Importance of Fungi

Importance of Fungi: Fungi are  eukaryotic  organisms distinct from plants and animals and members of several other smaller kingdoms. Common fungi include mushrooms, conks, corals, jellies, puffballs, stinkhorns, morels, cups, truffles, lichens, yeasts, rusts, smuts, bread molds, mildews, and molds on bathroom tiles. In 1959, R. H. Whittaker introduced a five-kingdom taxonomy that granted fungi equal status with plants and animals. The five-kingdom system has been supplanted by a multiple-kingdom classification, and species traditionally treated as fungi are now distributed across several kingdoms.Those believed to form a  monophyletic lineage  are assigned to kingdom Eumycota (often called kingdom Fungi). Mycology, the science devoted to fungi, still covers all traditional fungi. Fungi are considered as one of the most prolific types of life on earth, which are found nearly everywhere around us. There are many different types of fungi some of which are very beneficial for ma nkind. It has immense economic applications and plays a major role in producing a number of products such as drugs, antibiotics penicillin, contraceptives, food, mushrooms, morels, cheeses, alcoholic beverages, and soybeans.Fungi have a profound biological and economic impact. As decomposers, plant pathogens, and symbiotic partners, their ability to grow anywhere, on anything, makes them both beneficial and harmful recyclers of carbon and nitrogen. Beneficially, they are used as food (mushrooms, truffles) and in baking and brewing (yeasts). They are being developed to detoxify pollutants (soil fungi), control insects (pathogenic Zygomycota), and regulate plant growth (pathogenic Ascomycota).Detrimentally, rusts, smuts, and molds cost billions of dollars through crop disease and spoilage while forest pathogens such as the honey mushroom (  Armillaria ostoyae  ) and root-butt rot (  Heterobasidion annosum  ) similarly threaten the timber industry. Some are toxic when eaten, su ch as the infamous destroying angel (  Amanita phalloides  ). Natural LSD, a hallucinogen produced by ergot (  Claviceps purpurea  ), is associated with medieval hysterical frenzies produced by consumption of infected grain, and the  aflatoxin  produced by  Aspergillus flavus  in improperly stored grain is one of the most potent carcinogens yet discovered.As human and animal pathogens, fungi cause infections that range from the vexing (athlete's foot, yeast infections) to life threatening (histoplasmosis). Fortunately, other fungi (such as  Penicillium  ) have been used to develop modern antibiotics and beneficial  immunosuppressants  . Recycling Fungi, together with bacteria, are responsible for most of the recycling which returns dead material to the soil in a form in which it can be reused. Without fungi, these recycling activities would be seriously reduced. We would effectively be lost under piles many metres thick, of dead plant and animal remains. Food Fungi are also important directly as food for humans. Many mushrooms are edible and different species are cultivated for sale worldwide. While this is a very small proportion of the actual food that we eat, fungi are also widely used in the production of many foods and drinks. These include cheeses, beer and wine, bread, some cakes, and some soya bean products. While a great many wild fungi are edible, it can be difficult to correctly identify them. Some mushrooms are deadly if they are eaten. Fungi with names such as ‘Destroying Angel' and ‘Death Cap' give us some indication that it would not be a terribly good idea to eat them!In some countries, collecting wild mushrooms to eat is a popular activity. It is always wise to be totally sure that what you have collected is edible and not a poisonous look-a-like. Medicines Penicillin, perhaps the most famous of all antibiotic drugs, is derived from a common fungus called Penicillium. Many other fungi also produce antibiotic substances, which are now widely used to control diseases in human and animal populations. The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized health care worldwide. Some fungi which parasitise caterpillars have also been traditionally used as medicines.The Chinese have used a particular caterpillar fungus as a tonic for hundreds of years. Certain chemical compounds isolated from the fungus may prove to be useful treatments for certain types of cancer. A fungus which parasitises Rye crops causes a disease known as Ergot. The fungus can occur on a variety of grasses. It produces small hard structures, known as sclerotia. These sclerotia can cause poisoning in humans and animals which have eaten infected material. However, these same sclerotia are also the source of a powerful and important drug which has uses in childbirth. Food SpoilageIt has already been noted that fungi play a major role in recycling organic material. The fungi which make our bread and jam go moldy are only recycling orga nic matter, even though in this case, we would prefer that it didn't happen! Fungal damage can be responsible for large losses of stored food, particularly food which contains any moisture. Dry grains can usually be stored successfully, but the minute they become damp, moulds are likely to render them inedible. This is obviously a problem where large quantities of food are being produced seasonally and then require storage until they are needed.Types of Fungi Moulds and Yeast . Moulds The cotton-like mass grown on fruits, animal dung, leather goods or bread in a warm and humid climate is known as a mould. E. g. Mucor and Rhizopus . General Structure- †¢They have a network of transparent structures called as hyphae. †¢The entire mass of such threads is called as mycelin. Nutrition – They obtain their food from the substratum on which they grow. Respiration – they acquire aerobic respiration. Reproduction in moulds is both asexual and sexual. †¢Asexual rep roduction in moulds occurs by the method of columella. Sexual reproduction in moulds occurs by the method of conjugation. Yeast Yeast is a one-celled microorganism growing all around us and on us. It grows when it has food and water, and suspends growth when it does not. In suspended animation, it is light enough to be blown by the wind, like a seed. If there is water and food where it lands, it will reproduce and continue the cycle. It is also on human skin and can be transferred to food through contact, with clean or dirty hands. Yeast has been exploited by humans for thousands  to make bread, beer and wine. It does so by turning sugar into alcohol and gas to gain energy.

Cultural Issues in Esl

Cultural Issues in ESL One main issue with English being a second language is cultural differences. It brings great distress to most international students who are studying abroad because though they strive to learn with a higher level of excellence and performance, their cultures will always find a way to limit that ambition. It’s hard to be in a classroom with students who do not understand the culture from whence you came. It is also hard to understand your fellow classmates and teachers for they have their own cultures, some of which we might find very different. English is harder to learn when you are placed in that situation, for it is hard to get used to the culture at the same feeling the pressure of studies and socialization. The people in this category are mainly international or exchange students. Given the privilege to study abroad for a better education, these students are hard working and efficient. But the disadvantages are inevitable. There are cultures in their former school that their current school does not practice. Proper behavior, salutations, programs, and methods vary in different schools. Even in local schools, it is hard for some to practice English, because majority of the students’ families could possibly not have the complete knowledge of English, thus speaking incorrect grammar to their children, giving them a confusing perception in English. When materials in class are passed in English, those students who are used to different materials in their past schools have great difficulty in studying, thus making them seem stupid or lazy. In reality, they are just not used to this kind of culture and way of studying. The cultures in Asia are different from those in Europe and America. Culture is a beautiful thing when you see different ones all around the world, but in terms of English being a culture’s second language, it is pretty complicated to attain and retain. The religions, cultural backgrounds, and language barriers each have its own way of communicating in the local land but unfortunately English is still a major problem in most countries when these cultural differences are shared. As it was studied, there has been a vast improvement though in some countries in Asia such as Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Not everyone has learned all there is to know, but English is already taken as a second language, next to the other dialects. Many students find it laborious when studying in a different school or when interacting with foreign students. When there are groupings or projects in school, it is very hard to communicate. Communication is very important, but the very source of the miscommunication is the language itself and the culture that is keeping the students from interacting with each other. They cannot express their thoughts as much as they can, which the result of their lack of culture link. There is a friction in most international schools if the students are not informed well enough. The differences are very easy to see. From the way they talk to the way they act, foreign students are distinct. You can see the stress in them as they try to communicate if they aren’t used to speaking straight English. Students who are of a different language mustn't be deemed as a weaker or more advanced student in the classroom. Equality must be present at all times. If it isn't practiced, it will lead to biases and favoritism, misunderstandings and miscommunication across the classroom. It is very uncomfortable for a non-English speaking student to ask for help from the teacher as they will be criticized for their actions, when in actuality, they have no other intention but to get the work done. The local students may feel unimportant to the teacher if such help is given to the foreign student, so teachers must be very careful and sensitive to equivalence. If I were to become the teacher of a school, whether it may be an international or local school, I must be the example of a nondiscriminatory standard. Dealing with students is a huge responsibility so we must be mindful of the issues that may be happening in our schools today. There are numerous non-English speakers who are determined to try their best at learning English yet we still do not take them seriously. It would be so much easier for the local students to interact with the international students if we ourselves encouraged fellowship between the races. We should avoid conflicts that would offend any of them and continue to appreciate each culture. Although some may have religions that the other students do not approve of, we must respect each religion even if we do not agree with the teachings. And if we share the same belief with a student, we must not be biased with the student. Whatever the differences may be, racism is a meaningless and prideful thing to do. The fact that these international students want to learn English is an honor already. They have a respect for it and want to communicate with it to those who speak English and teach it to those who can’t. Everyday is a challenge to them as they continue to learn the art of English. But why can't we use the disadvantages for good? Why do we discriminate? English is the easiest to learn yet we still have issues with it being a second language. It is challenging for foreigners to communicate in English, but without challenge we will not learn to work hard for a great benefit. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for other countries to communicate and to share friendships? If only every one of us spoke English as their second language. But unfortunately, there are people who disagree with the idea. Although patriotism is good, there must be peace with other nations and cultures. English did not even start in America. It was developed using different languages. It is a testimony to the idea of unity with different nations. Great things can be accomplished when we accept and learn from issues such as English being a second language. English as a second language would be easier to adapt to if every culture had an effort to introduce it to their people. As English speakers, we must put value in the language we have attained and put it to good use. So many people all around the world have the desire to learn this language and so we shouldn’t make it an issue. It is a good problem. As long as there are learners, we must be willing to teach. And if we accomplish that, English would be universal and our nations would be united even in language.

