Network Design in Supply Chain

18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP ? Inventory is stored at the distributor or manufacturer ? Orders are shipped to designated pickup points where customers come and pick up their order 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP ? Cost factors ? Inventory; is low, aggregation at the manufacturer or distributor ? Transportation is lowest when using package carrier due to aggregation at pickup locations Facility and handling; facility costs are high if pick-up location does not exist already. Handling costs at pickup locations are high. ? Information system; More elaborative and sophisticated, extra system at the pickup locations. ? Service factors ? Response times; comparable to delivery with package carriers ? Customer experience; worse since customer has to pickup the item himself. On the other hand, since custo mer do not need to wait at home for delivery and customer can pay cash at the pickup location instead of paying online in advance, some customers may like pickup option better. Time to market is similar to other options with manufacturer storage ? Order visibility is very important. Customers should be informed when their orders arrive. ? Returns are easier to handle at pickup location. Returns can be aggregated and shipped back from pickup locations. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin RETAIL STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUPS ? Inventories are stored in retail stores, customers walk into the store to pick the items they want or items they have ordered online or by phone. Mixed order placement options. Most traditional option. 8. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin RETAIL STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUPS ? Cost Factors ? Inventory costs are higher than other options as the inventories are disaggregated and held locally ? Transportation costs are lower than other solutions. Inexpensive modes can be used to reple nish inventories at retail outlets. ? Facility costs are high. Many local facilities. ? Information system; Minimal if there is no online ordering option. For online option more complex information system especially for order visibility. ? Service Factors Response times are very good. Same day pickup for most products. ? Product variety is lower than other options. ? Product availability is costly to keep high. ? Customer experience depends on if the customer likes to shop or not. ? Time to market is highest. ? Order visibility is important if online ordering is allowed. ? Returns can be handled at the stores easily. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? Impact of E-Business on Customer Service ? Response time; For product that can be downloaded very fast.For physical products takes longer to fulfill an order than regular retail stores. ? Product variety; easier to offer variety than brick-and-mortar store. (Amazon; imagine the retail store with the sa me variety offered by Amazon) ? Product availability; Better information gathering and forecasting. Better mach between supply and demand, improved product availability. ? Customer experience; ? ? ? Access; 24 hour access. Geographically eliminating the access limits. Customization; customization of product and shopping experience. Dell, Amazon – displays related products) Convenience; Making the purchase at where you are.. Increased speed of conducting business. (e. g. Use of previous data for address info) ? Time to market; Fast. A new product can be made available as soon as a the first unit is ready. Dell exploits this feature. ? Order visibility; Critical to provide. Internet makes this happen. ? Returnability; Harder issue compared to traditional stores since items are sent from a central location usually. More returns with online purchases. 18. 12. 2011Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? Impact of E-Business on Customer Service ? Other benefits of e -business ? ? ? 18. 12. 2011 Enhanced revenues for manufacturers by eliminating intermediaries and having direct contact with customer. Dell v. s. HP. Flexible pricing, promotion and product portfolio ? Airline last-minute low cost seat, Dell’s ability of dynamic pricing depending on the component availability and demand. Efficient fund transfers; Quicker and cheaper. Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK Impact of E-Business on Cost ? Inventory; Better mach of supply and demand, geographical aggregation lowers inventories. Ability of postponement also helps reducing inventory costs. ? Facilities and Handling ? ? ? ? Less and centralized facilities, fewer intermediaries lower facility cost. E-business can reduce the handling costs in order fulfillment by having the customer do some part of the process, e. g. checking product availability, entering details of the order. Smoothing the rate of order fulfillment, thus reducing the resource requirements.Unlike the retail stores orders don’t have to be processed as soon as they arrive. On the downside, for some products like groceries, an e-business has to carry out some tasks currently performed by the customers at retail stores. E. g. Picking the items customer wants and carrying home. ? Transportation; Usually higher cost due to increased outbound transportation costs. For downloadable products, significantly less transportation cost. ? Information; Shared demand information, better coordination and collaboration reduces the overall supply chain costs.The cost of setting up the information system required can be significant. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? The value that e-business brings is not the same in every industry. ? Dell; a success story while Webvan is a failure ? E-business-Scorecard can be used to help decide if e- business is appropriate for your business, how it effects your distribution network in costs and customer services. ? All the costs and customer service factors are given a integer score from +2 (very positive) to -2(very negative) 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin

HRM Roles at Different Level Essay

The roles, functions and strategies of HRM are many and varied, and depend heavily on the nature of organizations, the vision and skills of practitioners, and changes in the external environments of organizations. These aspects will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters, but such features as organizational size, history and ownership, government legislation and political factors have a significant impact on the ways in which practitioners carry out their roles. The vision and skills of practitioners allow these influences to be seen as pressures and constrictions or opportunities and challenges. The principal responsibility of HRM is to ensure that organizations have the right numbers, types and skill mixes of employees at an appropriate time and cost to meet present and future requirements. Thus, practitioners need to be aware of where organizations are going in the future, the nature of the external and internal labor markets, and the most effective strategies for m atching labor demand and supply. Practitioners need to operate at three distinct levels: strategic, operational, and functional. At the strategic level, practitioners are involved in corporate and human resource planning. At the operational level, they develop action plans to meet present labor needs. At the functional level, practitioners carry out the many activities that ensure employees are in the right place at the right time and for the right cost. Functions of HRM The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can’t yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have and are aware of personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have. HRM is concerned to resolve the following key issues: i) What quantity and quali ty of employees will be required now and in the foreseeable future to satisfy or exceed corporate objectives? ii) Which strategies will be most effective in attracting, choosing and efficiently incorporating employees into the organization? iii) How can well-chosen employees be kept productive, satisfied and motivated to contribute to organizational growth and development? iv) What methods are appropriate to maintain effective relationships between employees, jobs, work environments and management? v) Which strategies are required to ensure that all HR activities are linked and accountable? vi) What systems are suitable for administering and evaluating the overall HR function? The functional areas that constitute an HR program and contribute to the resolution of these issues include: human resource policy, human resource planning, human resource information systems, work and job analysis, design and evaluation, recruitment and selection, diversity management, career management, employee and management training and development, counseling, discipline and separation, performance and quality management, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations management, financial management of employee schemes and overall accounta bility and evaluation, occupational health and safety etc. HRP: Concept and Meaning Planning is an essential process of management. Human resource planning (HRP)( provides the foundation for coordinating all the HRM functions. It also allows the HRM function to position itself to take the best advantage of fluctuations in the economy or labor market. The likely effects of future economic, social and legislative conditions, or organizational changes, can be converted from constraints and pressures to challenges and opportunities. Human resource planning has been explained in variety of ways. HRP translates the organizations objectives into teem of the workers needed to meet these objectives. HRP systematically forecasts an organizations future demand for and supply of employees. HRP is little like navigating a ship. It decides on a course and speeds toward destinations, with the constant need to take further readings and make necessary adjustments in order to reach that destination. HR Planning is the process of using an organization’s goals and strategy to fo recast the organization’s HR needs in terms of finding, developing and keeping a qualified workforce. In other word, HR planning is a process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kinds of people, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization to achieve its overall strategic objectives. HRP involves the process by which management determines how an organization should move from its current human resource position to its desired human resource position. Through planning management secures equilibrium between demand for a supply right number and right kinds of people at the right time at the right place. HRP is a two phased process by which management can projects the future Human resource requirements and develop Human resource action plans to accommodate the implication of projections. HRP may be expressed as a process by which the organization ensures the right number of people, right kind of people, at the right place, at the right time doing the right things for the achievement of goals of the organization. Objectives of HRP The eventual objectives of HRP are as follow: a) Establishment and recognition of future job requirements; b) To ensure the optimum and effective utilization of the human resources or work force (currently employed i.e. existing human resources); c) Assure supplies of right type of man i.e. to provide for the future human resource needs of the organization in terms of skill, qualification, number, age, sex etc. and d) Development of available human resource (training, experience and career planning). Benefits of HRP Human resource planning is concerned with the detailed planning of Human resource requirement of all types of employees throughout the period of the plan. It aims at right type of people from all sources to meet the planned requirements. Following are the benefits of HRP: a) Forecasting of long term Human resource needs to help the management to forecast the compensation costs involved; b) Anticipating Human resource needs to develop the existing Human resource to fill the future gaps; c) Human resource planning motivates the existing employees and creates favorable psychological climate for motivation; d) Human resource planning reveals the training needs of the working Human resource with the result, training and development programs, become more effective; e) Better developed Human resource results in reduced human resource costs; and f) Management succession gets the best contribution from the workers. Process of HRP The human resource planning process involves a determination of the future human resource requirements and action plans for meeting those requirements. Most of the organizations simply project requirements on the basis of past human resource growth. A substantial number related to their human resource forecast them anticipated business growth. A relation is also established with projected organization change, planned new product and services. Analyzing such factors as general economic condition, the organization business plan, past employment and anticipated change in HR policies and programs ultimately help to operate HR practice smoothly. The HRP process includes the following key factors: a) Human Resource inventory : Assessment of available resources; b) Human Resource forecast: Determination of future requirements. Another key element in the HRP process is the design of implementation plans and action programs to help achieve human resource objective. Implementing the human reso urce plan may include recruiting from inside or from outside. The organization may also approach to meet the future human resource needs by improving the utilization of the existing work force. HRP Process HRP and Strategic Planning In the past it may have been sufficient to rely on a loose relationship between the management of employees and organizational productivity or profitability. However, as earlier discussed, competitive industrial conditions demand that practitioner undertake strategic human resource planning to anticipate, prevent and resolve staffing problems in order to ensure the achievement of organizational objectives. Strategic planning is the process of setting major organizational objectives and developing comprehensive plans to achieve them. It involves deciding on the major directions of the organization, including its structure, strategies, policies and the contributions of its various resources. An important part of the strategic planning process is the determination of necessary labor requirements and the prediction of likely sources. A strategic corporate planning process usually includes: a) Definition of the corporate philosophy; b) Scanning of environmental conditions (both internal and external); c) Evaluation of the organizations strengths and weaknesses; d) Development of objectives and goals; and e) Formulation of suitable strategies. Limitations of HRP Long-range forecast are difficult and the plans are likely to be inaccurate. They are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions and market conditions. Although it is possible to predict the approximate number of vacancies that will occur in an organization as a result of deaths, resignation etc., there is no way of knowing which managers will have to be replaced or when this will occur. Human Resource Utilization Human Resource utilization is concerned with the efficient use of the organization’s existing human resources at its present level of development. Effective utilization of human resource requires two things. Firstly, people must be placed on jobs in such a way that the organization’s total human resource are most effectively allocated. The Second aspect of Human Resource utilization involves achieving optimum productivity from the work force after it has been allocated. This involves the complex motivational factors affecting individual, group and organization performance. Job Analysis: Concept and Meaning Job(analysis is the process of critically evaluating the operation, duties and relationship of the jobs. It is a procedure by which facts of each job are systematically discovered and noted. Job analysis reveals clearly what is being done and who can do it. Job analysis can be defined as obtaining information about jobs. Generally, job analysis involves the following steps: a) Collecting and recording job information; b) Checking the job information for accuracy; c) Writing job descriptions based on the information; d) Using the information to determine what skill, abilities, and knowledge are required on the job; and e) Updating the information from time to time. Job analysis is a procedure, by which pertinent information is obtained about a job, i.e. it is a detailed and systematic study of information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. It is the determination of the tasks which comprise the job and of the skills, knowledge, abilities, and responsibilities required of the worker for a successful performance and which differentiate one job from another. It is the systematic assembly of all the facts about a job. The purpose is to study the individual elements and duties. All information related to salary and benefits, working hours and conditions, typical tasks and responsibilities are required for the job analysis. The immediate products of job analysis are job descriptions and job specifications. Uses of Job Analysis Organizational Design: Job analysis is useful in classifying jobs and interrelationship among them. Responsibility commensurate with authority and accountability for various jobs can be specified so as to minimize duplication or overlapping. In order to improve organizational efficiency, sound decisions concerning hierarchical positions and functional differentiation can be taken on the basis of information obtained through job analysis. Human Resource Planning: Job analysis provides useful information for forecasting manpower requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. It also helps in planning for promotions and transfers by indicating lateral and vertical relationships between different jobs. Job analysis helps in determining quality of human resources required in an organization. It also facilitates division of work. Therefore, job analysis is an essential element of effective human resource planning. Recruitment and Selection: Information relating to the tasks, responsibiliti es, knowledge and skills serves as a realistic basis for hiring people. Job vacancy is advertised on the basis of job description and job specification. Job analysis provides understanding of what an employee is expected to do on the job. Such understanding serves as the basis for meaningful forecast of job performance. Selection methods are based upon such forecasts. Placement and Orientation: A clear understanding of job requirements helps in matching these requirements with the abilities, interests and aptitudes of people. Each job can be assigned to the person who is best suited for it. Similarly, the orientation program can be geared towards helping the employee learn the activities, tasks and duties that are required to perform a given job more effectively. Training and Development: Job analysis provides valuable information required to identify training needs, to design training programs and to evaluation training effectiveness. A clear idea of what is required on a job helps in deciding what is to be learnt and how. Similarly, employee development programs such as job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment are based an analysis of job requirements. Performance Appraisal: Job analysis helps in determining performance standards in critical parts of a job. Employee performance can then be evaluated against known standards and critical activities. The superior can compare actual performance with the standards set with the help of job analysis. Career Path Planning: Job analysis provides a clear idea of opportunities in terms of career paths and jobs available in the organization. With the help of such understanding, employees and the organization both can make efforts for career planning and career development. Job Evaluation: Job analysis serves as the basis for determining the relative worth of different jobs. It therefore helps in developing appropriate wage and salary structures, with internal pay equity between jobs. Labor Relations: Information obtained through job analysis is helpful to both management and trade unions for collective bargaining. It can also be used to resolve disputes and grievances relating to work load, work procedures, etc. Employee Counseling: Job analysis provides information about career choices and personnel limitations. Such information is helpful in vocational guidance and rehabilitation counseling. Employees who are unable to cope with the hazards and demands of given jobs may be advised to opt for subsidiary jobs or to seek premature retirement. Health and Safety: Job analysis reveals unhealthy and hazardous environmental and operational conditions in various jobs. Heat, noise, dust, fumes, etc. are examples of such conditions. On the basis of such information management can develop measures to ensure the health and safety of employees. Sources of Information for Job Analysis According to George R. Terry, â€Å"the make-up of a job, its relation to other jobs, and its requirements for competent performance are essential information needed for a job analysis.† Information on a job may be obtained from three principal sources: i) from the employees who actually perform a job; ii) from other employees such as supervisors and foremen who watch the workers doing a job and thereby acquire knowledge about it; and iii) from outside observers specially appointed to watch employees performing a job. Such outside persons are called the trade job analyst. Sometimes, special job reviewing committees are also established. Methods of Collecting Job Data Four methods or approaches are utilized in analyzing jobs. These are: a) Personal observation: The materials and equipment used, the working conditions and probable hazards, and an understanding of what the work involves are the facts which should be known by an analyst. b) Sending out questionnaires: This method is usually employed by engineering consultants. Properly drafted questionnaires are sent out to job – holders for completion and are returned to supervisors. However, the information received is often unorganized and incoherent. The idea in issuing questionnaire is to elicit the necessary information from job – holders so that any error may first be discussed with the employee and, after due corrections, may be submitted to the job analyst. c) Maintenance of Long Records: The employee maintains a daily record of duties he performs, marking the time at which each task is started and finished. But this system is incomplete, for it does not give us any desirable data on supervisor relationship, the equipment used, and working conditions, Moreover, it is time – consuming. d) Personal interviews: May be held by the analyst with the employees, and answers to relevant questions may be recorded. But the method is time – consuming and costly. However, it may be noted that if a particular job is simple and repetitive, observation may be the only technique required. Otherwise, in most cases, interviews coupled with observation constitute the desirable approach. Caroll L. Shartle, Otis and Lenhert have provided the following suggestions for making the job analysis task simple: a. Introduce yourself so that the worker knows who you are and why you are there; b. Show a sincere interest in the worker and the job that is analyzed; c. Do not try to tell the employee how to do his job; d. Try to talk to the employees and supervisors in their own language; e. Do not confuse the work with the workers; f. Do a complete job study within the objectives of the programs; and g. Verify the job information obtained. Sources of Information about Jobs There are some sources that provide job information. These sources are basically divided into two parts. One is non human source and another is human source. a)Non human Sources: existing job descriptions and specifications, equipment maintenance records, equipment design blueprints, architectural blueprints of work area, films of employees working, training manuals and other job training materials popular literature such as magazines or newspapers etc. b) Human Sources: Job analysts; Job incumbents; and Job experts. Job Description: Meaning and Criteria Job description is a written statement that defines the duties, responsibilities, relationships and results expected of anyone in the job. It is an overall view of what is to be done in the job. Typically it includes is a written statement that defines the duties, relationships and results expected of anyone in the job. It is an overall view of what is to be done in the job. Typically it includes – job title, date, title of immediate supervisor, statement of the purpose of the job, primary responsibilities, list of typical duties and responsibilities, signature of the person who has prepared the job description and general Information related to the job (i.e. training requirements, tool use, transportation etc.). Criteria of a well-made Job Description 1) A job description must be up-to-date; 2) A standard form should be used for all jobs and positions with each category; 3) The title should be apt; 4) The job summary should give a bird’s-eye view of primary responsibilities; it should be uncluttered by detail; 5) Detailed description of duties should be as concise as is compatible with completeness; 6) The language should be simple, clear and concise.

