Data Analysis Skills for Economics and Accountancy Essay

Data Analysis Skills for Economics and Accountancy - Essay Example Similarly, a higher inflation can also signify that the economy is plunged into a debilitating recession, thus in both cases it is unclear to deduce which country has got a hand over the other. The above histogram describes the number of hours spent on average using a microcomputer in week by the users. Sample population comprises of 370 individuals which is enough to find the normality of the sample data. The histogram has a mean of 10.41 which implies that on average each user spends 10.41 hours in a week on the computer. The standard deviation of 8.993 which is very high and close to the mean value reveals that there are a lot of values which are deviating from the standard mean. These deviations are the outlier which can be confirmed by the maximum value (outlier) of 78. The data set has a range of 78 which implies that the difference between the maximum and minimum value of 78. The distribution of the above graph can not be certainly described as a normal one because it has too many outliers but it can be classified as skewed to left. After classifying the dataset into groups of 15 units we have divided the answers into categories ranging from very high to very low. Since the chi-square tests shows that the asymptotic significance value of 0.653 is greater than the significance level of 0.10 therefore we reach to a conclusion that gender does not affects the time spent by the

Managing Resources Essay Example for Free

Managing Resources Essay The learning resource I have chosen is actually also used as an ice breaker for a lesson and then used to build on students communication, reading and understanding skills. The task is used to put students under a time constraint to complete a task of ready and answering simple and possibly trick questions in a short time frame. This resource is not used in a way to trick students but used to then get them to reflect on their ready and interpretation of a question. For example, the first part of the document tell them what they must do and this also asks them to use the space before the number to write their answers. Many students do not do this and proceed to write their answers at the end of the question. When a student is under stress, they may be able to learn skills in much less than the usual time. This is the theory also used in military basic training. It is known as ‘Quick Learning Under Pressure’, it reduces the time it takes to learn a skill through study. This theory has been interpreted under many different ways and Ann Dupuis suggests that under pressure students will gain new skills without taking time to study. Her theory goes onto describe how a Physician caught on a battlefield will under pressure help other people and learn surgery to assist other. I feel this adapts itself to my resource. Many students do not know how to adapt their skills under a timed period such as an exam and placing them under pressure for a short period of 5 minutes will get them later to reflect on their actions. This learning resource however may not be suitable to all students and it is not always used where I am aware of slow reader or maybe people who suffer with dyslexia. The choice to use this is based upon group dynamics and ability. When I thought of designing this resource I took into account how learners who complete this task can reflect on each question and question other peer group member answers. This then is reflected within Kolb’s idea on the learning cycle. Kolb works on a four stage cycle of Concrete Experience, Reflective observation, Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experiment. The experience side of things is the student actual having to complete the task. The reflective observation is covered by completed a group review of the answers. So at the end of the 5 minutes I will lead the students through the questions and statement finding out the students answers and getting them to reflect both personally and as a group on what they had originally written. Now they are reflecting are they changing their mind about the answers? Do they see their initial error when reading the question? The 3rd stage Abstract Conceptualization is then covered by the students looking at the task and ideas or concepts of others around them. The other student interpretation of the questions. The student will then process this information and is able to make a more informed decision. Final the Active Experiment part. 9/10 students want a copy to take a way and try on friends and family so they can put their new skills or understanding into practise of others. This theory is adapted from Kolbs 2006 theory which he updated added extra reasoning behind the 4 main stages. The learning resource once we have gone through the answers can now have the idea and new acquired skills in practising exam questions or exam papers under timed conditions. It also teaches the students not to read something once and immediately think the understand what is being asked of them. When I am moving on from this learning resources onto practise exams I am conscience of the different learning styles I have in the room. I have to ask myself what type of learning styles I have in the room. Do I have the reflector, the theorist, the activist or the pragmatist? The understanding behind this is designed by Honey Mumford. They came up with these 4 titles. Reflectors like to stand back and look at a situation from different perspectives. They like to collect data and think about it carefully before coming to any conclusions. They enjoy observing others and will listen to their views before offering their own. Theorists adapt and integrate observations into complex and logically sound theories. They think problems through in a step by step way. They tend to be perfectionists who like to fit things into a rational scheme. They tend to be detached and analytical rather than subjective or emotive in their thinking. Activists like to be involved in new experiences. They are open minded and enthusiastic about new ideas but get bored with implementation. They enjoy doing things and tend to act first and consider the implications afterwards. They like working with others but tend to hog the limelight. And finally; Pragmatists are keen to try things out. They want concepts that can be applied to their job. They tend to be impatient with lengthy discussions and are practical and down to earth. The one good thing about this resource is as long as I have it on paper to hand out (good planning) I don’t need any other resource or technology. I have used this learning resource as a back up lesson in the past when either our computer systems have gone down, or I have arrived at a venue that does not have ICT facilities of some way of showing resources on a smart board or projector. This learning resource is shared out so widely. As mentioned earlier many students ask for a copy to take away with them so I ensure I always have spares to hand to give out and share the experience. Even if it is just for fun.! The main learning outcomes are to show the students that they need to read the question carefully, even if under pressure. To look out for trick questions or two part questions. And finally extracting the information out of the question that is not relevant to exactly what is being asked of them. In relation to legal requirements, this learning resources has been adapted from a many similar styles. I have used a number of my own questions, however I have added questions I have seen elsewhere and this includes from magazine riddles for fun and other websites. This resource has been changed several times and questions replaced with what I felt where better one to get the students thinking more. This then I believe fall under my Intellectual property right. This is the ownership of ideas or work. Copyright is different as copyrighted material means information created by someone else and a you are not allowed to copy it without the owner permission which may incur costs. An easy understanding of this would be music. If I brought a cd from a store and copied it onto a blank disc and then sold it I would be breaking copy right laws as I am selling something someone else owns. This is the same with learning materials.

