Julian Opie

By Billie-Jo Ellis ? ? ? He was born in London in 1958, but was raised in Oxford. He is recognised for his distinctive contribution to contempory art over the last 3 decades. He graduated from Goldsmith’s School of Art in 1983. In 2008, the four-sided LED sculpture ‘Ann Dancing’ was installed in Indianapolis, USA, as the first artwork on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. ‘Ann’s’ dress will sway and her arms will move. This is the name given to the work of a group of artists, sculptors and installation artists who began to exhibit together in London in the early 80’s.Many of these were exhibited in the Lisson Gallery. A few examples of artists in the NBS are: Edward Allington; Stephen Cox; Grenville Davey; Anthony Gormley; Julian Opie; Rachel Whiteread; Bill Woodrow and many more. Tim Wood identified 4 major themes in the New British Sculpture movement: ? A synthesis of pop and kitsch. ? A assemblage of the decaying UK urban environment an d the waste of consumer society. ? An exploration of the way in which objects are assigned meanings. A play of colour, wit and humor. I heard about Julian Opie about 2 years ago in school and have liked his work ever since. I like the simplicity of it all, yet he still captures the person in the picture, even his faceless LED work still captures a persona and this is why I like him. I got all my information from own personal knowledge, research on the internet (wikipedia. org and Julianopie. com) and books such as Tate Modern Artists.

Brant Case Analysis

CASE: BRANT FREEZER COMPANY Question 1: When comparing performance during the first five months of 2004 with performance in 2003, which warehouse shows the most improvement? St. Louis is the only one showing any improvement, using cost per unit shipped as the performance criterion. The cost for the first five months of 2003 was $9. 97 and for the first five months of 2004, it fell to $9. 07. Question 2: When comparing performance during the first five months of 2004 with performance in 2003, which warehouse shows the poorest change in performance?The worst change is the company’s own warehouse (located in Fargo), where costs per unit shipped increased 31%. Among the public warehouses used, Denver was the worst in terms of cost per unit handled. It is also the most expensive public warehouse that Brant uses. Question 3: When comparisons are made among all eight warehouses, which one do you think does the best job for the Brant Company? What criteria did you use? Why? Using the cost per unit handled criterion, St.Louis does the best job, closely followed by Chicago. Question 4: J. Q. is aggressive and is going to recommend that his father cancel the contract with one of the warehouses and give that business to a competing warehouse in the same city. J. Q. feels that when word of this gets around, the other warehouses they use will â€Å"shape up. † Which of the seven should J. Q. recommend be dropped? Why? Denver has the lowest volume and highest unit costs among all the public warehouses used.In addition, it had been closed by a strike which must have inconvenienced the Brant Company. It may be that the warehouse workers’ unions are strong in the Denver area. J. Q. should probably check out rates and productivity measures of other Denver warehouses before deciding to drop its current warehouse there. Question 5: The year 2004 is nearly half over. J. Q. is told to determine how much the firm is likely to spend for warehousing at each of the e ight warehouses for the last six months of 2004.Do his work for him. There is not enough information to do a very precise forecast. J. Q. assumes that the proportion of costs occurring during the first five months of 2003 should be in the same proportion in 2004. (1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (4) Warehouse location| % 2003 costs occurring in first five months| Actual costs for first five months of 2004 ($)| Projected total costs in 2004 ($)| Projected costs in the last six months of 2004 ($)| Atlanta| 22. 88| 40,228| 175,822| 116,204|Boston| 44. 00| 29,416| 66,885| 32,085| Chicago| 53. 43| 141,222| 264,312| 105,556| Denver| 35. 00| 14,900| 42,571| 23,714| Fargo| 54. 00| 9,605| 17,787| 7,012| Los Angeles| 72. 20| 93,280| 129,197| 30,781| Portland| 49. 30| 42,616| 86,442| 37,559| St. Louis| 44. 80| 19,191| 42,837| 20,265| The p rojected costs in 2004 (column 3) are calculated by dividing the actual costs for the first five months of 2004 (column 2) by the percent of 2003 costs that occurred in the first five months (column 1).For example, Atlanta’s actual 2004 costs of $40,228 divided by 2003’s 22. 88% yields projected 2004 costs of approximately $175,822. The projected costs in the last six months of 2004 (column 4) are calculated by subtracting the actual costs for the first five months of 2004 (column 2) from 2004’s projected total costs (column 3). This gives us the projected costs for the last seven months of 2004. However, we are only interested in the last six months of 2004, so this number is multiplied by 6/7, or . 857.Continuing with Atlanta, 2004’s projected total costs of $175,822 minus the first five months’ actual costs of $40,228 equals $135,394. Multiplying this by 6/7 yields projected six months’ costs of approximately $116,204. Question 6: When co mparing 2003 figures with the 2004 figures shown in Exhibit 13-A, the amount budgeted for each warehouse in 2004 was greater than actual 2003 costs. How much of the increase is caused by increased volume of business (units shipped) and how much by inflation? There are several ways to approach this question.One involves calculating the volume difference and inflation difference for each warehouse, as follows: Volume difference = 2003 unit costs x (2004 units shipped – 2003 units shipped) Inflation difference = 2004 units shipped x (2004 unit costs – 2003 unit costs) For example, Atlanta’s volume and inflation differences are: Volume difference: $8. 99 x (18,000 – 17,431) = $8. 99 x 569 = $5,115 Inflation difference: 18,000 x ($9. 97 – $8. 99) = 18,000 x $. 98 = $17,640 Question 7: Prepare the firm’s 2005 warehousing budget, showing for each warehouse the anticipated number of units to be shipped and the costs.Again, this can be done in severa l ways. One is to assume that the 2004 to 2005 increases will be exactly the same amount as the 2003 to 2004 increases (with units shipped rounded to the nearest hundred, and costs rounded to the nearest $500). This would yield the following results: Warehouse location| Differences in units shipped b/w 2003 and 2004| Units shipped  in 2004| Projected units shipped in 2005| Difference in warehouse costs b/w 2003 and 2004 ($)| Warehouse costs in 2004 ($)| Projected warehouse costs in 2005 ($)| Atlanta| 600| 18,000| 18,600| 21,000| 178,000| 199,000| Boston| 300| 7,200| 7,500| 9,500| 73,000| 82,500|Chicago| 1,900| 30,000| 31,900| 38,500| 285,000| 323,500| Denver| 100| 3,100| 3,200| 3,000| 31,000| 34,000| Fargo| 0| 2,000| 2,000| 500| 17,000| 17,500| Los Angeles| 500| 17,000| 17,500| 24,000| 176,000| 200,000| Portland| 700| 9,000| 9,700| 12,000| 85,000| 97,000| St. Louis| 2,100| 8,000| 10,100| 4,000| 56,000| 60,000| Another method would use percentage changes. Question 8: While attendin g classes at the university, J.Q. had learned of logistics partnerships. Should Brant Freezer Company attempt to enter into a partnership relationship with these warehouses? If so, what approach should it use? Assuming that a partnership approach was to be used, Brant would have to think of some sort of sharing of potential risks and profits. Offhand, the case does not provide much information to go on, other than cost containment or reduction is an issue.