Lake Allatoona Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Change

The major structural and functional dynamics (processes) of the Lake Allatoona ecosystem has gone through drastic changes over time. Georgia is one of the most authentically distinctly states in the country, composing through the heights and valleys of northern Georgia to a masses of acres of the rural areas in the southern areas; to the marshlands along the coastlines (gadnr. org). According to, researchers more than nine million people who dwells in Georgia, who often creates multiple contention for congenital resource administration. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is responsible for preserving and controlling the state’s natural resources, including air, and water quality, water quantity, fish and wildlife, forest management, and the ecosystems throughout the state (gadnr. org). There was a time when, Lake Allatoona longleaf pine forests ruled a massive section of the southern area landscape. An estimate of 90 million acres was abode to this ecosystem in southeastern America prior to the establishment of colonies. Particularly as a result of human activity and changed forestry customarily; the recent decrease of naturist fire, longleaf pine forests has been reduced to less than three million acres today. Researchers have established that 187 rare plant species are associated with the longleaf pine ecosystem (27 federally listed as harmful or endangered). Most of these species flourish in the understory of longleaf pine forests because they have acclimated to a regularly-burned environment (gadnr. org). Without fire, many of these species would be choked out by faster developing non-fire-adapted species and over population over the last several decades. How humans may have affected biogeochemical cycles in the Lake Allatoona ecosystem, comprised by impacts to the nitrogen, phosphorus, or carbon cycle. Due to increased population, construction of new roads being developed, and habitat fragmentation, flames regularly seen in southern forests have become drastically decreased. Today, if the Lake Allatoona forest is not burned consciously by humans, it most likely does not burn at all. The lack of fire has caused an abstract in longleaf pine ecosystem forest lands across the south. Today, longleaf pines are established for the most part in limited parcels of land diversifying the territory, rather than large massive forests across the south. There are nine Army Corps facility functioning on the campgrounds, thirteen Corps-operated areas, and on many ecosystem parks around various lakes controlled by city, county, or state agencies (USACE). Allatoona Lake continues to recognize as one of the frequently attended Army Corps lakes in the nation with more than Six million attendees each year. Understanding Lake Allatoona ecosystem structure and functioning has helped the forest industry to develop plans for its administration and restoration planning. The Georgia Department of Environmental Protection (EPD) established one of the most advanced approaches to watershed management and protection in the nation (epa. gov). The Lake Allatoona Watershed was initiated to implement a comprehensive evaluation of ecological (aquatic and physical habitat) and water resource conditions of the watershed. This was accomplished through strict sampling, analysis, coupled with linked watershed and reservoir casting to produce facts and assessments of known quality that will ultimately be used to make sound decisions That support sustainability of the area’s water resources (epa. gov). Environmental impacts were developed based upon the ability of a potential management alternative to increase and/or protect aquatic ecological habitat as well as meet water quality standards. Lake Allatoona ecosystem economic impacts were founded for various management options and were split into two main categories: (1) BMP costs as an indicator of direct economic impacts; and (2) land opportunity costs as an indicator of indirect economic impacts (epa. gov). Human native environment clarification, fragmentation, degradation, and abolition present the enormous harm to natural ecosystems and biodiversity and should be influenced by responsible and adequate accentuations for the future preservation of intact ecosystems. Such computations should be assembled through choices made by various stages of government (epa. gov). All segments of people should get involve to achieve and corporate wildlife and native plant conservation measures that conserve ecosystems and our wildlife inheritance for the coming generations. The implication of species interactions in Lake Allatoona ecosystems management and restoration. According to, the Georgia Forestry Commission, more than 24 million of Georgia's 37 million land-surface acres are forests, making it the extremely authoritative ecosystem in the state. Seen as one of the largest national forest in Georgia is; the Lake Allatoona National Forest is located the North Georgia area (gatech. edu). Wildlife species in North Georgia forests includes American bald eagles, and black bears just to name a few. Georgia's forests landscape are also home to many endangered plant species, such as the large-flowered skullcap, and the persistent trillium. Multinomial affiliations in Georgia, such as Georgia Forest Watch, have increased alertness on issues that threatens the entertainment of the state's forests lands (gatech. du). Astronomic amounts of fertilizers are applied to lawns near many of the ecosystems in Georgia. Excessive portions of phosphorus and nitrogen are the leading actuators of fertilizers to depart into surrounding ecosystems creating enormous amounts of algae growth. This has caused much decreasing of oxygen in our waters, harms aquatic life and disrupts human amusement activity. Native plants; also called genetic plants they ar e plants that have developed over many of years in a precised areas. The native plants have acclimated to the geography, hydrology, and tropics of that woodland (gatech. edu). Most of the native plants occur in regions, that is, many have unfolded concurrently with other exotics. As a consequence, an alliance of native exotic species provides a dwelling for a multitude of indigenous wildlife species such as songbirds, and butterflies throughout Lake Allatoona ecosystem (gatech. edu).References: Georgia Department of Natural Resources.  (2010).  Retrieved from http://www.gadnr.org Longleaf.  ().  Retrieved from http://www.sam.usace.army.milGreen acres Native plants.  (2011).  Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov Smart tech.  (2009).  Retrieved from http://smartech.gatech.edu

The role of Production department in the organization Essay

The role of Production department in the organization - Essay Example The intention of this study is a Joint venture as an effort to form an entity, jointly together by any two entities, to undertake any economic activity for lawful purposes. Forming joint ventures is therefore one of the most prominent methods of entering into new markets as it provides an opportunity to tap into the local knowledge as well as skills to make a successful entry. Legally, a joint venture is a partnership which takes place for the short period of time by more than one party for any mutually beneficial purposes. As a general rule, each party to the joint venture contribute its assets towards the formation of the joint venture and also at the same time share the risks involved in forming such partnership. One of the benefits of forming a joint venture therefore is to gain access to the new markets as two entities; one foreign and one domestic and as such foreign entity often bring in new technologies which can benefit the domestic entities due to technology transfer. In US , Joint ventures are mostly regulated by Partnership laws, Contract Act as well as commercial transaction laws. In an increasingly complex business environment, the overall role of the organization and its top management is one of the most critical jobs that have to be performed. It is argued that the role of leadership is always to provide the vision for the future therefore the overall purpose and direction of strategic management is relatively different from that of the lower level of management.

Capstone Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Capstone - Assignment Example Besides, it is meant to enhance moments of happiness and to make a difference by creating a holistic environment that gives customers across the world an equal opportunity for maximum satisfaction. As a global business, a mission statement has been publicity used to draw a good number of customers who feel that the organization is adhering to their demands (Lussier, 2012). The organizational vision is considered as a framework that determines and controls the business towards the realization of objectives. The Coca-Cola’s vision statement that reads â€Å"to be the best beverage sales and customer Service Company embraces people, portfolio, partners and the planet†, is aimed at achieving sustainability in anticipation of quality growth in the near future. Through the organizational mission, the company has been able to draw much attention that aims at making a difference to the society. As such, the organization focuses on strategic priorities thus sustaining long term delivery and consistent profit margin (Lussier, 2012). Ultimately, the company recognizes that it can only improve on the organizational value by building mutual relationship to stakeholders. Therefore, it listens and takes action that meets the demands of each and every stakeholder. Through engagement such as brand collaboration, international appointments and human right s conferences, the organization has created an image of inclusion and service to the community. Through the above strategy, the organization has gained more opportunity to outdo the rivals in the market by pooling together its resources. The introduction of five potter’s model offers a good framework for the organizational analysis towards the realization of objectives in a competitive market environment (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2012). While three parts of potters models concerns rivalry effects that are felt from the outside, all parts of the model offers a considerable impact to the company thus

Economic race and gander Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic race and gander - Essay Example Other concern is whether they can fully rely on or trust their partners. Divorce rates were going up. Religious beliefs and broad social attitude were also among the reasons. The main reason for divorce is financial instability and insecurity of future etc., Unanticipated events, sudden job loss and liberalized state divorce loss were also reasons for increased rate of divorces. The divorce rates stood at 2.2 divorces per thousand population in 1960 and increased to 3.5 to 5.2 divorces per thousand population in 1980. Births to unmarried mothers is also on the raise because of economic independence and social security available to mothers. Co-habitation or living together has been accepted by the society. Individuals who never married co-habit prior to first marriage or after they have been divorced. Co-habitation often ends in marriage or breakup. Co-habitation between gay and lesbian couples are also on the increase. Whether to have children or how many to have is decided on the ec onomic opportunities. The changing economic opportunities affect the fertility decisions. As the women's wage raises the opportunity cost of the time they spend with children also increases. However, the preoccupation with their employment and social activities force them to postpone the pregnancies. The fertility rate at the year 1955 was much higher compared to the year 1955 was much higher compared to the year 1974. However, because of economic independence and better opportunities in employment there were marked increases in fertility rate of unmarried mothers starting in 1970s from 11 percent of all births to 28 percent in 1990. At 2005, 37 percent all births in US were to unmarried women. Dual earner families increase from 45 to 58 percent of all married couple families. Dual earner family or female headed family became more common rapidly replacing the traditional married couple family or the breadwinner husband and home-maker wife. Dual earner earns more income on average th an the single earner family. However, the maternal employment during first year of the child may negatively affect children's cognitive developments. The specific finding about single parent family report that the children raised by single parent have a higher high-school drop out and higher rate of teen births than those raised by double parent family. Chapter 11 titled as "Polices affecting paid work and the family" focus on polices to alleviate poverty, government tax policies etc., This chapter examines major changes that occurred during last few years in the US welfare system. The expansion of EITC has played an important role in reducing poverty. In contracts to many tax credits which can benefit only households with income high enough to pay taxes in EITC the refundable feature of tax credit means that government provides a refund if the amount of the credit exceeds tax owed. The EITC transfers income to low income household. The employment outlook for welfare recipients tend s to be especially bleak because as a rule they have little education and fewer job skills. Following the effects in developing countries such as Grameen Bank in Bangladesh micro enterprises assistance programs have been developed in US funded by government and private foundations. Child support award for never married mothers continue to raise children under age 15 may receive federally funded health care

Discussion Q Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion Q - Assignment Example in the organization through changes in the cultures as there are more interactions that occur in all levels of departments in the organization (Hiriyappa, 2009). There are problems that are brought out by management behaviors. Among the problems in the organization is that experienced as more co-workers speak to individuals in a condescending manner (Ivancevich & Matteson, 2000). The problems in the organizations are contributed as a result of technical aspects in management which is important for understanding the management process in an organization. Some behavioral skills that are undermined by management result to problems in communication with the subordinate, peers and bosses (Ivancevich & Matteson, 2000). Management behavior problems are as a result of education that managers have on people, groups that are encountered and interaction that occur in the organization. Problems in management behaviors are also as a result of lack of critical thinking and analysis capabilities. Change agent skills and leadership capabilities in organizations are able to undergrad some members of the organization resulting to problem in communication and handling the skills (McShane & Von Glinow, 2000). Knowledge of the current organizational culture is important during a change initiative. The knowledge that is in an organization ensures that the changes are made in improving management in the organization. There are measurements that have affected achievement of change initiatives (Robbins, 2001). One of the abilities that impact the changes is ability to influence. In change initiatives, there is need to influence decision making in the organization to comply with the changes. The comfort is with the changes that occur due to uncertainties. Most management is not comfortable and holds onto the cultures of the organizations as they are not comfortable with the uncertainties and taking of risks (Robbins, 2001). Achievement orientation is also affected with organization

Health Care Delievery systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Health Care Delievery systems - Essay Example In others, there is a joint attempt among trade unions, religions, governments, charities, or other corresponding units to provide designed health care services aimed at the population they assist (Saltman & Von, 1995). This paper will assess the similarities and differences between different health care delivery systems. Publicly funded health care is financed partly or entirely by people’s tax sums instead of through exclusive fees. This are made directly to health care givers or insurance companies through deductibles, insurance premiums, or copayments. Two-tier health care is a system whereby an assured public health care system is in existence. However, a corresponding health care system functions in equivalent competition. The private health care system gives the patients a chance to hold more alternatives in selecting their physicians and waiting lesser periods. Nevertheless, two-tier health care system is expensive and set aside for only those who can meet the expenses (World Health Organization, 2000). Physicians who work in the private health care systems may also have an advantage because they can establish their own charges. Single-payer system is a method to financing health care with a single source of funds for paying health care givers. The range may be community based, national, or state-wide. The payer may be an entity like an insurance agency or a governmental unit. The proposed benefits may comprise large savings in overhead charges and administrative simplicity for providers and patients. Universal health care system is also referred to as social health protection, universal care or universal coverage. It depicts a health care system that gives free coverage and health care to everyone in the population of that state or country. Conversely, universal health care does not cover everybody for all things. Moreover, universal health care can be influenced by three vital