A Multi OBS: Framework for Cloud Brokerage Services

A Multi OBS: Framework for Cloud Brokerage Services Dr. J. Akilandeswari C.Sushanth ABSTRACT Cloud computing is one of major dynamically evolving area which provides business agencies to extend their process across the globe. Cloud broker mediates between cloud service provider and cloud consumers through API. Initially, cloud user submits the specification to the cloud broker and desires for the best cloud provider. Request from cloud users are processed by the cloud broker and best suited provider is allocated to them. This paper proposed an idea of introducing a MultiObjective Optimization technique in selecting a best provider for the cloud consumers. Once the service level agreement is assured, connection to appropriate cloud provider is established through cloud API. The negotiation can be modeled as middleware, and its services can be provided as application programming interfaces. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) specification of each provider is considered and compared with requirement specified by cloud user. Keywords Cloud computing, Cloud Broker, MultiObjective Optimization. INTRODUCTION A cloud refers the interconnection of huge number of computer systems in a network. The cloud provider extends service through virtualization technologies to cloud user. Client credentials are stored on the company server at a remote location. Every action initiated by the client is executed in a distributed environment and as a result, the complexity of maintaining the software or infrastructure is minimized. The services provided by cloud providers are classified into three types: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Cloud computing makes client to store information on remote site and hence there is no need of storage infrastructure. Web browser act as an interface between client and remote machine to access data by logging into his/her account. The intent of every customer is to use cloud resources at a low cost with high efficiency in terms of time and space. If more number of cloud service providers is providing almo st same type of services, customers or users will have difficulty in choosing the right service provider. To handle this situation of negotiating with multiple service providers, Cloud Broker Services (CBS) play a major role as a middleware. Cloud broker acts as a negotiator between cloud user and cloud service provider. Initially, cloud provider registers with cloud broker about its specification on offerings and user submits request to broker. Based on type of service, and requirements, best provider is suggested to the cloud user. Upon confirmation from the user, broker establishes the connection to the provider. RELATED WORKS OF CLOUD BROKERAGE SERVICES (CBS) Foued Jrad et al [1] introduced Intercloud Gateway and Open Cloud Computing Interface specification (OCCI) cloud API to overcome lack of interoperability and heterogeneity. Cloud users cannot identify appropriate cloud providers through the assistance of existing Cloud Service Broker (CSB). By implementing OCCI in Intercloud Gateway, it acts as server for service providers and OCCI act as a client in abstract cloud API. Cloud Broker satisfies users of both functional and non-functional requirements through Service Level Agreement (SLA). Intercloud Gateway acts as a front end for cloud providers and interacts with cloud broker. Identity Manager handles user authentication through unique ID.SLA Manager is responsible for negotiates SLA creation and storing. Match Manager takes care of selecting suitable resources for cloud users. Monitoring and Discovery Manager monitor SLA metrics in various resource allocations. Deployment manager is in charge of deploying services to cloud user. Abs tract cloud API provides interoperability. The user submits a request to SLA Manager and it parses the request into SLA parameters which is given to Match Maker. By applying algorithm Match Maker find best suited solution and response is passed to the user. Upon user acceptance a connection is provided by service providers. Through this architecture, interoperability is achieved, but this cannot assure best matching cloud service provider to the client. Tao Yu and Kwei-Jay Lin [2] introduces Quality of Service (QoS) broker module in between cloud service providers and cloud users. The role of QoS information is collecting information about active servers, suggesting appropriate server for clients, and negotiate with servers to get QoS agreements. The QoS information manager collects information required for QoS negotiation and analysis. It checks with the Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registry to get the server information and contacts servers for QoS inform ation such as server send their service request and QoS load and service levels. After receiving clients functional and QoS requirements, the QoS negotiation manager searches through the broker’s database to look for qualified services. If more than one candidate is found, a decision algorithm is used to select the most suitable one. The QoS information from both server and QoS analyzer will be used to make the decision. By using this architecture load balancing factor of server is maintained for a large number of users, but not efficient in delivering best suited provider to the client. HQ and RQ allocation algorithm is proposed to maximize server resource while minimizing QoS instability for each client. The HQ allocation algorithm is to evenly divide available resource among required client based on active clients. RQ assigns a different service level to client based on requirements. Josef Spillner et al [3] provided solution is to subdivide resource reservation into either serial or parallel segments. Nested virtualization provides services to cloud user. The outcome is a highly virtualizing cloud resource broker. The system supports hierarchically nested virtualization with dynamically reallocate capable resources. A base virtual machine is dedicated to enabling the nested cloud with other virtual machines is referred to as sub-virtual machine running at a higher virtualization level. The nested cloud virtual machine is to be deployed by the broker and offers control facilities through the broker configurator which turn it into a lightweight infrastructure manager. The proposed solution yields the higher reselling power of unused resources, but hardware cost of running virtual machine will be high to obtain the desired performance. Chao Chen et al [4] projected objectives of negotiation are minimize price and guaranteed QoS within expected timeline, maximize profit from the margin between the customers financial plan and the providers negotiated price, maximize profit by accepting as many requests as possible to enlarge market share. The proposed automated negotiation framework uses Software–as-a-Service (SaaS) broker which is utilized as the storage unit for customers. This helps the user to save time while selecting multiple providers. The negotiation framework helps user to assist in establishing a mutual agreement between provider and client through SaaS broker. The main objective of the broker is to maintain SLA parameters of cloud provider and suggesting best provider to customer. Negotiation policy translator maps customers QoS parameters to provider specification parameters. Negotiation engine includes workflows which use negotiation policy during the negotiation process. The decision making syst em uses decision making criteria to update the negotiation status. The minimum cost is incurred for resource utilization. Renegotiation for dynamic customer needs is not solved. Wei Wang et al [5] proposed a new cloud brokerage service that reserves a large pool of instances from cloud providers and serves users with price discounts. A practical problem facing cloud users is how to minimize their costs by choosing among different pricing options based on their own demands. The broker optimally exploits both pricing benefits of long-term instance, reservations and multiplexing gains. Dynamic approach for the broker to make instant reservations with the objective of minimizing its service cost is achieved. This strategy controls, dynamic programming and algorithms to quickly handle large demands. A smart cloud brokerage service that serves cloud user demands with a large pool of computing instances that are dynamically launched on-demand from IaaS clouds. Partial usage of the billing cycle incurs a full cycle charge, this makes user to pay more than they actually use. This broker uses single instance to serve many users by time-multiplexing usage, reducing cos t of cloud user. Lori MacVittie [6] introduces broker as a solution to integrate hybrid policy without affecting control in services. The integration between cloud and datacenter is done with cloud broker integration at the process layer. Brokers deploy vast amount of applications for customer through infrastructure defined by corporate enforced policies. Identity broker module communicates with datacenter through authorization and authentication mechanism. The real-time implementation of cloud broker is achieved by two types of architectures: Full-proxy broker and Half-proxy broker. In Full-proxy broker requests are processed through the tunneling and implemented in many ways such as VPN. In Half-proxy broker only validation of the request is done by broker, successive communication established directly. This model defines how the request can be handled in late binding. A cloud delivery broker can make decision, such as where to revert user upon request. Hybrid cloud must be able to describe capabil ities such as bandwidth, location, cost, type of environment. PROPOSED SOLUTION: The proposed system works based on MultiObjective Optimization technique. Cloud broker consists of two phases namely, resource manager and pareto analysis. 3.1 Resource Manager: The resource manager is involved in storing specification of the each cloud service provider which is stored in the local database of the cloud broker. Upon request from the cloud user, based on user specification, appropriate cloud provider is assigned. The specification can be of IaaS or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) type needed by user. 3.2 Pareto Analysis: Pareto analysis is procedure of making decision based on importance of input parameters specified by user. This process assigns scores to each parameter which makes large impact on the output. The first step in analysis is to identify the factors which have large influence on output and then sort out objectives based on user preferences. Pareto analysis uses MultiObjective Optimization (MOO) technique in deciding best cloud provider for user requirements. Fig 1 Framework for Cloud Brokerage Services From the above figure it is evident that optimized solution can be obtained from proposed algorithm in the cloud broker. 3.3 MultiObjective Optimization Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA): The Non-dominated Sorting Approach-2 (NSGA-2) algorithm is computationally fast among all non-dominated sorting approach in MOEA. This algorithm is used to select optimized output for the user specified requirement. The algorithm works as follows: Fig. 2. Modified NSGA-2 Algorithm for Cloud Brokerage Services (CBS). The optimized objective is made to tournament selection [7] and recombination procedure for best cloud provider. 4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS: The development of a cloud brokerage services framework is getting momentum since its usage is pervasive in all verticals. The works till now considered the scenario of more than two cloud service provider providing the same level of requirements to the user. This scenario will able to identify optimized cloud providers for the users to choose an appropriate provider. The Cloud Broker Services will act on behalf of the user to choose a particular service provider for providing service to the user. If Cloud Broker Service becomes a standard middleware framework, many chores of cloud service providers can be taken by CBS. 5. REFERANCES Foued Jrad, Jie Tao, Achim Streit, SLA Based Service Brokering in Intercloud Environments. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science, pp. 76-81, 2012. Tao Yu and Kwei-Jay Lin, The Design of QoS Broker Algorithms for QoS-Capable Web Services, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on e-Technology, e-Commerce and e-Service, pp. 17-24, 2004. Josef Spillner, Andrey Brito, Francisco Brasileiro, Alexander Schill, A Highly-Virtualising Cloud Resource Broker, IEEE Fifth International Conference on Utility and Cloud Computing, pp.233-234, 2012. Linlin Wu, Saurabh Kumar Garg, Rajkumar Buyya, Chao Chen, Steve Versteeg, Automated SLA Negotiation Framework for Cloud Computing, 13th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud, and Grid Computing, pp.235-244, 2013. Wei Wang, Di Niu, Baochun Li, Ben Liang, Dynamic Cloud Resource Reservation via Cloud Brokerage, Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 2013. Lori MacVittie, Integrating the Cloud: Bridges, Brokers, and Gateways, 2012. Kalyanmoy Deb, Amrit Pratap, Sameer Agarwal, and T. Meyarivan, A Fast and Elitist Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm:NSGA-II. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, Vol. 6, No. 2, April 2002.

Midnight Express Essay -- essays research papers

Midnight Express   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Billy Hayes becomes desperate at the end of the movie. He realizes that he will never be released and so when he finds the money his girlfriend hid for him, he is moved to try and escape. He tries to bribe Hamidon to let him out. Hamidon takes the money but takes him to an empty room where he is planning on beating Billy. He takes off his gun and puts down his stick. He starts beating Billy. He stops and begins to pull his pants down. Billy seizes this opportunity and pushes him, knocking his head into a peg on the wall killing him. He then puts on Hamidon’s clothes, takes his gun and leaves the prison. He is finally out and makes it across the border into Greece.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I were put into that situation, I think I woul...

Industrialised Countries Essay

‘Newly industrialised countries have been, and continue to be, the driving force of globalisation’ To what extent do you agree with this statement Globalisation can be seen as the increased flow of goods, services and information across countries, and it is driven by rapid technological growth and increased connectivity between countries of the world. It also establishes and maintains economic and political relations between these countries. Some of the factors that have affected globalisation include technological innovation as it had made transport and communication around the world easier, trade has also played an important role in encouraging globalisation. Trade between countries in the developed world and the developing world has specifically been the biggest driving force of globalisation. Newly industrialised countries or NIC’s are countries whose economies have not yet reached first world economic status but their economic growth are still increasing more than other developing countries. NIC’s are switching their current agriculture-based economy into a more industrialised, urban economy. Current NICs include China, India, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Philippines, Thailand and Turkey. The average growth rate between these countries is approximately 7.6% compared to the world average of 3.7%. The first group of NIC’s came from the Asia area, they included Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. They called these the Asian Tigers. The Asian Tigers were notable for maintaining exceptionally high growth rates (in excess of 7% a year) and rapid industrialization between the early 1960s and 1990s. By the 21st century, all four have developed into advanced and high-income economies. There are several factors that make Newly Industrialised countries the driving force of globalisation. Firstly, most newly industrialised countries have a large population; this makes the countries more attractive for investment as these countries have lots of cheap labour. Therefore, these countries seem more attractive to TNC’s as they can make more profits when the cost of labour is cheap. A Transnational Corporation or a TNC is a privately owned company that is based in 2 or more countries. They take advantage of the NIC’s cheap labour and large growth rate. For instance Toyota is one of the world’s leading car manufacturers and is the third largest in the world. Although based in Japan, Toyota produces most of its cars in its transplants in Georgetown, Kentucky, and Burnaston and Derbyshire.

