EMS takes charge and record of each Element individually. And lastly EMS allows operators to login to the specific node for the purpose of upgradation or changing parameters. The operator does not have to go physically to the base station and login through its internal interface. 1.3.2.4Monitoring of Networks The monitoring of networks is mainly done on the Network Management System but some of its function is executed on the EMS. EMS supports the NMS through some of its functionalities for the monitoring and control. First, we need to understand that monitoring of networks is executed on NMS and portions of these functions are performed on the EMS level. The EMS layer is below the NMS layer and therefore it provides major feeds to the layers above it. The monitoring systems main tasks which optimizes the network are given in the figure 1.3 below. Fig 1.3 The 3GPP defines standards of OAM with very classified specification. And it is very clear that the OAM specification gives ease in implementing the management system for the network. There are other network management specifications like TMF but the 3GPP specification about the OAM is very broad and revolves around some specific function or technology. The specifications, standards, specifications and how does 3GPP uses SON to optimize networks are explained in the last chapter of this paper that is 3GPP specifications and its interaction with SON. 1.4Network Management System (NMS) The network management system in the OAM architecture is capable of managing the complete network in a combined method that is, managing of radio transmissions, core networks and the base stations. NMS manages all these entities on one single platform. And due to the capability of managing everything on one single node the cost and human effort is decreased exponentially. There is a term used in the management system called FCPS which stands for Fault, Configuration, Performance and Security Management. And this function works on all the layers of the OAM model. On every layer, it has different function but the general explanation of FCPS is explained in the last portion of this topic. Basically, how NMS functions is explained in the example below, Lets consider there is a fault detected on the NE. Because whenever an event occurs network element generates a log which notifies EMS of the event occurrence. EMS would collect these statistics from the NE. Now NMS responsibility is to tackle the issue and take corrective measures. To accomplish these goals NMS correlates the statistics from different NE and different events, this technique helps the NMS to discover the issue or fault by comparing different statistics. A real-time example of NMS working could be of a disconnection scenario between a base station and the media gateway. Logs and stats screening the connection lost will be generated on the elements of both base stations and the MGW. As base station and MGW are two different network elements and EMS always record the stats of specific network element individually. So, it might collect the stats from the base station or the MGW, but the Network Management System at this point records data from both the elements and then correlate them. Therefore, in the scenarios defined above the stats and logs from base station and MGW can be analyzed together which makes the work on NMS level easy to find the actual problem in the network. And when the problem is diagnosed NMS takes the proper corrective measure to mitigate the issue which EMS can not do by just gathering the logs of one network element. This is a case specific function of how NMS tackles the issues. The other functions and activities NMS performs to optimize the network are given in the next section. 1.4.1Activities performed by NMS All the main activities that the NMS performs prior to any maintenance instructions or corrective measures are given below. Learn about all the elements available in the network. It works in two ways, manual discovery which is done by the operator and the second is automatic element discovery. In an auto discovery mode, this management system automatically discovers and identifies all the network elements and assign IPs to the particular element which requires it. The manual discovery is executed by the operator and manage the network elements that is assign IP addresses to the elements and discover all the elements in the network through the application menu. Gathering all the faulty data. The reason this activity is scheduled to be executed after the network elements discovery is to associate the faulty information with the specific element and components which are causing the error. In the NMS software, all the discovered elements form a tree type structure and hence associating the correct statistics with the corresponding element assists in debugging the fault. Collecting all the performance statistics and data. The faulty data discussed above is sent to the NMS only when they arise but on the other hand the performance logs and stats are stored in the files of network element itself. And these stats are downloaded on the NMS from the NE at the periodic intervals. User Authentications. All the internal user