Comparison and Contrast of Two Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Comparison and Contrast of Two Articles - Essay Example Beyrer’s (2010) article in turn seeks to find a solution that addressed the technical difficulties plaguing students, and hampering learning in online classes. Both articles used the term online to refer to a certain form of instructional method, people, or abilities that make use of the World Wide Web. In â€Å"Comparing Student Achievement in Online and Face-to-Face Class Formats,† Dell, Low and Wilker (2010) used the term online to refer to a form of teaching method that was used as a basis for comparison with the more traditional chalk and blackboard method of teaching, which has been practiced for years. They used the term to refer to a world wide web-aided learning that professors used to channel their lessons and teachings. Dell, Low and Wilker’s (2010) wrote that: A research project was conducted to analyze student achievement using submitted assignments for two sections of a graduate course in human development and learning, taught both online and face-t o-face, as well as three sections of undergraduate educational psychology, two of which were taught face-to-face, and one taught online. (p. 30) In this paragraph, the authors used online to give readers a mental picture of how the online teaching format was done; it also elucidates the items used from which to draw a quantifiable comparison between the two teaching platforms used. â€Å"Online teaching and learning is now commonly offered in teacher education programs, with students enrolled in either individual classes or entire programs online† (Dell, Low, & Wilker, 2010, p. 30). Here, the authors used online to refer to a list of courses that students can take via the web. According to the Montgomery College in Maryland (2006), online courses are convenient, flexible, individualized, promote life-long learning, and are cost-effective. The growing popularity of online courses has led the proponents to explore its efficiency in delivering quality education minus the four co rners of the classroom. Since online instruction and research methodology are under scrutiny, especially in terms of student achievement, researchers should continue to focus on comparing face-to-face and online class student outcomes, as well as the development of best practices in online pedagogy. (Dell, Low & Wilker, 2010) Online in this paragraph was again used to refer to the teaching platform that was being compared against the standard face-to-face method of teaching. Apart from referring to it as a new teaching method used, online in the third line also refers to the group of students that are learning from, or are enrolled in the said method of instruction. The â€Å"Online Student Success: Making a Difference† by Beyrer (2010), on the other hand, used online, still, to refer to a world wide web-associated body of knowledge; however, the term this time is not associated with a method of teaching employed by professors. Instead, it is mostly used to denote an online c ourse that can help prepare, and equip students in troubleshooting future problems encountered while learning online. Beyrer wrote: â€Å"This research project examines the effectiveness of one answer to this question. Cosumnes River College offers a course to meet this need, Online Student Suc

Cheque Case Essay Example for Free

Cheque Case Essay A check bounces either because there is not enough money or credit in a bank to cover its amount, as in DAIF (drawn against insufficient funds check), NSF (non-sufficient funds check) and closed account. Batas Pambasa Blg. 22 punishes any person who, KNOWING at the time he issues a check in payment of obligation that he does not have sufficient funds or credit with the drawee bank. The gravamen of this special penal law is the issuance of check, not the non-payment of the obligation. (Lozano vs. Martinez, 146 SCRA 323). Checks form part of the banking system for being substitutes for money. Hence, BP Blg. 22 is neither violative of the constitutional provision against imprisonment of non-payment of debt nor the non-impairment clause. In the case of Que vs. People, the Supreme Court settled that B.P.22 applies even in cases where the dishonored checks were issued merely in the form of a DEPOSIT or a GUARANTY and not as actual payment. The law does not make any distinction. Criminal liability attaches to the drawer of the check whether it was issued in payment of an obligation or merely to guarantee the said obligation. PRESCRIPTION, which is the termination of the right to prosecute is a defense in B.P. 22. The lapse of four (4) years AFTER the expiration of the five (5) banking days from notice of dishonor is the prescriptive period for filing bounced check case. Whereas, if a person, at the time the check was issued, had the intention of stopping payment of check, shall be guilty of estafa under the Revised Penal Code. In estafa, the issuance of a post-dated or check without funds is intended to defraud and to cause damage to the payee. Deceit is an element of estafa while the same is not required in BP Blg. 22. A person therefore, who issues a check in payment of an obligation can be held liable at the same time for violation of B.P. 22 and estafa under Article 315, par. 2 (d) of the Revised Penal Code. Foreign checks, provided either they are drawn and issued in the Philippines, though payable outside, are within the coverage of the law. (De Villa vs. CA, 195 SCRA 722). The signatory/ies are the ones liable under the law whether the bounced check is issued by natural or juridical person because the corporation cannot be subject to arrest and criminal liability.

Copper Recovery Methods From Metallurgical Waste

Copper Recovery Methods From Metallurgical Waste REVIEW OF COPPER RECOVERY METHODS FROM METALLURGICAL WASTE Apurva Patel, Prof. Nimish Shah Abstract: Copper is one of the most used metals in recent developments and demand of this red metal is increasing with passing of each day. Production of copper is 12 million tons per year and copper reserves are expected to run for 25 years with the estimated world copper reserves of 300 million tons. Recovery of copper from metallurgical waste is a trend that is being followed from beginning of industrial age and has many developments over a large time frame. Out of all the copper used in existing process, 2 million tons of copper is utilized with recycling of copper waste. Copper ore reserve contribution of India is limited and extended up to 2 percent of world reserve. We can say that copper has a large amount at our reserves but excavation is not as simple as it seems. Copper content in the raw mines is ranging from 0.5 to 1 percent. Even after recovery of copper there is large waste generated at the end of the process. Copper content in the waste is up to 0.3 percent at the dis charge. Ultimately around hundred times of waste is generated for recovery of one part of copper. That pushes forward the need of recycling copper from metallurgical waste to cater the need of increasing copper demand. Copper recovery from high copper containing metallurgical wastes like brass industries are generally dealt with smelting process. In such case large amount of energy is utilized to just melt down all the material. This process has a limitation of copper content i.e. if copper content is low then all the energy is utilized in melting of undesired material. Demand for electroplating of copper has increased significantly. Low efficiency or improper process handling causes remarkably high copper content in waste discharge, which is over the range of discharge criteria of heavy metals. So to control the increasing price of metals and to limit the use of fresh copper, recycling must be done so the recovery from waste also gives the advantage of being in range of the allowab le government legislations. Though these hazardous heavy metals in electroplating waste having concentration high enough to give harmful impacts to environment but convincingly low concentration that is not enough to recover these metals effectively. In this paper, overview of different methods for copper recovery is illustrated and justified the selection of different methods over different copper content of various sources. Keywords— Copper extraction, Copper recovery, Electroplating, Recycling, I. INTRODUCTION Increasing demand of copper gives elevated chances for generating copper waste from different industries. There are thousands number of industries existing which includes utilization or processing of copper. In this paper, review of several most copper containing waste and most optimum copper recovery methods are described. Waste source is targeted which gives better possibilities of copper recovery and ease of operation. Several metallurgical source like; brass slag, copper converter slag, electroplating waste, bonze scrap and pickling solution is included in the study. II. Copper recovery from Copper slag There are different verities of slag produced from smelters for non-ferrous production. Major emphasis is given to copper slag as it has equal to or higher copper content compared to raw copper ore. Generation and utilization of copper slag has higher environment impacts compared to steel and iron slag as they contain remarkable quantity of heavy metals with higher solubility. Chemical composition of copper slag varies with different origins. Chemical composition is given as per Shen Forssberg, 2003[1] in table 1. TABLE I Chemical composition of copper slag There are specific three methods to recover copper from copper slag; Floatation, Leaching and Roasting Floatation Barnes (1993) [2] has given industrial floatation process at Mount Isa Mines Limited to recover copper from copper slag. Grinding operation is applied until obtain the granular size of 80%- 74  µm before floatation. Floatation is also feasible for magnetite present in the raw copper slag, so hydroxy ethyl cellulose is used in the process as a depressant of magnetite impurities. MIBC is used in the process as froather agent and sodium sec-butyl xanthate is used as a collector of copper from the waste. The result of this process gives concentrate grade copper with high percentage as 42.54%. Overall yield of such process is 82%. This experiment is observed for copper slag containing 3.7% copper. In this experiment most of Co is observed with floatation tail. Mainly, copper slag floatation is somewhat similar with sulfide ore floatation because of the fact that only metallic copper and sulfide minerals from the copper slag can only be effectively floated. In other slag copper is usually observed under oxide state and Co and Ni are also in oxide state because of its homogeneous distribution in the slag. So the stated method will not be utilized effectively with Co, Ni and oxide copper state. Therefore the span for the floatation process is reduced in size as less quantity of Co, Ni must be present in the slag or copper must not be in the form of oxide. Leaching Leaching is used with some leachants mainly hydrochloric acid, ferric chloride, ammonia, sulphuric acid etc. Basire at al anand at all [3]. In the initial era cyanide was also used but it was terminated because of its harmful effects to environment. Leaching is positively influenced by addition of H2O2, or leaching with Cl2/Cl system, or pressure leaching. Figure 1 shows effect of H2O2 on leaching of copper based on the experiments of Base metal recovery [4] Figure 1. Kinetics of copper recovery Graph showing metal recovery with highly oxidising agent like H2SO4 for copper slag. Experiment is carried out with 10% solid in solution and particle size less than 100  µm. Experiment is carried out at 70 oC and pH maintained at 2.5 with applied H2O2 at 35 L/(h.t) Pressure leaching has broadly described by anand et al [4]. Study shows that with pressure leaching and use of dilute H2SO4 recovery of copper about 90% achieved from copper converter slag from the initial concentration of 4.03% Cu. Roasting Roasting is actually one intermediate step which involves the process for converting the copper in desired form that can be easily separated from the raw material. After application of roasting, Leaching or floatation must be used to achieve desired separation. If we narrow down the process criteria then we can say a lot more specific term as sulfate roasting instead of roasting. In this process conversion of cupper cobalt ant nickel is taking place and transformed into more feasible soluble sulfates. Raw material is processed at 200-600 oC by addition of sulfide or sulfate agents. Then these soluble sulfates are dissolved in water and easily separated from slag. Some of the agents used in the process are, (NH3)SO4, H2SO4, H2S, pyrite etc. Sulfurization reactions are summarized as bellow. Cu2O + H2S = Cu2S + H2O †¦(1) 2Cu + H2S +  ½ O2 = Cu2S + H2O †¦(2) Sulfides of copper are then easily converted to soluble copper sulfate with roasting at 600oC. Ziyadanogullari used this method to treat copper slag containing 2.4% copper. By sulfurization in closed system with 140oC for 1 hour and then heating and roasting with 600oC for 360 minutes gives better result for recovery of copper up to 99.2%. SCHEMCON-20141 | Page

