Soc/100 Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis Amy SOC/100 November 7, 2011 Robert Murray Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Media Analysis The show I chose is called The Big Bang Theory. The show is a comedy show themed around a group of nerdy scientists who are neighbors with a beautiful outgoing waitress. One of the nerds has a romantic interest in the neighbor but thinks he has no chance with her as she is out of his league. There is definite social inequality here as the nerds see themselves below the neighbor’s status in regards to relationships and finding love. Some scenes that apply to the social theme are when you see all the â€Å"nerds† at work it is clear that they are in the science field. There are microscopes, periodic tables, beakers, and math equations on chalk and dry erase boards. The â€Å"nerds† defiantly dress the part of the nerd. One wears thick black rimmed glasses, another is tall, skinny, and wears his t-shirts tucked into his pants. One of the nerds is from India and seems shy and does not talk to any female counterpart, or any other female for that matter. The last â€Å"nerd† has a bowl haircut and it seems he tries too hard to fit in with a crowd he will never fit into. He wears leopard silk pajamas to bed and has a bowl haircut. There is defiantly a leader of the group as the other nerds follow him around and he seems to do a bigger portion of the talking. The female neighbor is very confident in the way she walks and dresses at times a bit provocatively. When the neighbor is around the nerd with the glasses tends to get nervous and a bit looser in his posture. He almost seems to cower to her, almost as if to hide from her when she is in a room. He clearly adores her with the way he looks at her when she is around. He does talk to her however; she tends to dominate the conversations. He seems to enjoy being around her and talking to her even though he is very nervous. The female neighbor also surprisingly seems to enjoy talking to the nerd in the glasses as she isn’t as closed off to him as she is with the others. She looks at him when he talks to her and she isn’t crossing her arms or turning away from him. It seems though that they do not hang out socially outside of their apartment building except for the times the â€Å"nerds† eat at the restaurant the neighbor works at. In some of the situations I see the nerd with the glasses and the neighbor it leads me to believe that something romantic will happen eventually. I think when people look at relationships they tend to think each of the individuals as equals socially. Most people seem to think that couples come from the same social circles and it is not often you would see a young beautiful woman with a shy science nerd. The same goes for say an older man or woman with a younger person. Many people would say it’s inappropriate for older people to date those younger than them, while others think opposites attract. So when it comes to the science nerd and the beautiful neighbor I hope they get the chance to have a relationship with each other, maybe it will take them out of their norm and give them a chance to experience something new. Things would be pretty boring if we were all the same and people didn’t shake things up a bit!