Free sample - Saboteur. translation missing

Saboteur. SaboteurAt first glance, Mr. Chiu's revenge was neither justified nor proportionate.   Mr. Chiu had no moral right to infect innocent people with hepatitis. Besides, he indirectly killed six people including two children. The non proportionality of his revenge was illustrated by the number of infected people. Thus, on the one side we see two men who were tortured but still were alive and could continue to live. On the other side there are two actually innocent children and eight hundred infected who suffered for the crimes of the local police. In addition, it is not obvious that those policemen that had maltreated Mr. Chiu and Fenjin were affected by infection and became the victims of Mr. Chiu's revenge. The cruelty of his actions is non human. Perhaps, it is explained by the fact that Mr. Chiu's colleagues â€Å"joked about his flesh, which they said must have tasted nonhuman to flea† (Jin). Consequently, we may see that his revenge was blind and caused not by the wish to conduct justice but by his inability to resist local police as actually all facts were fabricated against him and he had no chance of successful outcome in case of court claim. Nevertheless, could Mr. Chiu be really affected by such primitive emotions? He continued to think about his paper on the nature of contradictions even being in the prison so his mind was clear all the time. Besides, he was â€Å"an expert in dialectical materialism† so he could easily find all pros and contras of his actions and those arguments must have been rather sophisticated. Can we find any justification for his actions? Actually, there is at least one possible. Local police based its charges on the evidences of people who crowded around Mr. Chiu at the moment of his quarrel with two policemen. Each of those witnesses was a liar and they made Mr. Chiu and his friend suffer and threatened his life. From this point of view not only policemen were criminals but also other simple people were so. Their criminality reflected not only in the false evidences but also in their inability to resist local police and to set fair authorities. Policemen were not an alien element of that society as they originated from it and actually were a part of the society and the monster created by that weak-hearted society. Hence, Mr. Chiu's revenge was justified as he punished the same society which had indirectly led to his sufferings. Was it right to kill those two children? As for me, neither wish for justice may be justified by the child's tears but we shall try to look at it from China's cultural perspective. The history of China is full of examples when not only the family of delinquent official but also the families of his relatives were executed. Thus, the idea was that children were responsible for the crimes of their parents. The reason of such cruelty was not only the wish to exclude the possibility of relatives' revenge but also to eliminate those social factors that led to offense. In case of Mr. Chiu such social factor was an absence of will and conformism of the locals who had not resisted the police but upheld its actions. Hence, Mr. Chiu had revenged in the spirit of Chinese traditions and it may be justified and may be found to be proportionate in the light of that society's ideas but not the society recognizing the importance of human rights. Nevertheless, even in such case, Mr. Chiu's actions lac ked a very important element. It may be presumed that revenge is a sort of justice. Both Utilitarian and Natural Law theories of justice indicate that there shall be a connection between the crime and the punishment. Natural law theory says that offender shall understand that he or she is punished for the specific crime he or she committed and Utilitarian theory claims that punishment shall influence the offender and other people in the way to preclude repetition of the crime (West). Were any of such motives present in Mr. Chiu's actions? None. Affected people could not know the reason of the disease, they didn't understand that it was a punishment for their conformism and consequently did not change their behavior. Hence, Mr. Chiu's revenge may not be justified from any point of view and I consider it to be a blind cruel revenge caused by his powerlessness.

To What Extent Did Alexander II fundamentally transform Russia Essays

To What Extent Did Alexander II fundamentally transform Russia Essays To What Extent Did Alexander II fundamentally transform Russia Paper To What Extent Did Alexander II fundamentally transform Russia Paper Alexander II held the title Liberator due to his leading role in the radical reforms that took place in Russia from 1855. The Tsar greatly benefited from Russias autocratic style government and took the drastic changes as a way of preserving this. Russia was beginning to fall behind in comparison to other powers, e. g. in the delay of abolishing serfdom. This was highlighted after a humiliating defeat at the Crimean War in 1856, after losing on home ground, with poor military and training becoming apparent. This loss acted as a major catalyst for change in Russia. To have of fundamentally transform Russia, Alexander II would have to have improved Russia socially, politically, militarily and economically. The abolition of serfdom was phased over a period of 20 years, considering how in 1861, 50 million of the 60 million inhabitants of Russia were peasants, 23 million of them being serfs. When in 1861 all serfs were given freedom, all control their owner had was lost. They were allowed to keep their own cottages and surrounding land, and often were hired by their previous landlord to work on their farmland. Morally, granting freedom to 23 million people could be considered a fundamental transformation of Russia. However, Alexander II experienced economic and political disadvantages. While serfs had the right to their own land, surrounding land they had to buy. The small strips of land could be all an ex-serf would have, and in situations where landlords would keep surrounding land, serfs would be in a worse situation. Due to a lack in education and training, the ex-serfs would be unable to manage their land. The economy was therefore affected, with up to a 23% decline in agricultural holdings in some parts of Russia. Serfs would be tied to a village by the redemption paymentsthat were spread over 49 years. This contradicts Alexander IIs invention of expanding peoples culture by issuing passports. Passports caused additional problems as due to this and other effects of emancipating the serfs, other developments that could have taken place in Russia were hampered. While the emancipation of the serfs was a step in the right direction for Alexander II fundamentally transforming Russia, he failed to follow through and it was too little if Russia was to again be on the same level as other powers. A reason Alexander II faced difficulties could be due to the lack of education in Russia at the time. How could the people of Russia move forward if only a very limited number knew how? The Russian government held back on education, due to a fear of new ideas spreading which would contradict that of the autocracy or orthodox church. However, soon Russias lack of education was clearly holding them back, as while England founded universities in the 13th century, they were not founded in Russia until the 18th century. While Britain lead the world in the industrial revolution, Russia remained immensely unproductive, with peasants constantly tending to their fields to create enough substance to provide. Russia was already at a disadvantage agriculturaly due to Russias poor soil and inconsistent weather. Education was widely extended as a follow up the emancipation of the serfs. Schools were declared open to all and secondary schools and universities grew. By giving peasants an education, Russia could hopefully industrialise increase productivity: Russian farmers could no longer sell the huge quantities necessary to supply the western countries. However, despite universities being given greater independence, revolutionary disturbances in the 1870s led to the state interfering with the autocratic government retaining the right to decline applications. It could therefore be considered Russias education wasnt fundamentally transformed as AlexanderII wasnt willing to fully commit to everyone having a right to a full education, Alexander kept tim continuation of the autocracy as the main priority. Censorship reforms also had limited success but was held back by the governments hesitancy towards criticism. By 1865 the press was allowed to discuss government policy and foreign publications were allowed into Russia (albeit only under political approval). The relaxation of censorship encouraged education also as the number of published books grew by ten times more by 1894, even matching British and American outputs combined. Although tight censorship returned, judicial reforms led to a more educated public as the conduct of trials became known. Russias previous judicial system was chaotic and cruel, and kept extremely secret from the public. It suited the maintenance of serfdom and was in line with Russias autocratic government as the estate holder and was sole decider of the fate. By reforming the judicial system, Alexander II saw to transform the process in a fair and practical service. The new system made various classes more equal, higher classes were no longer given separate courts with different punishments and judges would no longer be bribed or abused as they were better trained with a more worthwhile salary. Moreover, by reducing the cruelty of the sentences, Russia could begin a transformation in which the Russian public could less resent their country and it made a major contribution to the modernisation of Russia. However the system was still flawed as true equality between the rich and poor was not reached: juries were still made up of wealthy men with prejudice over the poor. As a recurring theme, Alexander II limited trials in that the bureaucracy could intervene and still have the final verdict. The judicial reform of 1864 was indeed a crucial step in integrating Russias poor and wealthy groups but in the end they still remain vastly separate. Russias nobility dominated the courts when instead Alexander II should have aimed to secure a more universal system where each of his people could be represented. The necessity of military reforms became apparent after the defeat in the Crimean War and then again after the emancipation of the serfs drastically reduced conscription and therefore the size of the army. Previous reforms could be considered to have made the military reforms easier as by making the Russia a fairer, better place to live then the militarys problem of a less than patriotic army could be solved. With a more systematic army with smaller divisions and better planning, the Russian army could be more prepared for defence. Alexander II put Dmitri Milyutin in charge as he introduced a number of reforms over a 20 year period. The military was given far more advanced weapons, proper training and promotions became more open in an attempt to make leadership more effective . The biggest change, and most significant step towards a fundamentally reformed Russia, was in conscription. By ending the conscription of children and convicts and cutting conscription for men over 20 from twenty five years to six, Milyutin created a more motivated army. However, these reforms grew great criticism, notably from the merchants and nobility, where the idea of service was terrifying. This shows Alexander slowly attempting to close the social gap. In addition, the new army acted as a significant saving in government spending, lessening the strain on Russian economy. It also acted in restoring some of Russias international reputation, lost after the Crimean War. In conclusion,Alexander IIs effort cannot be denied as he implemented a wide range of reforms but could not maintain them to the full extent. When it comes to Russias backwardness, Alexander II made little effect as other powers were so greatly advanced and his reforms were too little and too late. For example, despite exemplary efforts in the military, compared to Britains renowned army, Russia couldnt compare.