Relationship Between Police and Muslim Individuals

Relationship Between Police and Muslim Individuals Shamma Alsuwaidi Dataset being used: 2014-15 Crime Survey of England and Wales Variable name of dependent variable: copannoy Variable name of main independent variable: Muslim Word count of this project ¹: 2,672 words I have included my SPSS output as an appendix to this project I am happy for an anonymised version of this project to be used  for teaching purposes at the University of Kent    My research question In this project, I examine the relationship between police officers and individuals from different religious groups. I will examine whether Muslims encounter more disturbing and discriminatory experiences with the police, compared to those who follow different religions (Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and those who do not follow any religion). Accordingly, the dependent variable I will be using is: really annoyed with the police, while my independent variable will be: Muslim religion. Potential mechanisms linking police malpractice to Muslims I selected these variables because in a post-9/11 civilisation, Muslims are increasingly becoming more segregated from societies as a result of the increased media attention to them. People began to fear Muslims and attempts to segregate them from society were made by many. Muslims are now perceived as an outsider group, a category of aggressive, extremist individuals, who pose a risk to British lifestyles (Rowe, 2013). Although Islam is the most common religion amongst minorities, high rates of prejudice of Arabs and Muslims is evident in countries of the EU such as France and the UK. For instance, over 50% of people in Germany, France, and the UK identify and associate Muslims as radicals, aiming to promote their extreme religious beliefs (Jikeli, 2011). As a result, attitudes towards Muslims dramatically changed worldwide. Prejudice and hate spread, leading Arabs/Muslims to now face critical observation in every aspect of their lives. They can no longer travel, drive, and enjoy being out in public due to the discrimination they face in their everyday lives. In addition, instead of receiving support and protection from law enforcements, they are instead further victimised by them. Racial profiling, unjust treatment, unjustified investigations, harassment, and wrongful captures are now very common experiences between Muslims in European countries (Cainkar, 2002). In addition, it is not uncommon for an Arab to be randomly selected for security checks at airports, and even be prohibited from flying due to such prejudice views. However, discrimination against those coloured and those who acquire divergent features than typical Europeans do occur as well; where gipsies (47%) and Africans (41%) experience higher levels of discrimination as well (Jikeli, 2011). I expect that Muslims are more likely to find themselves in situations where they become irritated by the police, or unsatisfied with how the police deal with occurrences compared to those who follow other religions. This is because, at a time of increased awareness and fear of terrorism, and with socially and politically constructed images of Muslims, society would ultimately treat them in a hostile manner. As a result, members of the law enforcement are more likely to share the same views with society or would be inclined into targeting and eliminating any potential harm or threat of terrorism that could be caused to society. Therefore, the police would be more likely to be suspicious towards an Arab or Muslim. Dependent variable In my analysis, I used data collected from the 2014/15 Crime Survey of England and Wales, which surveys adults (16+) living in private residence in the UK. My dependent variable is really annoyed by police, which comes from the question: Have you ever been really annoyed about the way a police officer behaved towards you or someone you know. OR about the way the police handled a matter in which you were involved? This might have been a police officer or another member of police staff. 1. Yes- towards respondent 2. Yes- towards someone else 3. Yes- towards both respondent and someone else 4. No I am missing statistics on the frequency of police aggravation, since 24,806 out of 33,350 individuals did not respond to this question. Below is the frequency table of those who did respond: Number of responses Frequency (% of valid cases) No 6,341 74.2% Yes 2,203 25.8% Total 8,544 100% Table 1: Frequency table of police annoyance Since the question gives respondents chances to respond in different yet similar ways, I modified the way in which responses are interpreted. For example: * Yes: towards respondent à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡towards someone else à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡towards both respondent and someone else I integrated the responses in order to simplify the data. Instead of having various categories of the yes responses, they would all be integrated into an individual yes group. Therefore, my dependent variable is respondents claiming themselves, another individual, or even both being irritated by any staff within the law enforcement agency. 25.8% of the valid respondents stated that they have been in an experience where they, and/or someone they know has been annoyed by the police, as shown in Table 1. Main independent variable The main independent variable I am manipulating is the Islam religion. This is derived from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (2014/15), which is built upon individuals self- reported religion, at the time they took part in the questionnaire. The question is shown as the following: What is your religion, even if you are not currently practicing? CODE ONE ONLY IF YES, PROBE FOR RELIGION 1. Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant, and all other Christian denominations) 2. Buddhist 3. Hindu 4. Jewish 5. Muslim 6. Sikh 7. Other (SPECIFY) 8. No religion Here, I am missing 76 responses out of the total of 33,350 people who took part in the survey. These individuals either refused to answer or claimed they did not know the answer. A frequency table of the remaining respondents can be seen in Table 2: Number of responses Frequency (% of valid cases) No 32309 97.1% Yes 965 2.9% Total 33274 100% Table 2: Frequency table of Muslim respondents As the question initially asks for their reported religions, I have created two distinct response categories. For instance, those with no self-reported religion, and those associated with other religions (Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhists), are categorised as no. Whereas, Muslims respondents are placed in the yes category. This is because I was interested in making a general comparison of Muslim and non-Muslim perception of the police, in order to carry out my analysis. Control variables In this section of my analysis, I added two further control variables, whether respondents live in urban or rural areas and their reported gender. Here, all 33,350 respondents answered the questions. This is achieved in order to explore other factors that could influence people to experience irritation from the actions or behaviour of the police. Although there was no precise question presented to determine whether a place of residence is in a rural or urban area, respondents had to describe the features of their neighbourhoods and provide their address (postcode) on the survey. As a result, rural areas come to be defined as areas where the population is less than 10,000; communities where 7,567 (22.7%) of the respondents inhabit. However, exploring gender was based on the following question: CODE THE SEX OF EACH ADULT IN THE HOUSEHOLD IF NECESSARY: Is (name) male or female? Male Female Here, the interviewer collects data on every member of a household, assuming their gender, unless they are uncertain. This data indicates that 45.1% (15,030) of the 33,350 respondents are males. Analysis Part I: In my first stage of analysis, I examine the pattern of irritation from the police, by association of the Islam religion. The link between being a Muslim and the likelihood of being annoyed by the police is analysed by using a Crosstabs, as shown in the table below: Table 3: Link between police annoyance and Muslim religion Have not been annoyed with police Have been annoyed with police Total Non-Muslim 74.0% 26.0% 100% Muslim 84.0% 16.0% 100% Total 74.2% 25.8% 100% Total number of respondents for this analysis: 8521 Although 24,829 people did not answer this question, Table 3 shows data based on the 8,521 individuals who did. 16.0% of Muslim respondents claimed that they encountered a situation where an officer annoyed them, or someone they knew, in comparison to 26.0% of non-Muslim respondents. In other words, Muslims are 10% less likely to claim to be annoyed with an officer of the law, than those of other religions; resulting in a different pattern than I predicted at the start of my analysis. Analysis Part II: Is this pattern systematic? Data suggests that members of the Muslim community are less likely to be annoyed by the way police handle situations than others. However, this could have resulted from the randomness of the sample, or randomness of how police members handle occurrences and behave towards people. So, I ran a regression with being annoyed with the police as the dependent variable, and being Muslim as an independent variable; to examine the patterns certainty. A table below discloses whether the pattern in systematic: Coefficient (B) 95% confidence interval Constant 0.260 0.251 to 0.270 Muslim -0.100 -0.157 to -0.043 Table 4: Regression table of influence of police annoyance In Table 4, we can see that the estimated effect correlates with the mean difference in the likelihood of being annoyed with the police, in the previous part; Muslims are -0.100 (-10%) less likely than those of other religions, to state that they have been really annoyed with the police at one time. In addition, the regression table produces a confidence interval around this data; -0.157 to -0.043 (-15.7% to -4.3%). Since the figure (-0.100) lies between the confidence range, this data implies that we can be quite confident that Muslims experience lower levels of police annoyance, in a systematic manner: If we could create 100 worlds, and re-run the patterns, the true value would lie within the range (-0.157 to -0.043) 95 out of 100 times. Which, therefore, suggests that being Muslim decreases an individuals likelihood of being annoyed by the police, 10% less than those of other religions. In addition, as both figures in the confidence intervals are negative and the range is narrow; this allows us to be quite confident that the pattern is systematic. However, we cannot be 100% certain. Analysis Part III: Is this pattern causal? There are other possible factors that could explain the correlation between Muslims and dissatisfaction in how police handle situations. These confounders vary from the mechanism I examined earlier; around police interactions around Muslims. For instance: An individuals area of residence could impact the way the police interact with them. It is more likely for those living in deprived areas to experience injustice from the police, and therefore, hold negative images of police officers. They are also more likely than those in urban areas to have issues with police officers, as their neighbourhoods are likely to have high rates of criminal activities. In addition, police staff may be prejudice against people living in rural areas, labelling them as criminals, and therefore, treating them in a different manner. It could also be due to gender. As female criminality is not as common as those of men, police are known to focus on male suspects. Especially as there is a high rate of young male offenders in this century, male suspects are more likely to be annoyed by the police. In order to test both hypotheses, a further regression was carried out, which includes neighbourhood area (urban) and gender (male) as control variables (as defined above). Coefficient (B) 95% confidence interval (Constant) 0.141 0.081 to 0.202 No religion 0.147 0.089 to 0.206 Christian 0.077 0.019 to 0.134 Hindu 0.012 -0.088 to 0.111 Other religion 0.109 0.021 to 0.197 Lives in urban area -0.017 -0.039 to 0.005 Male 0.073 0.054 to 0.091 Table 5: Regression model of influences of being annoyed by the police We can see the impact of my control variables, as shown in Table 5: Living in an urban area: living in urban the areas, is associated with a decrease in being annoyed by the police by 0.017 (1.7%). Although this effect seems minimal, it could increase dramatically depending on how rural/urban an area is labelled as. However, here, we cannot be confident that the pattern is systematic, due to the confidence interval containing positive and negative figures (-0.039 to 0.005). Gender: males in the community are more likely than females to be annoyed with the police, or how they handled a situation; 7.3% (0.073). Here, we can be very certain that the pattern is systematic because the confidence interval range is very narrow. In order to concentrate on my main area of interest, I pay particular attention to the difference in how the police deal with those of varying religions. We can analyse a contrast among both versions, in a chart shown below: Coefficient (B) 95% confidence interval Original model (no controls) -0.100 -0.157 to -0.043 Second model (with controls) -0.099 -0.157 to -0.042 Table 6: Comparison of effects of police annoyance on Muslims This suggests that the gap in how police interact with those of different religions, is almost identical in both models; whereas, in the original model, Muslims are 10% (-0.100) less likely to have been annoyed by the police, and 9.9% less likely when controls are added. We can still be quite confident that Muslims are less likely to have been annoyed by the police, as the confidence intervals in both remain almost unchanged, and remain narrow. This indicates some proof of causality; however, we cannot be 100% confident. While keeping reverse causality in mind, to further investigate whether there is a causal effect, we can be quite certain that it does not apply in this context. In other words, we would not infer that experiencing a dissatisfying experience with a member of the police causes an individual to become Muslim. Limitations conclusion In this research, I researched whether Muslims are more likely to have been annoyed by a member of the police. I assumed that they would be more exposed to the negative experiences and qualities of the police force, especially after 9/11. A period where Muslims would be forced to endure discrimination by society and the justice system (random searches, presumptions of terrorism, etc.). However, I came to find that my presumption was incorrect. I utilised the 2014-15 Crime Survey for England Wales study. This typically involves a questionnaire that examines the degree of crime and victimisation in areas of England and Wales. From this survey, I discovered that: Muslims are less likely to be in a situation, where they became irritated by the police, in comparison to Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and those who do not follow any religion. Also, I found that we can be quite convinced that the pattern is systematic. When allowing for the possibility of alternative factors impacting Muslims experiences with the police, income and gender, the results of their experiences remains roughly identical. There is little or no possibility of reverse causality being possible in this context, as interactions with the police would not necessarily cause someone to follow a certain religion. However, a few limitations can be found in this study, altering the way findings are gathered and construed. For instance, there could be other factors that clarify the link between being of Muslim religion and being irritated with the police. In this case, Muslims may be less likely to report their victimisation, especially reporting against a police officer. In addition, the Crime Survey for England Wales may be less available to Muslims than those of other religions, creating a bias or unrepresentative sample. Another limitation is in the way the question is asked; towards you or someone you know. This question includes others interactions with the police (or someone you know), therefore, although a respondent did not personally feel irritated by the police at a given point, the would report some form of police annoyance. Therefore, data collected could be inaccurate, as their responses could affect the way the statements are interpreted. As a result, data would suggest that those of other religions are more likely to have been annoyed by the police. Although certainty of a causal effect is not definite, my inspection of the data indicates that a causal effect of religion (being Muslim) on how the police interact with individuals does exist, in some manner. Bibliography Cainkar, L. (2002). No Longer Invisible: Arab and Muslim Exclusion after September 11. Middle East Report, [Online] 32(224), pp. 22-23. Available from: http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006context=socs_fac [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017]. Jikeli, G. (2011). DISCRIMINATION OF EUROPEAN MUSLIMS: SELF-PERCEPTIONS, EXPERIENCES AND DISCOURSES OF VICTIMHOOD. 1st edn. [ebook] Nova Science Publishers, Inc., pp. 1-3. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gunther_Jikeli2/publication/289972827_Discrimination_of_European_Muslims_Self-Perceptions_Experiences_and_Discourses_of_Victimhood/links/56b2596708aed7ba3fedcded.pdf [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017]. Rowe, M. (2013). Policing beyond Macpherson. 1st edn. Routledge, 2013, pp. 109-111.   Ã‚  

