Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Conclusion 14 Reference 15 Bibliography 17 Introduction The project seeks to bring forth the human resource management strategies in the organization and its alignment with the short and long term business objectives of the firm. Changing business environments coupled with increase in competitive pressures have caused the company’s difficulty in sustaining in the market. Comprising of a total of 200 employees the company is faced with difficulty in managing its workforce efficiently. The main areas of human resource management strategies which have been falling short of meeting the company’s present and future business needs are explored in the project. This includes exploring its recruitment strategies, compensation strategies, training and development programs, performance management programs etc. This is followed by the explanation of how the key human resource management strategies need to be changed in the light of appropriate theories and practices. Based on the shortcomings of the strategies suitable changed have been recommended for the organization. Task 1 Current human resource management practices and linkage with the present and future needs of the business It is crucial that human resource management practices are linked with organizational goals and objectives both for the present as well as the future. The following section would analyze the HR practices followed in ABC Engine Components and identify their relevance in the context of meeting the present and future business demands in the organization. Firstly, the current recruitment strategies seem to be falling short of the future business needs and requirements in the organization. Because of the existence of a highly demanding and competitive environment, it was important that the skill requirements were changed and the current productivity level of the staffs were heightened. However, Gordon Watson, who was the Chief Executive, was found stating that the staffs would not be swapped for anyone else. This is found to be a shortcoming because with the changed in business requirements, skill requirements must also change which means that new staffs need to be employed while older on es must be either retrained or the workforce must be downsized. The retention strategies of the organization also seem inadequate as the employee turnover rate in the technical and management remain remains as high as 35-40%. The company seems to have little effective strategies for retaining employees where management and technical skills remain short in the market and are often poached by the competitors who offer them with better terms and conditions (Brown, 2011, p.102). The fact that ABC was unable to attract or retain employees to other competitors reveals its poor compensation program and structure. Despite that fact that there was little discontentment among employees there was high attrition rates in the organization which shows shortfall in the compensation structures which happens to be the key factor towards attracting and retaining employees. Also the compensation structures and policies must be such as to enhance performance and productivity. In this case there was no form of incentive in the organization which could improve employees’ productivity or employee involvement. The lack of variable pay can be regarded as a shortfall in the compensation structures to meet productivity goals in future (Graham & Roth, 2008, p.12). A proper performance management system is a prerequisite for ensuring high performance of employees. In the highly competitive environment in which the company operates, it is important that high performance of employees is maintained so as to ensure that quality standards are maintained and the company does not lose to competitors. The lack

Film and Literature Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Film and Literature Comparison - Essay Example Brent Staples' "A Brother's Murder" first appeared in an edition of New York Time Magazine in 1986 in a column for personal essays called "About Me". Brent writes articles and editorials for the New York Times even at present and even now he deals with life in the streets. However, he is yet to find a solution to the questions he had raised and the other problems he had discussed in "A Brother's Murder".The various themes of the essay include diversity, multiculturalism, family, community, politics, but above all, it focuses on the individual-society interplay. The sense of place is a significant theme of the essay. We can locate more than one definition of place in this essay. We are informed in the fourth paragraph that Brent's brother, Blake, loved the very street which Brent shunned. Brent never found himself at home in the environment in which they grew up. It was Chester, Pa., a threatening, poverty-stricken, industrial slum southwest of Philadelphia. Therefore, he left his hometown after college to join the graduate school and became a journalist later on whereas Blake rejected a decent life and gave in to the violent life in the street. Blake was only 22 years old when he was murdered. Wearing a mask, the murderer fired six times at Blake and then fled in a car. The man who killed him was young too. He was only 24. Perhaps no one would believe that these two used to be the closest of friends. What is most shocking is the reason for the murder. In fact, it was one of the most unreasonable killings. The reason was as trivial as an argument over a girlfriend. One would like to know how a friend can so unnaturally kill another over such a trifling matter! This behavioral disorder is the gift of the society in which these two were brought up.