Tesco History Corporate strategies, corporate social responsibilities and Advertising

Tesco History Corporate strategies, corporate social responsibilities and Advertising Tesco UPL started in London’s East End. It was founded by Jack Cohen as a one man business. He was a son of a tailor and when he started it, he specialized in selling groceries in the markets of London East End. The company started in 1919 and it adapted its brand name Tesco on 1924.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tesco History Corporate strategies, corporate social responsibilities and Advertising specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The brand name was delivered from a combination of the initials of its former supplier T.E. Stockwell (TES) with initials (CO) from his surname. Thus, the misconception that the brand name Tesco originated from a combination of his name Jack and his presumed wife Tessa is wrong, since he has never been married to such a woman. Tesco started its first store at Burnt Oak, in 1929 and it started trading its shares in London Stock exchange in 1947. It was in 1956 that it started its fir st self-service store and first supermarket in St Albans and Maldon respectively (Tesco Corporate Profile (2004, para.5). Tesco has expanded greatly to be the biggest chain of supermarket in United. Internationally, it is placed at position four after Wal-Mart of United States on America, Carrefour of France, and the Home Deport also from the United States of America. Tesco has been successful in opening stores in 14 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. The company has expanded his line of production from specializing in selling groceries by also stocking consumer goods, financial services and Telecoms that has enabled it generate revenue of  £3.41 billion annually(Tesco Corporate Profile (2004, para.7). Tesco-Corporate Strategy Tesco’s expansion over the last three decades comprises of a complete change of its strategy and image. In its early years it used a strategy that was known as ‘pile it high, sells it cheap’. This strategy was initiated by Jack Cohen and was very effective by then, but latter it was not successful in selling the brand to the middle-class customers, since they had a poor image for the brand. In 1970s, many consultants recommended a change of the names of its store due to their poor, an issue that was never implemented.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They latter changed their strategy that enabled them establish a well consistent growth that facilitated it in 2005 to become the biggest retailer market in United Kingdom with a domestic grocery market share of 29% compared with 16.8% of Wal-Mart who were formerly dominating the market. The company established a strategy that that was aimed at broadening the scope of the business. This was meant to ensure that the company delivers a strong sustainable long-term growth. This new strategy entailed expanding the domestic markets to offer diversi fied products such as non-food, telecoms and financial services. This strategy which was initiated in 1997 is the one that ensured the growth and success of the company. This strategy comprises of five elements; Core UK: Tesco has the biggest domestic market in United Kingdom. Approximately 70% of their growth and profit occurs in UK. It has over 2,200 stores that have enabled to employ more than 285,000 people. Its expansion in UK happens as a result of extending its established store, opening new store and lastly by the strategy of multi-format approach. Its sale of non-food has greatly boosted the expansion of the company. To sell its products, Tesco has adapted five diverse store formats which are costumed to meet the needs of their customers. They are categorized according to what they stock and size. They include; Express (up to 3,000 sq ft) Tesco has more than 960 such stores that sell a range of up 7,000 products to their customers. They are located close to where their cust omer live and work for convenience while buying. They stock high quality and fresh food stuff, wines and spirit. Metro (approx. 7,000-15,000 sq ft) The company has more than 170 metro. The first metro was established in 1992. Metro are aimed at enhancing the conveniences of shopping in towns and city centers. They stock variety of products including sandwiches and ready-meals, Superstore (approx. 20,000-50,000 sq ft) Tesco have more than 450 such stores that stock a wide range of products. Nowadays they have diverse products that include non-food products such as books and DVDsAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tesco History Corporate strategies, corporate social responsibilities and Advertising specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Extra (approx. 60,000 sq ft and above) In the United Kingdom, there are over 175 such stores. They stock a wide range of non-food and food products. These products include clothing, health and beauty, electrical equipments and others. The Homeplus is another store that is on trial .They are 10 in numbers and are aimed mostly at stocking on non-food products. Apart from Tesco designing its stores in various formats to suit its customers, it offers its products in a broadened appeal. Tesco is continually investing to expand their line of production to offer their customers a wide variety of products to choose from. Tesco products enable various people to purchase their different products to supplement their lifestyle. For instance, their nutrition labeling educates their customers on the key information that enable them make an informed decision when buying from their stores. The recent economic depression had challenged their business greatly and as a result invented 500 more products that will enable various categories of customers to buy various products at a cheaper price without compromising on quality. Tesco stores are designed to appeal all the classes of their custo mers in reference to their social economic status. They ensure it by forming a slogan named ‘I’m not aware of any other retailer achieving’ this slogan has enabled Tesco appeal to every segment of UK market. Tesco Clubcard is a global leading loyalty card scheme that has information that enable Tesco understands its customer better and give them an opportunity to appreciate their customer for shopping with them. Tesco possess more than 8 million distinct coupons. Each clubcard mailing designed to reflect the type of bid suitable for any of their customer. The company has more than 15 million active cardholders. Tesco is the biggest private employer in UK with a workforce of more than 285,000. The company offers its customers packages of pay and benefit like children care vouchers or Save As you Earn. This is a scheme for saving that enables their customer to purchase shares at a discounted rate (Tesco PLC, 2010 Para. 6).). In summary, Tesco has used the strategy of diversification to become among the leading firms globally.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The ability of the firm to succeed in selling its own-brand to its customers has helped the company make sufficient profit as this strategy ensures that a company retains a higher percentage of the overall profit. Thus, the company has enough resources at its disposal to expand to other places locally and also globally. Another strategy adapted by Tesco is core UK business. This involves stocking of grocery in its home market. This retailing is characterized by very strategic moves that entails opening large scale store in areas that other competing firms have shunned to explore. This strategy gives Tesco the advantage of being the first entrant thus; concentrating on establishing a strong brand in those areas such that other competing firms cannot be able to match its performance when they venture in these areas latter on. Non-food businesses-Apart from being successful in its grocery business, Tesco has also diversified its operations to include non-food products such as cloths, e lectronics, health and beauty products among others. This new diversification has ensured high revenues and especially in Ireland where it records very high revenues due to the sale of CDs. Retailing services;-Tesco has also expanded its operations to offer services such as personal finance. It has succeeded in the retailing services by entering in joints with other main players in the sector. This has strengthened its brand and expanded its customer base. Other competing firms in UK have also adapted this strategy, but Tesco have implemented it more strategically a move that has ensured this venture very profitable (Tesco PLC, 2010 Para. 8). For example, Tesco clients enjoy banking services from Tesco Bank which was initially a joint venture between Tesco and the Royal Banking of Scotland. It gives its customers offers on various products such as loan, credit cards among others. This new service ventures helps the firm record very high profits that assist the firm to venture in new services or areas. Tesco is also engaged in the cell phone industry. It cells various home phones, mobile phone and broadband business to various consumers across the globe. It has liaised with successful experts of existing telecom operators.International-Tesco started to expand outside UK in early 1994, and in 2005 it was successful to globalize approximately 20% of its operations mainly in central Europe and Far East (Tesco PLC, 2010 Para. 10). Tesco Social Responsibilities Buying and selling their products responsibly: Tesco have thousands of suppliers globally. They prefer their suppliers to be innovative and dynamic. To ensure it, they spend approximately  £800m of their turn over in United Kingdom for local sourcing. Tesco verify where their products originate from and also ensure they are produced in accordance to their standards. To achieve a very competent workforce that will be dynamic and very effective, Tesco has trained more than 400 suppliers in China, India, Bangl adesh, Spain and United Kingdom on how to enhance labor Standards to realize a workforce that is self motivated and very competent (Tesco Corporate Social Responsibilities, 2010, Para.2). Protecting the Environment: Tesco is committed in ensuring that its activities have very little negative impact on environmental. It achieves this by leasing with its supplies and encouraging them to ensure they use environmental friendly production methods to minimize pollution. Tesco has a vision to reduce its carbon emission to zero by 2050 by adapting the following strategies. Reducing carbon emission in all the new stores they will erect and the existing ones by 2020(Tesco Corporate Social Responsibilities, 2010, Para.3). Creating good jobs and careers:-Tesco employees are more than 285,000. Thus, Tesco expansion is an assurance that it will continue to give people more employment opportunities that assure them of a daily source of income for themselves and their families (Tesco Corporate Soci al Responsibilities, 2010, Para.3). Assisting customers make healthy choices:-Tesco products are labeled accordingly to assist various customers make informed decisions, while buying from their stores. They encourage their customers to purchase and eat more vegetables and fruits. It is done by offering discounts and promotions on such products. They occasionally take direct roles to ensure that their customers get healthy. They encourage people to lead active lifestyles. Healthy lifestyle helps one to balance the energy they consume to the one they expend. Some of the strategies it has adapted to make sure people live healthy lifestyles is by supporting aerobics and soccer tournaments for its customers (Tesco Corporate Social Responsibilities, 2010, Para.4). Advertisements Tesco capitalizes on the power of strategic advertisement to sell its brand locally and globally. It is noted as one company that uses very many advertisements yearly. It’s advertisements emphasis about aff ordable prices for their products and on healthy living. Tesco’s marketing department is very dynamic and innovative on the most successive advert to employ. The following are examples of adverts that have been used in the past; in 1982 it used its famous advert referred as Checkout 82 .this advert involved a till with receipt coming from it with various prices. In 2003 Tesco advertised through adverts that comprised of items and shopping trolley that contained information about Tesco. Currently, Tesco is using adverts that comprises of celebrates such as the Spice Girls In conclusion, Tesco can be considered as a very successful company that originated from scratch to become a global company through its strategic chose of its corporate strategy, Social responsibility and Advertising. Thus, it can be a good role model for those upcoming companies that they can live beyond their odds to become among the leading organizations in the world. Reference List Tesco Corporate Profile (2004). Retrieved from  https://corporatewatch.org/tesco-company-profile/ Tesco Corporate Social Responsibilities (2010). Retrieved from  https://www.tesco-programmes.com/ Tesco PLC (2010) .Tesco Strategy. Retrieved from  https://www.tescoplc.com/about-us/