Managing Change Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing Change - Research Proposal Example A successful management of change process leads to implement the procedural changes in a sustainable manner so that the organization can enjoy the long enduring benefits arising out of such changes (Hernes, Hendrup and Schà ¤ffnerc, 2015). In this paper, research will be done on change management of a renowned global fast food restaurant, Burger King. Theories of cultural changes and adaptation versus standardization will be analysed in order to establish the research agenda. Since its inception, the company has gone through several transformations in terms of management changes and changes in the production and operational process, as a result of external environmental changes. The Florida based company has gone through substantial changes since it has decided to expand its business in the Gulf Region. The research paper will concentrate on how the management has been able to manage the changes exclusively in Gulf region over a period of time. Organizational change is a critical aspect for every organization operating in global business framework. According to Hoenen and Kostova (2014), as the Gulf region is still in a state of pursuing its socio-economic and political reforms and accordingly changing the rules and legislations from time to time, it has become necessary for all the multinational companies operating in this region to change their business process and align their operations with the transforming regulations in this region. Schmid and Kotulla (2011) are on the opinion that when a multinational company decides to expand business in a new region on the globe, the management has to decide for every aspects of business starting from source of raw material, production and distribution process to supply chain and marketing strategies. Therefore, depending on the availability of resources and other facilities they should decide whether the company will standardize their existing

West High School in Denver, Colorado Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

West High School in Denver, Colorado - Essay Example West High School or New Denver West High School Home of the Cowboys was pioneered by Owen J. Goldrick. His school opened in 1859 in a log cabin with 13 students. West High School was organized in 1883 and in January, 1884 moved to Colfax Ave.West High School in Denver, Colorado Abstract â€Å"We turn dreams into futures.† This is the motto of the Denver High School, the topic of my research. I went to Denver West High School and examined the school’s environment, teachers, students, and academic and extra-curricular flow of activities. I went to Mr. Jorge Loera, principal Denver West High School and asked permission to visit and observed at least three classes to feature in my essay. Mr. Loera gave me the class of Ms. Anderson, Mr. Clymo, and Ms. Headrick. West Denver High School was described in general and in three specific classes. The feature includes Denver West High School’s history, academic programs, the qualities of the teachers’ selected and clas s interaction, and the students’ viewpoint. The teacher-parent-students’ relationship were also discussed as West Denver High School includes parents in the child’s learning. Brief History West High School or New Denver West High School Home of the Cowboys was pioneered by Owen J. Goldrick. His school opened in 1859 in a log cabin with 13 students. West High School was organized in 1883 and in January, 1884 moved to a wonderful new building on Colfax Ave. and Mariposa St. called the Franklin School. For years, the name of Franklin School and West High School were synonymous. On June 13, 1884, at 2:00PM, Charles McDonough, Effie Hallam, Lelia Williams, Frances Brandt, Laura Duccy, and Morrison Stillwell became the first graduates of West High School. On a cold January morning in 1926, 1000 students and teachers said "goodbye" to their school of 33 years and marched from 5th and Fox to the new West High School at 9th and Elati. After 83 years, it is still the Home of the Cowboys. The Academic Program Denver’s West High School serves grades 9-12 in the Denver Country 1 School District. The school is dedicated to the academic success of the student. West High School creates partnership with parents in building the character and academic performance of the students. Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, World Languages, Fine Arts, Music, Physical Education, and Career Technical Education are the subjects being taught in Denver West High School. The only teachers in Career Technical Education are Mr. Clayton, Ms. Pegues, and Mr. Mascarenas. Math subject focuses on Algebra, Geometry, Probability and Statistics, and Pre-calculus. English program entails American Hispanic, British, and World Literature, and College Preparation Reading and Writing. Science covers the topic related to Advance Placement Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics. Social studies include topics such as Advance Placement Government and United States Hi story, Civics, Psychology, Geography, Hispanic History and Student Council. World Languages that are being taught by teachers are German, French, and Spanish. Fine Arts offered activities related to Band, Computer Arts, Video/Film Production, Chorus, Dance, Photography, Ceramics/Sculpture, Drawing/Painting, and Theater/Drama. Academic Calendar Plan for Music, Physical Education, and Career Technical Education are not yet available so related subjects/topics under this academic program were not yet posted. The extra-curricular activity that this school is best known for is Radio/Video/Multimedia. Extra-curricular activities are heavily encouraged by the school and most of the students are involved in the activity. West High School also offers programs for children with learning differences or disabilities. The administration, as well as the teachers makes sure that every student are aware of the academic program and calendar to inform the students and the parents about the subjects b eing taught everyday in the class. Based on GreatSchool’s Rating Criteria, Denver High School has 1 out of 10 rating criteria. The GreatSchool rating criteria is based on the comparison of test results in different states. The school also has an average Community Rating of 3 out of 5 stars, based on reviews from 20 school community members. The Teachers There is 1

Discuss the contention that rural spaces in the global north have Essay

Discuss the contention that rural spaces in the global north have become landscapes of consumption, rather than traditional landscapes of production - Essay Example duction thesis with reference to the concrete background of the wider changes taking place in the rural spaces of the global north in general and the countryside of the UK in particular. The means livelihood of the rural population in the developed world has substantially altered by the forces of globalisation and corresponding integration of the world economy. The migration of the urban workers who are however embedded in the urban lifestyles and cultures, to the rural areas is one of the primary factors that bring consumerist culture into the countryside. Cloke et.al asserts that â€Å"consumption demands are the driving force of change in the countryside and its rural economy† (Cloke et.al. 2006. p.125). Also, the market for rural amenity products has strengthened in an unprecedented manner along with the global intensification of the market network which is intensified by the free market policies of the governments in the Global North. Traditionally, agriculture has been the stronghold of the rural economy even in the advanced countries. Even in countries like the UK, agriculture and related businesses was the mainstay of the rural economy. However, the reality is that, historically speaking, rural economy was not constituted by agriculture alone as it is misconceived by many. A variety of economic functions had been taking place on the rural spaces for time immemorial. From 18th century onwards, Woods (2005) indicates that urban wealth and capital has been exported to rural areas, which is capable of altering the rural geography in a high pace. Landowners in the rural areas used to use their land for non-agricultural purposes such as hunting, entertainment and timber sale. The particularities of the World War II situation were the factors that laid heavy impact on the agricultural production in the rural areas. The amenity lobby too emerged following the profound changes brought about by World War II. The fact is that productive jobs have paved way for

Economic Liberalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Liberalism - Essay Example This paper declares that some economies such as Italy, Spain, and Russia did not have political freedom despite their enterprises being economically free. In the modern world, it is challenging to balance between individual freedom and capitalism due to the widespread interdependence that exist. An illustration is the dependence between farmers and consumers of the farm products. Capitalism promotes freedom in such a scenario by facilitating the sale of goods and services on a competitive market where all players have full information. As the report stresses government regulation is almost a mistake. Friedman believes that government regulation is almost a mistake. He depicts regulation being initiated by power-hungry politicians. The key objectives of these politicians are to target their reelection and formulation of red tape for their own advantages. Many of the government regulation are derived from the special interests of a selected few entities in the private sector. Some organizations in the private sector use the government through its regulation powers to tilt the market in a direction, which facilitates them making more profits than their competitors do. These entities therefore interfere with the government’s work making the regulations inefficient. Government regulations have put in industries such as airlines, communication, truckers, and railroads to make it very difficult for competitors to penetrate through the market.