Akhism, Guild system in the ottoman empire

Akhism, Guild system in the ottoman empire GUILD SYSTEM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: FROM AKHISM TO GEDIK SYSTEM Akhism which is an organization founded by the Turkish people in Anatolia, is an important guild system for the Ottoman State when we take its regulatory role (of the social order) into consideration. In this paper, I will give detailed information about Akhism until its removal, including its origin, its importance, its guild organization, its norms and its roles in the society. Akhism; being an Arabic word which meant â€Å"brotherhood†, was the name given to the unions of artisans (esnaf) and craftsmen (zanaatà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±) between the 13th and 20th centuries. Akhi organizations were the associations which have been training their own craft members, which have been organizing and controlling the economic constitutions of the society (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989:1) and as in all pre-capitalist societies, in Ottoman State, production was organized within the guild organization which had four levels as â€Å"errand boy† (à §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±rak), â€Å"apprentice† (yamak), â€Å"qualified workman† (usta), and â€Å"master† (Belge, 2005:312). Western orientalists say that the origins of the Akhism go back to the Islamic Futuwah tradition. The Arabic word Futuwah means youthful qualities. These youthful qualities are courage, generosity, hospitality and being skilled in all kinds of physical exercises (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay,1989:2-3). Although some Western social scientists think that Futuwah and Akhism have the same meaning and the same role, Ã…Å ¾anal Gà ¼Ãƒ §là ¼ (2007) think that they are different. They say that although Futuwah is more authoritarian and more religion based, Akhism is an organization which regulates the working conditions and every kind of needs of the artisans; and which is existing within the society, not being separated from it. Akhi organization which is based on the rules put by Islam scholars tries to provide ethical and well-behaved lifestyle to the artisans; and to ameliorate their craft level to a certain degree to protect standardization. Akhism is seen as the consequence of the service lacks of the state such as supplying security to the individuals, to their properties and to their honor; altering communication and education system, and providing equality of rights where there is not a strong juridical system. It is said that in Anatolia, Turkish people shaped and developed Futuwah organization and formed Akhism which is more different than Futuwah and which is proper to Turkish people. Although Futuwah tradition was more authoritarian about religion; and was commanding to the artisans to obey to the Islamic authority; Akhis had a big deal at the issues of economy and politics besides the morality. While Futuwah tradition gave more importance to the individual virtues and military characteristics; Akhism was an organization which helped Ottoman State to put military and administrative institutions in order and which constituted artisan and craftsmen corporations (CaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989: 1). The contribution of the guild system in the Ottoman States foundation period may not be despised (Belge, 2005:312). In Anatolia, the foundation of the Akhi organizations was the result of political and socio-economical necessities. At the 13th century, Turks who arrived in Anatolia from Turkestan for escaping from Mongolian invasion formed craft and commercial organizations among themselves to protect their solidarity and to survive amongst the native Byzantine craftsmen. They thought that they could exist only if they sell high quality and standard goods, in a sense by improving their own craft and commercial organizations. The organizations adopted the futuwwatnamas religious and moral rules as their laws and this led to the foundation of Akhism with the leadership of Akhi Evran and Abul-Hakaik Mahmud. Later, Akhi organizations were divided into 32 main branches of trade or art and fixed 740 Principles in their futuwwatnamas to form the moral and religious life. Every Akhi had to know 124 necessary Principles (Cagatay, 1989:48-51). According to Koprà ¼là ¼ (1984), the artisans who were members of these organizations had to obey to the strict moral rules. There were strong moral and solidarity ties among the members. Besides to protect their common interests, they were organized to provide moral control to each other in their all kind of worldly activities (economic, social). This statement shows us that Akhi organizations were important controlling mechanisms. Every branch of craft which was joined to an Akhi organization was recognizing a superior Protector and was accepting a chain of Protectors for the trade (for the tradesmen). The organization of Akhi was set up independently in each town and villages. But, they maintained their relationship with other towns and other villages. In each branch of Akhi organization which is a guild organization, Akhi Baba was the chairman of craftsmen of the guilds situated in the region (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989: 201). Fuat (1977) said that in 14th century, as Akhi organizations played a part in structuring military and administrative institutions of Ottoman state and in organizing social life within the society, to be a member of these organizations was accepted to be honored. There were also sultans who were Akhis such as Orhan Ghazi, Sultan I.Murat. Ottoman state was supporting Akhis and was providing them some privileges. In his book of â€Å"Ahilik nedir?†, ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1990) mentioned that Akhism was a multi-dimensional social organization. Its social roles may be grouped as below; To establish a hierarchical order based on four stages such as â€Å"errand boy† (à §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±rak), â€Å"apprentice† (yamak), â€Å"qualified workman† (usta), and â€Å"master† in workplaces. Members have to be stayed a definite time in each stage to be educated. The ties between the members have to be sincere as the relationship of fathers and sons and the craft has to be based on strong moral and occupational basis Producers and consumers self-interests and relationships have to be organized in a way which will not cause any problem between them To establish an organization which provides meeting and guest houses in all cities and all villages. Fuat (1977) mentioned that Akhi Baba who was the chairman of the craftsmen (of the guild) of a region and who was democratically elected by the members was responsible of making the zawia built. His commands and his warnings had to be obeyed. They had the administration power where the Sultan was absent. Zawias were places where religious and moral books were read, where Akhis were enjoying with dance or music. This shows that Akhis were not only religious peoples. According to ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1990), Akhi organization which was religion (Islam) based was a solid occupational and moral system. Their solidarity and their helping each other within the Akhi organization caused their superiority over the non-Muslims artisans and craftsmen. This situation continued until the second half of the 15th century. Belge (2005) said that when the society began to put its own rules; guilds had been transformed to social strata and they had lost their autonomy and authority; and they became limited to the production function. ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1989) mentioned that Fatih Sultan Mehmed eliminated their political and moral power in the cities because of their expanded authority in the empire. The original Akhi spirit has been lost among the Ottoman craft-guilds by the end of 16th century, and they became occupational organizations which impose discipline to artisans and craftsmen. They lost their autonomy and became bound to the local representatives of c entral government (qadis) and then, qadis had the authority to choose Akhi leaders (Akhi Babas). According to Sencer (1999), although they hold some economic privileges and a degree of control over their members and production, they lost their autonomy and their administrative power. ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1989) said that some craft branches rejected heavy regulations of the state and state tolerated some of them because of their importance to the economy. Thus, some craft-guilds such as leather and shoe trade could continue their occupation and they preserved their rules and their Akhi Baba tradition. So, we may say that when the state guaranteed its power, took the authority back from the Akhi organization and this caused the end of the privileges of Akhism. Guild was a typical medieval organization system; it was a conservative organization with its own logic. As their production was demand based, they had not a market problem. They had not an aim to expand their market. Although it was acceptable to have some qualified workmen (usta) who were seen as better and who were preferred for some needs; guild organization and logic behind it was preventing competition between craftsmen, especially in economic issues. This equality was functioning as law thanks to the fear of being opposed to the ethical rules which were accepted to be represented by their pir (who had started their craft work and who is thought to be a prophet) to whom they had a strong commitment (Belge, 2005:313). Esnaf (artisan) was the plural of the word class. At these times, in every war and expedition, there was a group of artisan and prostitutes who were moving with the army for logistics and some services. Evliya Celebi who had the best writings about the Ottoman guilds said that in 17th century; there were also thief and pickpocket guilds. He explained that this situation was not astonishing by saying in pre-capitalist times; Ottoman State was ordering people to be a member of an organization, to be in solidarity with the other members in this organization; and to be under the surveillance of this organization for having the right of free circulation in the city (Belge, 2005:313). This shows us that Akhi guilds had a responsibility to shape social life in cities by taking control of their members. After the 17th century, as Ottoman Empire was expanding to the new lands and as the non-Muslim population was increasing, the number of non- sectarian occupational organizations augmented. In this situation, Ottoman state wanted to erase the distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims. By a reform in 1727, guilds became reorganized within a new system called gedik which was not so different than the Akhi occupational organization in terms of the working process. But, what was different was that in gedik, there was not religious differentiation. Gedik meant monopoly and privilege. State had taken the authority of electing the person who would be the chairman of the guild. Therefore, guilds had lost their initiatives outside the state. Thus, guild was choosing the candidates and the state was electing them (Belge, 2005:313). According to ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1990), state began to fix the number of masters within all trades (meslek). Somebody outside the gedik could not perform the same craft of this gedik independently or could not sell the goods produced in these gediks according to the rules of the state. The state took the authority of giving mastery licences from the guild. State established gedik system for increasing central authority over the guilds. As the Muslim character of the guilds disappeared when the guilds became open to the non-Muslim artisans, the meeting place of the guild members of the Akhi organizations which was zawia was no more a meeting place for guild members. In these times, when non-Muslim could establish their own guilds, the new meeting place became lonca. Gedik type work organization which began in 17th century continued until 1860. As there was a monopoly rule at gediks, without a necessity, the number of workshops was not changed by the state. This meant that the number of workshops was stable at a number decided by the state. In gedik system, nobody could open a shop without getting his mastery licence from the state and also, they could not perform their skills. Monopoly rules aim was to prevent changes in numbers of craftsmen at the city, to obstruct the tenants to increase the rents, to impede the performance of craft outside the gediks and to protect the system of being educated in the gedik, starting as errand boy (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989:111-118). So, state took the control completely. In the 19th century, after the declaration of Tanzimat Command in 3 November 1839, Ottoman State made trade treaties with foreign countries. Liberal economy of the foreign countries based on laisser-faire obliged Ottoman State to eliminate traditional monopoly over the craft and the trade seeing that monopoly rule was damaging the development of craft and trade and also, was causing states increased economic dependency to the Europe. Thus, the gedik system and all monopolies were abolished in 17 June 1861 with the command of Abdà ¼lmecit. The traditional craft-guilds continued until the Second Constitutional Monarchy period next to the newly established modern occupational associations. As the capitalist economy gained access in Ottoman State, traditional craft-guilds lost their all power and IttihatTerakki rule let this organization to create modern chambers as esnaf odalarÄ ± in 1910 (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989:216-217). The Akhi organization is considered to be the basis of todays some institutions such as Esnaf Chamber (Esnaf OdasÄ ±), Trade Chamber (Ticaret OdasÄ ±), labor unions, BaÄÅ ¸-Kur, Turkish Standarts Institute (Tà ¼rk StandartlarÄ ± Enstità ¼sà ¼) and municipality (oztà ¼rk, n.d). Looking Akhis mode of dressing, according to ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1989), they were not wearing silk clothes; they were not using gold ornaments. Because, in Islam, silk and gold were forbidden for men to use. Their turban (sarÄ ±k) was 5-6 metre. Their clothes were at the colors of blue, white, black and green. In zawias, guild members were learning Koran, Sufism, the languages Turkish, Persian, Arabic; they were dealing with history, literature; and also, they were learning how to cook, how to play game, how to play an instrument. Every Akhi organization had its own flag. In every craft-guild, there was mà ¼tevelliwho was taking care of every kind of problems about their craft. He was controlling private and occupational life of the members; he was organizing ceremonies of â€Å"errand boy†, â€Å"apprentice†, â€Å"qualified workman†, and â€Å"master†. ÇaÄÅ ¸atay (1989) said that every craft guild had 2 kinds of members such as internal (dahili) and external (harici). Externals were retired and disabled members. Internals were divided in to 4 groups: Errand boy: He has to be younger than 10 years old. His presence to work had to be provided by his father or his protector (veli) Apprentice: After working for 2 years without wage, errand boys were promoted to the apprentice position with a prepared ceremony. In these ceremonies, master was mentioning his solidarity and talents. The chairman of the ceremony was giving advices to the child about not lying, not leaving his ritual worship (namaz) and continuing his solidarity to the shop, being respectful to his parents; to his qualified workman and to his master. Chairman was deciding a weekly wage to be given by his master. Qualified workman: He has to be apprentice for 3 years. Ceremony was done in craft-guild. This day, he was wearing for the first time the clothes belonging to his craft branch. His master and other 3 masters were witnessing about his good morality. Chairman was giving necessary advices. Master: He had to be qualified workman for 3 years. There shouldnt be any complaints about him. He had to be peevish about educating errand boy. He had to have good relations with apprentices; he had to have a strong commitment to his craft. During his ceremony of being master, chairman was mentioning which prophet was the pirof their craft, and he was giving advices about doing the trade honestly, being respectful to other craftsmen and customers and being merciful to the public. At these times, education was not the responsibility of the state. Therefore, at these times, religious rules were the basis of the society. In Akhism, religion was the main point. Akhi organization was trying to make adopted a well-behaved (ahlà ¢klÄ ±) life to the craftsmen. Akhis were saying that if in this world, they would have a well-behaved lifestyle, in the other world (in ahiret), they would be rewarded by the God, by pointing Koran. In Akhi organizations, it was learned to gain money honestly without making any tricky act. It was learned that the money which they have been gaining had to be permissible (helà ¢l). Craftsmen had to give priority to his craft more than everything. Craftsmen believed that their pir who had first started their craft was a prophet. Thats why, on every shops wall, there was this couplet (ÇaÄÅ ¸atay, 1989:157): â€Å"Her seher besmeleyle aà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±lÄ ±r dà ¼kkanÄ ±mÄ ±z Hazreti . dir pirimiz, à ¼stadÄ ±mÄ ±z† Important Akhi rules What they have to do Eli aà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±k olmalÄ ±: He has to be generous KapÄ ±sÄ ± aà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±k olmalÄ ±: His door has to be open SofrasÄ ± aà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±k olmalÄ ±: His dining table has to be open What they should not to do Gozà ¼ kapalÄ ± olmalÄ ±: He has not to be plotter Dili baÄÅ ¸lÄ ± olmalÄ ±: He has not to say any bad words Beli baÄÅ ¸lÄ ± olmalÄ ±: He has not to dishonor anybody According to Cumbur (1975) cited in Tà ¼rk Esnaf TeÃ…Å ¸kilatÄ ±nÄ ±n kuruluÃ…Å ¸u ve Denizli, Akhism had four principles such as: Kuvvetli ve galipken affetmek Hiddetliyken yumuÃ…Å ¸ak davranmak Dà ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸manlÄ ±Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ± dostlukla, kotà ¼là ¼Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸Ãƒ ¼ iyilikle karÃ…Å ¸Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±lamak Kendi ihtiyacÄ ± varken elindekini baÃ…Å ¸kasÄ ±na vermek In this project, my subject was Akhism as a guild system in the Ottoman Empire. I tried to answer my research question which is â€Å"the effects of the guild organizations norms to the craftsmens process of production†. Firstly, I defined the world Akhism and its origins. Than, I mentioned its role and its importance in the society, I talked about its foundation, its development, and its weakening reasons. I stated its control mechanisms and the reasons of the decline of their control in the society. I expressed the reasons behind the change of the system (gedik). I indicated its work organization (errand boy, apprentice, qualified workman and master), the norms within the organization and the effects of the norms to the guilds production process; and lastly, I also denoted why Akhi organization was removed. I think that I could answer to my research question. In this project, my argument was that the norms of the guild organization were mainly shaped by religion. I saw that my argument was true. Because, in Akhi organizations, religion was the main point and the norms were based on futuwwatnamas religious and moral rules (Islamic Futuwah traditions laws); and also, a well-behaved lifestyle was ordered to craftsmen to be rewarded in ahiret by the God. To sum up, in this project, with the aim of analyzing the effects of the guild organizations norms to the craftsmens process of production and with the aim of verifying my argument, I made a literature review on Akhism. I gave detailed information about Akhism starting from its foundation until its removal, including its importance, its organization, its norms and its roles in the society.