Film Reviews Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Film Reviews - Research Paper Example The documentary is also punctuated by various statistics that detail Americans diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the epidemic’s earlier years. The documentary relates and narrates the lives of Dr. Tom Waddell, who founded Gay Games, a young hemophiliac David Mandell, Robert Perryman who got AIDS by injecting drugs, Jeffrey Sevcik who was gay, and David Campbell who was a veteran in the US Navy. As well as their personal stories, the film documents the delayed response to AIDS by the Reagan administration using archival footage of government officials (Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt), reactions by medical practitioners, and the initial attempts by gay men to use the AIDS issue to organize the community. The documentary clearly brings into focus the AIDS era, although it does not break any new ground that has not already been covered. However, what makes this film important is that it creates and documents a historical era during which hysteria on AIDS and its relation to the g ay community was starting to turn to compassion for those who were infected. It seems to tell that this only occurred at the end of the Reagan administration, which, from the film, considered the disease to be a moral issue and not a public healthcare issue. The film narrates how AIDS broke barriers between middle class families of heterosexual leaning and the gay community in finding a common ground. One touching moment was when the Mandell family asserted they were middle-class Americans who, when it came to AIDS, found out that there was no Middle America as everyone who was affected clung to one another. Every story in this documentary is well narrated by those who survived the victims and who are on the quilt. The film draws sympathy as Sally Perryman talks about Robert, her husband, and the way he struggled to end his drug addiction until he died of AIDS. There is heartbreak when the Mandell family takes the viewer through the pictures and videos of their son, as he became sic ker, while their struggle with prejudice from their community shows how stigmatizing the disease still was in the 80s. The film also discusses the life of Vito Russo, who originally wrote The Celluloid Closet prior to his death from AIDS in his prime. However, the story, which is most revealing is Tracy Torrey’s, whose partner David Campbell died, as he also is. He is shown on his bed dying with lesions and unable to rise from his bed. This film is a chilling look into how AIDS affected the entire country without discrimination. Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993) This film documents the experiences that TOM Joslin, a film professor at UCLA, and his partner Mark Massi after Tom’s AIDS diagnosis (Silverlake Life: The View from Here). The film traces his struggles as he tries to cope with an AIDS diagnosis, especially their trip to New Hampshire for a Christmas celebration that Joslin believes is the last with his family, which has refused to accept his partner fo r the last 22 years. As the documentary progresses, the filmmaker makes it clear that the love between the two partners is what has made the disease bearable for Joslin. The filming continues after Tom’s demise, showing the manner in which the undertakers and other people handle his body through the filming work of Peter Friedman, his friend, who chronicles Massi’s acceptance by the family following Joslin’s demise. This documentary does not have overt political statements and acts only as a record of the experiences of two lovers as one of them dies from an incurable disease. The first-person diary style used to shoot the film enables the viewer to see the intensity of

Sustainable Supply Chains Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Supply Chains - Research Paper Example A more comprehensive definition of sustainability encompasses all three foundations of sustainability, including the people, economy and the environment. If only the social and environmental development is taking place that is referred to as â€Å"bearable† (Chick and Micklethwaite). If only the social and economic development is taking place, that is referred to as â€Å"equitable†, whereas, if only the environmental and economic development takes places, that is referred to as â€Å"viable† (Chick and Micklethwaite). Sustainability occurs only when all three dimensions develop simultaneously; that is, it is bearable, equitable and viable. A significant driver of this initiative is the government. The government can come up with measures such as environmental labels, licenses and product design guidelines (New Zealand Council for Sustainable Development). There are already a number of regulations in place for sustainability. These include U.S. Farm security and rural investment act (2002), European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), China ROHS, E.U. Cosmetics directive, E.U. Packaging Directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and REACH. In addition there are International Standards such as WRAP, FLA, ICTI CARE, ISO 14000 and ISO 26000 for addressing environmental causes (Business for Social Responsibility). For successfully realizing a sustainable supply chain, an organization needs to go through five major steps. The first if Business Case Development which requires looking at the external environment and study case studies of companies which have done so successfully in the past. An analysis should be done of the differences before and after this implementation (United Nations Global Impact). These initiatives have to be driven by the top management. After this study a commitment has to be made by the board members to work on the same. The second is â€Å"Risk, Gap and Scope assessment† wh ich appreciates the fact that the sustainable supply chain initiative has a number of risks which could have a short term impact on finances or new operational bottlenecks. These risks have to be listed and mitigation plans have to be developed. A gap analysis between the current state and future state is required so that efforts could be made to bridge the gap. It is also essential to decide the scope of the initiative at this stage in line with organizational strategies and priorities (United Nations Global Impact). The third step is Supply chain identification which requires an internal assessment of the firm’s supply chain. The position that the company’s supply chain holds relative to other supply chains needs to be assessed (New Zealand Council for Sustainable Development). The next step is Implementation. In this step, the expectations of the organization are communicated to suppliers, distributors and all other partners in the upstream and downstream supply cha ins. Internal operations are realigned to adjust to the new priorities. The organizations try to build strategic partnerships if required to realize its goals. These may include partnerships with third party logistic providers, IT outsourcing firms, consultants and so on (Nunes, Junior and Ramos). Next, Measurement is done whereby new metrics have to be introduced to track performance on

Frankenstein Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Frankenstein - Research Paper Example The monster frightens Victor. The appearance of the monster is described as a creature of eight feet height and a translucent yellowish skin which somehow fails to hide the vessels and muscles underneath. He has glowing eyes, dark hair and lips with white teeth. The monster is in need of a mate which Victor is not ready to create. However, as one reads through the novel, the human characteristics of the monster become so prominent that one might think that he really deserved a female companion to love and share his life with. Despite being a creator, Victor Frankenstein falls far short of God’s approach towards His creation (Adams) as he fails to see the humane aspect of his creation. After making the creature out of fragments of corpses, Victor is himself frightened by his creation – â€Å"When Victor views the monster, pieced together from fragments of dead corpses, standing before him in the illusion of a unified whole, it is more than his psyche can tolerate† (D’Amato, 125). Here he differs from the ultimate creator of human race, God, who created Adam and then granted him a female partner, Eve. Victor could not think of making a female counterpart for his creation lest it might lead to the extinction of human race. He brings out a selfish self in doing so and shies from his responsibility towards his creation. He fails to see the human qualities of the monster and like many others is guided by the external ugliness. The human face of the monster is brought out through several instances. The monster learns speech and manners from a peasant’s family while hiding in the wood shed. He learns about their behaviors and lives and thinks of them as his protector. The monster hides for sometime but then one day he gathers the courage to come before the public. He begins by introducing himself to the head of the family, the blind father. Initially the father is kind to him and polite in attitude, but since he could not see the ugli ness he was unaware of the monstrous aspect of the creature. When the other members of the family return, they drive away the creature. Yet, the monster does not give up hope and rescues a peasant girl from a river. However he gets nothing in return. Even after the rescue, a man arrives and shoots the creation in the shoulder. Hence, he vows to avenge his birth and searches for his creator. He even describes his frustration to his creator, while pleading with him to grant a female partner so that he could move away form humanity and resolve his loneliness. He says out of his agony, â€Å"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that  instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly  bestowed?† (Shelley, 52) He finally manages to discover the creator’s room and he also finds out the origin of his birth. He later tries to befriend a boy who happens to be the son of his creator. The boy gets frightened and instead of responding to his gesture, the boy threatens to call his father. The monster gets angry and kills the boy and in order to take out his wrath on humanity, he fixes up the blame of the murder on a girl who is sleeping close by. This girl is the family’s maid and is finally hanged because Frankenstein decides to keep his creation hidden from public. This cannot be referred as a responsible act where he defers form admitting his own blunder by giving birth to such scientific creation that could be a threat now to the human race. The monster calls himself the fallen

School Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

School Administration - Essay Example As a result, reluctance of potential administrators (Rayfield), and the turnover rate of administrators continue to rise (Senge et. al 88). Nevertheless, the slim chance to beam in and at success motivates site administrators to persevere through battles and wars waged on them by stakeholders to whom they offer their public service. Due to inexperience, aspiring administrators lack the skill to realistically anticipate and effectively cope with the pressing responsibilities often experienced in lead administration. Aspiring administrators should seek the help of others to cope as some of their ideal expectations are adjusted by realistic occurrences. According to Dr. Lorraine Monroe, leadership is the key determinant of a great school (12). Candidates for the leading position take great notice of the publicity that comes along with the leading position but slightly recognize the magnitude of responsibility. As the chief official of a designated school site, the administrator bears the responsibility of all that happens within the building. According to elementary principal Kimsherion Reid, "No matter what goes on in the building, it reflects on you" (Delisio). Thus, the site administrator has the challenge of making sure all aspects of the school exist peacefully and productively. Lorraine Monroe states: "The real leader is the servant of the people she leads" (126). Administrative candidates may not realize that an administrator does not occupy the throne of a dictator. Rather, he or she must learn from and oftentimes accommodate stakeholders, others who take part in the educational process. Stakeholders include parents, students, teachers, custodians, as well as other members of the community. A content group of stakeholders lessens administrators' worries. Thus, administrators and aspiring administrators alike must learn to find a comfortable medium that will appease most who are involved in issues that arise. One frequent issue school administrators encounter is adequately and effectively handling student discipline. In Loco Parentis grants educators the right to stand in place of parents while children are in the school's jurisdiction. As they temporarily stand in place of the parent, educators are liable for students' safety and "have the authority to direct the pupil and to punish for infractions, much as a parent would" (Reutter 763). Specifically designed to protect the best interest of all students, In Loco Parentis grants educators authority to exercise control. However, some inexperienced administrators are surprised to find that the granted authority is often challenged resulting in the necessity for additional accommodations. Differences in values and opinions often sabotage efforts to accommodate everyone in a satisfactorily manner. For example, administrators and parents may agree to work for the students' best interest. What happens, however, when the administrator and parent disagree on the consequence assigned for the child's misbehavior What is the solution when the parent contends that his or her child's behavior is not misbehavior at all In such a situation, how can the administrator appropriately serve and appease the student and parent while fulfilling his or her duty as one who maintains order in the school Administrators are expected to be diplomatic chief officials. With the responsibility of diffusing problems prior to their getting out of hand, administrators must balance and compromise without totally

Job Analysis and Job Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job Analysis and Job Design - Essay Example It states the duties and responsibilities of various people in a particular job. The statement of work is a document that defines and captures the work activities, timelines, and deliverables that vendors must execute in their performance of a particular job. In the HR management, job analysis is valuable since it aids in the preparation of sound human resource policies and practices. That is because job analysis provides a deeper comprehension of the behavioral requirements of a particular job thus playing a significant role in the defense of HR employment practices. Besides, job analysis improves the management of a company since it helps in human resource planning. The process also provides information on methods of recruiting and selecting employees who can best fit the job requirements. Moreover, the process is essential in HR management since it guides the compensation and performance appraisal of the employees. The reason is that it provides clear-cut principles of performance for each job that can be used to determine pay surveys and appraising workers that perform their duties and responsibilities appropriately. Job design refers to the specification of content, structure, methods, relationship and configuration of the jobs to satisfy both the organizational, technological, social and personal requirements of a jobholder. Job design involves putting together different elements to form a job while considering the organizational, health, safety, and the individual worker requirements. The process involves integrating all the job responsibilities and specific qualifications that are needed to perform the same (Shantz, Alfes, Truss & Soane, 2013). In the human resource management, job design is essential since it improves the management of an organization thus enabling it to perform its activities in an efficient and effective manner. That is because it provides

International Economic relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Economic relations - Essay Example In some cases, entirely new loans were contracted to service interest only. At the same time bankers in the western world ignored signals of an imminent debt crisis and remained more than willing to refinance maturing loans of developing countries, but with shorter maturities. In this process, third world debt snowballed from $130 billion in 1973 to about $612 billion in 1982. Between 1975 and 1980 four countries had to postpone amortization payments while servicing interest only. The spark that ignited the LDC debt crisis can be readily identified as Mexico's inability to service its outstanding debt to the U.S. commercial banks and other creditors. The crisis began on August 12, 1982, when Mexico's minister of finance informed the Federal Reserve chairman, the secretary of the treasury, and the IMF managing director that Mexico would be unable to meet its August 16 obligations to service an $80 billion debt. Then by 1983 the number of countries defaulting on their repayments reached twenty one, and some third world countries had instituted state criminal processes against public figures on account of alleged negligence and mishandling of public money. The fact that the 1982 crisis occurred when there was a steep rise in interest rates in the U.S. underscores the significance of the capital outflow element of a financial crisis. The appreciation of the dollar at that time also means that repayments magnified the capital outflow in domestic currency terms. At the same time, the accompanying drop in dollar prices of internationally traded commodities undermined inflows derived from exports. It is also necessary to mention that the satiation described above is also reflected in the 1994 financial crises in Mexico, Turkey and Venezuela equally attributed to dramatic reversal of large scale lending to emerging markets, as well as the experience of Argentina in 1995 and East Asian economies in 1997. There is the argument that most of that crises were characterized with large amounts of international loans to forestall default, hence the rebuke of Mexico at the onset of the 1982 crisis worsened a financial condition that was potentially manageable. 1. Balance of Payments During the second part of the 1970s, and partially as a result of the oil price shocks, most countries in the world experienced large swings in their current account balances. These developments generated significant concern among policy makers and analysts, and prompted a number of experts to analyze carefully the determinants of the current account. As Edwards (2000) writes, the departing point was based on the recognition on two interrelated facts. First, from a basic national accounting perspective the current account is to savings minus investment. Second, since both savings and investment decisions are based on intertemporal factors - such as life cycle considerations and expected returns on investment projects, the current account is necessarily an intertemporal phenomenon. The Balance of Payments (BOP) is an account of all transactions between one country and all other countries - transactions that are measured in terms of receipts and payments. A country's international transactions can be grouped into three categories: Current account: records net flow of money into a country resulting from trade in goods and services and transfer payments made from abroad. The current account

School Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

School Administration - Essay Example As a result, reluctance of potential administrators (Rayfield), and the turnover rate of administrators continue to rise (Senge et. al 88). Nevertheless, the slim chance to beam in and at success motivates site administrators to persevere through battles and wars waged on them by stakeholders to whom they offer their public service. Due to inexperience, aspiring administrators lack the skill to realistically anticipate and effectively cope with the pressing responsibilities often experienced in lead administration. Aspiring administrators should seek the help of others to cope as some of their ideal expectations are adjusted by realistic occurrences. According to Dr. Lorraine Monroe, leadership is the key determinant of a great school (12). Candidates for the leading position take great notice of the publicity that comes along with the leading position but slightly recognize the magnitude of responsibility. As the chief official of a designated school site, the administrator bears the responsibility of all that happens within the building. According to elementary principal Kimsherion Reid, "No matter what goes on in the building, it reflects on you" (Delisio). Thus, the site administrator has the challenge of making sure all aspects of the school exist peacefully and productively. Lorraine Monroe states: "The real leader is the servant of the people she leads" (126). Administrative candidates may not realize that an administrator does not occupy the throne of a dictator. Rather, he or she must learn from and oftentimes accommodate stakeholders, others who take part in the educational process. Stakeholders include parents, students, teachers, custodians, as well as other members of the community. A content group of stakeholders lessens administrators' worries. Thus, administrators and aspiring administrators alike must learn to find a comfortable medium that will appease most who are involved in issues that arise. One frequent issue school administrators encounter is adequately and effectively handling student discipline. In Loco Parentis grants educators the right to stand in place of parents while children are in the school's jurisdiction. As they temporarily stand in place of the parent, educators are liable for students' safety and "have the authority to direct the pupil and to punish for infractions, much as a parent would" (Reutter 763). Specifically designed to protect the best interest of all students, In Loco Parentis grants educators authority to exercise control. However, some inexperienced administrators are surprised to find that the granted authority is often challenged resulting in the necessity for additional accommodations. Differences in values and opinions often sabotage efforts to accommodate everyone in a satisfactorily manner. For example, administrators and parents may agree to work for the students' best interest. What happens, however, when the administrator and parent disagree on the consequence assigned for the child's misbehavior What is the solution when the parent contends that his or her child's behavior is not misbehavior at all In such a situation, how can the administrator appropriately serve and appease the student and parent while fulfilling his or her duty as one who maintains order in the school Administrators are expected to be diplomatic chief officials. With the responsibility of diffusing problems prior to their getting out of hand, administrators must balance and compromise without totally