The Importance of Recruitment and Selection in Public Sector Business Essay

The Importance of Recruitment and Selection in Public Sector Business - Essay Example 2. Recruitment and Selection are two different but related terminologies. This project shall therefore be an opportunity of identifying the difference that exists between these two terms and how each of them contributes to the success of the organization. 3. Through this project, the research shall seek to look into the difference between processes and merits of recruitment private sector and public businesses though the public sector shall be made the experimental sample. 4. Within the public sector business, the researcher shall scrutinize various reasons why human resource managers undertake recruitment and selection on regular basis. 5. Clearly, the various merits or importance of recruitment and selection cannot be realized if certain factors are not adhered to. Through this project therefore, the researcher shall find out the various factors that human resource managers within the public sector business setup must stick to in order to ensure that they benefit from the importanc e of recruitment and selection. 6. ... LITERATURE REVIEW Having noted that human resource personnel in the public sector have always been involved in recruitment and placement, one is left with not more than to ask of the importance of recruitment and placement in the public sector that human resource personnel cannot seem to stop the practice. There indeed exists a number of importance of undertaking recruitment and placement. Five major reasons, merits or importance behind recruitment and selection in the public sector have been discussed below. Satisfies Legal and Social Obligations of Organizations The first importance of undertaking recruitment and selection in the public sector is that it is a process that goes a long way to satisfy the legal and social obligations of institutions. International and various labor laws provide that public institutions make their placement processes very fair and open. For that matter, placement must be done only after certain stipulated guidelines have been fulfilled (Gilmore and Wil liam, 2009). In labor provisions, undertaking recruitment and selection is the legally mandated means to get employees to occupy vacancies. By undertaking recruitment and selection therefore, public organizations are getting themselves out of legal entanglements and fulfilling their social obligations of making the lives of deserving skilled and unskilled personnel better (Thompson and McHugh, 2009). Previously, activities of public sector managers regarding placement was not seen as a social task but strictly business and corporative. Today, it has come to be accepted that there could not be any better way for public institutions to be socially responsible to the people than employing as many deserving people as possible (Arnold, J. et al 2005). This is because research has

The Rhetoric of Fear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Rhetoric of Fear - Essay Example The sequence of circumstances surrounding the 11th of September led to the establishment of what President W. Bush called â€Å"War on terror â€Å", which became state policy (CNN "Bush Declares War"), meaning that early statements about repossession and revenge to encourage partisanship became an authentic war with no culmination in scene. The language that President W. Bush used to describe the situation and to target United States citizens was very important; it was aimed to shape people’s understanding about the conflict, to define what the problem was and how to think about and even what it has to be done to face the crisis. The events that occurred on September 11th constituted a convincing, powerful, available and understandable frame towards a fearful audience (Gershkoff and Kushner). Expressions like â€Å"acts of mass murder†, â€Å"terrorist attacks†, â€Å"terrorist†, â€Å"nuclear bombs†, â€Å"bombing†, and â€Å"evil† among others were, then, the representational trend of a new phenomenon: the culture of fear. Wars have the capability to stimulate general audience to be better informed, increasing their intake of news. People that are not informed about current issues usually take advice from the opinion of their leaders; at this point, information is not any more objective but liable to manipulation by elites, which lately will help to shape public opinion. The method by which media is able to shape public opinion is through manipulation of contents and through the tone they use to approach the general audience. Media covers political and current issues using political leader’s quotations and official speeches, therefore giving public authorities a scenario where to propagate their messages. Then, un-informed audiences using information from mass media as a source of their information is further vulnerable to respond and believe. If debate occurs, it will be carried up by elites and covered by media, though when deliberation does not exist or it is muted, one-side of information wi ll emerge if other opinions are disposed under consideration. All this turned to be truth after September 11th when media responded respectfully, broadcasting government official positions. However, it is remarkable that while United States citizens are not well informed about politics, they do have resilient opinions on war, then it was surprising how people responded in favor towards the implementation of national security policies and ‘war on terror’ that the government launched after September 11th (Gershkoff and Kushner). The way by which critic situations (for instance, the Madrid train bombing (BBC)) are offered by media stands as a significant topic of studying, especially because of the influence it has over decision making of people and therefore, over the destiny of a nation. Due to the influence that shock and fear provoke, individuals become an easy target of manipulation (Chomsky). Emotions have enormous impact over the way we perceive our environment and consequently over the way we decide to respond (Vergano). From this point of view, society could easily be driven by fear; some can use this power to manipulate the general public to achieve political goals (Chomsky).Then, it becomes mandatory to understand how horror and suffering are represented on media and how they lead human reactions. The September 11th

Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reading response - Essay Example Having been circumcised herself, and by every means an informed person, Fuambai cites research examples that found no fault with the practice. This paper will analyze the reading and why female circumcision is not bad after all, but rather, a positive and highly held custom by those who practice it, in a different land than the pressure groups against it. Fuambai starts her interview by saying she shared a video of the celebrations during her initiation, in which people spoke highly of it. Although some may view it as a submission to male dominance, the participating women were clearly in it because they drew some significance from it. I believe that simply because not all cultures share the same values, some should not be viewed as primitive. The African cultures especially those of the Mande people, believe in the symbolic transitioning of girls into responsible women. To them, the cut signifies the preparedness of girls to become leaders, wives and mothers. Physically, just like t he foreskin covering the penis is removed in male circumcision, the same is done in female circumcision, symbolizing feminization of the girls. ... Although complications are reported, she points out that they do not result from the act of circumcision, but rather the stigma that goes hand in hand with it. Pregnant, circumcised women are reluctant to seek pre natal care because of fear of the way they will be handled by the healthcare providers once they find out they are circumcised. The healthcare providers also lack proper knowledge of the circumcised women’s bodies. I agree with the research carried out in Gambia that concluded that infertility is not rampant among circumcised women. In fact, the rate stood at 10 percent for both circumcised and uncircumcised women. In my opinion, it stands out wrong when such statistics are not made known to the people in the same manner as those that portray the practice in bad light. In a bid to balance the candidates and conductors of the numerous researches carried out, the reading cites one done in Sweden by a Swedish obstetrician. It concluded that no connection was found betwe en prolonged or obstructed labor and circumcision, or genital surgery. On the contrary, the research established that circumcised women bore less risks of complicated birth in comparison with Swedish women who were not circumcised. In this light, I think the pressure groups against female circumcision ought to give more credible reasons and evidence of prolonged or obstructed labor. Arguments against female circumcision have branded it as a means to deny women sexual feelings, desires and enjoyment. Many have likened it to chopping off a man’s penis. I do not believe that this argument presents a strong case because, as stated in the reading, researches

Leadership Styles of of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and its Impact Research Paper

Leadership Styles of of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and its Impact on the employees and the country - Research Paper Example Leadership entails provision of divine directions by an authoritative individual or body, having been mandated by a functional body. Distinct entities have earlier practiced different leadership styles due to organizational or institutional settings in use. The royal Bahamas police force is a relevant example of variation in leadership styles, thereby experiencing different effects at distinct times and seasons. Leadership transitions are also a source of varying impacts among organizational employees as well as the entire leadership. Every country, however, usually has a security-keeping body that is charged with the responsibility of guarding the state as per the law requirements. Security bodies are usually in the leadership of royal commissioners, ordained by the minister for security in a nation, and serving under a president or rather the country’s overall leader, always the commander of the armed forces. The most commonly identified leadership styles within an organizat ion or a state are democratic or autocratic. The democratic leadership is one where decision-making is not entirely for the overall leader, but provides a chance for the employees to demonstrate their participation in every activity of the institution. Mainly, the leadership management within a security body should distinctly differ from the leadership of business organization or any economic boosting corporation. Every form of leadership, however, has its benefits in addition to disadvantages, depending on its realms of practice. Most countries have long faced conflicts emanating from poor leadership as well as leadership misuse in the security institutions (Griffith, 1993). The discussion in this paper addresses leadership styles that have taken preeminence in the earlier years at the royal Bahamas police force, owing to the frequent change of the institutional commissioners. To enhance this understanding, it is ample to investigate into the impact of the styles of leadership at t he royal Bahamas police force. It is also important to look into a comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Bahamas Electicity Corporation (a private corporation) as well as that of the RBFP with the Royal Customs (a public corporation). The Royal Bahamas Police Force The royal Bahamas police force is an entity that is charged with law enforcement in the Bahamas commonwealth. The Ministry of National Security portfolio is the main location of the RBPF in Bahamas. Its inception dates back in the 1840,s, with its initial stages comprising of only sixteen people, who were then under the leadership of General John Pinder. It also comprised of night guards as well as slaves who were willing to provide extra security to their nation. The inception of the force was not aimed at provision of military services, but rather patrolling the New Providence Island for twenty-four hours a day. Its progress was awesome and lasts for several years, which saw some members of the group being transferr ed to other neighboring islands to take patrol charge. The end of the 1840 saw the patrol consist of the Inspector General in addition to thirty Sergeants and Privates, as well as Corporals (Griffith, 1993)

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Essay Example for Free

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Essay Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1958 and joined the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). In 1962, Kalam joined the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). In 1982, he rejoined DRDO as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Dr. Kalam is credited with the development and operationalization of Indias Agni and Prithvi missiles. He worked as the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research Development from 1992 to 1999. During this period, the Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted. Dr. Kalam held the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India from November 1999 to November 2001. Dr. Kalam took up teaching at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001. He is a prolific author. His books, Wings of Fire, India 2020 A Vision for the New Millennium, My journey and Ignited Minds Unleashing the power within India have become bestsellers. He is a favourite with children all over the country and has met children all over the country and has encouraged them with his learned talks. Dr. Abdul Kalam was conferred with the Degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa by the Simon Fraser University, Canada. He also wrote a book named â€Å"Turning Points: A journey through challenges† which was published by Harper Collins India. The book tells us about his story with details from his career and presidency that are not generally known. He speaks on certain points of controversy offering insight into an extraordinary personality and shows a vision of how a country with a great heritage can turn out to be great with perseverance, confidence and effort. Dr. Kalam has received a host of awards both in India and abroad. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. He is of the view that we should work wholeheartedly to make India a developed nation by 2020. Besides being a bachelor, Kalam is a strict disciplinarian, a complete vegetarian and teetotaler. Among the many firsts to his credit, he became Indias first President to undertake an undersea journey when he boarded the INS Sindhurakshak, a submarine, from Visakhapatnam. He also became the first president to undertake a sortie in a fighter aircraft, a Sukhoi-30 MKI.