What was architecturally innovative about the Pantheon in Rome Essay

What was architecturally innovative about the Pantheon in Rome - Essay Example The Pantheon is a building in Rome,Italy that whose design and construction was under the directorship of Marcus Agrippa who was a friend and commander during the reign of Augustus. It was constructed as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome,and it was rebuilt in 117-138 AD by Hadrian after it was razed to the ground during a war. The building is circular with a front entrance portico made up of eight large Corinthian columns made of granite. There are another two groups of four behind that are all under pediment. There is a vestibule, rectangular in shape that links the porch to the cupola that is beneath a coffered concrete auditorium. The dome has a central opening to the sky called the oculus, and it is the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. Fig 1: Pantheon, Rome. This paper seeks to highlight on what is architecturally about the Pantheon in Rome by discussing various features and aspects of the building. The version of the Pantheon seen today was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian at around 123AD, which fused the technical, religious and architectural inheritance of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture (Baldwin, 2004). The Emperor’s emphasis on perfection of the heavens is reflected in other buildings built by him and in its self-similar use of geometry and proportions. The notion regarding the nature of the universe being spherical is more Greek than it is Roman with the portico and the pediment also being of Greek influence. The coppice of columns leading into the temple is evocative of the hall of columns or hypostyle found in Egyptian temples (Baker, 2008). The interior of the Pantheon called the rotunda is accessed through a pair of bronze doors, with the vertical and horizontal diameter of the interior space being 43.2 meters. This is exemplary of the Romans’ emphasis on the notion of perfection in the sphere but also the heavens, and this sense of geometric perfection permeates the entire structure (MacDonald , 2002). The Pantheon is composed of two compartments namely the rotunda and the portico, with portico comprising of 16 large columns at the opening of the building. The columns are under a pediment with a phrase across it that reads; MÂ ·AGRIPPAÂ ·LÂ ·FÂ ·COSÂ ·TERTIUMÂ ·FECIT. This translates to Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made this building when consul for the third time. The walls are three storeys high and up to 6.2 meters thick with arches built into the brickwork to distribute the weight and achieve the height and strength required to support the dome (Baldwin, 2004). The thick walls are necessary to support and act as a buttress against the dome’s colossal stress. Inside the pantheon, the perimeter wall opens into seven niches that once contained statures of several deities a reference to the structure’s name, which means many gods. The floors are covered with beautiful tiles, which are an example of opus sectile roman mosaics that are used in the rest of the building enhancing the building’s decoration in amazing colours and patterns (MacDonald, 2002). The floor inside the pantheon is a checkerboard pattern that differs from the coffers in the dome, with each part of the dome’s interior subdivided according to different themes. They reinforce the building’s shape with the modular approach augmenting an individual’s point of reference of self and the size of the building. The dome of the pantheon weighs an approximate 4.5 metric tonnes concentrated on a ring of voussoirs that are 30 feet in diameter that form the oculus (Grasshoff, Heinzelmann & Wafler, 2009). Eight columns that are 21ft thick carry the downward thrust of the dome. The light from the open doorway and the oculus are the two sources of light inside the pantheo