Organization And Management Essay

INTRODUCTION Control is the process of assuring the efficient accomplishment of enterprise objectives. In the turbulent environment faced by management, power and control is necessary to anticipate problems, measure performance against standards, take corrective actions for deviations from plans and if necessary, modify plans. The term control may have some negative connotations for some. In the management process, it is a facilitating function aiding the organization to accomplish the set objectives. The primary responsibility for exercising control rests with management at HQ division with the execution of plans. In an organization, control consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plans adopted, the instructions issued and principles established. Its object is to point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on everything, things, people, and actions. It is wrong to assume that only top management has the responsibility for power and control and that there is little need for control at lower levels of management. While the scope for control may vary to some extent depending upon the position of an employee in the hierarchy, all those who have responsibility for the execution of plans need to exercise control too. M/s Engineering Products is an engineering company, based in UK, manufacturing mechanical tools for various industrial manufactures .Due to the marketing trend and policy change, the company sometime in 1980 did some major deviations by closing and selling some units and presently in the trade of defense, industrial services and auto parts. The company is in the line of exporting components to different countries. It has processed for expansion, 50% of the employees are stationed in Western Europe and North America. Bulk of the sales is taken care by Western Europe and America and a very small portion by UK. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The major prerequisites of control are two: a plan and a structure. a) Plan: controls must be based on plan. The more clear and complete the plans are the more effective controls can be; plans become the standards by which the actions are measured. b) Structure: There is need for a structure to know where the responsibility rests for deviations and corrective action, if any needed. As in the case of plans, the more clear and complete the organization structure is, the more effective control can be. Controls, to be effective, should share the following basic characteristics: Appropriate: Controls should correspond to an organization’s plans. Controls designed for a Management Executive are inappropriate for a supervisor Strategic: Control should serve a strategic purpose and provide spotlight on positive and negative exceptions at critical points. Acceptable: Controls will not work unless people want them to. They should be acceptable to those to whom they apply. Reliable and objective: Controls should be accurate and unbiased. If they are unreliable and subjective, people will resent them. THE POWER AND CONTROL PROCESS In the Engineering Products the control process used  Ã‚     involves three steps: (a) establishing standards. (b) measuring performance against these standards, and (c) reinforcing success/correcting deviations. a) Establishing Standards: Standards mean criteria of performance. Standards may be of many kinds and include verifiable goals set in qualitative or quantitative terms. Engineering Products has established standards in areas such as: (a) Profitability (b) Productivity (c) Market Share (d) Worker Performance (e) Innovation (f) Social Responsibility Standards are based on past performance, managerial judgment or scientific analysis. Standards are used to measure performance and judge success or failure. b) Measuring of Performance: Essentially, it is a comparison between â€Å"what is† and â€Å"what should be† the performance. Ideally, measurement should be done on a forward-looking basis to predict probable deviations from standards rather than merely be used as a post mortem exercise. c) Reinforcing Success/Correcting Deviations: When plans and organization structures are clear, it is easy to reinforce success and avoid failures. When deviations are noticed or apprehended based on warning signs, the reasons can be analyzed and appropriate corrective actions taken promptly. LITERATURE REVIEW POLICIES AND DESIGN CHOICES IN CONTROL Engineering Products are following three options in exercising control: centralization or delegation formal or informal direct or indirect preferences for one or a mix of all options are matters of judgment. Each option has relevance in a particular situation Centralization or Delegation Centralization is an approach where control is exercised by the HQ or the top management group.   Thus, functional autonomy will be lacking at operating levels. Delegation, on the contrary, manifests transfer of decision-making authority downward and outward within the formal structure. Sometimes, decision-making power is transferred downwards in a hierarchy prescribing limits on the scope and type of decisions. Centralized Control: makes it easier to coordinate the activities of various subunits/departments in an organization. seeks to achieve balance among various functions because the top management can be expected to have a broad organization-wide perspective. proves more useful because control will be in the hands of senior, experienced top executives. is necessary to meet extraordinary situations. is economical since duplication in activities and resource use can be avoided. Delegation and decentralization too have positive features: they relieve the top management from overload. motivate individuals to give better performance due to opportunities for individual freedom, discretion and control. contribute to the personal and professional development of managers.†¢ people at operating Direct or Indirect There are two ways of controlling. One way is to supervise subordinates’ activities closely, trace deviations to the persons responsible and get them to correct their practices. This is called indirect control The other way is to develop high quality managers who will properly understand and apply managerial principles, functions, techniques and philosophy, make few mistakes and initiate corrective actions, wherever necessary, themselves. This is called direct control. The higher the quality of managers and their subordinates, the less will be the need for indirect controls. Conflict and Negotiation Life is a never ending process of one conflict after another. Conflict has always been widespread in society but it is only recently that it has generated a lot of interest and has been the focus of research and study. Employees have become more vociferous in their demands for a better deal. Various departments in an organization face a situation full of conflicts due to a number of reasons like goal diversity, scarcity of resources or task interdependence etc. Negotiation is an attempt to find a solution that reconciles or integrates the needs of both parties who work together to define the problem and to identify mutually satisfactory solutions. In negotiation, there is open expression of feelings as well as exchange of task-related information. The most critical ingredients in successful negotiation are: 1 Definition of the problem should be a joint effort based on shared fact finding. 2 Problems should be stated in terms of specifics. 3 Discussions between the groups should consist of specific, non-evaluative comments and questions should be asked to elicit information. 4The groups should work together in developing alternative solutions. 5All agreements about separate issues should he considered tentative.   Without trust, each group will fear manipulation and may not reveal its true preferences. Secondly, integrative problem solving takes a lot of time and can succeed only in the absence of pressure for a quick settlement. Direct control hastens corrective actions, lightens the burden caused by indirect control and subordinates feel less concerned about superior’s subjectivity in rating their performance because in indirect control one would feel a close relationship between performance and measurement. METHODOLOGY The central HR function at Engineering Products had been placed on a different platform after the other units placed at different places are moving towards international integration. integration. A system is being formed for interaction of different managers of different units and how international postings to be managed HR department at HQ office desires to play a more forceful role rather than doing only doing routine administrative work. The Dynamics of Personnel/Human Resource Management (P/HRM) is a dynamic discipline as it mostly deals with ever-changing work settings, characterized by people having varied cultural, social and religious backgrounds, diverse goals, multifarious expectations and attitudes. The personnel scene itself has been changing quite dramatically over the years. State regulations, competitive pressures, unionization of employees, do exert a strong influence on the way the personnel function is carried out in various organizations. Over the years, employees have become more sophisticated in their demands for high quality work environments, adequate benefits, proper training and career growth opportunities. All these factors compel human resource professionals to look for ways to improve their interactions with employees, other managers and outside groups in order to maximize worker productivity and satisfaction. Changing Role of Human Resource in View of Social Factors: A number of environmental factors influence the work of HR office.They cannot perform  Ã‚   in a vacuum. These factors influence the organization through human resources. External factors separately or in combination can influence the HR function of any organization. The job of a HR manager is to balance the demands and expectations of the external groups with the internal requirements and achieve the assigned goals in an efficient and effective manner. The HR manager has to work closely with these constituent parts, understand the internal dynamics properly and devise ways and means to survive and progress. Local and State Factors State is the custodian of industrial and economic activities. The emergence of problems on the industrial front in the form of trade union movement, failure of many employers to deal fairly with workers, non-fulfillment of plan targets forced the states to intervene in human resource management and to enact various pieces of labor legislation.    Unions Unions have also gained strength. At present, these organizations constitute one of the power blocks in many countries. With the formation and recognition of these organizations, the issues relating to employee interests are no longer determined by the unilateral actions of management. These have to be discussed with union representatives invariably.   In consequence, the scope of managerial discretion in personnel activities has been narrowed down. Changing Work Values   Organizations must now advance from general affirmation and enthusiasm for the career development of their personnel to greater precision. The concepts and goals development programmes must be more precise, more widely understood, reflected in formal policy statements and translated into institutional and personnel practice. Alienation from the job, increasing counter-productive behavior, rising expectations and changing ideas of employees are some of the other factors responsible for the changing values and roles of human force. Consequently it has become imperative for the management to include  Ã‚   benefits to improve morale, introduce a machinery to redress grievances, encourage employee participation in decision-making and the like to pave the way for industrial betterment and to meet the ever increasing demands of workforce. Culture In Organization Every organization has some characteristics which are common with any other organization. At the same time, each organization has its unique set of characteristics and properties. This psychological structure of organization and their sub-units is usually referred to as Organizational Culture. Organizational culture is a relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by the members, influences their behavior, and can be described in terms of values of a particular set of characteristics of the organization. Organizational culture is the set of characteristics that describe an organization and that (a) distinguish one organization from other organizations; (b) are relatively enduring over time and (c) influence the behavior of the people in the organization. Organizational Culture is a relatively uniform perception held of the organization, it has common characteristics, it is descriptive, it can distinguish one organization from another and it integrates individual, group and organization system variables. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE. Organization structure refers to the formal, established pattern of relationships amongst the various parts of a firm or any organization. The fact that these relationships are formal implies that they are deliberately specified and adopted and do not evolve on their own. Of course, it may sometimes happen that given an unusual situation, new working relationships may evolve and which may later be adopted as representing the formal structure.   Only when relationships are clearly spelled out and accepted by everyone, can they be considered as constituting a structure. This does not mean that once established, there can be no change in these relationships. Changes may be necessary with passage of time and change of circumstances, but frequent and erratic changes are to be avoided. References Peters, Thomas, J. and Waterman, Robert H., 1999. Management of Development Programmes, Harper and Row: New York. Elbing, A.1998. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. P.0.1991. A Stud .of Decision Making Job Choice. MIT Press: Cambridge. Vroom, V.1-I and Yetton, P.W.1997. Organisational Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Barnard, C.l.l997. The Functions of the Executive. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. Behling, 0, and Schriesheim, C. 1996. Organisational Behavior. Theory, Research and Application. Allyn and Bacon: Boston. Elbing, A.1988. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. Vroom, V.H. and Yetton, P.W.1983. Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Stephin Robbins. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Eager G., Change Agent Skills: Assessing and Designing Excellence, University Associates California (1998). Fohman, Mark.A. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Chris Argyris, Management and Organization Development: The Path form X4 to YB, McGraw Hill, New York (1991). Beckhard, R. Harris, R. T Organization transitions: Managing Complex Changes, Addison Wesley (1997). Cascio, W.F., Fundamentals of Modern Organisations, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,1992 Purecell J.,Boxall P., Organisational Management, Plagrave, Macmillan, New York,2003