in the NMS needs to be authenticated for the security reasons. There are commands in NMS which can collapse the vital network components which can cause affect on whole network therefore, robust security needs to be implemented on the NMS. Collecting other configurations and data. The last activity executed by the NMS prior to start managing and maintenance of the networkall the other statistics and configurations in the element required in the NMS to execute any function is also collected from the NE. So, when all the elements are discovered and prerequisite activities have been executed successfully the NMS is the all set for the management and maintenance tasks of the network. These functions, maintenance, corrective measures, fault detection etc. are performed by analyzing the earlier collected data from the NE. Main functions of the NMS includes outlining the flow of information, provisioning of network, troubleshooting, configured elements maintenance, making appropriate decisions for the optimal utilization of resources etc. The problem which sometimes arises is the parameter or configuration changes in the network elements. These changes must be updated on the NMS so that it can find an appropriate solution when required. Therefore, network elements are rediscovered at periodic intervals so that the most current statistics and data could be known to the EMS. The next section would comprise of the NMS general architecture and the components which reside in the NMS. Description and explanation of these components are also given in the section below. 1.4.2NMS Architecture

Autonomy Vs. Paternalism In Mental Health Treatment Essay -- essays re

Autonomy Vs. Paternalism In Mental Health Treatment The assignment for this Ethics class was to review Mr. Jacob's treatment, as described by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally disabled (1994). The class was further asked to comment on the major issues for each of the three perspectives. The agencies, family and review board were to be included. This student will begin with a fourth perspective; that of Mr. Gordon. In the Matter of Jacob Gordon (1994), is the story of the last eight years of a psychiatrically disabled man's life. Mr. Gordon appeared to vacillate between striving for autonomy and accepting the support of his family. Unfortunately, it appeared by this account that the families support was not synonymous with autonomy. It did not appear that Mr. Gordon had ever desired or sought agency intervention for himself. Mr. Gordon's association with the mental health system appeared to be marked by power and control issues. "Consumers/ex-patients often report a feeling of "invisibility"; they sense that their views and desires do not matter (Carling, 1995, p.79 )." The commission's report (1995) spoke of several incidences where Mr. Gordon eluded to his desire for autonomy. Mr. Gordon did not wish to live in a supervised setting. Mr. Gordon did not wish to attend group day treatment settings. Mr. Gordon did not wish to use medication in the treatment of his mental health disorder. Without medication his behavior was deemed unacceptable and did not permit him the opportunity to have any of these choices. "Choice is a right-not a privilege to be afforded by good behavior (Penny, 1994, p. 29)." Mr. Gordon's right of choice was limited even though he lived in his apartment independently. The condition of his apartment was scrutinized. His medication was closely monitored; sometimes to the degree that he was directed to leave his home to receive medication that was given to him crushed, in an attempt to insure it's ingestion. "Even peoples liberties in a highly controlled board and care home may be scarcely greater than in a hospital ward (Rubenstien, 1994, p.54)." In Mr. Gordon's case even within the sanctity of his own home, his liberties were scarcely greater than in a hospital ward. Other than his autonomy the second issue for Mr. Gordon appears to be the need for safety and suppor... ... on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled. New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled. A Pamphlet. What is The Commission? New York: Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled. Corey, G., Corey, M.S., Callanan, P. (1993). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions. (4th ed.). California: Brook/Cole Publishing Co. Penny, D.J. (1994). Choice, common sense, and responsibility: the systems obligations to recipients. In C. J Sundram (Ed.), Choice & Responsibility (pp. 29-32). New York: NYS Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled. Rooney, R. (1992). The ethical foundation for work with involuntary clients. Strategies for Work with Involuntary Clients. (pp. 53-74). New York: Columbia University Press. Sundram, C.J. (1994). A framework of thinking about choice and responsibility. In C. J. Sundram (Ed.), Choice & Responsibility (pp. 3-16). New York: NYS Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled. Surles, R.C. (1994). Free choice, informed choice, and dangerous choices. In C.J. Sundram (Ed.), Choice & Responsibility (pp. 17-24). New York: NYS Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled.