PROJECT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PROJECT - Essay Example In most cases, each of the two behaviors occur independently infrequently, symptoms usually beginning to show before the individual is seven years old. According to a Philip, Gilliam, Liverpool, Weddle, Malek, Sharp, Greenstein, Evans, Rapoport and Giedd (2010), ADHD, also known as Attention deficit disorder (ADD), the condition evidently occurs when the behavior lie at the extreme end of a continuous distribution of cognitive impairments and symptoms and that lie below. A significant number of those having ADHD in childhood are likely to retain the symptoms of the condition in adulthood. Indeed according to Howell, Huessy and Hassuk (1985), those children that exhibited behavior related to ADHD in elementary school risked showing the symptoms in high school and as young adults. In fact most of those with the condition performed poorly in school and had social problems later in life (Howell et al. 1985). This study investigates the relationship between various variables and the prese nce of ADHD. The objective of this study was to establish if there is a significant relationship between the existence of ADD-like behavior and IQ score. ... Age at first assessment, family background, racial/ethnic identity and other background variables were not assessed. Procedure All participants were part of a larger study conducted by Howell, Huessy, and Hassuk (1985). The original study began with 501 children in the second grade and consisted of six stages of data collection: 2nd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 9th grade, 12th grade, and 3 years post graduation. The first three assessments were collected via the child’s current teacher, the second two assessments were collected via school records and the final assessment was an extensive interview. Due to normal attrition, the sample size was reduced to 352 children by the end of the fifth grade. The present study utilizes data collected during all six collection periods and includes only those for whom complete data is available (N = 216). Measures Gender. The gender of the child was collected via a questionnaire completed by the child’s second grade teacher. Grade rep etition. Whether or not the child repeated a grade during high school was assessed via school records at the end of the 12th grade. English level. The level of English class the child was enrolled in was assessed via the school record in the ninth grade. The three categories were: remedial, general and college preparatory. English grade. The grade the child received in English during the ninth grade was assessed via school records. Grades were: A, B, C, D, or F. Social adjustment problems. Whether or not the child exhibited any social adjustment problems in the ninth grade was assessed via school records. A child was considered to have a social adjustment problem if there were at least two notations in the record of infractions like disruptive classroom behavior, truancy, or

Emerging adulthoods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Emerging adulthoods - Essay Example When there are no social bonds and turning points these difficulties are carried into emerging adulthood. The solution is to create opportunities for this emerging adulthood; to build social bonds and have turning points as these have been proved to work by previous research. This can be done in various ways. Salvatore talks about social restrictions and age – graded theories that he explains using the term â€Å"desistance†. Desistance happens over time while social bonds are developed. Because of the time effect of desistance, the changes that occur are self made and not imposed on the individuals. The person only finds reasons for not wanting to engage in offensive action. These are things like job stability where the person has a stable income and a steady job that he can rely on and has no spare time for offensive action. The other reason is a strong attachment to one's business, where the person loves his/her job and wants to keep it and, so they abide to rules an d regulations of the job and keep the proper business ethics. Another reason is marriage. An individual may get attached to another person, and does not want to get separated from them. Therefore, they distance themselves from anything that could take them away from their loved one. Family ties are also responsible for desistance especially when an individual becomes a parent. They tend to want to set good examples for their children, and be there when they are growing up. Thus, they leave their past life of an offence and build a new one with this motivation. Age also matters when it comes to desistance. One will only look at their age and feel the need to have an alteration from the offensive life they have been leading form years. All this are the opposite of the root causes for an offensive lifestyle. Most offenders have nothing of value in their lives; they have nothing to live up to and without motivation, life has no meaning. Salvatore claims that social controls and turning points are the solution to emerging adulthood, and he is right in that a change in lifestyle could affect a change in performance. While some people may argue that the factors discussed above may not necessarily cause a change of behavior, it can be proven that social bonds like a marriage and a stable job will greatly reduce the time spent with delinquent peers who will always be a bad influence an individual showing signs of desistance. Cultural differences are relevant to emerging adult hoods as they introduce new opportunities and new peers. However, trends are changing in relation to the societal norms. More and more young people in the United States are postponing marriages and some are not getting married at all. Marriage is one of the key transitions to adulthood, and it acts as a socializing institution that requires conformity to conventional social norms (Laub & Sampson 2). This in turn, leads to delayed parenting and the responsibilities that come with parenting. Changes in the economy have also not been helpful for the emerging adulthood growth as the young now have to work very hard; just to have a middle class lifestyle and most give up trying. Increased educational credentials are also required, just to get a decent job. This is problematic to most young people; who have no post high school education. This leads to lack of financial independence, which makes most young people remain at home or move back to their parents’ houses, and continue on with their offensive performance. These trends in marriage, economy, parenting and education have led to an extended transition period where the young adults continue acting like teenagers trying to find themselves while continuing with their

War on Terrorism Or The Defense of Modernism Essay

War on Terrorism Or The Defense of Modernism - Essay Example It is a war in defense of our way of life against enemies who oppose that way of life, and who oppose it from common cultural and religious motives. Whatever specific aims, hopes, and delusions the al-Qaeda hijackers may have had, they could not have succeeded, they could not have drawn so many recruits, raised so much money, and found support and sanctuary, unless their motivations appealed to a wide group of people. The war on terrorism is unlike the Cold War; the battle lines are not drawn in ideologically explicit terms. Had we asked in the 1950s, "Why do the communists hate us What are they after" the answers would have been clear: Their Marxist ideology of socialism, dictatorship, and world conquest calls for the elimination of our free capitalist system, and endorses the use of any means to achieve that end. It's all spelled out in The Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, and an endless stream of Communist Party propaganda. The motivations of the 9/11 hijackers in particular, and of al-Qaeda in general, are not as transparent. They are complex and at times contradictory, rooted as they are within a highly complex history that reflects as many conflicts within Islam as it does between Islam and the West. It is now commonly known that the September 11th terrorists were members of Bin Laden's worldwide al-Qaeda organization. This is an extensive network of terrorist groups such as Egypt's al-Jihad, which was responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 and the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and among others. This organization represents the violent extreme of a fundamentalist movement that has been gaining ground among Muslims since the 1970s. While the goals of the movement are fairly clear, it should be noted that they reflect the opinions of a majority of Muslims about as much as David Koresh and his followers reflected the views of the average Christian. One goal is to drive the Western powers out of the Middle East, removing Western military, economic, and cultural presence from the region. Bin Laden's three immediate demands, repeated in virtually every statement, are 1. To stop American support for Israel. 2. Lift sanctions against Iraq. 3. Remove American troops from Saudi Arabia. A second goal is to unify the Islamic world and rally it in opposition to the West. "This war is fundamentally religious," bin Laden said last November, in one of his statements broadcast by al-Jazeera TV. "The people of the East are Muslims. They sympathized with Muslims against the people of the West, who are the crusaders. Under no circumstances should we forget this enmity between us and the infidels. For, the enmity is based on creed. Muslims must stand together. We must be loyal to the believers and those who believe that there is no God but Allah." (al-Jazeera, 2005) This is why troops in Saudi Arabia are such an important issue to bin Laden: they are stationed in the land of Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. A third goal of the Islamists is to create a strict form of Islamic