Wind Farms in Cumbria

A way of preventing this happening Is by using renewable energy. This means that the source of energy wont UN out and It Is sustainable for future generations, unlike fossil fuels which have a Limited supply. They produce little/no greenhouse gases which Is much better for our environment. Forms of renewable energy Include solar energy, hydrophone, biomass, befoul, geothermal energy and most importantly wind energy. Wind turbines generate electricity through this process: the wind turns the blades which then spins a shaft.The shaft connects to a generator which produces electricity. The UK is an ideal place for wind turbines because we are one of the windiest nations in Europe. Cambric in particular is an ideal place to build new wind farms because it is a very hilly area and it has a long coastline; making the area very windy. There is already a wind farm in the village of Great Rotor and so far it has been a success. It has supplied 2,000 homes and has saved about 8,530 tones/year of greenhouse gases.It also gives farmers extra income in the area because the wind farms are built on their land. A decision has been made to build another wind farm in Cambric as it has had quite a lot of success. Callback fells is the location chosen for another wind farm. It as high exposed land which means there will be lots of space for many turbines. Some residents of Cambric are against wind farms being built due to several reasons. Some elderly people cannot live peacefully with the level of noise that the wind farms produce, it gives them headaches.Other members of the community are concerned that it'll ruin the landscape and will stunt the level of tourism generated, as Cambric is a tourist attraction. However, they won't need to be concerned with this location. The location is very remote, therefore It won't cause noise pollution which may bother some citizens. It won't also be ‘ruining the landscape' since there was nothing there before hand. Although the area Is remote, you can access It through country lanes, therefore maintaining the wind farm won't be as difficult to do.Building the wind farms will reduce the level of greenhouse gases In the atmosphere. This Is a positive step for Cambric. By cormorants this is having a negative impact on the world. Fossil fuels generate most of our Hence this contributes to global warming and is impacting the rest of the world. If happening is by using renewable energy. This means that the source of energy won't UN out and it is sustainable for future generations, unlike fossil fuels which have a limited supply.They produce little/no greenhouse gases which is much better for our environment. Forms of renewable energy include solar energy, hydrophone, biomass, a shaft. The shaft connects to a generator which produces electricity. The I-J is an location. The location is very remote, therefore it won't cause noise pollution which nothing there before hand. Although the area is remote, you can access it thr ough Building the wind farms will reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is a positive step for Cambric.

Managing Employee Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Managing Employee Relations - Essay Example With regards to maintaining a working and mobile corporate structure, EIP has been playing an active influential role for the companies. In other words, the above discussed idea tends to maintain the working balance within different corporate organisations (Apostolou, 2000, pp. 21-23). Observably, EIP is held accountable for stabilising corporate order by providing effective guidelines and developing individuals’ behaviours. This particular approach has often been advantageous for organisations to attain their respective goals along with objectives by strengthening decision-making procedures and utilising the available resources effectively. The efforts of individual employees and inputs are highly regarded as important elements that help in attaining the fundamental objectives of the firms and enabling them to grow in an efficient manner. Additionally, EIP is not only an important part as per the industrial context, but also contributes in the development of the overall economy (Holden, n.d., pp. 560-563). With this concern in mind, the prime intent of this essay is to argue about the fact that EIP fundamentally intends to weaken the collective will of the workers by individualising their respective actions and also aligning them with the goals of the employers. Moreover, the essay also discusses the disadvantageous factors involved with the notion of EIP that might impose negative impacts over the working process of the employees as well as the performance of the organisations in order to argue the aforesaid fact (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Sources, 2014, pp. 1-2). It is strongly believed that with the rise in globalisation and internationalisation, the value of employment has raised gradually. Justifiably, the companies have started valuing the involvement of employees in their operational procedures, mostly related to decision-making.