The Citizens of Brave New World Essay -- Literary Analysis

In 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote a book entitled Brave New World. It was an image of a dystopian future where pleasure and science were carefully combined to control the average citizen. The book was received with a variety of opinions ranging from impressed to scandalized. Seventeen years later, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four, a novel that was yet another detailed picture of what a dystopian future might look like. While similar in its depiction of what can happen when ordinary people no longer have any power, Orwell’s book took a very different look as to how that power would be taken away. In 1984, the government uses peoples’ fear and lack of knowledge to make them submissive. When the novel was published in 1949, it too was met with a mix of both praise and criticism. Both of these narratives present the ideas of lack of individual freedom, the loss of history and truth, and the degradation of inter-personal relationships. The books both include these the mes, but they present them in exceptionally dissimilar ways. At the advent of their publication, both novels, depending on the readers’ opinion, were considered accurate pictures of what the future of society could be. However, with the passing of time, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World has become the most accurate representation of our societies’ departure from the family unit, personal freedom, and informational veracity. The idea that Brave New World has proven true to prediction is apparent in the rapid change taking place in our society today. Before that change can be examined, however, the differences between the two novels must be discussed. One important factor of difference are the time periods in which the two books were written. George Orwell wrote 1984 ... ...o. Inc, 2.Feb.2011. Web. 9.Apr.2012. . â€Å"Brave New World -Themes, Motifs, and Symbols.† Spark Notes, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012. . Herr, Norman. â€Å"Television & Health.† The Sourcebook for Teaching Science. California Stat University, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012. . â€Å"When Did the Great Depression Start and End?† wanttoknowit.com, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012. . Wilde, Robert. â€Å"When did World War 2 end?† About.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012. . Aldous, Huxley. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Row, 1932. Print. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Essay on Symbols and Symbolism in Moby Dick :: Moby Dick Essays

"He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it." Such was Melville's description of Captain Ahab. The symbolism that this statement suggests, along with many other instances of symbolism, are incorporated into Moby Dick. Although the crew knew that Ahab was obsessed with vengeance and wasn't interested in killing Moby Dick for whale oil, they still felt obligated to follow his orders. They knew that the rule book said that if a captain went against his contract due to personal feelings, they were obliged to wrest command from him. This idea symbolizes the emotional attachment we have to those around us, and it also demonstrates the mixed feelings we have when somebody we respect does something evil. In the end, this emotional attachment destroyed the crew. Starbuck had a golden opportunity to kill Ahab, but for his own salvation, h e undermined the good of the crew and chose to let the Captain live. So, part of the lesson of Moby Dick is not to let sentiment and personal feelings get in the way of our duty. The lack of this lesson among the crew destroyed Ahab and the entire ship's compliment, except for Ishmael. When Captain Ahab stabbed at Moby Dick with the harpoon, he was symbolizing the power that obsession has when a person lets it take over one's mind. Ahab had no chance of killing Moby Dick, yet he engaged in his suicide plan to stab at the whale. This lesson not to let obsession take over your mind is similar to Javert's obsession with justice and imprisoning Valjean in Les Miserables. It shows that a passion with a personal vendetta will ultimately destroy a person, whether it destroys the person physically or mentally. Moby Dick also was a mixed symbol. It seemed clear to the crew of the Pequod that whales were evil and whales were the enemy. Yet, white is a symbol of good, so one could conclude that Moby Dick was a symbol of both good and evil. With Moby Dick killing Ahab, he gave Ahab his just reward from acting out of revenge, which could be interpreted as an act of good. When Moby Dick killed all but one of the crew, it showed that he may be evil, even though he was acting only out of instinct, thinking his life was threatened.