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Operations Management - Essay Example Operations Management Macro operations are the aggregate variables addressing the state of the whole university. In the micro-operations each component of the system is considered for its effects on the system owing to certain properties. The micro-theorists make constraining assumptions about behaviors and their possible outcomes to allow the desired degree of mathematical precision. On the other hand in the Macro operation links between the theory and any description of agents or institutions are more tenuous and contrived. The macro operations deal with major policy matters. Some examples: Ð ³niversities or for that matter any organisation, while undertaking the exercise of developing budgets (Macro level operation) generally make use of some standard budget development system. Such a system is used by every department to present their own budget requirements for the upcoming financial year (Micro level operation). This budget may include both salary and non-salary related elements, critical to the un iversity's operations. An operations manager is supposed to carry out all such tasks with the helps of the reporting, planning, and control functions, being done by other supportive departments. Therefore an operations manager should be concerned with the entire network as he has to take input from different nodes of the network to arrive at the overall objective. From the operations manager’s perspective, the overall objective of the operations subsystem is to provide capabilities for meeting the organisation’s goals and strategy... For a bigger organisation having a multinational presence, the market of one particular segment, state, nation form the micro level parameters while the consolidated economics make up for macro level factors. Micro level operations keep track of operations at an individual, resource, process and structure level, while macro level operations are concerned with only the system approach. Ans2 Operations manager has a multifaceted job profile. He's concerned with providing a strategic direction to the organisation. He is supposed to1; Improve the efficiency of the operation Improve control of service levels and quality Set service level agreements for end-user applications and for services provided Improve relationships with end-user departments Develop staff potential An operations manager is supposed to carry out all such tasks with the helps of the reporting, planning, and control functions, being done by other supportive departments. Therefore an operations manager should be concerned with the entire network as he has to take input from different nodes of the network to arrive at the overall objective. From the operations manager's perspective, the overall objective of the operations subsystem is to provide capabilities for meeting the organisation's goals and strategy. The subgoals of the operations subsystem can be attained through the decisions that are made in various operations areas. Each decision involves important tradeoffs between choices about product and process versus choices about quality, efficiency, schedule and adaptability. In fact the role of operations manager has been on an increase with increasing

Equity and Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Equity and Trust - Essay Example That’s when Lord Longdale ruled that Richard Knight did not make a trust, because his will did not satisfy the three certainty tests named above (Brophy, 2008, p. 91). In the case above, the provisions satisfy only one certainty that is certainty of intention. In Jones vs. Lock 1865, the court denoted that for a trust to be established, it must pass the certainty of intention test. In this case, Robert Jones loosely said that he was going to keep son 900 pounds for his child. Before altering his will, he died. The issue under consideration in this case therefore was on whether the 900 pounds he had offered belonged to the child, or to the residuary legatees. In arriving at their decision, the court held that Robert Jones did not have any intention of initiating a trust for the child; therefore the money was still under his residuary legatees. On this basis therefore, the court denoted that certainty of intention must be proved for a trust be valid. This argument is further rei nforced in the case involving Paul vs. Constance 1977. In this case, the court denoted that prove of certainty of intention is an important factor in determining the validity of a trust (Harrison, 2012, p.29). Sam, in his will provides for the distribution of his shares to Margaret his sister, and four grandchildren. However, he does not specify the amount of shares to be distributed to the individuals. In the case law that involved Palmer vs Simmonds 1854, the court denoted that there wasn’t any trust established when the testator wrote in his will that the bulk of his property should go to four unnamed individuals on an equal measure, but subject to a number of stipulations (Brophy, 2008, p. 41). This is because the Testator was not specific on the value of his property that was to be shared. On this basis therefore, the above provision is not valid, and does not create a trust, because he does not prove certainty of subject matter. Another issue that arises also is that Sa m does not give the names of the grand children under consideration, and it is therefore difficult for the trustees to know whom Sam had in mind. In the case law involving IRC vs. Broad way Cottages, the court denoted that in an instance where it is difficult to establish the specific beneficiaries of a will, then the trust established is void (Brophy, 2008, p. 56). In this case, the testator wrote a will denoting that any income derived from his property should benefit the settlor’s wife, and other relations of the settler. The term relation was not certain, making the will void. On this basis therefore, the provisions in this will are void, and do not establish a trust. (b) In this case, Sam satisfies the certainties established in the Case law of Knight vs. Knight. This provision satisfies the certainties of object, intention and subject matter. For instance, Sam identifies the object to be disposed, and that is a bronze statue of a musician; and the beneficiaries who are the grandchildren of Fiona. The case involving Re Kayford 1975 is a perfect example of a case law that depicts the importance of certainty of intention in a will (Brophy, 2008, p. 67). In this case, the managers of Kayford mailing company were concerned that their organization will be insolvent. On this basis, they opened an account with another bank to keep payments that