International Economic relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Economic relations - Essay Example In some cases, entirely new loans were contracted to service interest only. At the same time bankers in the western world ignored signals of an imminent debt crisis and remained more than willing to refinance maturing loans of developing countries, but with shorter maturities. In this process, third world debt snowballed from $130 billion in 1973 to about $612 billion in 1982. Between 1975 and 1980 four countries had to postpone amortization payments while servicing interest only. The spark that ignited the LDC debt crisis can be readily identified as Mexico's inability to service its outstanding debt to the U.S. commercial banks and other creditors. The crisis began on August 12, 1982, when Mexico's minister of finance informed the Federal Reserve chairman, the secretary of the treasury, and the IMF managing director that Mexico would be unable to meet its August 16 obligations to service an $80 billion debt. Then by 1983 the number of countries defaulting on their repayments reached twenty one, and some third world countries had instituted state criminal processes against public figures on account of alleged negligence and mishandling of public money. The fact that the 1982 crisis occurred when there was a steep rise in interest rates in the U.S. underscores the significance of the capital outflow element of a financial crisis. The appreciation of the dollar at that time also means that repayments magnified the capital outflow in domestic currency terms. At the same time, the accompanying drop in dollar prices of internationally traded commodities undermined inflows derived from exports. It is also necessary to mention that the satiation described above is also reflected in the 1994 financial crises in Mexico, Turkey and Venezuela equally attributed to dramatic reversal of large scale lending to emerging markets, as well as the experience of Argentina in 1995 and East Asian economies in 1997. There is the argument that most of that crises were characterized with large amounts of international loans to forestall default, hence the rebuke of Mexico at the onset of the 1982 crisis worsened a financial condition that was potentially manageable. 1. Balance of Payments During the second part of the 1970s, and partially as a result of the oil price shocks, most countries in the world experienced large swings in their current account balances. These developments generated significant concern among policy makers and analysts, and prompted a number of experts to analyze carefully the determinants of the current account. As Edwards (2000) writes, the departing point was based on the recognition on two interrelated facts. First, from a basic national accounting perspective the current account is to savings minus investment. Second, since both savings and investment decisions are based on intertemporal factors - such as life cycle considerations and expected returns on investment projects, the current account is necessarily an intertemporal phenomenon. The Balance of Payments (BOP) is an account of all transactions between one country and all other countries - transactions that are measured in terms of receipts and payments. A country's international transactions can be grouped into three categories: Current account: records net flow of money into a country resulting from trade in goods and services and transfer payments made from abroad. The current account

Gold and Diamond Mining of Africa Essay Example for Free

Gold and Diamond Mining of Africa Essay * Diamond mining in Africa Ever since the Kimberley diamond strike of 1868, South Africa has been a world leader in diamond production. The primary South African sources of diamonds, including seven large diamond mines around the country, are controlled by the De Beers Consolidated Mines Company. In 2003, De Beers’s operations accounted for 94% of the nations total diamond output of 11,900,000 carats. Nicky Oppenheimer, the current Chairman of DeBeers. * The life of the miners The search for diamonds is not exactly easy. Many miners and diamond diggers in sub-Saharan Africa travel great distances to find work and submit to gruelingly long hours for low wages – or sometimes no wages – in substandard conditions. Child labor has long been a problem in informal diamond mines, especially during times of war. Children have often been exploited to do excavation work because they are small enough to be lowered into small, narrow pits by ropes to dig out sacks of dirt, which is in turn washed by other children in search of diamonds. During Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war, children were often used as soldiers and workers in the rich Koidu diamond mines that funded the country’s rebels. USAID launched the Kono Peace Diamond Alliance in 2002 to try to improve the working conditions in the mines – particularly for children. But it is an uphill battle across Africa to get children who are either family breadwinners, or fending for themselves or conscripted into slave-like labor to stop working and go to school. A child solider in Africa Land is often cleared and vegetated areas dug up to create open pit mines in he rushed search for diamond deposits, leaving them unsuitable for other farming activities. Informal mining in hilly areas also leads to erosion – and, in turn, flooding. The salt, heavy minerals and chemical products from mining equipment can run off into rivers and pollute vital water sources for mining communities and people living downstream. * gold mining in Africa South Africa accounted for 15% of the worlds gold production in 2002 and 12% in 2005, though the nation had produced as much as 30% of world output as recently as 1993. Despite declining production, South Africas gold exports were valued at $3. billion USD in 2005. Almost 50% of the worlds gold reserves are found in South Africa. Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold miningcompany in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units (RBUs) located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America. Barrick is currently undertaking mining and exploration projects in Saudi Arabia, Papua New Guinea, the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Australia, Peru, Chile, Russia, South Africa,Pakistan, Colombia, Argentina and Tanzania. For 2008, it produced 7. million ounces of gold at a cash cost of US $443/ounce. As of December 31, 2008 its proven and probable gold mineral reserves stand at 138. 5 million ounces. Peter monk, the wizard of gold mining * The life of gold miners The unknown factor in South Africa is the future of labor costs. The mines employ several hundred thousand miners underground: half the production costs are for wages. Most of the gold miners are members of the black National Union of Mineworkers, which is pressing hard both for political and social reform, and for better wages and working conditions for its members. But the long-delayed beginnings of political reform in South Africa in the late 1980s coincided with a slump in gold prices. The South African gold mines, many of them a century old, were by then the worlds deepest, and were technically very difficult and financially very expensive to operate even in spite of the low wages paid to the miners. The quality of the ore was slowly dropping: the average gold ore now averages less than 5 grams of gold per tonne. Winnie Mandela is on record as saying to black miners, You hold the golden key to our liberation. The moment you stop digging gold and diamonds, that is the moment you will be free. She could not be more wrong. If the gold mines close, the economic disaster will be visited most on the poorer section of society, the blacks. The South African reforms were predicated absolutely on a stable and healthy economy. In 1999, the price of gold dropped to a low point around $250/oz. This was very bad news for South African gold companies, South African gold miners, and the South African government. Gold companies scrambled to reorganize and streamline their operations. By the time the price again reached $290 again in early 2000, the gold industry had changed dramatically, in South Africa and globally. Health problems of gold miners who worked underground include decreased life expectancy; increased frequency of cancer of the trachea, bronchus, lung, stomach, and liver; increased frequency of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), silicosis, and pleural diseases; increased frequency of insect-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever; noise-induced hearing loss; increased prevalence of certain bacterial and viral diseases; and diseases of the blood, skin, and musculoskeletal system. These problems are briefly documented in gold miners from Australia, North America, South America, and Africa. In general, HIV infection or excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption tended to exacerbate existing health problems. Miners who used elemental mercury to amalgamate and extract gold were heavily contaminated with mercury. Among individuals exposed occupationally, concentrations of mercury in their air, fish diet, hair, urine, blood, and other tissues significantly exceeded all criteria proposed by various national and international regulatory agencies for protection of human health.