Antigone’s Purpose

Brooks Fridey Antigone’s Purpose In the story of Antigone, originally written by Sophocles, explains the story, of a woman who stands up for her own beliefs against the king. At the time of Sophocles, women had little power and authority. They were expected to listen to their husband, king, or any man that speaks to or asks a woman of something. The story starts up where the story of Oedipus ends, in his death. Trouble and war are about to begin in Thebes, so Antigone travels there to try and stop what may become of her family and country.From my observations, this story can be analyzed in multiple ways, whether it is about the struggles of women, defying the higher power, or responding to the will of the gods. It is said that the royal family of Thebes is cursed to endure suffering, pain, death and loss. Antigone is aware of her family’s fate, but is ready to change her possible destiny for herself and her family. In Thebes, the members of the royal family are either k illing themselves or are being murdered. Antigone is torn by this and decides she must go to Thebes to fix this.She got word that her brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, were going to fight each other until one was dead. She tried to be there before any fight happened, but was too late, and found out from her sister, that bother brothers were killed during the fight. The king ordered that Eteocles deserved a proper burial, but Polyneices was to not be touched and would not get a burial underground. Antigone asked her sister, Ismene, to help her bury their brother properly, but she refused. It was ordered that anyone who touches the body will be arrested and shall be punished by death.Ismene told Antigone that she cannot bring herself to do it. She feels that her family’s consistently terrible luck and the fact that she’s a woman are quite inhibiting. Antigone was ready to stand up for the women who would not defy men’s authority. She was fine with doing what she needed to herself. Ismene, who is trapped under the influence and power of man, tries to beg Antigone she will be making a mistake and will suffer great consequences. Stating, â€Å"It is a losing battle, fighting Man† (Sophocles). It is obvious throughout the story, that nothing will prevent or slow Antigone from what she is going to do.Not man, nor power, or laws is enough to change her mind. Creon’s reasoning as to why Eteocles gets a burial service and Polyneices is to be left out for the birds, is to him, justified that Eteocles died honorably defending the city, while Polyneices was just a dishonorable exile. This was no real justification to Antigone, and she was going to take matters into her own hands, defying the king. It was soon discovered that Polyneices’ body had been ritually prepared for a burial, so the messenger relayed the news to the king. He ordered that the messenger find who is responsible for this or he will die if he fails.As what seemed , intended the sentry soon found Antigone trying to bury her brother. She was arrested, and taken to Creon. Antigone does not deny her crime, she tells Creon her actions were for justice and obedience to the gods. With all of Antigone’s stubbornness, she continues to still disrespect the king even after she has been caught. She will not give in to the king, disagreeing with any justification he promotes. Creon attempts to shame her for her actions, but this has no real effect on her due to a large amount of pride dignity she has left for herself.Creon feels it is particularly important not to be beaten by a person of the female persuasion. The battle of opposite effect continues with Antigone and Ismene, as she is brought into question as well from a hunch the king has that Ismene is also involved in this crime. She immediately pleads guilty to the accusations, saying she aided in the burial of Polyneices. Antigone is enraged that she would plead guilty to something she had n ot done, but Ismene confronts the fact she will not be able to go on without Antigone alive.It is expressed throughout the story, the importance of obeying the gods. To Antigone, it is not necessary that someone should obey their leader at all times. She believes what Creon declared to happen to her brothers was unfair and that the gods were telling her she needed to bury her brother. Antigone was unapproved to the treatment of women in these times, and that the king must be obeyed in all causes. She believed the gods were the true powers, and bad things would come upon you if you did not cooperate with their requests.When Haemon comes into the story, acknowledged as Antigone’s fiancee, who is the son of Creon, makes it clear why Antigone was even still alive. Although Creon was cruel and often harsh, there was still something or someone holding him back from simply killing her. Haemon told his father it would be wrong to kill Antigone and would bring great mourning to the pe ople of Thebes following her death. He wants Creon to be open to others views, but Creon responds by calling Haemon a woman’s slave for backing up a woman and not his own father.A blind prophet advises Creon that he should properly bury Polyneices and release Antigone. He says if he does not he will greatly anger the gods, and might create his own misfortune for his disobedience. Possibly leading to his own death. As Creon ponders his possibilities and future, he finally decides to release Antigone and bury Polyneices. As he thought he was then making the right decision, he would soon find out what his choice will cause. Antigone knew she didn’t want to keep living in this world of mistreatment and cruelty, and was willing to end her life.Creon did not think she would actually go through anything like suicide, but upon her release, she quickly hung herself and gave herself to the gods. Haemon found out what happened, and enraged, attacked his father, and missed leading to Haemon striking himself with the sword and killing himself. As if the story for Creon could be any more devastating, instantly regretting his choice, is told by a messenger that his wife enrages by Creon’s actions, as well, and killed herself. Creon is left with nothing and no one close to him in his life, and wonders what to do now.This is a story that depicts the power of anyone, especially women. With enough determination and manipulation, anything is possible. Antigone was dealt with an accumulation of anger towards her genders rights, the abuse of power, and being righteous enough to still follow her gods. She is seen as one of the first feminists in this time, and although may have gone to an extreme to defend her honor, clearly made a point to Creon, leaving him with nothing, what neglect of someone’s abilities are and abusing one’s power can do.