Business Ethics Reflection Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics Reflection Essay In any organization workers can face ethical dilemmas. On a daily basic people are posed with ethical dilemmas and have to decide to making the correct or the wrong choice. Some may not realize but we make ethical work choices at times and may not even realize it. For instance you are late to work and they have already been given a final warning. When we come in no one is there to notice that you are late. Do you get in and start working as if you were on time, or do you clock in where your time will be documented and recorded that you were late. This situation is one that my fellow coworkers face on daily basics. I have noticed that when posed with this ethical choice they choose to do what is correct for them, not necessarily what is correct by the organization. We may see if as covering our own behind, but it actually violates ones business ethics. What some may not realize is that business ethics and personal values mirror each other very closely. In business they ask the same as society, no lying, stealing or cheating. Take responsibility and do what is correct, make the correct decision. The only question is who do you make the correct decision for, you or the company. In that situation most have choose to look out for self. When it comes down to making ethical choices that may put one self at risk people chose themselves over the business. This is when personal values may come into play. To do correct by whom, yourself or the company that you work for? In most personal value one would say to always look out for self first. So in their book the decision to not let anyone know that they were late does just that. Moral concepts are very similar to values, its one innate ability to do what is correct with in. The same is with virtue, Virtue-based ethical theories place less emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits (Cline). There are many external pressures that could have influenced the decision to cover ones behind and not tell anyone that they were late such as the current economical status. If the country is not doing well economically and people find it hard to obtain a good job within a reasonable amount of time. Then one would defiantly choose to violate business ethics. Other external pressures could be their current financial state. People that are in better than average financial positions or are financially stable. I could continue to list other external situations that could affect a person’s ability to make what they may view as the correct business decision verse the best moral decision for one self. If placed in a similar situation I would choose to look out for self. When I reflect on my bringing and what I was taught I was always taught to do what is best for me and my family. Regardless of who may be affected, making sure that my family was always taken care of came first. Although it may not be the best choice for all involved, it is the best for me and mine. At the point that I am in life I make my decision very wisely. I first think about who is going to be affected by the choice that I make. If I would choose to tell that I was late and face being terminated and that would put my family at risk for some financial instability. I know that many choice that we are forced to make in our business life can be unethical when it comes to work. But in our personal life they are considered to be ethical as well as morally correct choices. When it comes to decisions they will never be what is best for all. All members in the party want to make the choice that is best for them. Virtue, value and moral concepts are what people choose to live by to help them guide them in their personal and professional lives.