Leadership at Nestle

Leadership at Nestle Leadership: â€Å"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.† (Dwight D. Eisenhower).One more definition of leadership is getting things done by others. Leadership is an important phenomenon in the dimension of managing people because leadership is directly concerned with the styles, tools and techniques for getting things done through the other people. (Bass, 1991) Leadership can be meant different for different people in different environments and perspectives. Leadership may be political, religious, community or organizational, (DePree, 1990) the common thing among all of them is that leaders are responsible to provide guideline to whom they are charged with the responsibility to lead. The concept of leadership is emerged from the organized efforts and mostly related to the presence of organized and disciplined action (Kellerman, 2004). So the leadership is all about the presence of some organization. Without an organization t here is no concept of leadership. One thing Organization is basically collection of individuals who are working together to achieve some common purpose or purposes. Interaction and socially construction is the base of today’s leadership. Leadership in organizations and appropriate leadership style for different types of organizations is a hot topic of discussion among researchers for a long time. As leader is responsible to use his management skills in a way that his followers achieve their destinations in an easy and smooth manner so the way a leader adopt for leading has really a great importance. (Bolden, 2005) Today almost everyone knows about nestle and uses the products made by nestle in daily life. Nestle is a Swiss based company, having the edge of being a multinational it’s the world’s largest and ranked as no. 1 food company of world with more than 447 factories located in 194 countries of world and having more than 333,000 employees around the globe (nestleusa, 2015). Having such a huge work force demands from the company that it should have some appropriate leadership values and structures to guide its managers in decision making and to deal with the problems related to diverse culture and increased diversity within organization. Rather than maintaining the formal authorities given by organization, it’s the responsibility of managers at Nestle to inspire the people and add value for company and add value for society at large. Such a motivation and commitment results in increasing the value for organization. Due to rapid change in external environment and severe competition which was unpredictable in past and requires the managers to develop some enhanced capabilities which can be described in following principles formulated by Nestle. Principles of Leadership at Nestle: Lead for winning: Credibility development through proper leadership style, achievement and coherent action. Based on the nature of situation and culture of a particular environment proper leadership styles are applied by managers in their different work units. Managers at Nestle think about a phenomena from different perspectives in a way which leads toward innovation. Employees are provided with the opportunity of taking risk and openness to new experiences which many times leads to the mistakes but they are tolerate able if the mistakes are becoming the source of learning and employees are commited to learn from them. Innovation needs experiments and not every experiment brings favourable results, but some can entirely change the way the work was done and managed. So all these experiments are possible when the management is ready to tolerate the results of failures, which is the case of Nestle (Nestle-family, 2015). Management of expectations and alignment of every action with the overall or corporate strategy of company is the key factor of success for company and the importance of both of them is recognized on every level by Nestle. Balanced lifestyle, good level of general and professional education, responsible behaviour are the key characteristics of managers at Nestle which when they lead by example shifts toward the employees on every level. All of such actions and demonstrations make it possible to lead for winning. Management for results: Maintaining exposure in the situations of intense pressure while in the same time maintaining the temperament and capacity of taking initiatives and risks is most of the times very difficult for managers. Effectively and efficiently managing between these both extremes is the difference between being just a manager and being a leader. Managers at Nestle are trained for managing them. Business units at local level, regional level, corporate and global level requires synergy. Which is the result of deep level of proactive cooperation among all of them. Leaders at Nestle are trained for creating synergy on all levels. Change is inevitable and but managing the consequences of change is the responsibility of a leader and the effective management results in managing the change in a way that produces favourable results for organization like Nestle. All the above leadership practices results in achieving business objectives in a way that the compliance is maintained with sustainable practices. Grow teams and Talent: Nestle ensures personal commitment of its employees toward their work and achieving their individual goals so that the overall goals of organization become able to meet which results in promoting the organizational success. Company develop the leaders of tomorrow by addressing them and allowing them to progress in the area which provides them the opportunity to expand their capabilities on individual and group levels. For developing the leaders of tomorrow company understands the extent to which the continuous learning and sharing of ideas in a free manner is important. Employees can never know about their exact performance and until they are provided with the honest and fair feedback from their managers which includes performance appraisal in a way that respect of employee will never be shaken on any step. Doing all these leadership practices, management at Nestle is always conscious abut maintain the exact balance of diversity and gender prevails in the organization. Competing and connecting externally: Continuously looking toward the ways to satisfy the consumers in most innovative way and attracting the new customers in a compelling way is also the part of leadership practices at Nestle. Nestle believes in an outside in perspective for customers and inside in for the employees of organization and seeks good business relations with all the stakeholders. Diversity: Diversity is an important debate in organizational circles for a long period of time. Some organizations try their best to increase diversity in their work settings while others pose their every action against it. So think that the diversity can enhance the productivity because of many different ideas from different thinking while other claim that due to diversity there are conflicts among employees which results in low productivity and wastage of time. Through empirical analysis Researchers declared that the diversity is beneficial for an organization if the differences among the employee are managed properly (Williams, 1998). Approaches for managing differences: There are two common approaches for managing differences in the work place. 1. Avoidance 2. Repression. Avoidance is the strategy mostly used by risk adverse management and Repression approach is used when management wants to discourage the disagreement. The factors which must be uppermost in selecting most appropriate approach for managing differences are avoidance or avoiding the difference, conflict, tolerance and appreciation. (Carole G. Parker, 2009) Conflict is the top level of the differences, it is sometimes also names as war. On the initial level the individuals become aware of the differences among them, such differences afterwards results in discomfort which afterwards results in annoyance, then irritation, then tension, then frustration, disagreement, anger, hostility step by step and finally results in conflict or war (Guillaume, 2014). Through the use of emotional intelligence one can select the most appropriate way or action to manage conflict. In case of avoidance there is an opportunity to learn more about the difference before taking an action. In tolerance the participants actively engaged in the situation of difference rather than remaining silent and just observing the phenomenon. In conflict there is direct judgement of others action and declaring them good or bad. Appreciation of differences results in a good level of personal development of individual and growth. (Triana, 2014) The individuals tend to speak with freedom and without any kind of fear. In selecting the most appropriate approach for managing differences the manager should consider the appropriate action or combination of factors among avoidance, conflict, appreciation and tolerance according to the nature of situation. Why is it necessary to maintain a well-balanced work environment? It is necessary to maintain a well-balanced work environment in the term of diversity because diversity offers the organizations to face its difficulties through new and innovative ways. There are lot of opportunities for organizations to avail from the differences among the employees. When two or more varied thinkers think on a phenomenon, they can consider it in a more creative way than they can think individually. So a well-balanced work environment results in creativity. (Choi, 2014) Innovation is a result of thinking in new ways. When many of the diverse employees work together to achieve some common objective. For everyone the phenomenon appears in a different angle and different perspectives and at last everyone proposes his own solution to the problem which results in innovation. When different employees work in a different style in the work environment their diverse experience results in learning for the other employees which are working in traditional manners. Beside the advantages of diversity many disadvantages are also associated with diversity such as communication barriers, thinking style differences, which many times results in non-productive conflict in organization (Australian Govt, 2014). It is necessary therefore that the work environment should be well balanced in term of diversity to get the advantages of it and for avoiding its disadvantages. Diversity at Nestle: Nestle is always an equal opportunity employer and always appreciates diversity in organization. The management is of the opinion that diverse employees are the reason behind such a tremendous success of organization. Nestle has the slogan that â€Å"Our differences make us stronger†. Company is of the opinion that the unique people with unique backgrounds bring their unique perspectives and experiences with them. In Nestle the voice of every individual from every background is not only heard but also appreciated. The goal of company is to attract the best workforce from diverse backgrounds and retain them. The company believes that these employees can create such products which are liked by the customers all over the world. Having the diverse workforce like Nestle has not only benefits the company but also the employees and the societies from which they belong to. Nestle has its own recruiting system which is called as â€Å"Symposium for Diverse Leaders of Tomorrow† through which the recruitment and selection of employees from different background is done. Furthermore Nestle also actively participates in different MBA recruiting programs including Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Orientation Program (CGSM OP). Through these selection programs the fresh graduates of universities are selected on merit basis without considering the backgrounds, races from whom they belong to. For encouraging the diversity in organization and let the employees share their knowledge experiences and best practices Nestle has promoted many ethnic groups such as â€Å"Nestlà © Black Employees Association (NBEA)†, Nestlà © Women’s Network (NWN) for promoting the exact gender balance in the organization. Further Nestlà © Hispanic Employees Association (NHEA) is also working for the promotion of interests of Hispanic employees in organization. The purpose of making all these associations and organizations is to gather the employees from diverse backgrounds on a platform where they can share their experiences about how to make the company a better place to work (NestleUSA, 2015). The company is of the opinion that the employees from diverse backgrounds are asset for the organization and these employees are in fact the source of competitive advantage for the company. References: Australian Govt. (2014). The benefits of workforce diversity. Retrieved 4 26, 2015, from http://www.apsc.gov.au/apsinduction/module-6/benefits Bass, B. M. (1991). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational dynamics,, 18(3), 19-31. Bolden, R. (2005). What is leadership development: purpose and practice?. . University of Exeter, Centre for Leadership Studies. Carole G. Parker. (2009). THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION OF DISTINGUISHING DIFFERENCES AND CONFLICT. In Understanding and Managing Diversity (5th ed., pp. 41-45). Pearson. Choi, S. . (2014). Organizational Fairness and Diversity Management in Public Organizations Does Fairness Matter in Managing Diversity?. . Review of Public Personnel Administration,, 307-331. DePree, M. (1990). What is leadership? Planning Review,, 18(4), 14-41. Guillaume, Y. R. (2014). Managing diversity in organizations: An integrative model and agenda for future research. European journal of work and organizational psychology,, 23(5), 783-802. Kellerman, B. (2004). Thinking about leadership. Warts and all. Harvard Business Review,, 82(1), 40-45. Nestle-family. (2015, 6 22). Nestle-family. Retrieved from Nestle family.com: http://www.nestle-family.com/assets/downloads/The-Nestle-Management-and-Leadership-Principles.pdf nestleusa. (2015, 6 20). Retrieved from nestleusa.com: http://www.nestleusa.com/about-us NestleUSA. (2015, 4 20). Diversity. Retrieved from .nestleusa.com: http://careers.nestleusa.com/diversity Triana, M. C. (2014, January 5). Organizational Diversity Efforts and Employee Discrimination Claims: Organizational Motives Matter. Academy of Management Proceedings, p. 10784. Williams, K. Y. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: A review of 40 years of research. Research in organizational behavior, , 77-140.

Radio Frequency Identification Essay examples -- Technology, Communica

I. INTRODUCTION RADIO frequency identification (RFID) technology is gaining attention both from academicians and from practitioners. RFID has the potential to serve as a fundamental technology for ubiquitous services where both objects and people can be identified automatically via attached RFID tags [35]. However, with the promise of RFID technology come issues that need to be addressed for its widespread acceptance by consumers. For example, the use of RFID technology by retailers and government agencies raises questions about potential violation of personal information privacy [35], and potential security threats to personal information [40]. Motivated by such issues, this study proposes and validates a theoretical model of consumer acceptance of RFID technology. The proposed model is developed based on the extant literature and provides a theoretical framework of the critical factors that determine the consumer’s acceptance of RFID technology. A contribution of this paper involves reviewing the technology acceptance model (TAM) Manuscript received September 1, 2006; revised June 27, 2007. Review of this manuscript was arranged by Department Editor A. Chakrabarti. The authors are with the Information Technology and Decision Sciences Department, College of Business Administration, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76201 USA (e-mail: hossainm@unt.edu; prybutok@unt.edu). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEM.2008.919728 and contextualizing it to the RFID technology. This contextualization is done with the intent of extending the TAM to the acceptance of a specific technology—RFID technology. This study is the first in the RFID literature to utilize and contextualize the TAM for explaining consumer a... ...chnology. Perceived usefulness is defined as the extent that individuals believe their job performance is enhanced by using a particular technology. Perceived ease of use is defined as the extent to which an individual believes that using a particular system is free of effort. TAM also postulates that perceived ease of use is a predictor of perceived usefulness. Researchers have utilized and validated TAM for use with numerous types of technology [51]. Some studies suggest that TAMsuccessfully predicts an individual’s acceptance of various corporate information technologies [1], [8], [12], [39]. According to Straub et al. [42], TAM may hold across technologies, people, settings, and times. Recently, TAM has its footprints in e-commerce [50], [51], and mobile service [46]. This study expands TAMto the study of consumer acceptance of the RFID technology.