African Americans since 1865 Essay

It happens to be common knowledge that throughout history African Americans have been oppressed, segregated, and disregarded as civil human beings. In the dawn of history Africans were regarded as animals and as such they would do the job of animals, however this paper will look at their sacrifices and fights to be treated as equals. The abolishment of slavery brought on a war, not between two countries but a war that divided a country, one that is still spoken of today. The southern or â€Å"rebel† states rose against the President of the United States in retaliation of his and many others view that no man woman or child should be a slave. All people were created equal. Africans in politics Although four million African American slaves were now free they had codes placed against them, the Black Codes restricted the lives and movement of these people. In order to override the codes the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were drafted and passed. Not only was slavery abolished but all slaves were now citizens and in such race could no longer be used to prevent the vote of a person. Africans now had a voice on who was elected and soon they had African Americans running for government offices. Corbould, C. (2009) Becoming African Americans: Black Public Life in Harlem, 1919-1939 Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA, USA Harlem Renaissance African Americans soon were cast aside again, during the age of imperialism and leading into World War One Africans were struggling to make a life. Some fought in another war, this time not for their freedom but for the freedom from communism alongside their white counterparts. After the war ended blacks started to come together, the Harlem Renaissance was born. King, M. L. Jr. (2010) Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. Beacon Press. Boston, MA, USA Black power movement 1954 to 1963 America saw a strong struggle for the advancement of civil rights, equality and desegregation. From every day citizens expressing their belief in being equal to their white counterparts to lawyers fighting for the equality all had deserved. These times were pivitol in an unstable America. Not only were there these movements of civil equality and black power but also a war in a far land that many Americans were against at the time. Inventions and impact From writers, inventors and powerful leaders throughout black history there are some that are household names and some that may be forgotten. I plan on taking a look back on those who through oppression continued to strive for better for themselves and for all. African Americans today Not long ago segregation was prominent, civil rights were abused, racism and hate were common. Today we have CEO’s, congressmen and senators, military leaders and the President of the United States who are all African Americans. No longer considered a minority in many’s eyes, African Americans have literally built themselves from slaves to leaders and teachers.

Election Commission in India

A good electoral system is, therefore, the bed rock of genuine representative government. The architects of the Indian constitution attached the highest significance to arzon-dependent electoral machinery for the conduct of elections. For this it was necessary that an independent election commission with its vast paraphernalia should be set-up in country such a commission could ensure fair and free elections of the representatives of the pie at all levels. Articles 324, Dr.Ambedkar contended, â€Å"proposed centralise the election machinery in hands of a single commission, be assisted by regional commissioners working under the supervision direction control of the election commission and not and under e control of the state government as envisaged earlier. † Composition of the Election Commission: Of the four pillars of the Indian constitution, the Election commission is one, the other three being the Supreme Court, the public service commission and the comptroller and Auditor General of India.On the Election commission depends the integrity of election, which truly is the oxygen of democracy. Thus viewed, its independence d impartiality assume critical importance to the country's entire political system. To ensure free and fair and impartial elections, the constitution establishes the Election Commission, a body autonomous in character and free from political orenecutive influence. The commission is an All India body having jurisdiction over, elections to parliament, fate Legislatures, offices of the president and vice-president.The Election Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner, and such number of Election Commissioners if any as the president may fix from time to time. The Chief Election Commissioner stands at the apex of the hierarchy of the Election Commission of India. All these commissioners are appointed by the president subject to the provisions of any law enacted by parliament for the purpose. The Chief Election Commissioner ac ts as the chairman of the Election Commission . n case any other Election Commissioner besides him is appointed. The tenure of the Chief Election Commissioner is independent of the executive discretion, for he cannot be removed from his of face except in the like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court. The conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. The president also promulgated an ordinance amending the Chief Election Commissioner and ther Election Commissioner Act providing for unanimous transaction of business and decisions but in case of differences of opinion among the three members the matter shall be decided â€Å"according to the opinion of the