Human Resource Information Systems Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Information Systems Essay Employees’ retention and keeping them satisfied so that they work on their full capacity and be productive for the company is very important. They should be well motivated and the programs like compensation, training and development and base salary should set such that employees feel that the company values them and their hard work a lot. For all this, the company’s human resource department has to put in all of this data into the computer system and then to manage it for further references in future. This information is then saved in the company’s system and special software’s are there to handle them for the company. Since the human resource department happens to bear the responsibility of the organization in the terms of the range of tasks for the employees and how the employees are supposed to interact with each other depending on their assigned designations and with other businesses. The software’s used in the human resource department have a range which starts from performing a primary function, to all complete software suits which are designed to solve all the needs of human resource department may have. These software target all the functions of human resource like payroll, benefits, for employees, recruiting, compliance and many more. This information maintained is so sensitive that it must be and should be handled by the human resource department only, and should be uploaded on their network map drives rather than on every other department’s, which might cause trouble as they would be able to access it. In this report, it would also be discussed that which of the software the companies use would be the best for them because of their efficiency and the time they consume to give out results to them. Human resource information technology faces many needs. Like mentioned above, human resource department has to solve many assignments related to the payroll of the employees, the benefits the employees get on their performance they show for the company. Other software or the multi task software check about the employees and keeps a record of their designations and the promotions they get further in their careers. The last part of compliance software is used to ensure that the policies they are making do not abuse the company mission and other goals they really want to achieve. For the payroll part of human resource, human resource department needs those softwares that can do the basic function for them like calculation all the employees pay according to their given designations. This software must also be able to take calculations of the employees hourly and monthly pay. It should also be able to calculate the compensations and the uncompensated time given by the employee and added and adjusted in the employees’ salaries ( . Kavanagh and Thite, 2008) These softwares should be such that they automatically cut the taxes from the salaries of the employees of the company, and this tax should be both pre tax income and post – tax income of the employees especially when the employees have elected for the pre – tax deduction, which are known as the 410K, cafeteria, plan and medical deductions. Deduction management should also take place in this software, so that the employees do not have to do it manually, which cause some man error in calculations. If this is done manually, it would take a lot of time to get done with every employee of the company and their might be some errors too. The other department of human resource where they need information technology is at the benefits area. Softwares which is multi tasking or who performs solely benefit functions helps the human resource employees by making them track every other employee of the company, its accrual and the usage of benefits they get. This would also count paid time off, and the payments which are given on time. This software would also help the human resource employee to check whether the other employees’ are eligible for the medical and health related benefits. All those fringe benefits provided by the company like health clubs, to its employees may also be tracked the human resource department at the need of information. That is why, the companies’ need a software which would help them out the benefits for all the employees of the company and keep a record whether they are eligible for it or not. The third part is employees. This is an important part since it’s the duty of the human resource department to do the hiring and selecting of the employees and then later retain them for the company. Since the company is not run by only two or three department but by many, the number of employees is a lot too then. To keep a track on all of the employees, who are currently employed by the company is very hard and that too by their designations. Softwares help the human resource department people as they set a range of the designation for the employees and to the employees group at very different level of the organization. For employees, the human resource department would need few basic functions from the softwares. Human resources would like the softwares to have tracking system and also feature recording of employees’ performance, their attendances and absences and lastly the development and the work they are putting in for the company. This would help the company as they would know how much effort is been put in by the employees and who then becomes eligible for the compensation or the bonuses. This software may also have these features such as management of compensation, time information system, software which could do assessments on employee skills, on their training and education and a record on their behavior with other employees, especially if they got themselves into conflicts or an incident in which they have resolved things. Recruiting is another part of human resource department which requires software to do their task on every process of the recruitment. This software would have every employee’s job descriptions according to the designations and this may also help in future while hiring new people on those posts. Software might also help the human resource staff by storing extra information of prospective background and relocation of the employees among the departments and lastly, about the new employees who had been hired by the company. Lastly it’s compliance which is to be dealt by the human resource. Any software related to it would help the department by letting them know that whatever the company they are working for is complying with, is actually applicable with the laws or not. This includes the process of hiring new employees, so that no nepotism occurs and the qualified people are not left behind. No employee is fired or terminated without any legal reason. The education criterion matches the job post requirement and should also store information complaints regarding sexual harassment. Also that the company complies with all of the federal regulations they are supposed to follow. For human resource department, the best softwares they have found so far for their work to be done very efficiently are the OrangeHRM suite software and the other software is by the Microsoft, named Microsoft Dynamics suite which also happen to be single-source providers. These are considered to be the best softwares for the companies to complete their human resource related tasks. These softwares are such that they not only manage the tasks of the human resource department very efficiently but they also consumer less time to complete the assignment. The other softwares are Ajiva Simple HR which is considered to be a least expensive product and does all the functions required by the human resources. The information of this is available in the forms of graphical dashboard. Other software is of People-Trak HR which is affordable too and gets more expensive on adding more features ( Rashid, 2009). There are other softwares too for the human resource departments. There are other softwares too available for the completion of human resource department task. They are mostly related to the payroll like mentioned above, then work time of the employees, and the benefits administration to keep a track of who is eligible to get one or not. Recruiting softwares are also available and training and learning management system softwares are there too to help the employees the human resource department to sort out their things more easily (Sleezer, Wentling and Cude, 2002). Performance record softwares are also available for the human resource department that sorts out the bonuses or the incentives the employees would get according to their performance they have shown for the company. Lastly, appraisal softwares are also there so that the human resource department can collect online information about the views the employees hold for their company and their jobs and then make policies out of them so that the employees are highly motivated. Before selecting the software technology, the company must make sure whether the software they are going to get from the other source has enough flexibility and scalability for the human resource department and its tasks or not. The employees should determine that whether the data could be imported from the excel spread sheets, its databases and other paper documents, all those things which contain important data that needs to be put into computer, otherwise it would create a problem. The software should also be able to take in the information and do filter of things which it needs to take in and store in specific data bases. Companies should also check whether the software is able to accommodate the human resource department of the companies. If true software is picked out for the enrollment, it will evaluate the enrollment activity and impose all the necessary rules and combination of rules, messages and other ways to meet and fulfill the eligibility of the requirements which are desired.