Evolution of computer technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Evolution of computer technology - Essay Example The use of RISC overlaps many concepts in computer technology, with pipelining being one of the main characteristics of RISC (Cocke and Markstein, 2000). Pipelining typically refers to the improvement of the speed of processing instructions in a computer processor. In this concept, multiple instructions overlap in processing so that more instructions are processed. Instead of the computer processing one instruction at a time, many instructions are processed simultaneously. The processing of instructions is done in machine cycles, where one instruction is processed in one stage and moved to the next while another instruction is processed in the first stage. The main stages of pipelining include fetching the instruction, decoding, execution, memory access and write back (Cocke and Markstein, 2000). Similarly, superscalar processing improves the notion of pipelining in RISC. Earliest evolutions of RISC processors aimed to execute at the rate of one instruction per cycle, but with the in troduction of superscalar processors, this has been improved to more than one instruction per cycle. For the effective performance of computer technology, the memory that affects the speed needs to be effectively managed. According to Cocke and Markstein (2000), memory system management refers to the allocation and security of portions of computer memory to different programs. Memory system management helps in multitasking in the computer since it utilizes the concepts of pipelining and superscalar processing to ensure that computer programs are effectively managed. Memory system management is usually covered in four main concepts, with the main one being relocation. Cocke and Markstein (2000) indicate that virtual memory management should account for the storage of different parts of memory in different places, and also provide for the recalling of this memory. When a program is swapped in a pipeline, it is not placed in the original memory, which means that effective memory manage ment should tell where the program is stored for easy recall. The second concept is that of protection, where the different processes should be protected from each others’ references to avoid corruption (Carter, 2001). However, the different processes sometimes need to share memory, so memory system management should also be able to account for the sharing of information. Shared memory therefore forms part of inter-process memory, which effectively increases processing speed. Finally, memory system management should have effective methods of allocation of memory to different processes and programs in the computer. Logical allocations of the different modules in a program ensure that programs that need to share references are allocated effectively and others separated in other parts of memory. An example of effective memory allocation methods in memory system management is segmentation, where the memory is separated according to modules. One other concept that is used to incre ase the efficiency of processors is the use of caching. The use of cache memory is important since it is the bridge between the processor and the memory in a computer, so temporary instructions are usually stored in cache memory (Carter, 2001). Cache memory stores part or all of a program when it is being processed and also stores the data required by the processor for different factions. Some of the strategies used in caching to increase efficiency

Companies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Companies - Research Paper Example I feel like I have very strong leadership qualities, and employees of this company frequently get opportunities to lead the teams independently. Hence, I would not only find the opportunity to expedite my skills and capabilities, but would also grow professionally. Being employed by this company, I would feel safe for I would be building my experience in one of the largest and most popular companies in Qatar, which would be good for me in the long run. I would like to work for Qatar Petroleum because this is a very old company. It was 1939 when the first well was drilled. Development sustained after the Second World War and the first crude exports took place in the year 1949. The fields of Maydan Mahzam and Idd Al-Shargi were discovered in the year 1960. After the discovery of Bul Hanine, the largest offshore in 1970, Qatar Petroleum was established in the year 1974 (â€Å"QP History†). Since the company has a strong international presence, I would have the opportunity to visit different countries and places as part of my job and also have international exposure. With such a large work setup and being equipped with the latest technology, Qatar Petroleum provides its employees with the opportunity to polish their intellectual and technical skills in a highly dynamic and challenging environment. Working with Qatar Petroleum is a privilege and a great and valuable addition to the CV in terms of experience. I would also feel very fortunate and happy if I ever get employed in the Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways provides wonderful opportunities of talent development to its employees. Employees of Qatar Airways are offered a range of benefits and perks in addition to salary. Besides, the company fosters such a culture that makes its employees feel like a family. The company promises its employees; â€Å"You will gain from the diverse culture, by interacting with more than one hundred and fifty nationalities in a fast-paced working environment.

Project management report of urban regeneration project south america Essay

Project management report of urban regeneration project south america - Essay Example It also sets out a timetable for the preparation and review of these documents and covers a rolling 3-year period. The LDF is made up of the following Local Development Documents (LDDs) Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) which delineates the standards the project management team intends to adapt in an attempt to involve the community in the preparation of the LDDs and the planning application process in Guayaquil In producing the LDS the project management team has taken into consideration the fact that the Imagen Objetivo has been completed and a draft scheme has been received from the key stakeholders (Planning Portal 2005). The Pertinent Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) which will be prepared over the course of four years. These plan documents coincide with the phases of development Some of the planning policy documents that the will be produced will be development plan documents and others, such as supplementary planning documents, will not. The project management team recognizes the fact that any recommendations in the Planning Inspectors report are binding. As a general rule, supplementary planning documents are not subject to a public examination but will still be the subject of public consultation before they are adopted by the Council. For the purposes of operating within a clear time constraint, the project live cycle was designed to be coincidental with the LDS. As such, the project phasing begins with a strong focus on the development of the Commercial Centre first and foremost and subsequently the development of the New Plaza Civica, the food court, the public walkway, the refurbishment of the old fish market, the cultural centre and finally the development of the New National Art Gallery and Museum. The rationale behind beginning with the development of the Commercial Center relates to the

Managing Risk with Derivatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Risk with Derivatives - Essay Example This paper attempts to discuss derivatives as a tool for financial risk management and its effectiveness in business risk management. In the finance literature, hedge refers to a technique in which an investment is made in certain securities to reduce or eliminate the risk of loss resulting from the fluctuations in the price of another security by taking two offset positions in the related security. Hedging is defined as a risk management strategy designed to offset risk of loss causing from fluctuations in the prices of commodities, currencies or securities ( LiPuma, 2004). Hedging helps to transfer the various risks without the need of buying any insurance policies. Hedging was commonly used in the commodities market by the traders to reduce the risk of loss caused by fluctuations in the price of a commodity. It was used by the trader to buy as well as sell the equal quantities of the same commodities in two different markets at same time with the expectation that a change in price in future in one market will help to offset by an opposite change in the other market. But now hedging could also be used in the sec urities and foreign exchange market. Source: One of the instrument or tool used to hedge risk is derivatives. ... Derivatives refer to the financial contracts or instruments that derive their value from the underlying asset like stocks, equity, bonds, commodities etc. Nowadays derivatives are also used by the investors and institutional borrowers. The people who use derivatives as a way of managing risk are called hedgers. The derivative instruments used for hedging purposes include forwards, futures, options, swaps and combination on these (hybrid). Derivatives are becoming increasingly important in international markets as a tool for risk management. Derivatives help lot to the corporate clients to separate their risks and transfer them to those who are ready to bear their risks. In addition to these derivatives are the cheapest and convenient means of hedging because in derivatives there is no actual delivery of underlying assets only the profit or loss on the derivative contract is adjusted. Moreover all the derivative instruments are very simple to operate without any tedious process in it. They can also be used by the companies to hedge their long tern risks (i.e., 10-15 year risk), which enable the companies to focus more on management decisions other than funding decisions. Further all derivative instruments are low cost products and offer high liquidity to the companies. Due to these reasons derivatives have become one of the essential tool for the companies to hedge their complex exposures and volatilities that they hav e to face in the financial markets today. However it is seen that the derivative instruments in recent times have come under general scrutiny because of its misuse made by the companies in managing the financial risks. Hence depending upon how it is used the derivatives can be both advantageous