Parental Involvement in their Childs Education Essay example -- Educa

When my six year old daughter comes home every Friday I expect a green folder filled with colorful masterpieces she created during integrated arts, three new weekly reading books, seven to ten double sided pages of homework, an array of spam letters trying to sell us food and a variety of other things and last but not least, letters from her teacher. Every week it is my responsibility to go through this folder, respond to communication letters, and work with my daughter to complete any assigned work. If I do not work with her on this it won’t get done and she will fall behind in school. Yes, there are some days that I wish I could just flip on my TV and ignore the fact that she has homework, but until she graduates it is my responsibility to insure her future by enforcing rules on homework and school. It seems everything parents do is for their children, but who has time to add more conferences and study sessions to an already hectic schedule? Every parent wants the best for t heir child, but most aren’t willing to step up where children need them most, in the classroom. Parental involvement in a child’s education makes a world of difference, it lowers dropout rates, raises test scores, improves the child’s outlook on education and the list goes on. It would seem like a no brainer that it is really important for parents to find time to be more involved for the sake of their child’s future. Yet parents are not doing this willingly, which is the reason Florida state Representative Kelli Stargel's proposed a law that would grade parents based upon the most basic parental involvement in their child’s education. Could a law enforcing parental involvement be the missing link in the education system or is a child’s education the responsib... ... PTA meetings, or school board meetings, it’s simply trying to enforce very basic involvement in a child’s education. Parents should be, and need to be more involved in the education of their children, after all the children are our future. Works Cited Belkin, L. (2011, May 22) Whose Failing Grade Is It? New York Times, 2(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. Couwels, J. (2011, January 26) Florida lawmaker wants teachers to grade parents. CNN U.S. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/26/florida.grading.parents/index.html Friedman, T. L. (2011, November 20) How About Better Parents? New York Times, 11(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. Kronholz, J. (2012, January 17) Truants: The challenges of keeping kids in school. Education Next, 11.1, 32-38. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. Parental Involvement in their Child's Education Essay example -- Educa When my six year old daughter comes home every Friday I expect a green folder filled with colorful masterpieces she created during integrated arts, three new weekly reading books, seven to ten double sided pages of homework, an array of spam letters trying to sell us food and a variety of other things and last but not least, letters from her teacher. Every week it is my responsibility to go through this folder, respond to communication letters, and work with my daughter to complete any assigned work. If I do not work with her on this it won’t get done and she will fall behind in school. Yes, there are some days that I wish I could just flip on my TV and ignore the fact that she has homework, but until she graduates it is my responsibility to insure her future by enforcing rules on homework and school. It seems everything parents do is for their children, but who has time to add more conferences and study sessions to an already hectic schedule? Every parent wants the best for t heir child, but most aren’t willing to step up where children need them most, in the classroom. Parental involvement in a child’s education makes a world of difference, it lowers dropout rates, raises test scores, improves the child’s outlook on education and the list goes on. It would seem like a no brainer that it is really important for parents to find time to be more involved for the sake of their child’s future. Yet parents are not doing this willingly, which is the reason Florida state Representative Kelli Stargel's proposed a law that would grade parents based upon the most basic parental involvement in their child’s education. Could a law enforcing parental involvement be the missing link in the education system or is a child’s education the responsib... ... PTA meetings, or school board meetings, it’s simply trying to enforce very basic involvement in a child’s education. Parents should be, and need to be more involved in the education of their children, after all the children are our future. Works Cited Belkin, L. (2011, May 22) Whose Failing Grade Is It? New York Times, 2(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. Couwels, J. (2011, January 26) Florida lawmaker wants teachers to grade parents. CNN U.S. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/26/florida.grading.parents/index.html Friedman, T. L. (2011, November 20) How About Better Parents? New York Times, 11(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. Kronholz, J. (2012, January 17) Truants: The challenges of keeping kids in school. Education Next, 11.1, 32-38. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

Euthymides’ Three Revelers Essay

Euthymides’ Three Revelers is a Greek red-figure vase painting which dates back to about 510 BC. It was found in an Etruscan tomb in Vulci, Italy, where it had probably been imported from Athens. This is proof of the virtuosity of ancient Greek artists, and is quite ironic since the Greeks learned vase painting from the Corinthians. The earliest ancient Greek vase paintings were created using the black-figure technique. This involved using a clay-based slip to draw on the figures and later adding details by incising them into the clay of the vase. Through a process of firing the vase multiple times, the slip would turn black; the silhouetted painted figures contrasted with the natural brown-orange color of the vases. Exekias’ Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice (c. 525-520 BC) is a well-known example of black-figure vase painting. The background of the scene is the natural clay color and all the painted figures are blackened slip with incised details. In Exekias’ painting, there are also details in white on the capes of the two men. The red-figure technique was developed shortly after and is the opposite of black-figure. The background around the figures was painted with slip, leaving them to be detailed with black against the natural color of the vase. This allowed the artist to paint with higher detail since no incisions were necessary. The painting of the Three Revelers is found on a vase used for storing wine called an amphora, so it is appropriate that the three men are celebrating (and indeed reveling) in their drunkenness. The man on the left hasn’t even considered putting down his cup before joining the fun. The scene probably takes place during or after a symposium- a combination drinking party, orgy, and debate. Symposiums were held and attended by aristocratic Greek men, often to debate political, moral, or ethical issues. Perhaps the most famous story of one of these events comes to us by way of literature as Plato’s The Symposium. Euthymides was a rival of Euphronios, who was considered to be the master of red-figure painting. Euphronios’ innovation can be seen in his depiction of  Herakles Wrestling Antaios (c. 510 BC). The two combatants are shown in higher detail and more naturally than any prior work. The giant Antaios is shown grimacing, his hair unkempt, and his body contorted. Herakles, however, shows no signs of struggle: his hair and beard are neat, his face is calm. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Greek vase painters was their attempt to make art more of an optically correct experience than an ideally correct one. For instance, Herakles’ right foot can be seen tucked behind his leg. The artist’s use of perspective assumes that viewers will understand that Herakles’ calf is behind his thigh, leaving only part of his foot to be seen. Before this point an artist would assume no such thing. His goal and purpose was to show his subjects so that they could be understood and identified by anyone at any time with no conjecture necessary. For instance, the low relief figures chiseled into the Harvester’s Vase (c. 1500 BC), though they are marching from left to right across the scene and we might expect to see them from the side view, are portrayed in the composite profile (profile legs, frontal torso, profile head, frontal eye). Euthymides took this idea of correct optical representation one step further. Whereas the two main figures in Euphronios’ Herakles Wrestling Antaios are shown from the side view and the frontal view, the Three Revelers are shown not from a frontal or rear view, not from a side view or profile, and not in the composite profile used exclusively for centuries prior. They are shown in a three-quarter profile, seen from the side but not completely. The figures recede into the background creating a third dimension: depth. Euthymides knew just how revolutionary this was, so he signed his work with the customary â€Å"Euthymides painted me,† but added â€Å"as never Euphronios [could do].† The three-dimensional foreshortening of painted figures eventually became the artistic standard because of it’s representation of optical experience rather than representation of the ideal, easily identifiable aspects of the body. This can be considered not only an important technical advance, but an artistic one as well. In Onesimos’ Girl Preparing to Bathe (c. 490 BC), the  three-quarter profile lends a flowing, lifelike movement to the subject. Conversely, the contorted composite profile used in the centauromachy detail of Kleitias’ Fraà §ois Vase (c. 570 BC) virtually stops the motion of an otherwise active and exciting scene. The innovation and creativity found in Euthymides’ Three Revelers began to establish the aesthetic, naturalistic focus of Greek art that followed it. Though they were first realized by ancient Greek artists, attention to detail and depiction of figures as they are seen rather than in a universally understood, simplified rendering are indeed two important concepts which can be recognized in any piece of modern visual art. Further, the Three Revelers is the beginning of a dynamic from the ancient techniques of simple representation to the infinite levels of abstraction that we find today in all art forms: music, literature, film, and so on. It should be no surprise that the same culture that turned symbolic portrayals of the world and their own mythology into what we would today call art is the same one that concentrated the eternal search for truth by giving it a name- philosophy, and in both cases provided the basis for all following thought and analyzation.