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly For the cause of enlarging our knowledge of Economics, we did this assignment. There are three main parts in it. They are Perfectly competitive, Monopoly and Oligopoly, which are really important in Economics. But not simple to learn in Economics study. The questions need us to draw graphs and use calculations for them. These questions would help us have a better understanding of them. Finding: 1.A number of markets are developing on the Internet. One of those market is eBay. Check out eBay at www.eBay.com and explain whether you believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Be sure to explain which of the six conditions of a perfectly competitive market are met and how. A: eBay is an online auction Website. Consumers use the Internet to research the goods they desire, then they look for bargains of the same products on eBay. If the products are available, a bid is entered and the winner of the auction eventually pays with her credit card. In addition to regular mail, vendors also use express-mail service to send the purchases to buyers if they choose that option. eBay is different from Amazon.com, another popular e-commerce Website, in that prices on eBay are set by the negotiation between bidders and sellers, whereas Amazon.coms prices are mostly determined by sellers. It is likely to Taobao, which is a well-known shopping website in China. ( http://baike.baidu.com/view/7777.html?wtp=tt, 2010) I believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Because it possess these four characteristics: There must be many and sellers in the market, none of whom is large enough to influence price. eBay have kinds of sellers to satisfied distinct demands in goods of consumers. No big firms control small firms. There is freedom of entry to and exit from the industry. Firms must be able to establish themselves in the industry easily and quickly. eBay sellers can entry and exit the business depend on their wishes. Buyers and sellers posses perfect knowledge of prices. They know the market and price well. They gain lots of information about that. All firms produce a homogeneous product. For example, there are many sellers in eBay have the same product, you can choose one base on service or else.  ¼Ã‹â€ Marcouse, 2008) Perfect competition requires that the following six conditions be fulfilled. In such a market, prices would normally move instantaneously to economic equilibrium. Atomicity An atomistic market have small producers and consumers on a given market, so that its actions have no important impact on others. Firms are price takers, which means that the market decide the price that they must choose. Homogeneity Goods and services can substitute perfectly, so all firms sell the same product. There is no difference. Perfect and complete information All firms and consumers understand the prices decide by the whole firms. Equal access All firms have entryed to production technology. If they wanted, they could free to entry or leave. Individual buyers and sellers act independently The market cannot have scope for buyers or sellers get together to have a overall view about the market price. (http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Perfect-competition#Requirements, 2010) Draw marginal revenue ¼Ã…’marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical perfectly competitive firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? Figure1 This is a typical perfectly competitive firm firm graph. It is loss. Figure 2 Yes. It is long-run equilibrium. Because there is a point that LRAC line, ATC line, MC line and MR line intersect. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications, including merger activity within industry. Go to the FCC website at www.fcc.gov and search communication companies and answer the following questions: What reasons do consumers and producers have for opposing the merger? What reasons do consumers and producers have for supporting the merger? Does the theory of a monopolist discussed in class and the textbook support the reasons stated in your answers to a and b? A: a). 1.A monopolist charges a higher price and produces less output than a perfectly competitive firm. 2.Consumers have less choice, because one product only be produced bu one firm. 3.High barriers to entry means other firms cannot enter the market. 4.Governments can earn heavily tax through monopolies. 5.Governments can nationalise the monopoly (make it public) and therefore can keep prices too high. 6.Government can decline entry barriers (which is not good for the monopolistic firm). 7.The economy may suffer as less consumer spending may happen because of high prices charged by monopolistic firms. 8.Exploitation of consumer price discrimination 9.Potential for inefficiency complacency over controls on production 10.costs because there is no competition 11.May lack motivation and innovation because there is no competition To sum up, these 11 disadvantages of monopoly. Consumers and producers have for opposing the merger for their own profit. (Marcouse, 2008) b). 1.A monopoly may produce at a lower cost than a competitive industry. This is due to economies of scale, which a monopoly is able to exploit more than a competitive firm, as the monopoly is the sole provider of that good. The ability to set prices at a higher level in order to gain an abnormal profit. However, monopolistic firms are not simply able to charge a price they deem fit for the product, since it is constrained by its demand curve. A higher price will result in a fall in demand, and that may subsequently lead to a fall in revenue (depending on elasticity). The majority of monopolies are belonging to government, so tax will be higher. It can give more money to perfect public goods. Consumers may like price discrimination as it could be in their favour. There can be more control and stability in an industry if a monopoly is present. If it is a natural monopoly, it would be suitable an necessary. Encourages spending on RD which may create better products. Some products and services are not likely to be produced without some guarantee of monopoly protection. Economies of scale can be gained consumer may benefit from a lower cost In conclusion, consumers and producers supporting it, because of these several advantages. c). In general, I think monopolist discussed in class and textbook support the reasons stated in my answers to a. Because from a and b we can know disadvantages of monopoly are greater than advantages. It harms consumers through charging a higher price and producing a lower quantity than would be the case in a perfectly competitive situation.And a monopolist is inefficient because resources are under distributed to the production of its product. ( Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Draw demand, marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical monopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? How does the profit-maximising position differ from that of a perfectly competitive firm? A: This is a typical monolistic graph. It is a loss. Monopolist can make a profit in the long-run. If the position of a monopolists demand and cost curves give it a profit and nothing disturbs these curves, it can make a profit in long-run. But there is no need to distinguish between the short run and long run for a monopolist. - a monopolist can make a profit in the short run and long run. - it can make a loss in the short run and long run.  ¼Ã‹â€ Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° From these two graphs we can see, the Demand and Marginal cost curves of the monopolist are downward sloping. In perfect competition they are horizontal. But the maximizes profits point are the same, when MC=MR.(graphs from Smiths PPT, 2010) Oligopoly The organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an international cartel. Go to its home page at www.opec.org to answer the following questions: What are OPECs objectives of OPFC? How does it meet those objectives? What countries are members of OPEC? What percentage of world oil production comes from these nations? In what way is OPEC a cartel? What significant oil-exporting countries are not members? What has OPEC done to limit the effect of nonmember production on its own pricing decisions? A:a)1.In accordance with its Statute, the mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.OPECs objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry. In a word, OPEC organization is assorting with members oil policy, and unify them. Then decide to use the most suitable way to protect their own or personally benefit. (http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/23.htm, http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/24.htm, http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) (1)The member countries delegates of OPEC in the OPEC meeting seek unity of oil policy. And contribute to prosper the oil market. These countries aim at the international situation and marketing trends of oil. They have a discussion and analysis to decide the increasing rate of economics. And also control the demand and supply of oil. (http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) b) 1. Angola, Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates. OPEC nations still have 2/3 of the worlds oil reserves. In April 2009, 33.3% of the worlds oil production, affording them lots of controlling in the global market. The next largest group of producers, members of the OECD and the Post-Soviet states produced only 23.8% and 14.8%, respectively, of the worlds total oil production.Since 2009, OPEC has ordered a production ceiling of 24.84 million barrels per day. At the end of 2008, OPEC had twice reduced the output quota by a total of 4.2 million barrels to 24.8 million barrels per day. In 1996, the members countries have 76.6% of oil, 69.7% in 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC, http://www.hxen.com/englishnews/world/2010-03-18/103865.html, http://www.qqkqw.com/html/cyclopedia/ziyuanzhanlve/ziyuanxingshi/2010/02/23/152105199.html, 2010) Definition:1Cartel is a group of firms formally agreeing to control the price and output of a product.(Smith ,2010) In some markets, producing firms or producing countries band together, usually to restrict supply; this allows them to raise prices and increase their profits or revenues; the best known cartel is OPEC which restricts the supply of oil onto world world markets. OPEC countries, with less than half of current world output but with most of the worlds oil reserves, manipulate the price of oil by restricting supply. Overall, these evidence proves that OPEC did act as a cartel.(Marcouse, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC#Economics,2010) c). 1. The oil-exporting countries which are not memebers also produced great amount. For example, Russia have the second oil produced in barrels per day, just less than Saudi Arabia, 9,810,000 bbl a day in 2009. United States are the third, 8,514,00 bbl a day in 2008. China is the fourth, which is 3,795,000 per day in 2008. ( https://www.cia.gov/liabrary/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2173rank.html, 2008) 2.OPEC cannot control the international oil market. Draw demand,marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical oligopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Explain why prices are stable or sticky in this model. What are the characteristics of oligopoly? This is a typical oligopolistic firm. The graph shows total profit. A: 1.No incentive for price increases; Total Revenue will fall No incentive for price decreases; Total Revenue will fall 2.Mutual interdependence is a main characteristic of oligopoly and it may cause prices to be sticky. The market price incline to remain stable, or rigid, at the kink in the demand curve. 3.To maximize profits, oligopolistic firms operate where MR = MC. Because of the kinked demand curve, there is a range of MC curves which equal MR at the same price: price rigidity.( Smith, 2010) 1.Industry dominated by small number of large firms, but many firms may make up the industry; mutual interdependence among the large firms High barriers to entry Products could be highly differentiated each large firm producing a branded product Non-price competition(e.g 4 Ps) Price stability within the market-kinked demand curve Knowledge of market is not perfect,but there is potential for collusion among firms ( Smith, 2010)