Information Systems and Organization Essay Example for Free

Information Systems and Organization Essay This paper, and the special issue, address relationships between information systems and changes in the organization of modern enterprise, both within and across firms. The emerging organizational paradigm involves complementary changes in multiple dimensions. The revolution in information systems merits special attention as both cause and effect of the organizational transformation. This can be illustrated by considering two key variables: the location of information and the location of decision rights in organizations. Depending on the costs of information transmission and processing, either the MIS solution of transferring information, or the organizational redesign solution of moving decision rights, can be an effective approach toward achieving the necessary collocation of information and decision rights. When information systems change radically, one cannot expect the optimal organizational structure to be unaffected. Considering the interplay among information, incentives and decision rights in a unified fashion leads to new insights and a better organizational planning. The papers in the special issue address different facets of this interaction. Despite significant progress, our understanding of the economic role of information systems in organizations remains in its infancy. We conclude that successful design of modern enterprise will require further narrowing  of the historic gap between research in information systems and research in economics. The organization of work is in the midst of transformation. In many industries, mass production by large, vertically-integrated, hierarchically-organized firms is giving way to more flexible forms of both internal organization and industrial structure. Work is increasingly accomplished through networks of smaller, more focused enterprises. The resulting structure of loosely coupled sub-organizations blurs the boundaries of both firms and industries. A canonical case in point is the computer industry. In the past, the industry was dominated by large, vertically-integrated firms such as IBM and Digital Equipment which created products and services throughout the value chain from the microprocessor level all the way up to the provision of solutions. The vertical structure is now being replaced by a series of layers, each of which is, in effect, a separate industry. Value is generated by ever-changing coalitions, where each member of a coalition specializes in its area of core competence and leverages it through the use of tactical or strategic partnerships. Internally, team structures are replacing the traditional hierarchical form, and the Silicon Valley model of internal organization is emerging as a clear winner.3 Internal incentives are increasingly based on performance, and this further blurs the differences between inter- and intra-firm contracts. In sum, modern enterprise is undergoing major restructuring. In this short paper we briefly discuss the newly emerging organizational paradigms and their relationship to the prevailing trends in information technology (IT). We argue that IT is an important driver of this transformation. Finally, we place the studies selected for this special issue of the Journal of Organizational Computing within this context. 1. Emerging Organizational Paradigms: Symptoms and Causes At the turn of the century, Frederick Taylor sought to put the nascent wisdom  for successful business organization on a scientific basis. His work guided a generation of managers towards success in meshing their organizations with the technologies, markets, labor and general environment of the era. By the 1920s, Henry Ford had applied the Taylorist approach with a vengeance and soon dominated the automobile market, driving dozens of competitors under. Ironically, these same principles are almost diametrically opposed to the prevailing wisdom of the 1990s. For example, consider the following guideline from The Science of Management [1] It is necessary in any activity to have a complete knowledge of what is to be done and to prepare instructions the laborer has only to follow instructions. He need not stop to think. The current emphasis on empowerment, learning organizations, and even thriving on chaos stands in sharp contrast to Meyers advice (cf. [2] , [3] ). Similar contrast can be found with many, if not most, of the other principles that lead to success even as late as the 1960s. Consider, for example, the growing calls for downsizing (vs. economies of scale), focus (vs. conglomerates), total quality (vs. cost leadership), project teams (vs. functional departments), supplier partnerships (vs. maximizing bargaining power), networked organization (vs. clear firm boundaries); performance-based pay (vs. fixed pay), and local autonomy (vs. rigid hierarchy). Milgrom and Roberts [4] make the point that the different characteristics of modern manufacturing, an important example of the emerging organizational paradigm, are often highly complementary. This complementarity, coupled with the natural tendency to change organizational attributes one at a time, makes the transition from one paradigm to another particularly difficult. Strong complementarity implies that in order to be successful, change must be implemented simultaneously along a number of related dimensions. Organizations that adopt only one or two key components of the new organizational paradigm may fail simply by virtue of this complementarity. For instance, Jaikumars [5] study of 95 US and Japanese companies found that the majority of US companies had failed to achieve productivity  increases despite switching to flexible manufacturing technology. The reason was that they had preserved dozens of manufacturing practices such as long production runs and high work-in-process inventory levels, which complemented the old technology but kept the new technology from fulfilling its potential. Thus, the transition from the old structure to the new one is overwhelmingly complex. The switch would be easier if we apply design guided by theory instead of piecemeal evolution. There are many possible explanations for the change in the prevailing wisdom regarding organizational design. For instance, it is common to justify calls for radical change with reference to heightened competitive pressures: although firms that applied the old principles were among the most successful competitors of their day, presumably the nature of competition has changed in some way. Others suggest that consumer tastes have changed, making customized items more appealing than they once were. While historians would argue that the taste for mass marketed items was itself something that had to be developed in the early days of mass production, increased wealth or social stratification may make this more difficult today. It can also be argued that some of the new principles were as applicable fifty years ago as they are today, but that they simply had not yet been discovered. Although the enablers of the current organizational transformation are undoubtedly numerous and far from mutually independent, we would like to single one out for special attention: the rise in IT. Brynjolfsson [6, p.6] argues that IT is an appropriate candidate for explaining these changes for three reasons: First, compared to other explanations, the advances in information technology have a particularly reasonable claim to being both novel and exogenous. Many of the fundamental technological breakthroughs that enable todays vast information infrastructure were made less than a generation ago and were driven more by progress in physics and engineering than business demand. Second, the growth in information technology investment is of a large enough magnitude to be economically significant the result has been what is commonly referred to as the information explosion Third, there is a  sound basis for expecting an association between the costs of technologies that manage information and the organization of economic activity. The firm and the market have each been frequently modeled as primarily information processing institutions (see Galbraith [7] and Hayek [8] , respectively). Miller [9] foresaw the key features of the new paradigm as a natural outcome of the information era and the associated economy of choice: The new technologies will allow managers to handle more functions and widen their span of control. Fewer levels of management hierarchy will be required, enabling companies to flatten the pyramid of todays management structure. The new information technologies allow decentralization of decision-making without loss of management awareness; thus employees at all levels can be encouraged to be more creative and intrapreneurial. The key responsibility of the CEO will be leadership; to capture the light or energies of the organization like a lens and focus them on the key strategic objectives. The new organizational paradigm is indeed intertwined with the structure of an organizations information systems. Under the old paradigm, the firm was governed by a relatively rigid functional structure. This separation into distinct and well-defined organizational units economizes on the information and communications requirements across functional units and reduces cost and complexity. There is a tradeoff, however: the old structure is less flexible, less responsive and ultimately results in lower quality. In our view, the growing use of IT and the trend towards networking and client-server computing are both a cause and an effect of the organizational transition. Lowering the costs of horizontal communications, facilitating teamwork, enabling flexible manufacturing and providing information support for time management and quality control are key enablers on the supply side. It is equally clear that the new organizational paradigm demands new information systems: nothing can be more devastating for cross-functional teamwork than a rigid information system that inhibits cross-functional information flows. We can unify these perspectives by noting that the structure of the organizations information system is a key element of  organizational transformation. Changes in IT change the nature of organizations just as changes in organizational structure drive the development of new technologies. 2. Information Systems, Economics and Organizational Structure Jensen and Meckling [10] provide a useful framework for studying the complementarities between information systems, incentive structures and decision rights in organizations. In their framework, the structure of an organization is specified by three key elements: (i) The allocation of decision rights (i.e., who is responsible for what actions/decisions); (ii) the incentive system, which defines how decision makers are to be rewarded (or penalized) for the decisions they make; and (iii) a monitoring and measurement scheme used to evaluate these actions and their outcomes. According to Jensen and Meckling, informational variables are key to the structure of organizations because the quality of decisions is determined by the quality of information available to the decision maker. The co-location of information and decision rights enables the decision maker to make optimal decisions. The implementation of this co-location depends on the nature of the pertinent information. Jensen and Meckling distinguish between specific knowledge which is localized, difficult to represent and transfer, and depends on idiosyncratic circumstances, and general knowledge which can be easily summarized, communicated and shared by decision makers. Now, there are two ways to bring information and decision rights together: (i) The MIS solution: transfer the information required for the decision to the decision maker, using the organizations (possibly non-automated) information systems; or (ii) the organizational redesign solution: redesign the organizational structure so that the decision making authority is where the pertinent information is. By definition, general knowledge which is useful for a decision calls for the MIS solution because it can be transferred at low cost. In contrast, when specific knowledge plays a key role in a decision, the best solution calls for restructuring decision  rights so as to provide the decision authority to the one who possesses or has access to the pertinent information (since the transfer of specific knowledge is too costly).4 Jensen and Meckling thus represent the structure of organizations as an efficient response to the structure of their information costs. But then, a change in information costs must induce a change in organizational structure. In particular, IT has changed the costs of processing and transferring certain types of information (e.g. quantitative data), but has done little for other types (e.g. implicit knowledge or skills). IT changes the structure of organizations by facilitating certain information flows as well as by turning knowledge that used to be specific into general knowledge. By developing a taxonomy of information types and identifying the differential impacts of new technologies on their transferability and importance, we can take a significant step towards applying the simple insight that information and authority should be co-located [11] . Intra-organizational networks and workgroup computing facilities reduce the information costs of teamwork and hence make it a more efficient solution to the organizational design problem. Client-server computing technology lowers cross-functional (as well as geographic) barriers. IT (when applied properly) streamlines the types of information that used to be the raison detre of middle management quantitative control information and turns it into general knowledge that can be readily transmitted to, and processed by, people other than those who originally gathered the data. A reduction in the number of management layers and the thinning out of middle management ranks is the predictable result. Similar considerations apply to enterprises that cross firm boundaries. As a simple example, consider the organization of trading activities [12, 13, 14] . Traditionally, trading took place on the floor of an exchange, which was the locus of numerous pieces of specific knowledge, ranging from the hand signals indicating bids and offers to buy and sell a security to traders facial expressions and the atmosphere on the floor of the exchange. Under that structure, much of the information pertinent to trading is specific and  localized to the floor. Thus, when an investor instructs her broker to sell 1,000 shares of a given stock, the broker transmits the order to the floor of the exchange and only the floor broker attempts to provide best execution. The decision rights (here, for the trading decisions) are naturally delegated to the decision maker who has the pertinent specific knowledge, and since that knowledge resides on the floor of the exchange, the floor broker is best suited to have the decision rights. Technology, and in particular screen-based systems, turns much of the specific knowledge on the floor (i.e., bids and offers) into general knowledge. This shifts decision rights up from the floor to the brokers screens. The inevitable result is the decline of the trading floor and the increased importance of brokers trading rooms. The demise of the trading floor in exchanges that turned to screen-based trading (such as London and Paris) is a natural outcome of the shift in the locus of knowledge. More generally, markets in particular, electronic markets transform specific knowledge into general knowledge [15] . Ironically, even as IT has sped up many links of the information processing chain and vastly increased the amount of information available to any one decision-maker, it has also led to the phenomenon of information overload. This can perhaps best be understood by a generalization of the Jensen and Meckling framework to include finite human information processing