The Digital Forensics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Digital Forensics - Research Paper Example A distributed network can be on a broad scale and may involve many enterprise computer networks. Likewise, the currently installed network security controls are bypassed by the worm because distributed traffic anomaly is complex and small to detect. However, combining with multiple small data packets can impose a significant impact, as they all share the same frequency and domain that is already happening in the current scenario. For this reason, a method for detecting threats originating from the distributed network was introduced by (Zonglin, Guangmin, Xingmiao, & Dan, 2009). The methodology includes a detection of patterns of the distributed network along with network-wide correlation analysis of instantaneous parameters, anomalous space extraction and instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous frequency. In the current scenario, network administrators can apply instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous frequency, which is a part of this model, of network transmission signals can i nvade network unknown patterns and categorize them into frequency and time domains separately. Moreover, they can also deploy an anomalous space extraction methodology that is based on network transmission predictions. This methodology will facilitate network administrators to exceed the boundaries of PCA based methods that are already failed to provide strong correlations. Furthermore, the third component that is a network-wide correlation analysis of amplitude and frequency can discover overall network transmission originating from distributed networks, as the current controls are only sensing them in a small amount or quantity. After determining the exact source of the unknown worm, the next challenge is to analyze the infected nodes within the network. It is obvious that without a specialized tool, it is a daunting or almost impossible task to detect anomalies on low levels i.e. network ports. There is a requirement of pinpointing unknown threat activities within the network, fo r this purpose, a powerful tool is known as Wire shark will serve the purpose. Wire shark is a freeware tool that analyzes network packets and processes them for illustrating detailed contents of the packets (Scalisi, 2010). Moreover, the tool contains numerous features that can facilitate the threat detection process. The first step that a network administrator will take is to identify the type of traffic or ports that need to be targeted. The second step is to start capturing packets on all ports of all the switches (Scalisi, 2010). However, there is a requirement of modifying port numbers. As per the current scenario, all the network ports will be scanned including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) port. The tool has a feature of only scanning specific ports that need to be targeted. However, in a corporate network environment that will not be possible, as an Intrusion detection system (IDS) and Firewalls may conflict with the tool. Moreover, different subnets on the netwo rk will also require complex and time-consuming configurations. Furthermore, the network administrator can always set the time limit for capturing specific network port data.

Metals are different from other materials Essay Example for Free

Metals are different from other materials Essay Metals are different from other materials because they have electrons that are not joined to any specific atom, meaning that the electrons have the ability to move between the various atoms of that metal. These electrons are always in random motion due to their heat energy. If a metal wire is subjected electric force at its opposite terminals, then these free electrons, which carry a negative charge, move towards the electric force and we end up with what is called an electric current. Another way of saying this is that when charge is moving we have current, like the motion of electrons in wire leading to bulb. Ions found in water also carry a charge and current is able to flow in water. Movement of charged electrons in a vacuum is also a form of current. An example is the computer monitor or the T. V. set. Charged particles move across space, i. e vacuum, when they are released by the picture tube and strike the screen and light released which is seen as a picture. In order for current to be able to flow it needs a push and this push is supplied by voltage. 1 Charge will always flow from a potential of higher energy to low energy. Current is a measure of the quantity of charge that passes a location every second. The unit which current is measured in is Amphere [A]. The current law states that at any junction in an electric circuit, a point where the current is split into two or more parts, the total electric current output will be equal to the amount put in initially. A conductor, the object which allows charge to move through it, always puts up a certain amount of electrical resistance against the charge that is flowing through it. This friction in turn heats up the object. This transferring of electrical energy and the rate at which heat is put out is measured in Watts. The resistance put up by the conductor is measured in Ohms. 2 Another way of saying it is that Ampheres is the stuff that flows inside the wires (the charge, electrons), and the amount of charge is measured in Coulombs and finally the work Amphere is the same as one Coulomb of charge passing in one second. The more quickly a charge flows the higher the ampheres. Also the greater the amount of charge flowing, like a bigger wire, the higher the ampheres. Another words it is possible to have the ampheres if there is fast flowing charge through a thin wire as with slow moving charge through a thick wire. 2 It is easy to see why all this is very confusing. How ever 1Keiji Oenoki and Hector Judez, The flow of charge: The Current, [emailprotected] edu. pe] 2William beaty, How Are Watts, Ohms, Amps, and Volts Related? April 2, 2000, http://amasci. com/elect/vwatt1. html.