The Best Game Ever Made

It was the beginning of February of my senior year in high school. I had been conditioning for months leading up to tryouts for the baseball team so I was in the best shape of my life and I was confident. The past three years before that I was put on the JV team because the coaches didn't like my â€Å"attitude†, so my senior year I was determined to get a starting spot on the varsity team no matter what. During tryouts the coaches would always look at me like I didn't belong and would whisper things amongst themselves Just quiet enough so I couldn't hear.I knew I would have to work arder than anyone trying out to make the team and that is exactly what I did. I got my spot on the team. Workouts for varsity baseball at London High School were some of the hardest things I had ever done but I knew that it would be worth it once the season rolled around. We ran, lifted, ran, ran and then we ran. It was exhausting but rewarding. Towards the end of our offseason workouts the team st arted to throw inside the gym so our arms would be ready once it got warm enough to go outside. Two weeks of that and everybody on the team were worn thin with each other, the game and the oaches.It finally got warm enough to go outside and I was ready to show my coaches that I had what it took to start for the London Red Raiders. They put me in left field because they knew I could catch very well. It didn't start out too well for me the first couple of practices but once I got my throws down I felt like there was nothing that could stop me. I was fighting for a starting spot with a Junior who did not deserve to be playing on a varsity field. I knew then that all I had to do was keep the mistakes toa minimum and the starting spot would be mine. I was right.I earned my starting spot and played well through the first fifteen games of the season but the worst thing that couldVe happened to me, happened. It was game fifteen against Westland and we were up 4-0. A ball was hit to down the left field line and the only way I could make the catch was to dive so that is exactly what I did. I caught the ball but I also broke three ribs while making the catch. It felt like somebody was slowly pushing a hot knife in to my rib cage and twisting it. I couldn't breathe let alone stand up so I had to get help to the dugout. The doctor told me thatI would have to sit out at least ten games to let my rips properly heal. Ten games later our record was 20-5 and we had a good chance of making it to the state finals. Our first game of the playoffs was against Columbus Mifflin which was easily the worst team we had played all season. The second game was against Bishop Watterson. It was the top of the seventh inning and we were winning by one run at home. All we needed was one more out to win the game and move on to the regional finals. There was a runner on second and third with Watterson's best hitter at the plate.The second pitch of the at bat he hit a ball that I knew was going ov er my head as soon as it came off the bat. I immediately started running straight back and looked back for the ball after I had traveled about fifteen yards but couldn't find it at first. Once I did find it I realized that it was going over my left shoulder so I turned my As soon as I caught it, all I could think about was all of the months of hard work I had put in to making the varsity team. All of the drills and lifting I did by myself to make myself better.All of the time and effort I put in to baseball instead of going out very weekend or sitting around doing nothing. I stood up with the ball in my glove and instantly got tackled by my best friend who was playing center field. That's when it hit me that I made the game winning catch to send our team in to the regional finals. Ever since that day I have always been very confident in my abilities to play baseball and that only increased when I was called by the head coach of Clark State Community College and asked to play at the collegiate level. But still to this day, that one catch, was the best moment that I have ever had.