majority. † The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioner Act, 1991 as existed before the issue of ordinance was weighed in favour of the chief election commissioner on decision making in case of differences among the members of the commission. The constitution provides for a single member or multimember Election Commission.Where there is more than one I members the CEC acts as its chairman. The committee on Electoral Reforms has made certain recommendations with regard to the items and conditions of service Of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners. After having studied those recommendations the chief Election Commissioners of India conditions of service rules 1972 were amended with introspective, effect from 1st January 1986. The Chief Election Commissioner of India will not be entitled to the salary and other facilities, like rent free accommodation, equivalery to that of a judge of Supreme Court.The term of his office has also been extended upto 6 years, from the date he assumes office or till the day he at his the age of 65 years. To assist the Chief Election Commissioner in the performance of his onerous duties there exists a large paraphernalia of the off icers and the staff subordinate to him. Among them is the regional commissioner. Deputy Election Commissioner, secretary, Under secretary, Research officers etc. In the place of the regional commissioners a new post of Deputy Election Commissioner was created in the Election Commission for the first time in 1956.Since he Deputy Chief Election Commissioner is appointed by the president and is usually sent on deputation, he can be recalled by the central govt, at the request of the chief Election Commissioner at any time. At the state or the union territory level there is the Chief Election officer as the kingpin in the Electoral machinery. He is nominated by the Election Commission in consultation with the state Govt. He is usually a senior executive or judicial officer of the state Government.He is assisted by the joint deputy or assistant Chief Election officers as well as the rest of the staff appointed by him in consultation with the state government. He may be a whole time or pa rt time officer. At the district level the electoral duties are discharged by the District officer or the Executive Officer in addition to his normal administrative routine. The responsibility for the preparation and revision of electoral rolls is rested in an officer called the Electoral Registration officer. He may have under him Assistant Electoral Registration officers.The election in every constituency is supervised by an officer known as the returning officer nominated by the Election commission in consultation with the govt, of the state. The same officer can be nominated as returning officer r more than one constituencies. He is assisted by one or more assistant Returning Officers so designated by the Election Commission. The staff consisting of presiding and polling officers, for the actual conduct of the poll is appointed by the District Election officer. The District Election Officer may appoint a presiding officer for each polling station and such polling officers are ne cessary.The presiding officer keeps order of the pooling station and ensures the fair conduct of the poll. Functions and powers of the Election Commission: The Election Commission of India has to perform multifarious duties assigned to it under the constitution. Some of the principal functions of the commission are: (1) Demarcation of constituencies: To facilitate the process of elections a country has to be divided into several constituencies. The task of delimiting constituencies is generally performed by a delimitation commission.But the power to delimit parliamentary and assembly constituencies for the first general elections in 1951 was conferred on the president. The Election Commission distributed the seats district wise in each one of the states and directed the Chief Electoral Officers to prepare proposals for the physical demarcation of constituencies according to the prescribed criteria. The procedure adopted in the delimitation of constituencies in 1951 led to a virtual power in the hands of the ruling party to decide the contours of the constituencies as it suited its designs.The association of parliamentary Advisory committees with the delimitation commission gave top priority to political consideration. The Election Commission strongly pleaded for taking away this power from the parliament. The Delimitation commission was to consist of three members, two of whom were to be nominated by the president from serving or retired judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts while the Chief Election Commissioner was to be an ex-officio member. (2) Electoral Rolls:The second important but tedious function of the Election Commission is to prepare for identification the upto date list of all the persons who are entitled for voting at the poll. (3) Recognition of political parties and Allotment of Symbols: A new part IV A has been added to the representation of the people Amendment Act, 1951 on registration of political parties. Section 29 A now inserted prov ides for registration with the commission, of associations and bodies of individual citizens of India as political parties for purpose of this Act. This provision came into force from June 15, 1989.A recognised political party has been classified either as a National Party or a state party under paragraph 7 of the Elections symbol order 1968. Another important function of the Election Commissioner is to allot symbols to the political parties and the candidates, and also to accord recognition to the political parties. The commission has specified certain