lord of the flies :: essays research papers

The novel Lord of the Flies was full of challenges that the boys overcame in order to survive. Conflicts within themselves, with nature and with each other constantly test the children’s ability to endure. Struggles against the natural elements of the island, rival groups or fear of the unknown continually appear throughout the story. Some of the boys on the island did not survive the quarrels that they faced. They perished because they were lacking something that the surviving boys did not. The survivors had a natural primal instinct or a physical or mental advantage over the boys who did not make it. ‘Only the strong survive’ is an important element that runs through the novel Lord of the Flies because in order to survive the boys must turn to their primitive instincts of physical strength and savagery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the three children who did not survive the island was the mulberry colored birthmark boy. He represents the weaknesses and insignificance of all the littluns that are on the island. The littluns are younger, less developed and less experienced compared to the older children. As a result the littluns are at a disadvantage to the other boys. The mental weakness of the littluns is evident when they talk about their fear of a monster on the island: â€Å"He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an’ came back and wanted to eat him.†(35). As most young children do, the littleuns confused fantasy with reality and as a result a monster was believed to live on the island. The littluns lack of maturity and concentration is shown when Ralph and Simon are building the shelters and Ralph says, â€Å"I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running. Then we’d be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we o ut to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over they’d work for five minutes then wonder off.†(51). The death of the mulberry colored birthmark boy clearly shows that the littluns are insignificant to the other children on the island. When the children built the fire on the mountain and the flames caught on the canopy below Piggy realizes that the mulberry colored birthmark boy was not with them. Piggy shows the littluns’ insignificance when he says, â€Å"That little ‘un-‘ gasped Piggy-‘him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him.

Summary of Educating Rita :: essays research papers

Main characters are Frank who is a university lecturer and Rita who is a hair dresser. Rita wants to be educated she decides to take an Open University course. The main theme of the play is to be educated. At the start of the scene we hear a conversation between Frank and someone else on the other end of the phone. We hear him arguing if he will go to the pub or not. â€Å"What do u mean I determined to go to the pub? I don’t need determination to go to the pub†. This shows his sarcasm. Showing that he doesn’t care this shows us that he doesn’t care about his partner and he’s a caring person. Frank also doesn’t want to teach at Open University he only does it for the money. He thinks there is no point in teaching Open University because all his students will be stupid. ‘Some silly woman’s attempt to get into the mind of Henry James’ this shows he is prejudice before he starts teaching. He thinks she is going to be stupid because she didn’t get enough education. He is only doing this for the money. He doesn’t care about the job, all wants is the money to go to the pub. Then we see Rita enter the room. She barges through the room because it’s jammed. She doesn’t use the correct grammar. ‘I’m comin in aren’t I’. She speaks in colloquial English, this makes us think that she doesn’t have a good education and shows that she is working class. She speaks in a scouse accent, she swears a lot showing that she doesn’t care about offending anyone, and she is loud and enthusiastic about learning. She wants to learn because she wants a change. When Rita tries to get into the room she can’t because the handle is jammed .she manages to open it and barge in. â€Å"it’s the stupid bleeding handle†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦you wanna get that fixed†. She doesn’t wait around to fix the problems she gets them done. She isn’t lazy she wants to move things along like in life. Rita doesn’t like her life so instead of waiting around she decides to change it and get educated. She is trying to get better in life but she has to struggle to get something in life you have to work hard. Whereas frank is ignoring his problems and is drinking instead of trying to fix his problems.