capacity. As more information moves from the specific category to the general category, the limiting factor becomes not what information is available but rather a matter of finding the human information processing capacity needed to attend to and process the information. Computers appear to have exacerbated the surfeit of information relative to processing capacity, perhaps because the greatest advances have occurred in the processing and storage of structured data, which is generally a complement, not a substitute, for human information processing. As computer and communications components increase their speed, the human bottleneck in the information processing chain becomes ever more apparent. Information overload, when interpreted in light of this framework, can provide an explanation for the increased autonomy and pay-for-performance  that characterize a number of descriptions of the new managerial work (cf. [6] ). Economizing on information costs means that more decision rights are delegated to line managers who possess the idiosyncratic, specific knowledge necessary to accomplish their tasks. Shifting responsibility from the overburdened top of the hierarchy to line personnel not only reduces the information processing load at the top of the hierarchy, but also cuts down unnecessary communications up and down the hierarchy. This blurs the traditional distinction between conceptualization and execution and broadens the scope of decision rights delegated to lower level managers. By the Jensen-Meckling [10] framework, any such shift in decision authority (and in the associated routing of information) must also be accompanied by a change in the structure of incentives. Disseminating information more broadly is ever easier with IT, allowing line workers to take into account information that goes well beyond the formerly-narrow definitions of their job. Meanwhile, providing the right incentives for the newly empowered work force is an equally crucial element of the current reorganization of work. Agency theory predicts that performance-based pay is necessary when decision rights are decentralized (otherwise, the agents may be induced to act in ways that are inconsistent with overall organizational goals). It therefore follows that incentive-based compensation is appropriate for better-informed workers [16].5 Thus, the confluence of better-informed workers, an empowered workforce and more incentive-based pay is consistent with our thesis that IT is a key driver of the new organizational paradigm. Furthermore, the theory of incomplete contracts suggests that the analysis can be extended to include interorganizational changes such as increased reliance on outsourcing and networks of other firms for key components [17] . Here again the shift can be explained in incentive terms: one ultimate incentive is ownership, so entrepreneurs are likely to be more innovative and aggressive than the same individuals working as division managers. Both within and across organizations, then, changes in information systems are accompanied by changes in incentives and in the organization of work. 3. The Special Issue The papers in this special issue attest to the role of information systems in the structure of modern enterprise and the blurring of the differences between inter- and intra-firm transactions. Starting from the firms level, Barrons paper studies how a firm determines its internal organization and how IT affects this determination. Barron considers a traditional firm, with well-defined boundaries that are endogenously determined by considering flexibility and scope of control. Ching, Holsapple and Whinston broaden the scope of the enterprise to the network organization a construct obtained by tying together a number of firms that cooperate through a well-defined communication mechanism. Specifically, they use a bidding protocol to manage the relationship between suppliers and producers. Beath and Ang examine another form of inter-firm cooperation, the relational contract, in the context of software-development outsourcing. They show how relational contracts embody a relationship that can be characterized as a network consisting of two organizations. Whang studies a more subtle form of networking information sharing between buyers and suppliers. Bakos and Brynjolfsson examine the impact of incentives and information costs on the nature of buyer-supplier relationships. They show that committing to a partnership with a small number of suppliers can be an optimal strategy for a buyer because it will maximize the suppliers incentives for non-contractible investments such as information sharing, innovation or quality. The papers thus present a spectrum ranging from a study of the boundaries of the traditional firm through different forms of networking to explicit buyer-supplier relationships. A common theme is the organization of work so as to reduce overall information costs not only within an organization but across them as well. The surviving enterprise is often (though not always) the one that attempts to reduce information costs while capitalizing on the comparative advantage of the participating organizations. This calls for opportunistic cooperation that benefits the members of the network for as long as they cooperate. IT reduces the costs of such cooperation by  facilitating communication and increasing the flexibility of the participating organizations. Using the Jensen-Meckling terminology, different network participants can make more effective use of their specific knowledge when the costs of transferring and processing general knowledge are reduced. Further, technology enables the development of markets that, by their very nature, transform specific knowledge into general knowledge. Thus, the bidding and communications protocols proposed by Ching, Holsapple and Whinston in their paper Modeling Network Organizations effectively transform the specific knowledge inherent in the production technology of the competing suppliers into general knowledge that encompasses not only prices but also their reputations. From this perspective, IT is key to the development of network organizations. In his paper Impacts of Information Technology on Organizational Size and Shape: Control and Flexibility Effects, Barron builds a stylized quantitative model to study the impact of IT on the structure of organizations. Examining flexibility and scope of control, he identifies sixteen different cases with different patterns of the actual causality between IT and firm structure. Barron shows that simplistic statements regarding the impact of IT are not as straightforward as one might imagine due to the interaction of size, scope and flexibility. His results suggest that the impact of IT is rather complex, and that further specification is necessary prior to making predictions on the impact of IT on organizational size or shape. Hierarchical Elements in Software Contracts by Beath and Ang focuses on the contractual structure of outsourced software development. This is an interesting example of the new organizational paradigm because of the key role of information systems in any organization. Effective software development hinges on cooperation, communication and joint management which are at the heart of the new organizational paradigm. Beath and Ang examine the mechanisms used to govern outsourcing projects as specified in their outsourcing contracts. They suggest that the relational contract, which converts an arms-length transaction into a joint project with governance and resolution procedures that resemble those used by firms internally, is an  effective way to accomplish this. Thus, while Ching, Holsapple and Whinston view bidding and explicit reputation formation as the alphabet of the network organization, Beath and Ang view actual contract clauses as the key linguistic constructs. The paper shows how the structure of the contract is driven by the attributes of the project as well as those of the parties to the transaction. In Analysis of Economic Incentives for Inter-Organizational Information Sharing, Whang addresses the question of information sharing in non-cooperative buyer-supplier settings. Whang studies this question for two different models. He first shows that due to adverse incentives, suppliers will not be willing to share information regarding their costs. The situation is different when the information to be conveyed is regarding the expected delay or lead time. Whang shows that suppliers are better off disclosing lead-time information to buyers (when the demand curve for their product is convex). This result is consistent with our general thesis, whereas the former one introduces a note of caution: adverse incentives pose limits to the scope of information sharing among network organizations. In From Vendors to Partners: Information Technology and Incomplete Contracts in Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Bakos and Brynjolfsson start with the assumption that, in many cases, complete information exchange between two firms will be infeasible, so any contract between them will be incomplete in the sense that some contingencies will remain unspecified. They then explore how the interplay of IT and organizational structure can affect the role of non-contractible investments, such as innovation, quality and the exchange of information. For example, Bakos and Brynjolfsson show that when fewer suppliers are employed, they collectively capture a larger share of the benefits of the relationship, and this will increase their incentives to make non-contractible investments. As a result, even when search costs are very low, it may be desirable for the buyer to limit the number of employed suppliers, leading to a partnership-type of relationship, rather than aggressively bargaining for all the benefits by threatening to switch among numerous alternative suppliers. Like Whang, they show that the incentive effects of the applications of IT must be explicitly considered in any model  of their effect on inter-organizational cooperation. 4. Conclusion In this paper, we have stressed the joint determination of the location of information and decision rights. The default mechanism used to achieve this co-location depends on ones point of reference. Information Systems researchers are likely to take the locus of decision authority for granted. They will typically focus their attention on devising schemes that will efficiently organize, retrieve, sort, filter, transmit and display information for designated decision makers. In contrast, the economist is likely to focus on the allocation of decision rights and the concomitant effect on incentives.6 As we discussed in Section 2, transferring information and transferring decision authority are two sides of the same question. Because economics and information systems research evolved to address different problems, this complementarity long went unnoticed. Each of the papers in the special issue addresses a different aspect of the interplay among information, incentives and the structure of economic enterprise. In every case, insights resulted when both information and incentives were explicitly considered. Each paper contributes an additional piece to an emerging mosaic that describes not only the features of the new organization, but also gives some insight into their theoretical underpinnings. The papers in this special issue also highlight the incomplete state of knowledge in the subject area and the dearth of empirical guidance to the formulation and testing of theoretical research. We started this paper with a discussion of the computer industry as the canonical example of the new paradigm as exercised in Silicon Valley, and continued by arguing that its products actually fuel the shift to this paradigm. It is only appropriate to close the loop by examining the dictum of that paradigm as it applies to the inner workings of firms in the computer industry. A major effort along these lines in being undertaken by one of the authors and his colleagues in Stanford Universitys Computer Industry Project. Understanding these changes so that they can be harnessed for productive ends remains a central challenge for the next decade of research. The rapid progress in designing computers and communications systems contrasts starkly with the uncertainty clouding organizational design. Yet, new ways of organizing will be necessary before the potential of IT can be realized. Furthermore, because the new organizational paradigms involve numerous complementarities, the trial-and-error methods which were important in the rise of the organizational forms of the past century, such as large hierarchies and mass markets, may be unsuited for making the next transition. Understanding and implementing one aspect of a new organizational structure without regard to its interaction with other aspects can leave the make the organization worse off than if no modifications at all were made. Design, rather than evolution, is called for when significant changes must be made along multiple dimensions simultaneously. Successful organizational design, in turn, requires that we understand the flow of information among humans and their agents every bit as well as we understand the flow of electrons in chips and wires. Perhaps, then, the revolution in information processing capabilities not only calls for a change in business organization, but also a re-evaluation of the historic separation between Information Systems and Economics. REFERENCES [1] Meyers, G. The Science of Management. In C. B. Thompson (Eds.), Scientific Management Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914. [2] Kanter, R. M. The New Managerial Work. Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 1989, pp. 85-92. [3] Peters, T. Thriving on Chaos, Handbook for a Management Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1988. [4] Milgrom, P. and Roberts, J. The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization. American Economic Review, Vol. 80, No. 3, 1990. [5] Jaikumar, R. Post-Industrial Manufacturing. Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1986, pp. 69-76. [6] Brynjolfsson, E. Information Technology and the New Managerial Work. Working Paper # 3563-93. MIT, 1990. [7] Galbraith, J. Organizational Design. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1977. [8] Hayek, F. A. The Use of Knowledge in Society. American Economic Review, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1945. [9] Miller, W. F. The Economy of Choice. In Strategy, Technology and American Industry HBS Press, 1987. [10] Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. Knowledge, Control and Organizational Structure Parts I and II. In Lars, Werin and Hijkander (Eds.), Contract Economics (pp.251-274). Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1992. [11] Mendelson, H. On Centralization and Decentralization. Stanford, forthcoming, 1993. [12] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. An Integrated Computerized Trading System. In Market Making and the Changing Structure of the Securities Industry (pp. 217-235). Lexington Heath, 1985. [13] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. (1989). The Effects of Computer-Based Trading on Volatility and Liquidity. In H. C. Lucas Jr. and R. A. Schwartz (Eds.), The Challenge of Information Technology for the Securities Markets. (pp. 59-85). Dow Jones-Irwin. [14] Amihud, Y. and Mendelson, H. Liquidity, Volatility and Exchange Automation. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Vol. 3, Fall, 1988, pp. 369-395. [15] Malone, T. W., Yates, J. and Benjamin, R. I. Electronic Markets and Electronic Hierarchies. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 30, No. 6, 1987, pp. 484-497. [16] Baker, G. P. Incentive Contracts and Performance Measurement. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 100, No. 3, June, 1992. [17] Brynjolfsson, E. An Incomplete Contracts Theory of Information, Technology, and Organization. Management Science, forthcoming, 1993.