Product and Innovation Management of Nokia

Product and Innovation Management of Nokia Introduction As competition in the markets intensifies and the consumers become increasingly sophisticated and selective in their consumption behaviors, companies have no option than to improve their innovation strategies and management techniques (Duncombe 2006).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Product and Innovation Management of Nokia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Companies are nowadays seeking new ways to enhance the characteristics of their products to make them more appealing to the consumers. The Wall Street Journal reveals that mobile phone companies are some of the major industries that have witnessed remarkable growth in innovation (Gecevska, Chiabert, and Lombardi Cus 2010). As a multinational communications company, Nokia has improved its product innovation and is continually producing products that attract the consumers in the telecommunication industry. With its focus nowadays turned to the manufact uring of smartphones, Nokia has set its aims at ensuring that the company uses modern technologies (Kirshin 2014). This paper examines the market performance of the Nokia Lumia smartphones and explains the reasons for their outstanding performance. Overview of Nokia Lumia Smartphones One of the technological wonders that surprised the consumers of the 21st century was the integration of hi-tech operating systems into the mobile phones (Cagan Vogel 2002).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After being superior in the business of computer technology for quite sometime, Microsoft Corporation collaborated with Nokia Corporation and entered the smartphone market (Anwar 2014). Nokia Corporation managed to introduce a new form of mobile technology that uses Windows 8.1 operating system rather than Android. Smartphones, being the trend and the most popular among communicatio n technologies, have spurred a new wave of anxiety among the majority of the youngsters, which means investing in them is a worthy idea nowadays. Since 2013, Nokia Corporation has been radical in its innovation that has resulted in the development of the Nokia Lumia 435, Nokia Lumia 730, Nokia Lumia 535, Nokia Lumia 620, Nokia Lumia 830, Nokia Lumia 520, and now the Nokia Lumia 920. Smartphones are small laptops that people have found reliable and convenient in their communication, use, and maintenance (Grieves 2009). What makes the Lumia smartphones amazing is that they offer a new platform that includes the use of the innovated Windows operating system. Nokia and Microsoft experts have integrated mobile firmware that allows handset users to install and uninstall Windows mobile apps, access the Internet with ease, and surf there with the fastest speed (Kirshin 2014). The Nokia Lumia smartphones come in varieties of different colors, and consumers can choose the color they prefer, w ithin the available range of colors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Product and Innovation Management of Nokia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The powerful high definition front and back cameras allow the smartphone users to take photos of their colleagues, or take personal photos, which they can use for their social media activities (Hussein 2012). Global technological reports claim that Nokia Lumia smartphones are increasingly becoming popular and steadily dominate the Asian, African, and American markets. The Theory of Diffusion of Innovation Innovation is a realistic subject that began reshaping in its practice and literature back in the 1960s, when industrialization became a significant growth aspect for the modern towns (Bernard Tichkiewitch 2008). Towards the end of the 1960s, E.M. Rogers came up with an innovation theory known as the diffusion of innovation model. Born by a father who loved electromechani cal innovations, E.M Rogers got interested in understanding the process of the diffusion of innovation (Chigona Licker 2008). In 1962, Rogers published the theory of Diffusion of Innovation that had changed the modern perceptions about innovations. In his view, Rogers claims that there are five main categories of innovation adopters, as the process is pragmatic and with various sections of transformation (Webb 2000). Rogers presumes that in an innovation process, there are five major categories of adopters, which include innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and the laggards. The five main categories of adopters have unique definitions that are relative to their innovation roles. According to Rogers, innovators are the kind of people who initiate the innovation idea and invest in it regardless of its risky factors and other preliminary problems.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The early adopters are a group of people that represent the opinion leaders (Molla Licker 2005). These kinds of adopters often enjoy associating with leadership roles and embracing change opportunities. The third group of the adopters is the group of early majority, which is the group of people that needs to see substantial evidence that the innovation is really working for them to venture into the business of adopting or working with it (Chigona Licker 2008). The fourth group of people is the late majority, who are the kind of persons, skeptical about an innovative change and trying the innovation only when the majority population have tested it (Stark 2004). The last group of the adopters is the laggards group of individuals who are naturally conservative people. Unless highly persuaded, laggards can hardly adopt an innovation. With regard to such theoretical assumptions, most of the users of Windows handsets across the world have had their own opinions concerning the three mobi le phone operating systems (Rigby 2014). When Microsoft and Nokia merged efforts to produce the Nokia Lumia handsets, the first impression was that Microsoft was trying to regain its lost market dominance in the telecommunication industry (Rigby 2014). Nevertheless, the company has been very resilient about the criticisms that the two companies have failed to produce innovative smartphone designs that will influence the international mobile consumption trends. When they first announced their debut in 2011, after successful market trials, consumers had already familiarized with Android phones as well as iPhones (Rigby 2014). Creating a plan to enter the competitive market was a challenge for the investors of the Nokia Lumia smartphones. The initial process of venturing into these Windows mobile phones was tiring and challenging for these creative investors. While figuring out the billions of money that the companies were to invest and the amount that was to come as returns, the inves tors understood that there would be early adopters, the early majority consumers, the late majority consumers, and the laggards (Rigby 2014). To beat the market odds and maneuver with a new brand of smartphones, the Nokia Corporation and the Microsoft Corporation designed a strategic production and marketing strategy that has supported their continual survival in the handset business. The companies understood the need to incorporate the 4Ps marketing mix strategy to increase their market share and product revenues in the presence of the established Android smartphones and Apple iPhones. To provide an all-round strategic move, the Nokia Corporation and the Microsoft Company focused on the 4Ps (Von 2003). The 4Ps that formed the aims of production were the Product (Nokia Lumia smartphone), the Price (low pricing), the Promotion (strategic marketing), and the Place of distribution. With the 4Ps as their marketing strategy, high technological innovation and unique and user-friendly smar tphone design are some of the product development initiatives that Nokia Lumia began adopting. The pricing strategy of Nokia Lumia delved on the low pricing technique to win the business partners and new groups of consumers (Anwar 2014). Low pricing meant that the investors would sell more and earn low but regular profits. As their places of distribution, the Nokia Lumia marketers began targeting the most populated nations, such as China, Russia, and most of the Sub-Saharan Africa regions. These regions form the group of developing nations. These developing nations have a lot of late majority and the laggards groups of consumers and investors (Cooper Edgett 2009). These groups of people may have been skeptical about Androids and iPhones because Androids were relatively new and iPhones were extremely expensive. Such strategies have made Nokia Lumia suceed. The Current Market Performance of the Nokia Lumia Smartphones Nokia Corporation has generally been successful in the handset bus iness. In 2006, Nokia generated an income that for the first time in Finland’s history, seemed to be excess. Based on the assessment report of the Wall Street Journal, which is the leading business and innovation magazine, Nokia Lumia has been performing incredibly well as the demand for smartphones increases. In this $7.2 billion deal, Microsoft and Nokia Corporations have been ripping some extensive profits from the manufacturing and distribution of the Lumia windows smartphones (Fakhrutdinova, Fakhrutdinova, Kolesnikova, Yurieva 2015). The Nokia Lumia smartphones targeted the American smartphone markets, the Asian smartphone markets, and the African smartphone markets, which had been growing rapidly over the past five years (Fakhrutdinova et al. 2015). In a 2013 report about business innovation, it has appeared that Nokia possesses approximately 40% market dominance, with the Lumia smartphones contributing to about 16% in the increase of its market share. Perhaps, what re mains unknown to most of the consumers is that the Nokia Lumia phones have been increasing their market reputation in a steady process. The estimated profit returns are slowly regaining momentum and the process of dominating the major markets is on a gradual development (Fakhrutdinova et al 2015). Just before the end of two years after its launch, Microsoft’s quarterly financial report revealed that the Nokia Lumia smartphones had generated about $23.20 billion worth of profit. In the subsequent year on 23 August 2014, Microsoft announced a growth of its profit margin to approximately 26.5 billion, which was a 10% increase in the net profits (Fakhrutdinova et al 2015). In a separate financial report that Nokia released independently on 24 Oct 2014, Nokia Lumia smartphones had a sales record of $9.3 billion, even though the overall sales for Nokia phones had decreased by 14%. These statistics indicate an incredible performance of the Nokia Lumia smartphones. The above statisti cal facts stress the essence of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership in the smartphone business. It is important to consider that although majority of the ordinary consumers may not have the overall knowledge on how the Nokia Lumia smartphones have spurred a unique competition in the world of smartphones; the performance of the smartphone is incredible (Rigby 2014). The Nokia Lumia smartphones have blended well with the creatively designed windows-operating systems. The major sectors that may have caused an incredible market performance that has come within the shortest period of the investment are the management sectors, the production sectors, and the marketing departments (Fakhrutdinova et al 2015). The three sectors were important in the product development and distribution because there was innovation in the management, innovation in the production, and innovation in the marketing departments. The ability of Nokia and Microsoft to provide an enabling environment for the existence of the partnership was a noteworthy idea. Reasons for high Performance of Nokia Lumia Smartphones The success or failure of a certain tech product relies on several aspects of production, management, and marketing (Eisenhardt Martin 2000). With the changing market demands, the complex consumer behaviors, and the increasing market competition, the performance of technological products has to rely on the stability of the management, the suaveness of the marketers, and the design of the products (Garcia Calantone 2002). Core innovation strengths, strategic management techniques, and efficient marketing skills are some of the major performance determinants that determine the performance of tech products (De Wit Meyer 2010). Since its debut into the smartphone business in 2011, Nokia Corporation has developed several strategic moves to enable the telephone products to maneuver in the smartphone market. To make a sensational market dominance, the Nokia Corporation has enabled a smart str ategy that entails the strategic use of mobile designing technologies, the strategic planning of the management systems, and the strategic development of the marketing techniques that match the market demands. Innovation in the Product Designing An important factor that makes a mobile phone worthy and appealing to the modern consumers, who are nowadays very knowledgeable, is the techniques used in designing the phones (Eisenhardt Martin 2000). The innovation that Nokia Corporation has used in manufacturing of the Nokia Lumia smartphones is exceptional and outstanding. Nokia Lumia smartphones use the famous windows operating systems, although mostly the windows 8 operating system that has numerous tech features that are appealing to the phone users (Fakhrutdinova et al 2015). Although windows 8 operating system initially recorded a diminutive market performance in the computer technology, the operating system has boosted the selling of the Nokia Lumia smartphones. Nokia Lumia phones are 3G and 4G compatible, have powerful photo-sharing capabilities, and have features that enhance social media communication (Carlson, Walden Bowman 2006). Nokia Corporation collaborated with Google and Skype to allow consumers to enhance their access to social media communication in the Lumia smartphones. Nokia also collaborated with Yahoo Corporation to allow photo sharing through their Flicker service. Innovation in the Marketing Strategies The marketing technique of companies is one of the foremost determinants of the market performance for any new product that is seeking a quick market penetration (Roman 2003). Since the Nokia Corporation ventured into the smartphone business, the company designed radical marketing strategies that supported a market growth for the Nokia Lumia smartphones. Nokia Corporation designed a strategic market penetration approach that dwelled on the modern advertising platforms to maneuver (Grieves 2009). As Anwar (2014) claims, the company used the advantage of the growing influence of the digital televisions, the social media platforms, and the unique printed media. Concerning the strategic use of social media, Nokia Corporation implemented attractive mobile photos, effective product description techniques, and an easy communication to attract consumers in Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace (Anwar 2014). The Microsoft-Nokia alliance opened an online marketing website, attractive facebook pages, and several tweeting platforms that constantly updated the users about the new Lumia arrivals. Digital televisions also played a vital role in advertising Lumia Smartphones. Innovation in the Pricing of the Phones One of the elements that can make a product in the telecommunication industry to permeate into the market and gain an incredible performance is the idea of strategic pricing (Bailur 2006). While launching the Microsoft-Nokia partnership of manufacturing and distributing the Nokia Lumia smartphones, Nokia Corporation knew the esse nce of using a strategic pricing plan that would enable an easy market penetration. When Nokia merged with Microsoft to develop the Lumia smartphones, the companies agreed on the high-production, low-pricing strategy as their market entry strategy (Anwar 2014). To compete effectively with the Iphone and the android smartphones, Nokia Corporation endorsed a marketing strategy that concentrated with the low-pricing approach. Even for the first-time buyers who admired the smartphones, Nokia sold its Nokia Lumia phones at as low as $200 (Rigby 2014). The focus of Nokia Corporation concerning the pricing of the Nokia Lumia smartphones has been persistent with the issues of regional assessment of the markets and production of affordable smartphones. Proper Financing of the Product Financial stability of a company in the marketing and promotion of a recently launched product is a crucial success factor that determines the performance of a product (Gorski 2003). When Nokia ventured into the business of manufacturing and distributing smartphones, the partnership deal with Microsoft considered the essence of financial stability in the production process. Since the year 2013, Microsoft has been offering Nokia with financial backing to support the mass production of cheap smartphones (Hussein 2012). Such an innovative financial strategy assisted the Nokia Corporation to regain market momentum within the large markets like China, Russia, and America. Recently, Microsoft Company has produced an extra of 2.3 billion to support Nokia Corporation to develop low-end Nokia Lumia smartphones (Anwar 2014). Despite Iphones and Androids having significant market dominance, adequate financing of the Nokia Lumia project has made the Nokia Corporation to expand their market share in Africa, Asia, and parts of America. Innovation in the Service Sector Nokia, being a leading brand in the telecommunication industry, understood the need to improve the customer service while marketing its N okia Lumia smartphones across the nations. According to Fakhrutdinova et al. (2015), the first service innovation that Nokia thought was essential, was the incorporation of the physical customer care services where consumers could send complaints about the phones, receive an instant assistance on technical problems, and fix the problems associated with the windows mobile-phone operating systems. In each of the countries that Nokia invested in the marketing of its smartphone products, there were strategic physical offices that consumers could send inquiries concerning the operations of the phones and the challenges that pertained to the performance of the Lumia smartphones (Fakhrutdinova et al. 2015). Although the Nokia Lumia smartphones needed the physical offices from the Nokia Corporation to enhance their customer care, the phones already had user-friendly interfaces that supported easy phone operations. Such strategic moves made Nokia to perform incredibly fair in the competitive smartphone market. Innovation in the Management Sector One of the important factors that support radical innovation is an efficient strategic management (Aspara, Lamberg, Laukia, Tikkanen 2011). The theory of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) states that when innovation is in progress, there is a group of people known as the innovators (Hofstede 2003). In Nokia Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, leaders were the innovators who were venturesome, opinionated, skilful and with creative ideas (Fakhrutdinova et al. 2015). Most of the leaders from the Microsoft team and from the Nokia Corporation were sure about their dedication and risk taking approaches towards the improvement of the Nokia Lumia ideas. The two companies found the best innovators who could strategically incorporate the features of windows 8 in the mobile phones (Sell, Mezei Walden 2014). The leaders also knew the importance of collaborating with giant Internet companies, such as Google and Yahoo, to incorporate their best features in the mobile phones. The leaders motivated aggressive research and development strategies that supported in the marketing of the phones. Conclusion The assumptions of Rogers concerning the Diffusion of Innovation are paramount in understanding the concepts of product development and management. The five forms of innovation adopters help companies design strategic marketing plans. Product innovation and management are two aspects of the commercial world that continue to pose concerns for the surviving businesses. The mobile phone industry is one of the principle sectors where innovation seems to influence product marketing, distribution, and performance. With a special attention given to the phones that come with computerized operating systems, innovation seems to affect the presence and performance of the modern smartphones. Nokia Lumia smartphones emerged through a partnership deal between Microsoft and Nokia Corporations. Despite the dominance of the Android smartph ones and the Apple smartphones, the windows-based Nokia Lumia smartphones are increasingly gaining prominence. This occurs because the two partners focused on understanding the 4Ps of marketing. Innovations in the product marketing, product pricing, and product management have been fantastic. References Anwar, M 2014, ‘Voice of Editors: Rationale to the Crisis of Nokia Smartphone Portfolio’, International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 122-124. Aspara, J, Lamberg, J, Laukia, A and Tikkanen, H 2011, ‘Strategic Management of business model transformation lessons from Nokia’, Management Decision, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 622-647. Bailur, S 2006, ‘Using stakeholder theory to analyze Telecenter projects’, Information Technologies and International Development, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 61–80. Bernard, A Tichkiewitch, S 2008, Design of Sustainable Product Life Cycles, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Cagan, J Vogel, C 2 002, Creating Breakthrough Products: Innovation from Product Planning to Program Approval, FT Press, New York. Carlson, C, Walden, P Bowman, H 2006, ‘Adoption of 3G+ services in Finland’, Journal of Mobile Commerce, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 369-385. Chigona, W Licker, P 2008, ‘Using Diffusion of Innovations Framework to Explain Communal Computing Facilities Adoption among the Urban Poor’, Information Technologies and International Development, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 53-73. Cooper, R Edgett, S 2009, Product Innovation, and Technology Strategy, Stage-Gate International, London. De Wit, B Meyer, R 2010, Strategy Synthesis: Resolving strategy paradoxes to create competitive advantage, Cengage Learning EMEA, Andover. Duncombe, R 2006, ‘Using the livelihoods framework to analyze ICT applications for poverty reduction through microenterprise’, Information Technologies and International Development, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 81–100. Eisenhardt, K Martin, J (2000). Dynamic Capabilities: What are they?. Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 1105-1121. Fakhrutdinova, E, Fakhrutdinova, R, Kolesnikova, J Yurieva, O 2015, ‘New Start of Nokia’, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 61-66. Garcia, R Calantone, R 2002, ‘A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review’, The Journal of Product Innovation Management, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 110-132. Gecevska, V, Chiabert, P, Lombardi, F Cus, F 2010, ‘Product lifecycle management through innovative and competitive business environment’, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 323-336. Gorski, P 2003, The Disciplinary Revolution: Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Modern Europe. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Grieves, M 2009, PLM: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking, New York: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede, 2003, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA. Hussein, M 2012, ‘Open innovation Mill: Utilization of Nokia’s Non-Core ideas’, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 58, no.3, pp. 765-773. Kirshin I 2014, ‘Modeling the long-term trend of accumulation of knowledge’, Life Science Journal, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 482-486. Molla, A Licker, P 2005, ‘Ecommerce adoption in developing countries: A model and instrument’, Information Management, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 877–899. Rigby, B 2014, Microsoft Sees End to Nokia Losses, https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/2014/07/23/microsoft-sees-end-to-nokia-losses/wcm/80ae76d0-1f7f-4521-ba73-6402568be1aa Roman, R 2003, ‘Diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework for Tele-centers’, Information Technologies and International Development, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 55–68. Sell, A, Mezei, J Wald en, P 2014,.’An attitude-based latent class segmentation analysis of mobile phone users’, Telematics Informatics, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 209-220. Stark, J 2004, PLM: 21st century Paradigm for Product Realization, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Von, E 2005, Democratizing Innovation, MA: MIT Press Cambridge, London. Webb, A 2000, Project Management for Successful Product Innovation, Gower Publishing, New York.