iceman - preservation Essay -- essays research papers fc

1. Explain why the iceman was so well preserved? ( source one) It is said that a frozen body will stay preserved over hundreds, even thousand of years. During the first stage of investigations Austrian archaeologist Konrad Spindler researched the layout which had proved that the iceman’s body position and placement of weapons were preserved in the same position from when the Iceman had died, it had also been proved that the body was initially covered in a thin layer of snow which had helped complete the freeze drying process before it turned into ice. The body had been so well preserved because of the depth that the Iceman was actually lying in the ground, which was near the watershed (watershed meaning a line of high land where streams on one side flow into one river or sea and streams on the other side flow into another.) This meant that a glacier would be able to develop above him throughout the next millennia without moving his position down hill. In this position he was able to remain buried, frozen, covered and protected by the cold over a period of 5,300 years as the worlds oldest, best preserved natural mummy. 2a) What purpose do you think the tattoo served? (Source 2) Scientists believe that the Iceman’s tattoo’s were first applied in 3,200 BC, the first evidence of acupuncture. Based on this information I believe that this ‘cruciform tattoo’ was marked on the iceman’s body in order to serve as a medical and therapeutic purpose, as it was discovered that he suffered from Acute Arthritis, Worms and Diarrhoea. Dr Frank Bahr (President of the German Academy for Acupuncture) who studies the trends and patterns of the iceman’s tattoos, believes that the cruciform, meaning cross-shape, tattoo and a master point tattoo on his back were applied in order to treat rheumatism. Bahr says â€Å""These points would still be selected by the best acupuncturists today." "It is the most common combination for treating rheumatic illness." Bahr also discovered 15 other smaller groups of tattoos marked on the Iceman’s back and legs which form an ancient acupuncture chart developed in central Europe, 2000 years before china. Bahr states â€Å"I was amazed , 80% of the points correspond to those used in Acupuncture today.† 2b) How does this influence previous historical concept of body art? Body art is one of the oldest forms of creative expression ... ...le to be Bias as there is no variety from where and who the opinions come from, they are one sided views which no one has attempted to prove or disprove in this particular article. 3c) Who is the main audience or who is source 10 aimed at? Source 10 is mainly aimed at an audience of an older mature group both male and female who particularly take an interest in science and history as the article has been printed in â€Å"Science Today† . Bibliography Konarad Spindler (1995) The Man In The Ice, Orion Books, London Chapter 13 Page 69-71 Chapter 15 Page 77-81 Chapter 17 Page 80-83 Toni Hurley, Philippa Medcalf, Jan Rolph (2000) Antiquity 1 Second Edition, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne Victoria, Australia Chapter 1 Page 5 Chapter 10 Page 103, 104, 113 Scott Fetzer (1991) The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc, Chicago London Sydney Toronto Reference - B number 2 page 648 Left page right column. http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/otzi.htm Last updated 2000 http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/iceman/iceman.html Last updated 2005 http://www.fashion-era.com/jewellery.htm Last updated 1999 http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2.html Last updated 2003

Technology in the Mathematics Classroom Essay -- Computer Technology

Technology in the Mathematics Classroom While reading the NCTM summary on Technology, it is to my understanding that use of technology is at the teacher’s discretion. Therefore, the teacher is charged with the responsibility of preparing students before venturing into the field of technology. Essentially, students should be able to grasp and understand basic concepts and ideas, before intertwining computers or calculators into a lesson to further explore the concepts in said lesson. When visiting the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan website, I did not find any information on how technology should or could be integrated with mathematics. Their entire site was devoted to integrating technology but simply left an open forum for ideas. Now the ideas submitted by teachers were interesting, however, the matter still remains on whether a teacher feels that their students are prepared and receptive to integrate technology with a lesson or idea. I believe a teacher would be less inclined to use technology especially given that no ideas have b... Technology in the Mathematics Classroom Essay -- Computer Technology Technology in the Mathematics Classroom While reading the NCTM summary on Technology, it is to my understanding that use of technology is at the teacher’s discretion. Therefore, the teacher is charged with the responsibility of preparing students before venturing into the field of technology. Essentially, students should be able to grasp and understand basic concepts and ideas, before intertwining computers or calculators into a lesson to further explore the concepts in said lesson. When visiting the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan website, I did not find any information on how technology should or could be integrated with mathematics. Their entire site was devoted to integrating technology but simply left an open forum for ideas. Now the ideas submitted by teachers were interesting, however, the matter still remains on whether a teacher feels that their students are prepared and receptive to integrate technology with a lesson or idea. I believe a teacher would be less inclined to use technology especially given that no ideas have b...