Factors Explaining Group Behaviour Education Essay

Factors Explaining Group Behaviour Education Essay Introduction: This essay identifies and discusses the reasons motivated me and my work sponsor to come here to study a master degree at Bangor. In this context, explained how I selected Bangor university, explain the ways of choices, background about Bangor university. The benefits I obtain when I finished my degree and my future plan after finished my master degree. Secondly defined term of leaning, explained learning approaches and the learning process, also how differ form one another. Brief description of learning theories such as behaviorism and Classical conditioning, however the definition of styles and his conditions. also discusses the group work which defined types of group formal and informal group and the classification of it , the reasons of how do people joint groups ,the stages of group structures which are forming ,storming , morning, performing and adjourning. Factors explaining group behavior includes internal and external factors, group structure, group process, group tasks and decision making group. In the last topic explained how to attempt to address the issues that related when people anticipate in group work ,the important issue that will be happen is multiracial group which discusses what the leader should be use the RAP framework which stand of recognize, anticipate and problem-solve. What has motivated you to study a master degree at Bangor? Motivation can be defined as a decision making process in which the person put some desired goals and then adopts specific behaviors to gain these goals. Also to satisfy their needs in life and happy with it. According to (Huczinski Buchanan 1991) motivation defined as a process of decision making do by individuals and through it select desired findings and derived the appropriate behaviours to achieve it. Huczinski Buchanan 1991) page 230. First of all I attend here to study at Bangor university to obtain several benefits, the purposes that motive me to came here representing in a lot of reason .firstly I am a banker working in bank in my country, the manager have a proposal to send some of the staff to do a master outside of my country, he has a lot of alternatives of universities abroad. He nominates many countries for example Malaysia, India and UK. He submit their proposal to the Board of Directors to a proof it, but the Board of Directors reply that is the better choice is to sent the employees to United kingdom , the universities in UK provide high standard of qualifications. They also offer more motivation to go ahead in your qualifications. And it offers more support to international students than any other country. The diversity of the UK cities which let you to meet many people from different areas that is chance to know new cultures and tradition from international student they influences me by different cha racteristics, beliefs, values and attitudes via sharing in accommodation, in classes, social activities and doing assignment in group this also have much advantages by sharing idea form multinational students. After Board of Directors agreed of the UK universities the manger transfer his proposal to the Training Department. The staff of it they ask question, how select candidates? After along meeting they decided to make course in mini-MBA and then choice best twenty and after it they sit to IELTS test. Fortunately I passed the test and I get opportunity to study a master degree at UK at Bangor University. Secondly how choice Bangor? The answer was meeting together the candidates, Training Department and H$H consultant. They did comprehensive research, gathering lots of information and began to make alternatives, some surfing internet and other make intensive communication and at the end the selection tend to Bangor University. Why? Because it have high ranking in the areas of banking and business research among the UKs universities, best educational system. They think Bangor has famous professors and lecturers especially in business collage, Bangor city is one of the most beautiful places in the UK,. On the other hand it very quiet suitable for studies. It has friendly people and lovely, cheaper stores, private rent available around the university, has many libraries and full equipped. My future plan is to improve a career in banking and finance in an internationally oriented bank. My objective is to work as a manager for one of the top investment banks in my country, or as a banking Advisor for any world banks. To gain this, I want to complete my academic knowledge and to take the Master Degree in Islamic banking and finance in Bangor University which provides me best background education to secure my future job.   Having this knowledge will allow me to better background in banking working. With changes in the world, in political, economic, and technological fields, I think that after world crisis all professional Islamic investment say Islamic finance the best ways which ably it in bank that particularly appear in by the lasted crisis in the US that any banks work in Islamic finance do not affected by it .   I am however open-minded and prepared to meet all challenges faced to me. I am trust that a Master Degree in Islamic banking and finance will brig me a c hance to build a successful career and become a good professional, contributing value to my future banks. (my own opinion before inter Bangor university ) What is your approach to learning? Leaning is now recognized is a shift in behavior as outcome of experience or practice, knowledge acquisition and obtain through study like skill in some thing example books, TV, newspapers, radio and internet . Also the people process of building understanding focus on experience from different sources, also inferred form change in behavior and performance, shift in memory, and outcomes experience. (Tessie J, Rodriguez, D. M.) Page 144. The learning granted or gift from god who somebody are cleverer than other they have fast understanding and remembering things. The learning is not exclusive to an education system. Learning starts before long time before apparent of large number of school or institutions. It spread rapidly after school came, there are a lot of different approaches of learning not only enter educational system which discusses and explained by many interested researcher. The learning process and learning approach is differ from one person to another the idea of that notion learn as individual learners have specific approach to learns so as individuals have different preferred approach for example some individual take information through specific ways and other find it impossible by this medium because it quite difficult to take it. This lead us to the types of which learners take information such as visual or auditory learners. There a lot of theories of approach learning like behaviourism explained o n the observation and mental activities also which humans and animals similar can be learned to do specific things. Classical conditioning this theory focus on acquisition, extinction, generalisation and discrimination. Learning style is recognised as a specific method in which an individual learns, learning mode which the best manner to understand and take information, gain skills and knowledge , strategies or habit like regular reading in deliberate educational that an individual displays. Cognitive style is also recognised in a set of different approaches, as a certain approach to problem-solving, focus on ability to think and understand things, especially complicated ideas. A typical or noticeable quality of someone or something of cognitive processing which are strange to a specific people. Regular or strategies, mental behaviours, randomly applied by an individual to problem solving. The expression preferences of learning has been used to relate the situations , environmental , encompassing, emotional, sociological and physical situation, that people learner would select to adopt comfortable position. Learning styles are not permanent a particular characteristic which people will often fallow it. Individuals getting knowledge  are able to do many different styles of learning in a lot of causes. might be use more than style according to Honey and Mumford (1986) (suggest that we in need of skillful to adopt one of four different styles in so as finished any given learning job in more satisfactorily) According to Honey-Mumford Model there are four type styles, activists which individual prefer action learning rather than reading or listening . Reflectors which individuals collect more information before making decision. Theorists, which to see the relationship between observations. And pragmatists which are keen to search and find new idea and use it. ). (ALAN PREICHARD 2009 p1-44). About my self the best approach to learn my self is practice learning, for example in my studies I prefer empirical study that base on home work , show in the lap also via a lot of media like TV or games . What issues do you anticipate in the group work? Any number of individual which perceive themselves to form a group and interact with each other to achieve specific goals. According to David Buchanan and Andrzey Huczynski say (group is tow or more people in face-to-face interaction, each aware of their membership in the group, each aware of the others who belong to the group, and each aware of their positive interdependence as they strive to achieve their goals) page 286. The group includes two types of groups, formal groups and informal groups. Formal groups are formal created to achieve specific task in the organization. In formal groups, the behaviors are serving the needs of the organisation to perform specific tasks. For example the staff of business school collages an example of formal group. Informal groups are not created formally, unplanned by the organization are basis on common interest. The groups divides into, task and command groups are related to formal groups, whereas friendship and interest groups are naturally created. Group command this group is forms by the power of the leader in the organization. Task Group, this refers to individuals who work combine to execute a job task. The important issues face or encounter any body joint in work group represent in why do people joint in groups , stages of group development ,the factors inside organization and out side organization affect the group behaviour which