The Kyoto Accord essays

The Kyoto Accord essays There has been great discussion and controversy over something that has recently been proposed to Canadians. This something is the Kyoto Accord. The Kyoto Accord is a doctrine that was put together to help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore reduce the global warming phenomenon. If Canada was to agree with the Kyoto Protocol it would mean we would have to cut down greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2010. Many say this number is not achievable without devastating our current economy. Others say that we can do this if we try hard and cut back on many of the things we enjoy and have come to depend on. The fact is that Canada is not in a state of readiness to commit itself to the propositions of the Kyoto Accord because there is no set plan of action to reduce greenhouse gasses and there is no room in our budget to implement these plans. The signing of the Kyoto Accord would not be in the best interest of Canadians. Many will argue that the human impact on the environment has caused global warming. They say that human-created greenhouse gas is the main cause of the climate change and that we should significantly reduce the amount of gas that we give off. This statement is false. Carbon dioxide in the gas that causes the global climate change. The atmosphere is made up of 2% carbon dioxide, of that 2% we are responsible for 20%, therefore we contribute to 0.4% of atmospheric gas. This number is very insignificant if you ask me. Global climate change could be a cycle that occurs every thousand, hundred thousand, or million years, we do not have the records to judge whether or not global warming is a cycle. So to say that we are the cause of global warming, is to say something that there is not have enough knowledge to back up. If we signed the Accord, there would be a huge change from using our conventional form of energy which is fossil fuel burning to using renewable resources to produce our energy. This wou ...

Lo and Behold!

Lo and Behold! Lo and Behold! Lo and Behold! By Maeve Maddox A football fan posted the following: I decided to watch the Duke vs Miami game and low and behold Duke is successful this year Naturally the â€Å"low and behold† caught my eye. Was it just a typo? I hopped on my search engine to see what I could find. Apparently a lot of English speakers write low for the lo of â€Å"Lo and behold!† Some of the misspellings I found were deliberate puns in headlines above stories about something â€Å"low,† like low oil prices, low calorie recipes, and low golf scores. More, however, seemed to be the result of not knowing that the word in the expression is spelled lo and not low. Here are some examples: Low and behold! (a blog title) Low and Behold (a 2007 movie about post-Hurricane Katrina) low and behold I have some pretty awesome DOMS in the mid region (exercise site) But low and behold, some four decades later (printed rap lyrics) Low and behold it worked out great I got a laptop in the mail (testimonial on marketing site) Autumn term will all be about the Old Testament and low and behold, we’ve worked out a complete program (university site in the U.K.) Low and BeholdHow Much Work Are You Willing to do? (headline on an author’s site) If you don’t count the exotic list of words acceptable for Scrabble tournaments, English has very few two-letter words. The fact that only about twenty are in common use may account for attempts to add a little body to lo by adding another letter. Lo may derive from the imperative form of the verb to look. It has been used as an interjection at least since Beowulf was written, but the tautology â€Å"lo and behold† dates only from the 19th century. Long before that, lo–in the sense of Look! See! Behold!– was used to direct attention to something about to happen or about to be said. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; (Song of Solomon, 2:11, KJV.) And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught/The Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light. (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald translation.) The earliest OED citation for Lo and behold! is from a letter written in 1808. Bulwer-Lytton– he who gave us the novel opening, â€Å"It was a dark and stormy night,† used it in 1841: The fair bride was skipping down the middle..when, lo and behold! the whiskered gentleman..advanced..and cried- ‘La voil!’ (Night Morning II. iii. v. 144  ) Nowadays the expression is used both humorously and cuttingly. Tennessee Williams has Stanley use it in a tirade against Blanche: You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! (Streetcar Named Desire, scene 10). Modern novelists probably won’t find much use for the expression butâ€Å"Lo and Behold!† still has plenty of life in it for daily conversational use. People who use the expression in their blogs and online conversations may want to check the spelling. Historical novelists putting exclamations in the mouths of pre-19th century characters may want to stick to plain â€Å"Lo!† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?Rules for Capitalization in TitlesHow to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children... and Your CEO

Adolescent School Violence and Counseling Research Proposal

Adolescent School Violence and Counseling - Research Proposal Example The purpose of the research is to identify how far student counseling is useful in managing or preventing violent and aggressive behavior among high school learners in the San Diego Unified School District. A qualitative research approach will be employed for the research as it best suits the topic under consideration. Random sampling and questionnaires will be made use of in the research. A before and after research design will be administered on the target group who will randomly be selected from the various senior high schools in the San Diego Unified School District. The proposed research is sure to attract the attention of any student or researcher of education while its research outcomes will be beneficial to the larger group of teachers, parents, learners, psychologists, counselors and educators. Introduction a. Statement of the research problem: The topic for the research proposal is the relationship between student counseling and school violence. The research seeks to explor e whether counseling reduces or prevents adolescent school violence. The purpose of the research is to identify how far student counseling is useful in managing or preventing violent and aggressive behavior among high school learners in the San Diego Unified School District b. Statement of the importance of the study: The statistics of school violence among the adolescents in the United States is quite alarming. It has been identified that almost forty percent of all violent crimes against adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 take place on school grounds (Fitzpatrick, 1999). Similarly, the Department of Education and Justice (2007) measured approximately 628,000 violent behaviors and crimes among students aged 12-18 during the year 2005 alone. While the reasons for these violent and aggressive behaviors among school children are many and varied, researchers unanimously agree that school counselors have a pivotal role in teaching these children appropriate behavior. The present research proposal assumes greater significance as there have not been any previous authentic studies that tested how far student counseling has been useful in managing or preventing violent and aggressive behavior among high school learners in the San Diego Unified School District. The review of literature also offers the rationale for the current research. Researchers such as Rayburn (2004) have identified that school counselors who deal with problems of students as well as their families are better equipped to teach high school learners the importance of values and moral education. Similarly, studies have also revealed that school counselors can develop feelings of mutual respect, support, cooperative individualism, and develop mutual trust among school children (Sink & Rubel, 2001). The need for adequate counseling services at the school level has been pointed out by many researchers. In this respect, researchers at Hamilton Fish Institute observe that schools offer only limited counseling services to the needy students and that â€Å"expansion of these services is necessary to identify troubled students and assist them before their problems become severe and to respond adequately if a serious incident should occur† (Hamilton Fish Institute, p. 8). In certain cases, counseling and psychotherapeutic interventions are necessary not only for the perpetrators but also for the victims and witnesses of violence as well. The research questions would appeal to any student or researcher of education while the research outcomes will be beneficial to the larger group of teachers, parents, learners, psychologists, counselors and educators. c. Summary of prior literature: The major data bases searched for the research proposal includes