Computer Hardware and Networking Course

Computer Hardware and Networking Course Computers nowadays have become the integral part of our lives; it has made things really fast. Its increasing use has provided opportunity for the youngsters to start of an exciting and highly payable career in this world of IT. As if in past computer hardware and networking was not considered as a good career opportunity but now the situation has changed, among various courses related to IT, Computer hardware and networking courses are gaining much popularity. Sales of computer desktops, laptops, printers, UPS and so on, are rapidly increasing leading to the need of hardware and networking professional in the field. Computer hardware and networking courses serves these needs. These courses not only provides high paying career in various units as hardware or networking engineer but it also increases your experience and provides a much needed exposure. Eligibility Criteria High school or 10+2 pass out Basic knowledge of computers Course Module You can choose from various courses offered by the institutes, which also provides certification from reputed IT companies. The course duration varies from 15 to 18 months according the chosen course. The basic objective of this course is to provide vast and useful knowledge about this field and give you the upper edge among the untrained professionals in this field. Benefits of Joining Computer Hardware and Networking Course You will know all the minute technicalities about this field You get rich experience during the industrial training You will have better placement in the field due to certification You gain better communication skills with confidence Course Contents You are introduced to the computer hardware and networking in depth and the fundamentals of the course content, which primarily contains: Computer fundamentals Introduction to computer hardware and networking Basic components of PC Hardware configuration Assembling a PC Installing operating system Trouble shooting of PC Network fundamentals and network configuration Introduction to various types of cables and connectors used in networking Introduction to networking and networking concepts Repeaters, Hubs, Switches, Bridges, Routers Installing the NIC Card, MAC Address LAN Standards Ethernet, Token Ring LAN Practicals IP Addressing and IP Classes TCP/IP Concepts and configuration of IP Address Basic network troubleshooting Basics of network security After the completion of the course, most of the institutes provide industrial training in the reputed industries in the field. Placement Opportunities On successful completion of course most of the institutes help in direct placements and you can easily start of career as an IT Support Engineer/Technician, Network Support Engineer/Technician, System Engineer, System Administrator, Server Support Specialist, and Field Support Technician. After completing one type of certification you can go on for another one or higher level according to the need of the current technology and industry, which helps you to be a pro in this field. This field requires updated knowledge along with experience due to rapidly changing technology which doesnt make your work monotonous and hence always provide scope for expansion and handsome earnings.