explain why are many group performances successful and others unsuccessful?, group structure and group process ,and finally the group decision making. About my self I work in a bank and my experience six years. I jointed in many group work during working all points I mentioned above I think is important issues face any individual group members which any body anticipated occur or happen during groups work , most authors and researchers talking and discussed this issues . Why Do People Join Groups? People join in group for many reason personalities and organizational. The personality includes, security to joined in group individuals will decrease risk of appearing responsibility alone, because they afraid from threats. Status, by joining a group, members can have recognition and status. Self-esteem, in order of more confidence. Affiliation, they become more close relationship to achieve best result. People can enjoy the continuous interaction with each others. Power, There is more power in great numbers. On the other hand for organizational reason includes flatter structures, perform tasks, improve productivity and quality and more motivation in order to provide support reward sense of belonging. Stages of Group Development: Group development in common passes via five stages. According (Tuckman 1965, Tuckman Jensen 1977).Forming, this phase is featured by the group responsibilities and roles, also group purpose, goals and external relationships. Storming, this phase is featured focused in the main objective and avoid conflict. There is conflict between the leader and members group. Norming, this phase is characterized by complete relationship and best cohesiveness and the decisions making sharing among whole group. Performing, In this phase the group known what is doing and why, put the strategic into action and apply it as it planning, focus on over -achieving objectives. Adjourning, In this phase, the task has been finished or achieved the group members can go to an other new job, and be ready themselves to go their on ways. (David Buchanan and Andrzey Huczynski, page 305) Factors Explaining Group Behavior Why are many group performances successful and others unsuccessful? The solution includes many internal and external variables which influence the ability of the group member, the group size, the conflict level, the consideration of group norms, homogenous represent on routine and standard task, the level of cohesiveness. Members education such as experience and training, job design ,motivation of employees and attitudes, also diversity training , gender, and academic major, personality orientation. The individual factor must be followed first because are effect on the outcomes of group. Also the are many external factors which affect the group performance , so every work groups are influenced by conditions come from outside like overall strategy of the organisation, government regulations , structures authority, official regulations, resources or the input represent by skills, knowledge and abilities and personality , process selected by the employees, system of reward and evaluatio n the performance , the culture of the organization physical work setting, the traits of groups affect the performances of group which influence outcomes of whole group members . Group Structure and group process The group structure act as the main issues face the groups when work to gather because of the behavior of members are unclear and possible to do predict inside the group as well as the outcomes that you planed. There are many different factors which affect the group behavior. They include the leader of group like unit manager, employee charge or responsible for workers, project manager or committee president. The roles of any member, norms are necessary because they help and support group and let it go on and survival, help to predict behavior, reduce the clash between the group individuals and give individual to express the main values or attitudes of the group, status group is important to classification of group among the other, size of group which make Social loafing is that some people of the group tend to do less effort than other when they work to gather in the group, the group composition is an important factor for predicting groups behavior. Heterogeneous groups tend to perf orm better than homogeneous groups over the long run. The level of group cohesiveness is group individual attracted help others in order to motivated whole group and to stay together to achieve tasks. Group Processes is important such as ways of communications each group individual support each other to provide information and exchange information between other so as to solve problems, decision process, chair group behavior and conflict reaction. During social loafing obtains opposite outcomes of using individuals, the positive results when the out pot greater than input. (David Buchanan and Andrzey Huczynski page 318-335) Group Decision Making Decision-making in groups or an organization is the important task made by group members in order to choose the best alternatives that doing by group member which represent the outcomes, may in all departments of the organization be able to be used. At this point, when a decision maker chooses a particular action, he does so with full background of the power and diversity of alternative opinions. He does so, however, using his own notions of the severity of the reactions and disappointments of the individuals whose own prefer- ences for some action has been shunted aside, if not ignored. This problem of how to combine the action preferences of individuals with differing values (utility functions) has been studied intensely in recent years. A basic question concerns the degree to which a group of individuals with differing utility functions can agree upon a single, group utility function. Under certain axiomatic assumptions, Arrow (1963) has shown that such agreement is impossible. Un der other assumptions, however, agreement is possible. If, for example, there is a single decision maker who wants to take every group members preferences into account, but who will make the ultimate decision himself (this is the context we are assuming throughout), then no contradictions of this type arise. (Kirkwood 1972). During my work, I work in country have a big diversity, the population composed form different tribes and have different tune speaking and values, attitudes and ethnics so as difficult to work in group and to forming group work until arrived to decision making (outcome) . . 4-How will you attempt to address these? Whereas people joint group come from different races to interact together to doing a work or job I think some problem or causes should be occurred in all the stages of group which I explained above, from forming a group to finish the job and making decision for specific goals. So as the manger or the group leader should be aware of this important issues might be happen and failures group continues. The important issue may be happen the race because it is much apparent when group members joint for different multiracial in the group that must be forming this is called multiracial group. To mange or control multiracial group according to Davis Galinsky and schopler (1995) (urge that the leader use the RAP (recognize, anticipate and problem-solve) framework which stand of recognize, anticipate and problem-solve. Recognizing crucial ethnic , cultural and racial differences in any group work requires the manger to be both self-aware and aware of racial dynamics of the group. A manger of mu ltiracial group needs to be aware of personal values and stereotypes. Recognize racial ethic and cultural differences among the members of group. Respect the norm, cultures and customs of the population represented in the group, familiar with resources in the community that responsive to the needs of racial component of the group, be aware of various forms of institutional discrimination in the community and their impact on various populations of groups, and racial tension in the community also. Anticipating how individual members will be affected racial issues prepares the leader to respond preventively and inter-preventively when racial issues arise. The leader should anticipate potential sources of racial tension in the group when members formulate their group goals and when the leader structure group work. To anticipate tensions and help members deal effectively with them the leader should be seek to include more than one member of any given race, develop a leadership style that is culturally appropriate to the groups specific racial configuration, treat all members in respect and equality ,seek to empower members to obtain their rights particularly if they are been victimized by institutional discrimination or other forms of racism in the community , encourage development of norms in mutual respect and appreciation of diversity. The last element is solve-problem which the leader should be use solve-problem approach by the evaluation and generating alternatives, use conflict resolution approach include role reversal, empathy, inquiry, use intervention and goal that are culturally acceptable and appropriate for all members of the group and provide some rules in problem solving and conflict .( Charles Zastrow, Karen K. Kirst-Ashman 2010-2007, P359-360.) Conclusion To conclude, this essay has explained factors which motivated me to study master degree at Bangor university, focus on the reputation of it academics ,staffs, and area, also my future plan after complete my study at it. The definition of learning, approach of learning and styles of learning any my styles learning during my live. However the most important issues anticipate occur or happen in a group work as general and my experience work such as, why do people joint in groups, stages of group development, the factors inside organization and out side organization affect the group behaviour which explain why are many group performances successful and others unsuccessful?, group structure and group process, and finally the group decision making. Although how will you attempted to address this issues I mentioned above which I focus on multiracial group I think it is important issues face in my work experience which must be mange or control by RAP framework which stand of recognize, antic ipate and problem-solve, which the leader should be do in recognize, anticipate and problem-solve.