Business Law Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Law Questions - Essay Example The law of agency can be construed by a sharp attorney representing a plaintiff to support a transfer the ownership of a property in question to the agent in a similar way as alter ego theories. Basically, the agency law in PCV situations involves an array of agreements that bring together the agent, and the principal in which case the former becomes mandated under the law to assume the responsibilities of the latter to formalize a legitimate agreement to work with a third party (Steinberg, 2012). Under such a scenario, the agent automatically assumes the principal’s role, thus can enter into business deals and negotiation with third parties. According to Steinberg (2012), the agency law guides the operation of agents and the third parties whom they have business dealings with; and provides for principals to play a second fiddle to the agents when the latter acts on their behalf. The reciprocal privileges and responsibility between signatory parties to a contract mirrors business and legal practicalities. A business proprietor usually relies on a worker or another individual to operate an enterprise. When dealing with a corporation, which generally is a conjured legal entity, human agents take precedence. In such a case the principal is required by the law, through the agreement signed by the agent to play a second fiddle in the running of the business or being held responsible in case of any liability. An agent’s lawyer can therefore argue that the law grants the agent sweeping powers to execute his or her role within the jurisdiction of the organization to exercise his or her will. When an agent legally assumes c ontrol of the business, a third party may entrust his or her details and deals with the agent and enter into an agreement with the principal’s representative if he or she introduces himself so (Brams, 1999). And owing to the technicalities witnessed by those who would want to corroborate the identity and or authority of the agent, most of third parties often show willingness to work with the agent and disregard any other party regardless of their superiority. It is in such a scenario, the corporation can be deemed as the â€Å"alter ego† of the agent. Agency powers The law of agency provides the agent with three legal milestones that whoever occupies the position can tacitly exploit to his or her advantage. First, the agency enjoys actual authority. Actual authority which is enjoyed by the plaintiff often arises in two ways: either where the principal expressly confers power on the agent, or where the authority is implied (Brams, 1999). Authority is a product of consen sus, and its implementation is usually based on fact. Therefore, the law of agency grants the agent protection from the principal, especially where the former has acted within the agency’s mandate, as provided for under implied powers. Secondly, implied actual authority, or the usual authority, refers to powers that an agent enjoys by virtue of being fairly necessary to exercise his or her express authority. Implied actual authority can be assumed by the agent owing to his or her role as the principal’s proxy (Steinberg, 2012). In a nutshell, in any case the agent makes a decision regarding the business they have assumed control of, the decision is deemed binding and the principal will be expected to comply with the agent’s move. Such a scenario makes the property in the hands of the agent an alter ego of himself or herself. Question 2: Hypothetically, starting from a blank state legislative slate, the only form of business organization that would be needed toda y would be the Limited Liability Company form. Analyze and critique this statement. A limited liability company (LLC), is a corporate structure that

Regulatory and Economic environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Regulatory and Economic environment - Essay Example Based on the current exchange rate of RMB 8.28 yuan to one U.S. dollar, China is now the sixth largest economy in the world. Based on purchasing-power parity, it is the third largest economy after the United States and Japan. All this has taken place during a relatively short time. In fact, one can argue that true economic reform in China only started in the early 1980s.' - [M.W. LUKE CHAN, WENDY ROTENBERG] The Chinese economic environment had shown rapid progress during 1991-1997, it could be said that China experienced double digit GDP growth. However, from 1997 and so on there were economic crisis, yet, the Chinese GDP continued to grow at a rapid rate of 7.8%. Transparency and good supremacy have been the foundation issues observed in the post-crisis years, both in the circumstance of the 1997 monetary difficulties and the recent series of commercial scandals. This suits the accounting and audit profession where efforts have largely focused on "harmonizing standards" within APEC and ASEAN as well as for greater transparency and disclosure. The Chinese financial catastrophe showed that insufficient accounting practices and lack of transparency in financial information still prevail in the region. Usual accounting may no longer adequately reflect the necessary information from the position of regulatory and internal corporate control. Strengthening of accounting and auditing function to properly manage risks is one major task to make the private sector and government agencies competitive and free from corruption. In an internationalized economy, up-to-date accounting and auditing knowledge and skills are the basic institutional infrastructure for private enterprises as well as government agencies to promote good corporate governance and sound public management. The need for transparent information has been heightened, particularly in the situation of managing risks involved. Main challenges for the DMCs are to develop transparent and sound accounting practices to properly manage and regulate the private sector including banks. An overview of the economic framework in China: The economic system of China is based on the Interbank Lending Market, the negotiable instruments market and the Treasury bond repurchase market. Interbank Lending: A nationwide unified interbank lending computer network was put into operation on a trial basis on January 3, 1996. The interbank lending market was not integrated preceding this date. The establishment of unified interbank market helped in connecting all interbank markets through out the nation. Negotiable Instruments: A negotiable instruments market consists of commercial papers as their main instrument. Commercial paper activity started in China in 1981. Since 1981, commercial paper market developed gradually. The acceptance, rediscount and discount process of commercial paper has become standardized. Commercial bills are also another instrument used in China. It has increased drastically in the past few years. Also, the discount and rediscount maturities have increased rapidly providing the funding needs of the national industry development policies and credit policies to flow. Repurchase Transactions - Open Market Operations: The central bank got involved into the

Reimbursement and Pay-for-performance paper Essay

Reimbursement and Pay-for-performance paper - Essay Example This information is provided by physicians, medical groups or even hospitals since they are in constant touch with the clients of these health insurance and some of them are also clients. The compensation depending on the agreed terms may be in form of elimination of payments and other non-financial incentives (Greenwald, 2010). Reimbursement works on a fee-for-service initiative where the physicians are paid according to the services they offer and not the quality of those services. Since this is not the original pay for the physician but rather a reimbursement, the number of needed services may not be provided (especially if there is no reimbursement or it is not much). This has in turn led to undersupply of the needed services by the clients when compared to the pay-for-performance approach. The pay-for-performance approach requires evidence of the services offered which should be quality services before any incentive of compensation is made (which may be financial or not). This new approach has overridden the reimbursement approach and is seen to be more client-concerned than the earlier approach. The physicians also have no alternative but to work towards providing the quality services that they were not concerned about earlier. Even though the reimbursement approach is not being faced-away by the pay-for-performance approach, those who are paying are allowed to choose between the two approaches and most are going for the latter considering its advantages over the former approach. This therefore means that the reimbursement approach is slowly but surely failing and becoming out of touch. The new pay-for-performance approach is also seen as a way to correct the distortions incentives that have and are continuing to be made by the reimbursement approach. This is because the reimbursement approach pays physicians double for the services they render which are even not of quality at times. The newer approach is

International Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

International Financial Management - Essay Example veral risks associated with the social, economical and political characters of the country, in which the investment is proposed to be made, as these will have a direct bearing on the growth and profitability of the firm concerned. Hence the firm should undertake a comprehensive analysis of all the related issues and decide on the investment. In the given instance the company JMC Plc is considering an investment proposal to produce and market sportswear in Egypt. This paper envisages presenting a detailed report on the country risk analysis of Egypt with respect to the proposed investment and also the economic arguments for and against the foreign direct investments from different standpoints. The purpose of the Country Risk Analysis report is to provide an in-depth critical information and analysis on the trade environment in the different countries. The risk factors associated with a country may be analysed in terms of its: â€Å"The political environment is characterised by an extremely  strong executive and many areas, such as interior, defence, and justice, are outside parliamentary review and control.† Business Anti-Corruption Portal Though the government run by Hosni Mubarak appears to be stable, there is an all round inefficiency crept in the judicial and public service sectors. This shows a negative outlook for the proposed investment in the country. In general redundant labour has led to low marginal productivity. This has also caused overlapping job responsibilities which raises the cost of conducting the business to the producers and the investors. Business Anti- Corruption Portal reports â€Å"Businesses are likely to encounter corruption in meetings with public offices, as officials in various government departments are known for bribery, embezzlement and tampering with official documents. On average, companies report to spend 8 % of sales on unofficial  payments to get things done.  For example, 27 % of companies claim that tax  inspectors expect gifts

Human Development Across the Lifespan - Gender Identity Issues that Essay

Human Development Across the Lifespan - Gender Identity Issues that Adolescents May Face - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to focus on gender identity issues that adolescents face, and how they cope with them. Gender identity is defined as â€Å"the youngster’s internally perceived gender, regardless of chromosomal constitution, gonadal/ hormonal secretions, or genitalia† (Telingator & Daniolos, 2007: 79). Gender includes biological sex but is larger in scope, encompassing the socially prescribed roles which are considered appropriate for each sex, which are different in various cultures (Lee, 2005). Hence, gender role refers to culturally underwritten masculine and feminine behaviors, attitudes and personality traits which are based on biological factors as well as an individual’s environment. Aspects of sex-typed behavior in childhood, adolescence or in adulthood are affected by hormones that play a part very early in development, as early as age two or three, sometimes by age five or later (Sexson, 2005; Pescovitz & Eugster, 2004). At the core of adolescents’ development is the separation-individuation process by which adolescents become independent of their parents in a process similar to that which occurs during infancy. Children usually develop a gender identity which is in alignment with with their assigned sex, also known as their sex of rearing. The formation of gender identity is influenced by the combination of children’s temperament and parents’ qualities and attitudes. Culturally acceptable gender roles are learned stereotypical roles, by which boys are required to be masculine and girls to be feminine in their behavior and conduct. However, over the past few decades there has been increasing toleration for mild cross-gender activity in children (Sadock et al, 2007). â€Å"Sigmund Freud believed that gender identity problems resulted from conflicts experienced by children within the oedipal triangle† (Sadock et al, 2007: 718), which may be fueled by actual family

International Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

International Financial Management - Essay Example veral risks associated with the social, economical and political characters of the country, in which the investment is proposed to be made, as these will have a direct bearing on the growth and profitability of the firm concerned. Hence the firm should undertake a comprehensive analysis of all the related issues and decide on the investment. In the given instance the company JMC Plc is considering an investment proposal to produce and market sportswear in Egypt. This paper envisages presenting a detailed report on the country risk analysis of Egypt with respect to the proposed investment and also the economic arguments for and against the foreign direct investments from different standpoints. The purpose of the Country Risk Analysis report is to provide an in-depth critical information and analysis on the trade environment in the different countries. The risk factors associated with a country may be analysed in terms of its: â€Å"The political environment is characterised by an extremely  strong executive and many areas, such as interior, defence, and justice, are outside parliamentary review and control.† Business Anti-Corruption Portal Though the government run by Hosni Mubarak appears to be stable, there is an all round inefficiency crept in the judicial and public service sectors. This shows a negative outlook for the proposed investment in the country. In general redundant labour has led to low marginal productivity. This has also caused overlapping job responsibilities which raises the cost of conducting the business to the producers and the investors. Business Anti- Corruption Portal reports â€Å"Businesses are likely to encounter corruption in meetings with public offices, as officials in various government departments are known for bribery, embezzlement and tampering with official documents. On average, companies report to spend 8 % of sales on unofficial  payments to get things done.  For example, 27 % of companies claim that tax  inspectors expect gifts

The resistance in a conductor Essay Example for Free

The resistance in a conductor Essay This will consequently increase the resistance of the wire. However if the wire was shorter, the free electrons will not collide with the atoms as much as it did when it was longer. So now I can conclude that resistance is directly proportional to length and that if the length of the wire doubles its resistance doubles. If I draw a graph representing current against voltage for different lengths of wire, then it will look like this: The shortest wire of these will be the steepest in the graph; this is because it has the least resistance and therefore supplied the least voltage. The longest wire will have the greatest resistance and will be represented by the lowest line on the graph. Material of the wire: Here I use two different materials for the wires and calculate their resistance. I have chosen copper and nichrome. I will use the same procedure as mentioned before to calculate the resistance and I will set up the apparatus as first mentioned while keeping the thickness and the length of the wires same. If I were to draw a graph representing current against voltage, for this experiment it will look sort of like this: Thickness of the wire: Resistance: Resistance and length: If I plot a graph to show how resistance varies with length, it will show me something similar to this predicted graph: The graph passes through the origin, which concludes that , however much I increase the length, the resistance will increase by the same amount. Resistance decreases if the cross-section area is increased. An example can help to get a clearer picture; a narrow wire has fewer paths existing for the electrons to move through. While a larger wire has many more paths they could take. This makes conduction easier. It can be shown that the relationship between the cross-section area, A and resistance is R ? 1/A OR R ? K/A Where k is a constant that depends on the length and type of material. If I plot a graph to show how resistance varies with area, this will be shown: Unlike the graph for length, the line doesnt pass through the origin. However: R ? 1/A means that a graph of R against 1/A will show direct proportion. If I plot a graph to show how resistance varies with 1/Area, I will get this: Free electron conducting in metal Conductors: Conductors ( e. g. copper, aluminum ) are those substances which easily allow the passage of electric current through them. It is because there are a large number of free electrons available in a conductor. In terms of energy band, the valence and conduction bands overlap each other as shown below. Due to this overlapping, a slight potential difference across a conductor causes the free electrons to form electric current. Thus the electrical behaviour of conductors can be effectively explained by the band energy theory of materials. Prior test In order to rely on my results, I take the readings of the current for the increasing and the decreasing currents; giving a prior test. Material: Length: Thickness: Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. Experiment This first trial is to test the accuracy and the realism of the experiment itself. It also shows us that as the temperature has an effect on resistance. I will use a 100cm long strip of Nichrome wire and attach it to the circuit and the current will be raised and recordings will be taken at different levels. 1. Attach 100cm Nichrome wire. 2. Turn on the power supply and raise the current. 3. Take reading from the voltmeter. 4. Continue raising the power recording voltmeter readings. This above procedure will require the following equipment given below: 1. 100cm Nichrome wire 2. Ammeter 0 to 200 mA 3. Voltmeter 0 to 20 volts 4. Rheostat 5. Crocodile clips 6. Battery 7. Switch with key 8. Connecting wires By adjusting the rheostat the voltage are increasing in steps of 0. 15 V to 0. 50 V. Each time noting down the corresponding ammeter readings. I do this to make sure the readings of the ammeter while increasing and decreasing the voltage are the same almost with a slight variation, therefore making sure that no heating has taken place. I will then note down the ammeter readings while decreasing the voltage in steps of 0. 50 V to 0. 15 V, and Ill take the average current readings as this will improve the reliability of my experiment. I will use a table similarly to the one drawn and record my readings and calculate the resistance. Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 45mm Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V). Sly. No Average = 5. 70 And now I will draw a graph representing current against voltage, and then I will take the line of best fit from which I will take the gradient and check whether the results I have obtained graphically matches the results in the table. Obtaining Evidence In this part of my task, I will show all my graphs and results that I have obtained after carrying out the experiments. I have done the same process as I have planned earlier. My experiment will be based on these:   Length (same thickness and different lengths)   Thickness (same length and different thickness). Resistors in series Resistors in parallel Different Lengths Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. No Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 75cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA). Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. No   Average = 6. 49 Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 50cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 25cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. Resistance = 1/440 = 0. 00227 x 1000 = 2. 27 Different Thickness Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 90mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage)Voltage (V) Sly. No Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. No Average = 8. 40 Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 56mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. Average = 4. 86 Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm Thickness: 0. 32mm mA Resistance (? )Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. NAverage = 8. 73 Resistance from graph Thickness: 93 Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm and 50cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly.   Average = 12. 79 Resistance from graph 100cm and 75cm Gradient = y/x = 25. 15/0. 40 =62. 87 Resistance = 1/62. 87 = 0. 01590 x 1000 = 15. 90 100cm and 50cm. Gradient = y/x = 23. 55/0. 30 = 78. 5 Resistance = 1/78. 5 = 0. 012738 x 100 = 12. 73 Parallel Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm and 75cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. Average = 3. 69 Material: Nichrome Wire Length: 100cm and 50cm Thickness: 0. 45mm mA. Resistance (? ) Average Current (mA) Current (decreasing in voltage) Current (increasing voltage) Voltage (V) Sly. No Resistance   Analyzing Evidence. Here in this part of my experiment I will prove that my hypothesis and my obtained results obey the ohms law. This is where the results from my graphs and the results I have already obtained earlier will be compared; talking about its proportionality. Variation in length: When the length of the wire boosts, the amount of atoms present in it also boosts. The variation of these atoms block the passage of electrons passing through the wire. A slower flow of electrons will therefore lead to less current passing through the wire hence the longer the wire, the longer the electrons have to travel, so they come across more collision. From this statements I predict that the resistance increases with the length of the increasing wire. Hypothesis: It is expected that the resistance should increase in proportion to the length. The resistance should be considerably higher for the 100cm length than it is for the 50cm length. Theoretically the resistance for the 100cm length should be 2 times that of the 50cm length. The reason for this was explained earlier. Resistance will increase with length. Resistance is proportional to length. In this table below I will show the results I have obtained from the graph and the table: ? R/L = constant Average R (graph)R (table) Length of wire (cm). From the above table I have concluded that resistance increases with length and as the length doubles, the resistance doubles about with it. The column R/L is roughly constant. This supports my hypothesis that resistance of a wire is directly proportional to its length. The even increase of resistance with length can be explained by the clashes that take place in a wire as current flows through it. When the current flows through a wire, the free electrons collide with the atoms of the wire. The longer the wire the more collisions occur. And this will result in an increase in the resistance. However, the shorter the wire, less the collision, hence less resistance. I will show the relationship between length of a wire and its resistance on a graph, from the values of the above table. And this will confirm my conclusion that length is directly proportional to its resistance. Results The resistance is clearly increasing as the length of the wire increases. And when the length of the wire doubles, its resistance also doubles. The results shown in graph is exactly what is anticipated to happen as stated in the hypothesis. From the table above we can see that as the length doubles, the resistance also approximately doubles. In the last column R/L if found to be constant somewhat, therefore making it obey the ohms law R ? L The predicted graph drawn between R and L looks like this: Variation of thickness This experiment is needed to confirm that the resistance of a wire is inversely proportional to its diameter. If the cross-section of a wire is enlarged this means that the area on which the electrons move will be enlarged. Thus suggesting that there will be no clouds of electrons and atoms. The current can travel easily with nothing increasing the resistance. Likewise if the wire is narrower the obstruction will be crossed by the electrons will be lesser and therefore the current will decrease. Hypothesis It is expected that the thinnest wire will have the highest resistance because a thicker wire offers less resistance to current than a thinner one of the same material. This is because current consists of electrons flowing through the metal of the wire. The electrons hop from atom to atom in the metal in reaction to the electric field in the circuit. A conductor with a larger cross-section allows more electrons to intermingle with the fields.