Single Sex versus Co-ed

Single-Sex versus Co-education Education is very important for both boys and girls, but the place they are being educated in is very arguable. Nowadays, it has been noticed that in a single-sex educational experience students exhibit an eagerness to participate in discussions. In Australia, the percentage of students attending single-sex secondary schools was 55% of boys and 54% of girls, in 1985. However, by 1995 the proportion of students attending had dropped to 41% of boys and 45% of girls.Let us start by onsidering the fact that studying in separate school, boys and girls, can indisputably concentrate on their studies and not get distracted easily by the opposite sex classmates. In addition to this, some religious and traditional families might be keener to educate their children in separate schools. Generally, students of single- sex schools perform better than those at co-ed schools. On the other hand, it could be better for boys and girls to study together since they should b e taught fairly. Communication plays a big role in co-education schools.It helps pupils to communicate and socialize and it is easier for them in the future as they get to interact with others while working, in colleges and universities, etc. Moreover, students at co-ed schools learn to interact better with the other gender. After weighing the pros and cons, I would say that we live in a mixed world where interactions between both genders is compulsory, whether it was a debate at work or a group discussion among co-workers. The ability to speak out without intimidation is a vital feature in each individual. Written And Discussed By: JOY

Hidden messages of objects of African art Essay

In our modern world works of art play a role which is quite different from the role they used to play in the past. Indeed, in ancient times the craftsmanship of masters who produced utensils necessary for daily needs was already the source of art, because their products were among few vehicles of self-expression. As the result, many of the objects of the ancient art were simultaneously the objects of use, like vessels for liquids, different decorated tools, etc. However, with time and along with the social developments at least since Hellenistic culture art in the Western world was becoming more a means of self-expression of man and of our human striving for beauty. This process, while preserving the attraction to objects of practical utilization endowed with artistic qualities, also led to the separation of decorative art into a means to achieve aesthetic satisfaction. At a certain moment, art began to be integrated into the approaches towards creation of living spaces of human beings, and, importantly, the works of art began to be valued for their own sake. Since the industrial revolution, when technologies enabled mass production of products, the role of art in the Western world underwent further transformation art because capitalism initiated â€Å". . . the bringing of art . . . into subordinate relation . . .†[1] Since those times there appeared a tendency to perceive works of art as a kind of modern icons enclosed in museums for public viewing. Thus, â€Å"the religion of art . . . was born†[2], and art as a consecrated phenomenon has been by now somewhat isolated from our everyday lives. In this regard, one of the most important tasks of museums is to find the most effective ways to immerse people into artistic environment and to teach them not only to contemplate objects with their eyes, but as well to feel them with all their senses, as if reliving experiences of those human beings who created artistic objects. This task becomes especially challenging when it comes to the presentation of artifacts of cultures that significantly differ from our own. To see such challenges we may turn our attention to art of Africa, which contains a lot of exotic elements for modern viewers. One of the most important qualities of art in African cultures is its focus on immediate human experiences. In addition to racial differences among the ethnic groups of Africa that are reflected in their approach towards depiction of human beings, works of African art in most cases also look so strange for modern viewers because they represent world views and unique experiences (already fixed by addition of â€Å"and unique experiences†) of their creators which are really different from ours. Indeed, African art builds upon heritage of several millennia of various cultural traditions embodied in such diverse artistic artifacts as sculptures created for ritual purposes, wooden and golden monuments, ornaments made of silver and gold, unique garments, masks, and other artifacts. On grounds of this diversity, it is very hard to make generalizations about the African culture. However, there are some common elements that can be viewed as main motives and themes of African art. For example, it is a well known fact that African natural environment is very harsh in comparison to other regions of the world. Consequently, for African denizens the answer to the need to maintain population has traditionally been the bearing of numerous children. Therefore, African women are primarily associated with the symbol of life, because the existence and integrity of families and clans depends on one hand upon ability of woman to give birth to children, and on other hand upon her role as supporter of old parents and upon her mission in many African societies of contacting with spirits of the ancestors through prayers and ritual offerings. On ground of this, many themes in African art are in one way or another linked with symbols of fertility of women, of soil as another source of life, and of animals and plants. For example, many African shrines are dedicated to spirits that are believed to provide fertility, and they often contain some sculptures or other art forms that symbolize fertility. In a more direct fashion, in many African cultures there is an abundance of art objects that directly depict pregnant women. In this way we can see that African art has traditionally been influenced by specifics of its environment. However, one of the Western approaches to African art lies in our attempts to find out whether Africans make art for its own sake, and this approach may be somewhat misleading. At this point we may recall our considerations of the development of art in the Western world when until relatively recent times art was not meant to be placed in museums as it is often the case today, but rather was integrated in the life of society, for instance in religious and even political practices. In this connection, African art seems to have retained the ability to keep itself close to everyday concerns of people as far as it aims to reflect upon the most urgent concerns of African people. The objects of African art bristle with expressive emotions of their masters who with the help of objects of art try to investigate their relation with the world, and who through art communicate their striving to survive in a tough environment. Therefore, African art can hardly be separated from the lives of people who created it, and this unity seems to be stronger than in the Western artistic tradition.[3] One of the very exciting exhibitions where we can find beautiful exemplars of African art is the exhibition devoted to Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Let us with the help of this exhibition explore how modern viewers perceive objects of quite a different culture, and whether this exhibition manages to make the displayed objects of art speak to spectators in their native language. For this task we may pick several objects representative of the African culture as far as they reflect upon the main traditional themes of past and present African art. It must be pointed out from the outset that very often there are no firm dates for many of objects of African art. This is because African artists neither signed nor dated their creations. However, as many pieces of African art are made of wood, which is not a very long-lasting material, especially in African environment, it is thought that most of the wooden pieces of African art can probably be dated as belonging to the end of the nineteenth or the beginning of the twentieth century. Of course, aside from wood many objects are made of stone, clay, bronze, silver, gold, ivory, and terracotta. Such objects are long-lasting and those of them that have been found in known archeological contexts and in properly investigated archaeological locations have more or less fixed dates attributed to them. I propose to choose the following objects for the further research: A seated figure of a male from the thirteenth century, which offers an impressive image of anxiety that speaks directly to viewers` emotions (figure 1 in Appendix). This object originates from Inland Niger Delta region, the site named Jenne-jeno, which is the most ancient known city of sub-Saharan Africa. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired this object in 1981 as a bequest from Joseph Pulitzer, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Rogers Funds. (already fixed) A memorial head of a ruler of the Akan ethnic group from Western Africa from the seventeenth century that reflects idealized notions of African people (figure 2 in Appendix). This object`s origin was Hemang city in the Twifo region of Ghana, the land of the Akan ethnic group. It was initially a part of Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection and was given to museum by Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1967. A pendant mask dated of the sixteenth century, which has an interesting history and therefore can enhance our understanding of the role of art in African cultures (figure 3 in Appendix). This object originates from Benin, a culturally important region populated by Edo speaking people that is a part of southern and northern The mask has a rich history of ownership, as it belonged to Brenda Z. Seligman, Prof. C. G. Seligman, and Sir Ralph Moor. In the end, it also became a part of Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection and was gifted to museum by Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1972. (I`m afraid that if more detailed info is needed on provenance, the only way to get it is to visit the museum and find out, because officially Metropolitan Museum states only what we have mentioned above, i.e. that â€Å"it belonged to Brenda Z. Seligman, Prof. C. G. Seligman, and Sir Ralph Moor. In the end, it also became a part of Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection and was gifted to museum by Nelso n A. Rockefeller in 1972†) Of course, there exists a diverse and comprehensive body of research dedicated to such a complex phenomenon as African art. Most of the books dedicated to this topic attempt to integrate African art with social and ethnographic peculiarities of African cultures. I believe that this is a rightful path to follow, because if we try to comprehend the meaning of African objects of art while ignoring their context we risk not grasping their true meaning that was assigned to them by their creators. Among books that provide such an integrated approach to the research of African art we may highlight several. One of them is the work History of Art in Africa by Monica Blackmun Visona and numerous co-authors. This book is not that much a strictly formal research but rather a detailed guide that increases our understanding of artistic forms created in different regions of Africa by different peoples and cultures, especially those of the Sub-Saharan areas. From the academic point of view, by means of a combination of modern research of various forms of African arts and their attempts to apply those findings to different geographic regions and different times of African history authors had made a significant contribution to the literature devoted to the history of art. Another relevant work that deals with African art is the book edited by Tom Phillips Africa: The Art of a Continent. It is one of the most thorough general works on African art that provides detailed overview of art forms and styles, and at the same time gives extensive description of African tribes and their influence on regionalized art forms. In this way, this book is helpful as a reference for those who would like to systemize the knowledge of African art that one already has, and to localize cultural centers of African art. In addition to the mentioned books, the work of Sidney Littlefield Kasfir Contemporary African Art is the worthy piece of reasearch that treats the transformations in African art in the latter half of the 20th century. It is a very helpful direction of research because, among other things, it shows how the traditional forms of African art are reevaluated by contemporary African artists themselves. The high level of scholarship of the author and his masterful ability to tie modernity with history co-operate to paradoxically make this book relevant for those who aim to better understand not only modern African art, but its traditional forms as well, which is the important achievement for this author. Each of the mentioned books contains some outstanding points, but at the same time none of them can pretend to be a fully comprehensive guide to African art, if it is at all possible to make a such a guide. But as all those books cover somewhat different aspects of African art, I believe that our task is to try to combine their findings with our immediate impressions from the contemplation of the objects of African art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to achieve the highest possible level of comprehension of the uniqueness of African cultural heritage. This aim leads me to a more general task which I will try to accomplish, namely to see whether it is possible for a museum as a kind of â€Å"modern cultural church† of our society to present objects of an unfamiliar culture in such a way as to enable viewers to really penetrate beyond the objects` material form and recreate in their minds experiences similar to those of artists who embodied their feelings in artistic creations. This task presupposes some psychological research, of which my own impressions from the exhibition will be the object, and also considerations about the general level of