A New Look at Flagstaff :: Personal Narratives College Essays

A New Look at Flagstaff Flagstaff has always been an exciting and interesting town to me. When I decided to go to college here, I wanted to go someplace with a fun outdoorsy atmosphere where there would always be new stuff to do. I think I have found the excitement and adventure I was looking for in the somewhat small and comfortable city of Flagstaff. Through my new experience and my time in Flagstaff, I have found myself to be a stronger and well rounded person. When I found out the assignment of doing something new in Flagstaff, I was excited because it gave me a chance to make myself get out of my comfort zone and try something different. I first decided that I wanted to go hiking, but then decided it was too cold. By Sunday night, the weekend was almost over and I still hadn’t done anything totally different. So I decided to be bold and ask a new friend, Jim, from class if he wanted to go out and do something. At least I would be doing something with someone I don’t usually hang out with, so that would give me something to write about. Jim and I decided we would go bowling, which I actually hadn’t done since I’ve been in Flagstaff. We got to the bowling alley and found that many people had the same idea of what to do on a Sunday night. The bowling lanes in Flagstaff are much different than the lanes in my home town. The lanes here are small and there are about 15 of them. There is also only one bowling alley in all of Flagstaff, which is weird because in my home town, we always have to choose between ten different places to go when we decide to go bowling. Since there were so many people at the lanes, the man told us it would be a two hour wait for a lane. So we decided not to wait, and to simply find something else to do. Jim and I ended up going to the pool hall in town, which I didn’t even know existed.

Love Relationships of Children of Divorce Essay -- children, therapy, p

Millions of divorces are granted each year. Children whose parents divorced are more likely to divorce themselves, maintain poorer relations, and report being generally less happy with their lives (Brown 1999). Over 25% of all women will divorce within 10 years time, and a third of all first marriages disrupted within 10 years. Guldner and O'Connor (1991) said that â€Å"where possible, group therapy for dealing with problems of children of divorce is the treatment of choice†. Group therapy with kids focuses on helping them to feel like they're not alone, connect with and learn from others, receive peer validation and support, and normalize experiences (Gladding, 2005). Psychoeducational and counseling groups in schools and community agencies have been a way of giving treatment to children of divorce (Delucia-Waack & Gellman 2007). Psychoeducational and counseling groups for children of divorce have focused on dealing with the reality of the situation, as well as the feelings produced by it. Goals have been identified for these groups (DeLucia-Waack, 2007). They are to: help children gain a clear picture of the divorce process through discussion, normalize common experiences and feelings, provide a safe place to talk about concerns, help label, understand, and express feelings about the divorce, develop new coping skills, assist children in reality testing, and plan for the future. Typical interventions include: discussion of words and situations related to divorce, drawing and talking about families and support persons, learning ways to externalize feelings, and role plays applying new skills to specific divorce-related situations (DeLucia-Waack, 2001; Gladding, 2005). While these groups are often used in schools, the research regar... ... B. J. (1987). Children's understanding of the simultaneity of two emotions: A five-stage developmental acquisition sequence. Developmental Psychology. Hilliard, R. E. (2001). The effects of music therapy-based bereavement groups on mood and behavior of grieving children. Journal of Music Therapy. Kovacs, M. (1992). The Children's depression inventory manual. Multi Health Systems, Inc. Kurdek, L. A., & Berg, B. (1987). Children's beliefs about parental divorce scale: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1985). Revised children's manifest anxiety scale. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services. Shechtman, Z., DeLucia-Waack, J. L., Gerrity, D., Kalodner, C., & Riva, M. (2004). Handbook of group counseling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Discovering Alcott :: Louisa May Alcott Writers Essays

Discovering Alcott When I was a child, I spent all my free time reading. I loved the Nancy Drew series of mysteries and even read a few Hardy Boys. I also read every other book available in our house, especially the children’s book I read to my younger brothers and sisters. Each of them had a favorite book. Those books were read over and over at bedtime or to entertain them while my mother was busy. As I grew older, the responsibility of reading to the other children passed to my younger sister, Cathy. I looked forward to summer vacations because that meant more time to read books that I chose. There was no library in our small town but my mother had lots of books. I also had a two friends, girls who were the only child in their families, and they had all the latest books, ones my family could not afford. I had the privilege of borrowing books from them. When I was eleven years old, I discovered Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was a child who noticed details so the author’s name immediately intrigued me. Louisa was my grandmother’s name. I could not remember this grandmother but she was my mother's mother and May is my mother’s middle name, so I felt this had some significance. I was sure that Louisa May Alcott had written something especially intended for me. I did not underestimate how important she would be to me. In addition to our regular household chores of cleaning, babysitting, bed making and helping with cooking, washing and ironing, my older sister, Marian, and I were old enough now to help with canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. We were aware that this must be done in order to feed the family through the winter. We felt our mother’s worry about being able to provide for us so endured the hot, muggy kitchen when we, or at least I, would much rather have been curled up in a quiet corner with a book. I was intrigued from the first page of Little Women because it was about four girls and they were talking about being poor. I could feel and understand their worries. Not only that, one of them reminded the others that they were lucky, they had each other, something my own mother often told us we should appreciate. As the story continued I could not help comparing them to my own family. Discovering Alcott :: Louisa May Alcott Writers Essays Discovering Alcott When I was a child, I spent all my free time reading. I loved the Nancy Drew series of mysteries and even read a few Hardy Boys. I also read every other book available in our house, especially the children’s book I read to my younger brothers and sisters. Each of them had a favorite book. Those books were read over and over at bedtime or to entertain them while my mother was busy. As I grew older, the responsibility of reading to the other children passed to my younger sister, Cathy. I looked forward to summer vacations because that meant more time to read books that I chose. There was no library in our small town but my mother had lots of books. I also had a two friends, girls who were the only child in their families, and they had all the latest books, ones my family could not afford. I had the privilege of borrowing books from them. When I was eleven years old, I discovered Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was a child who noticed details so the author’s name immediately intrigued me. Louisa was my grandmother’s name. I could not remember this grandmother but she was my mother's mother and May is my mother’s middle name, so I felt this had some significance. I was sure that Louisa May Alcott had written something especially intended for me. I did not underestimate how important she would be to me. In addition to our regular household chores of cleaning, babysitting, bed making and helping with cooking, washing and ironing, my older sister, Marian, and I were old enough now to help with canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. We were aware that this must be done in order to feed the family through the winter. We felt our mother’s worry about being able to provide for us so endured the hot, muggy kitchen when we, or at least I, would much rather have been curled up in a quiet corner with a book. I was intrigued from the first page of Little Women because it was about four girls and they were talking about being poor. I could feel and understand their worries. Not only that, one of them reminded the others that they were lucky, they had each other, something my own mother often told us we should appreciate. As the story continued I could not help comparing them to my own family. Discovering Alcott :: Louisa May Alcott Writers Essays Discovering Alcott When I was a child, I spent all my free time reading. I loved the Nancy Drew series of mysteries and even read a few Hardy Boys. I also read every other book available in our house, especially the children’s book I read to my younger brothers and sisters. Each of them had a favorite book. Those books were read over and over at bedtime or to entertain them while my mother was busy. As I grew older, the responsibility of reading to the other children passed to my younger sister, Cathy. I looked forward to summer vacations because that meant more time to read books that I chose. There was no library in our small town but my mother had lots of books. I also had a two friends, girls who were the only child in their families, and they had all the latest books, ones my family could not afford. I had the privilege of borrowing books from them. When I was eleven years old, I discovered Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was a child who noticed details so the author’s name immediately intrigued me. Louisa was my grandmother’s name. I could not remember this grandmother but she was my mother's mother and May is my mother’s middle name, so I felt this had some significance. I was sure that Louisa May Alcott had written something especially intended for me. I did not underestimate how important she would be to me. In addition to our regular household chores of cleaning, babysitting, bed making and helping with cooking, washing and ironing, my older sister, Marian, and I were old enough now to help with canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. We were aware that this must be done in order to feed the family through the winter. We felt our mother’s worry about being able to provide for us so endured the hot, muggy kitchen when we, or at least I, would much rather have been curled up in a quiet corner with a book. I was intrigued from the first page of Little Women because it was about four girls and they were talking about being poor. I could feel and understand their worries. Not only that, one of them reminded the others that they were lucky, they had each other, something my own mother often told us we should appreciate. As the story continued I could not help comparing them to my own family.