Consumer Attitudes and Behavior Towards Ikea

Consumer Attitudes and Behavior Towards Ikea 1. Introduction: IKEA is one of the main home furnishing chains in the world and especially in Malaysia. As IKEA originated in Sweden and have a strong position here it is motivating to study the consumers attitudes toward the company in Kualalumpur, Malaysia. IKEA companies have information about their customers opinions, attitudes and behavior .They will have the greater effect in comparison to their competitors. To analyze the attitudes to IKEA I prepared a questionnaire in Kualalumpur. The respondents are chosen randomly between Iranian people, after an overview the paper designed the methodology part, its describes how the proses have been done. The chapter explains the hypothetical framework, which absolutely contracts with attitudes. In the analysis chapter each question in the questionnaire is offered and explained separately. The study is then used to make decisions. Some of the decisions ended were: Ikeas main target group is well-represented customers nowadays. IKEA have very strong position in the home furnishing market. The price and product kind is the key reasons for purchasing at IKEA . A Better Everyday Life Organization: VISION: Ikeas vision is to create attractively home furnishings to a great customer segment, if you noticed to other main furniture stores; good design is offered only for a small part of the people who can have enough money. It means that IKEA have to answer to the home furnishing requirements of people all over the World Ikeas strategy: People have different needs and wants, ideas, aims; all these people need to design their home and provide a beautiful environment in which to enjoy. In selection a better everyday life, IKEA suggestions an extensive choice of home furnishings in IKEA stores. IKEA is well branded worldwide. Their product variety (18 000 products) is almost similar in All countries. This indicates that IKEA have a global product strategy that is extremely standardized. Ikeas marketing concept is Low price with meaning. When introduction of IKEA in Porters 3 Basic Strategies, IKEA enter by directing on low prices. The main target group is young families who build up their first home. But all customers who think through price as an important argument when purchasing home furnishings are an important target group. Consumers within the organization feel to clearly knowing the I Keas purpose. It is also important that they need a strong sense of fitting. The characteristics of the company must spring from the own origins. IKEA have undoubtedly been able to use their origins. 1.2. History 1943 the creator of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, records the name IKEA. 1950 was the first time furnitures go into the IKEA product collection. In 1951 the first IKEA list was issued. First furniture showroom was opened in 1953 in Älmhult, Sweden. 1955 was the year IKEA brings into being to design its own furniture. The first IKEA store opens in Älmhult, Sweden in 1958. In 1963 IKEA opens a store in Norway. The store in Stockholm, inspired by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, opens in 1965. 3.Vision: Was self-service, open warehouse would help customers cut down on Waiting time. 1969-1996 Stores were opened in: Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, Austria, Singapore, Netherlands, the Canary Islands, France, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Kuwait, USA, UK, Hong Kong, Italy, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Mallorca, Slovakia, Taiwan, Finland, Malaysia and Spain. 1.4. The purpose: Is that the home furnishings are associating good design, good purpose and good quality with low prices so that as many people as possible can pay for them. IKEA sold their World Wide Living Room Web Site on the Internet. In 1998 the first IKEA store was opened in mainland China. Literature review: Analysing consumer behaviour is perceived as cornerstone of a successful marketing strategy (Papers4you.com, 2006). Consumer behaviour is the mental and emotional processes and the observable behaviour of consumers during searching purchasing and post consumption of a product and service (Batra Kazmi, 2004). Similarly Engel (et al, 1990) refers consumer behaviour as the action and decision process of people who purchase goods and services for personal consumption. WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR? It is necessary to understand consumer behavior; this is based on the activities leading to the acquisition and use of goods or services, including decision-making processes that determine a purchase. In this process the consumer performs actions such as search, purchase, use and evaluation of products expected to be used to meet their needs (Solomon Michael, 2007). The activities, processes and social relations to which reference has been made include various actions of the consumer: knowledge of a need, when you make a comparison between stores, the simple reasoning of information that are available in regard to the benefits and risks of the desired product, or seek advice from a friend about a new product. The purchase of a product includes experiences such as mental and physical stimulation, social changes, the more status and power. (Kollat David). Attitude has a significant effect on purchasing a brand and choosing the place for shopping, moreover new products emerge in the market or exiting products future demand can be predicated by measuring consumers attitude.(Blackwell et al,2001). Method Approach The ways to pay attention to different situations vary due to several factors. There are numerous different methods of looking at the same phenomenon. My perception of this paper is mostly unbiased by the facts that I am a business Management student with put emphasis on marketing and I have a great attention in internal design. People have different methods to set situations due to attitude to behavior and individual norms. Past experiences and demographics also create a difference in approach. In making I have tried to be as unbiased as possible when studying collected material. It is important to mention that it is difficult to be one hundred percent neutral and without bias. What is understood depends on who understands it and what is to be understood. 3.2 Method: As we know market research is only one type of marketing research. The resolution is to make the study standardized. This is able by giving the same Questions and answer to all respondents. There is no warranty that the information collected from the questionnaire is relevant to the case recognition. I have selected to use very short questions to insure that they would be easy to Understand and to decrease the risk of misunderstanding. When dealing with short questions the Respondents have to think noticeably and ignore redundant parts. The information I needed was collected by using a quantitative method and questionnaire. After gaining the information, I used SPSS statistic 17.0 for analyze my data. 3.3 The questionnaire: One of the most important points in this plan has been designing the questionnaire. I have chosen to use short question that would be easy to understand. The price of creating a questionnaire is half of what a phone discussion costs and a tenth of the cost of an individual interview33 I have chosen close questions because I want to consider the population in general terms. It makes it easier to create a general picture of the respondents opinions I designed 6 questions for 50 respondents 3.4 Conformation of population: The population in my case is IKEAs Iranian customers in Kuala Lumpur. It is hard to find out, how many Iranian customers of IKEA has in Kuala Lumpur, and then it is quite unmanageable to know how many times each customer visit to the store. 3.5 Method of selection: I chose to use the non-probability selection (quota selection). This method is versus the random sample. The sub-group that I have been selected is: Age Average income Educational level Gender Theory 4.1 Consumer Behavior: Consumer behavior is one of the main parts in marketing; there are many different ideas about it. The basic principal of marketing are needs and wants, these two factors make the process of buying decision. One of the most popular theories is the Consumer Decision. My study emphases on the attitudes and behavior before the buy, what defines the buy and not the actual buy? Companies succeed if and when considerate what consumers want. This of course makes them very interested in how to effect on consumer behavior. The process of the buy is as important. Consumer behavior is included to: Consumer expectation, store image, needs, wants, culture, age, education, income level. 4.2 Marketing Mix: The marketing mix is the base of marketing tools a company practices to chase its marketing Goals in the target market. The most popular way to consider the marketing mix is over the eyes of the supplier. The 4Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. When considering the marketing mix from the buyers opinion you catch the4Cs: Customer needs and wants, Cost to the customer, Convenience and Communication. The companies that can meet the 4Cs will be winners. By a multifaceted contact between the individual and environmental factors and the marketing mix the consumer estimate the stimuli. When taking done the process the consumers have got a conclusion about the product or service. If the decision is positive it does not mean that the consumer really will purchase the product or service. It is one thing to consider about doing something. Truly doing it is a much bigger stage. Attitudes designed directly are showed to be steadier than indirect formed attitudes like questionnaires. Finally it is meaning that defines what behavior the consumer will selected there are many factors that control the consumer behavior process. Many of these are fairly difficult to influence for a marketer. They have to focus more on the factors they can affect. The most vital factor one can use to influence is perception. The motivation that information gives is there for the factor that initiates the process that tends to the consumers decision. 4.3 Buying behavior: There are many main aspects that effect on a consumers purchasing behavior: Culture Social Personal Psychological Depending on the kind of product a buyer wants to purchase the buying behavior differs. Costly, complex products that a customer does not purchase often calls for high involvement decisions. The customer looks for information about the Low involvement decisions or unchanging problem resolving follow a somewhat different purchasing design. The consumer knows what he/she want and do not gauge different changes IKEA emphases a lot on trying to impact customers when the turn through the store. This is ended by setting products with very competitive prices at tactical spaces in the store 4.4 Attitudes: This cause is one of the most motivating and vital factors for marketers. Attitudes to a company make a company image. Therefore, a strong company image offers good business. The Attitude is often supposed to reproduce a persons deep values; it means that the attitudes are used as an evaluative tool. We weigh products, people, and events and so forth by using our involvements and attitudes the first parts of the consumer behavior process is the base that leads to the consumers final decision-making. So one realizes why it is of importance for the companies to study about the consumers attitudes.    5. Survey In the text below I will consider each question in questionnaire separately to evaluate the Respondents answers. The questionnaire is bounded in the end of this paper. 5.1 Demographic Variables: To conclusion and analyze the respondents attitudes one need to select related Demographic variables. I have therefor used age, income and geographic area, And gender as variables, I follow them to be related and exciting in my study. The demographic variable was offered first in the questionnaire. 5.1.1 Gender: The consumer behavior and attitudes vary among the sexes. Usually women have a more attention to home furnishing compare to men. In my survey 40 percent of the respondents were men and 60 percent women. It is a good proportion . 5.1.2 Acceptation: The buying behavior and attitudes differ between the occupations. In my survey students were in majority compare to others. Student Dr. Secretory lecturer house hold 60% 8% 4% 4% 24% Obviously, international students have limited budget for buy, especially furniture. 5.1.3 Age: The respondents age, always, impact what kind of home furnishing they need. Young people are launching their first home 0-15 16-30 31-40 41-5 4% 24% 48% 24% Age 31-40 is over-represented and 0-15 is under re -presented .0-15 years old do not have their own money to buy. The most important target group for IKEA among Iranian is 31-40 years old. 5.1.4 Marriage: In my survey, 28% of respondents were single, 72% were married. This is a good proportion. People who married, they are more interesting to furnish the house compare to singles. Single married 28% 72% Number of children: 0 1 2 3 40% 12% 20% 12% 6. SURVEY QUESTION 6.1 QUESTION ONE: I am in IKEA (timely/y) 1-2 3-5 56% 44 There is no any reason for other times; it means respondents never go to IKEA more than 5 times a year. According to analysis 56% of respondents go to IKEA1-2 times a year. 6.2 QUESTION TWO: What the respondents have bought at IKEA during the past five years? Bed couch kitchen bookshelf kitchen appliances 36% 24% 12% 16% 12% 6.3 QUESTION THREE AND FOUR: According of IKEAs position in the market, the question is: Where they buy most of their furniture? Which company has the best quality? 100 percent of respondents answered were (IKEA), IKEAs strategic plan (high quality, low price, good service) is making the consumers loyal to company and it seems that the IKEA is successful. 6.4 QUESTION FIVE: I wanted to know how different aspect of IKEA was graded (1-5) Product quality: Very good Good Ok Not so good 40% 28% 28% 4% Product quality compared to price: Very good Good Ok Not so good 56% 36% 8% 0% The store location: Very good Good Ok Not so good 8% 8% 36% 44% Disposition of the store: Very good Good Ok Not so good 12% 40% 48% 0% Service: Very good Good Ok Not so good 48% 40% 12% 0% Payment method: Very good good ok not so good 20% 68% 12% 0% 7. RECOMMENDATION: According to result of survey: 100% of respondents chose IKEA for satisfying their needs of furniture instead of LUZINI, EMPIRE, and HOMES HARMONY. IKEAs target market could be women (60%),student(60%), between age31-40(48%), married(72%), who visit IKEA 1-2 times a year(56%),they bought bed(36%)and couch (24%). Respondents believes that IKEAs product quality compare to price, is very good (56%) and good (36%). IKEA location for (44%) is not so good and for (36%) is ok. IKEAs service for (48%) is very good and for (40%) is good. Around (68%) of respondents are satisfy about payment system. IKEAs furniture is more familiar between Iranian who is resident in Malaysia. Majority of respondents are satisfy about price and quality of IKEAs furniture because they are student and have a limited budget for purchasing household items. As Iranians are influenced by peer group, they are not looking for other brands such as LUZINI, HOMES HARMONYà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The other reason that IKEAs furniture is well-known between Iranian is excellent IKEAs advertising. Price, quality, advertising, innovation in producing new product, are the basic points to attract positive attitude toward IKEAs furniture. IKEA adopted its products to global market. 8. Conclusion In this part, it is obvious that many of Iranian people know very well IKEA products and also they included to middle consumer income group. Understanding, what different consumers purchase is the basic information and very interesting for IKEA. IKEA, recently has improved the rang of its products, especially in terms of furniture with approximately the same price. The majority of IKEAs consumers between Iranian are student with limited budget. I think Iranian people who staying in kualalumpur, are not familiar with another brands as much as IKEA. They introduce IKEA to each other based on their past experience and friendly recommendation. These consumers of are interest when encourage the more expensive products and have to thinking about it. IKEA advertisement for Iranian is very interesting, and consumers from low -income areas tend to buy more from IKEA. Since the price is low, the quality is high and everyday innovation in IKEAs products is obvious. IKEA gives the new idea to consumers who do not know which products they need for their house. IKEAs product attracts consumers with its innovation and considering consumers expectation. It is understandable that IKEA pay more attention on its consumers, their needs, wants, expectations, images, culture. Different age, job, purchasing power, culture, attitudes and habits needs different marketing, setting price, quality and store location because these factors obviously influence the consumers. REFERENCES: IKEA.2011.01.21 IKEA facts figures.ikea.com IKEA student information www.701 pandan.com www.Marketingpilgrim.com/2010 www.mpdailyfix.com/IKEA Blackwell, R, D;Miniard,P.W;Engel,j.f.2001 consumer behavior [13] Hyunjoo Oh, So-Yeon Yoon and Jana Hawley, what virtual reality can offer to the furniture industry, journalof textile and apparel, technology and management. Volume 4, Issue 1, summer 2004 Shiv, B. and A. Fedorikhin (1999), Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making, Journal of Consumer Research, 26 (December), 278-292. Cacioppo, J., S. Harkins, and R. Petty (1981), The Nature of AttitudesandCognitive Responses and Their Relationship to Behavior, Cognitive Responses in Persuasion, R. Petty, T. Ostrom, and T. Brock, eds., (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Zajonc, R. (1968), Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 1-27. Petty, R., R. Unnava, and A. Strathman (1991), Theories of Attitude Change, in Handbook of Consumer Behavior, T. Robertson and H. Kassarjian eds., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall).