successfulness of the exhibit as measured by visible impressions of its other visitors. The first object of our analysis is a seated figure of a male. Due to the age of this piece of art and the fact that African artists did not inscribe their names on their creations it is impossible to know who exactly was the author of this object. However, we know that this sculpture originates from a location known as Jenne-jeno, which was the most ancient known city of sub-Saharan Africa. This was a center that thrived around the ninth century AD, but declined by the beginning of the fifteenth century leaving numerous artifacts made of forged iron, cast brass, and clay. While performed archaeological digs give only a vague glimpse of the true role of art in that region, the available heritage of the old culture of Jenne-jeno definitely shows that artists of the urban society of that time possessed highly sophisticated artistic skills. For example, this particularly impressive figure, with its legs crossed, its chest almost pressed against a leg, and its head touching its knee, transmits the sensation of anxiety and stress, or, alternatively, of a full immersion in a prayer. This frozen emotional load of the sculpture bespeaks the motives of a creator of this piece of art that apparently were aimed at expressing intense emotional experiences that could arise from such events as ritual commemoration of the death of loved people. The method of direct portrayal of emotions as if written on the face of the figure serves to actually dissolve boundaries of time and make this object universally understood. (well, sometimes we have to defend our position, and in this case it actually could be both that the figure is tense or relaxed in prayer, and it`s not a contradiction. In fact, I checked the website of the Metropolitan and, ironically, there it is also said that this figure â€Å"simultaneously suggests the knotted tension of anxiety and the sublime absorption of deep prayer†) At the same time, sculptures like this one despite their concreteness of representation could simultaneously serve as a symbolic image of ancestors or mythic heroes, in this way existing in realms of both the material and spiritual, and therefore most probably were employed in ritual ceremonies. Indeed, the shaved head of this figure and its state of self-immersion are somewhat symbolized and remind of mourning practices that are still used by many cultures of sub-Saharan Africa.[4] In this way, this object enables us to suppose that such practices were as well common 700 years ago among peoples of the Inland Niger Delta. But, of course, due to the mentioned scarcity of our knowledge of the true role of art in the region of Jenne-jeno we cannot convincingly limit the role of this figure exclusively to mourning practices. In terms of materials used, this object is made of terracotta, a brownish baked earth clay that is a durable and easily workable substance. Usually, found terracotta figures have a lot of detail, because this material was widely used in African art for production of bodily ornaments and jewelry. This sculpture is not an exception as can be seen from its physical appearance and its surface qualities. For example, the technique used for the creation of this object enabled the author to make the parallel lines of knobs and dots on the back of the figure in such a way as to give it a heightened sense of relief. By the way, such knobs and dots were employed in African art quite often, sometimes covering the whole space of human figures. It is thought that this element in art was supposed to stand for signs of some kind of sicknesses that abound in African environment. [5] Combining the mentioned aspects of this object of art, I have to admit that I was greatly impressed by its overall look, and I noticed that the general response of other museum visitors was similar as people were apparently staying near this object for a longer time than on average. I believe the reason for this is the skillful work of the artist who managed to embody in the material shape a lot of emotional load, and therefore reached a powerful effect. But what made me especially excited about this object was the realization of the fact that for the author of this work its message was most probably personally experienced, and therefore this object conforms to one of the most important tasks of art, which lies in the creation of universal space of communication that transcends bounds of time and cultures. The second object of our research is a memorial head of a ruler dated of the seventeenth century, and for which we also do not know the author. This terracotta object is a decorated portrait that depicts a serene man with accurately balanced facial features and striped long neck. This form of African art belongs to what is called in some West-African cultures as â€Å"mma†, an idealized image that depicts the positive qualities that were expected from a ruler. Therefore, one of the main motives for the creation of this object was its involvement in ritual procedures. In fact, it is known that such portraits were crafted posthumously and were left along with similar images of preceding rulers in special sacred cemeteries and shrines called â€Å"mmaso† that had to keep the memory and the history of lineage of noble members of African societies. Additionally, this practice of posthumous pictorial commemoration of rulers also extended to members of his court and his servants, who were supposed to continue their service for their ruler after his death as well. â€Å"Mmaso† cemeteries were the places of regular offerings and prayers aimed at the constant support of the deceased ancestors.[6] On these grounds, it stands to reason that artists who created portraits such as the one we are studying were adding a great deal of symbolism to their creations. Indeed, the general appearance of this object is such that for me it was hard to imagine the person who it was intended to copy, and I suspect that the exact physical resemblance might not have been the main concern of the author of this memorial portrait. This head is also made from terracotta, and is decorated with fragments of quartz. But in contrast to the previous terracotta object that depicts a figure in a very plastic and emotional way, this object looks as if it was consciously processed by the artist without excessive modification of the original terracotta sphere. It seems that the facial features of the man float above the rough material they are inscribed on, and radiate a kind and positive irony, which to my judgement testifies to a very subtle technique used by the artist that is on a par with the best recognized masterpieces of fine arts. At the same time, it seems to me that this object of art retains some mystery, as if the closed eyes of the man say that we cannot see the world that his eyes had seen, and that we might have to become one of his contemporaries to fully perceive the world view of this ancient ruler and the artist who immortalized him. (Hm, it`s really hard to say what the professor meant by putting â€Å"!† along this portion of the text. . . Do you know exactly?) Interestingly, many people in the museum behaved as if feeling in some subconscious way the ultimate futility of efforts to fully comprehend the message of this object, because I noticed that in most cases visitors did not spend much time near this memorial head. But I believe that with this work the artist reached perhaps the most important artistic effect, that of its ability to intrigue truly attentive viewers, and therefore make them wonder about the hidden aspects of the culture that gave birth to this object. The last target of our research is a mask, the object strongly associated with African art. And, indeed, this mask had a special meaning for its creators. It is dated of the sixteenth century, and in contrast to previous anonymous works this artifact can give us some hints as to its artistic origin. In fact, this mask is thought to have been created in the beginning of the sixteenth century for the king of Benin Esigie. The mask depicts the elaborated and thoughtful portrait of the mother of the king, and it was probably used in rites that honored the king`s mother. From this we can guess that this mask was created by some court artist specifically for the ritual purposes, moreover that even today in many African cultures similar pendant masks are always involved in yearly rituals of spiritual purification. To reinforce this assumption we should point out that this mask is primarily made of ivory, the material that in Benin is associated with the white color that symbolizes ritual purity of the god of the sea named Olokun. This god was also viewed as a spiritual guard of kings, so this mask could bear several meanings.[7] In addition to ivory as a primary material, this mask is decorated with metal mosaic, has carved superficial incisions in the skin of its forehead, and holds below the chin beads made of coral. Interestingly, the collar and the diadem of the mask contain images of mudfish and bearded Portuguese. Mudfish live both in the water and on land, and thus it stands for the dual nature of the king who is simultaneously human and divine. On the other hand, Portuguese, who arrived from the sea, were perceived as coming from the spiritual realm. In this way, this mask integrates in it numerous symbols of the African culture. In general, this object of art conveys a somewhat different impression than previous ones. First of all, its high level of detail draws attention and begs for an especially careful inspection from the side of a viewer. On the other hand, despite having many types of decorations this mask nevertheless looks very integral and thematically complete. Moreover, among the objects of our research this mask is the most realistic one in terms of its resemblance to an actual human being. But at the same time it seemed to me that maybe because of its portrait-like look many people fail to notice the depth of its symbolical meaning of which the facial form of the mask is merely a small part. Thus, we can see that African artists already long time ago fully possessed the skill of integration of multilayered symbolical messages in a work of art, which uncovers the richness of their world views. On ground of our observations, we may conclude that museum exhibits can really give visitors a chance to relive experiences of cultures as different from ours as African ones are. However, the expansion of our cultural awareness is a task that perhaps to a larger degree depends on a viewer himself. Indeed, if a viewer just walks by the exhibit, she may get only a very limited impression of African art which may only confirm some formulaic notions that many of us have about it, like that there are a lot of masks, that objects of African art are of a strange look, etc. Even I must admit that without the deeper investigation of the history and hidden messages of the objects of African art that we had researched I would most probably also fail to see the true meaning of the works of African art, because a superficiality of judgement reduces the artistic creations merely to their material form and ignores their spiritual connotation. On a more practical side, I would recommend that in relation to exhibits devoted to exotic forms of art, of which African art is a good example, museums should not merely provide a passive presentation of artistic objects, but rather should take more proactive steps in terms of attraction of visitors` attention towards hidden aspects of art that may defy superficial attitude. For example, this purpose may be achieved through organization of publicly open regular thematic seminars on new historical, ethnographic and iconographic research devoted to African and other exotic forms of art, and through advertised presentations of new objects obtained by museum. All of this would help put what otherwise might be perceived as isolated individual objects of art into a larger cultural context, and therefore might increase public awareness of the specifics and values of art of different regions of the world.    Bibliography: â€Å"Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas†. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste. The Tribal Arts of Africa. Thames & Hudson, 2002. Brettell, Richard R. Modern Art 1851-1929 : Capitalism and Representation. Oxford University Press, 1999. Drewal, Henry John, Pemberton, John III, Abiodun, Rowland, and Wardwell, Allen, (Ed.). Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. Harry N Abrams, 1990. Ezra, Kate. Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Kecskesi, Maria, and Vajda, Lazlo. African Masks: The Barbier- Mueller Collection. Prestel Publishing, 1998. Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. Contemporary African Art. Thames & Hudson, 2000. Mills, C. Wright. Power, Politics, and People: The Collected Essays of C. Wright Mills Oxford University Press, 1967. Phillips, Tom, (Ed.). Africa: The Art of a Continent. Prestel Publishing, 1999. Thompson, Robert Farris. African Art in Motion: Icon and Act in the Collection of Katherine Coryton White. University of California Press, 1974. Turner, Victor Witter. Revelation and divination in Ndembu ritual (Symbol, myth, and ritual). Cornell University Press, 1975. Visona, Monica Blackmun, Poynor, Robin, Cole, Herbert M., Harris, Michael D., Abiodun, Rowland, and Blier, Suzanne Preston. History of Art in Africa. Prentice Hall, 2003. Willett, Frank. African Art. Thames & Hudson, 2002. Works Cited: Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Kecskesi, Maria, and Vajda, Lazlo. African Masks: The Barbier- Mueller Collection. Prestel Publishing, 1998. Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. Contemporary African Art. Thames & Hudson, 2000. Mills, C. Wright. Power, Politics, and People: The Collected Essays of C. Wright Mills. Oxford University Press, 1967. Paz, Octavio. Convergences: Essays on Art and Literature. Harvest/HBJ Book, 1991. Phillips, Tom, (Ed.). Africa: The Art of a Continent. Prestel Publishing, 1999. Visona, Monica Blackmun, Poynor, Robin, Cole, Herbert M., Harris, Michael D., Abiodun, Rowland, and Blier, Suzanne Preston. History of Art in Africa. Prentice Hall, 2003. (As you could see, I already have removed Paz from Bibliography)