symbols as reserved and others as free. The reserved symbols are only available for candidates sponsored by the political parties and the free symbols are equally available to other candidates.The Election Commission has power to adjudicate upon disputes with regard to recognition of political parties and rival claims to a particular symbol for the purposes of elections. (4) Scrutiny of the Nomination Papers: Another function of the Election Commission is to examine the nomination papers of the candidates. These papers are accepted if found in order, but rejected otherwise. This duty is performed by the returning officer who notifies to all the contesting candidates the date, time and place for the formal scrutiny of nomination papers.The Returning officer summarily but judicially examines all the nomination papers and decides the objection raised. He is also to see whether the requisite requirements of security deposit, election symbol, election agent etc. have also been fulfilled. He is empowered to reject the nomination papers either by upholding the objection raised by a rival candidate or on his own motion or any of the following (a) that the candidate either is not qualified or is disqualified to fill the seat under any of the relevant constitutional provisions viz. Articles 84. 02, 173 and 191 (b) that the provision of sections 33 and 34 of the representation of the people's Act 1951 have not been compli ed with and (c) that the signature of the candidate or the proposer on the nomination or papers is not genuine. (5) The conduct of the poll: Another stupendous task that the Election Commission has to undertake is the conduct of the poll throughout the whole of India. In a parliamentary constituency, the returning officer is to make suitable arrangements for conducting the poll with the prior approval of the Election Commission.The commission can order a Ripoll for the whole constituency under compulsion of circumstances. Articles 324 confers on the Election Commission necessary powers to conduct the elections including the power to countermand the poll in a constituency and ordering a fresh poll there in because of hooliganism and break down of law and order at the line of polling or counting of votes. (6) Election Expenses: Another most controversial function that the election commission has perform is no scrutinize the accounts of election expenses submitted by contestants in ele ctions.In India every contesting candidate is required to maintain and file the accounts of his election expenses. Within a prescribed period after publication of the result of his election within 10 days from the last date of filing the returns the Returning Officer submits to the Election Commission a list of all the candidates and their agents together with their returns as also his observation in respect of candidates who have failed to lodge returns in the specified time and a accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.The commission scrutinizes the accounts and dudes whether the returns are in proper form and whether they have been lodged in time. In case of default it notifies the candidates or their agents of there disqualification by publishing these in the official Gazette. Role of the Election Commission: Election is the contrivance through which a modern state creates amongst its citizens a sense of involvement and participation in public affairs. It is through popu lar elections that the authority of a govt, is clouted with legitimacy and peaceful and orderly transfer of authority to new leaders is ensured.For this it was necessary than an independent Election Commission with its vast paraphernalia should be set up in the country. Such a commission would ensure fair and free election of the representatives of the people at all levels. According to L. K. Advani, â€Å"The Election Commission occupies a pivotal place in the scheme of the Indian constitution. During recent years it has willingly or unwillingly abdicated its independent Supra governmental authority and accepted for itself the role of a mere official department charged with the conduct of elections. The relations between CES and the central and state Governments are not cordial. The confrontation and the ensuing embarrassment for the Governments as a result of the ruling given by Chief Election Commissioner J. N. Seshan have only been increasing. With a critical evaluation of the working of the Election Commission of India so far as we can now infer that: Firstly, the working of the Elections Commission of India during the last four decades has shown that the Election Commission worked independently and impartially, as well as efficiently.Secondly, the Election Commission has fulfilled all the constitutional obligations, and has never tried to go beyond or over step the limits of the constitution. It always worked within the frame work of the constitution. Thirdly, when the Election Commission conducted the first General Election in 1951-52 the electorate were just 17 million but the present strength of the electorate is about 50 crores. The commission, has however been able to cope with its ever mounting responsibilities. It has the capacity to meet new challenges and faced the situation boldly.Fourthly, although the faith of the people in democracy, its institutions and political parties has eroded but their faith in the Election Commission has all the mor e strengthened or fortified. According to the Election Commission, the very fact that in almost all states the ruling parties have suffer setbacks shows that the elections have been free and fair. It has given the lie to the wide spread belief that the party in power will use official machinery and influence the voters in its favour.