Self-Esteem and Self-Concept :: Self Image Self Perception Essays

In today’s age and the growing trend in American society of â€Å"what’s hot and what’s not†, is having a huge impact on young children’s self-concept and self-esteem. Self-concept â€Å"refers to the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and ideas people have about themselves,† whereas self-esteem is â€Å"a personal judgment of worthiness that indicates the extent to which the individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy (392).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My interest on this subject was peaked after spending the evening with my five year-old cousin, Sami, last week. We were sitting and eating dinner when she said, â€Å"Cali, I am fat and ugly.† Well, I almost fell out of my chair. At the age of five, she was already cutting herself down. â€Å"Research shows that physical appearance is the strongest correlate of global self-worth in childhood and adolescence (398).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, our textbook explains that children around my cousin’s age have a hard time defining their sense of self. They tend to describe their physical characteristics, areas of interest, family life, etc (394). Nowhere in the text does it say that a child her age should be viewing herself in terms of physical attractiveness. Adolescence and high school students are more apt to make judgments of themselves, not children in kindergarten.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel that television, magazines, books and the internet make our youth have a lower self-esteem because they feel they are not as good looking as the characters on their favorite television show. My cousin watches Nickelodeon and even on children’s shows it seems there are no ugly or fat children. The actresses look older than I do because of all the make-up and their choice of clothing. What does that say to our youth? â€Å"Most American girls receive consistent and clear messages that beauty is defined in terms of being ‘slim and trim’ (398).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the classroom, self-concept and self-esteem have a huge impact on how well a child does in school. When I was in elementary school and especially high school, I would classify myself as being a good language arts student, but a poor Math and Science student. In elementary school there isn’t as much competition between students, therefore I didn’t feel the need to comment on my strengths and weaknesses. Like the author says, â€Å"and older student’s self-concept may be further broken down according to success in individual subject areas, such as reading, mathematics, or science (394).† In elementary school, all of the subjects could be incorporated into one lesson, while in high school the students switch classes and concentrate on a certain subject per period.

Disneys Whitewashing of Pocahontas Essay -- Movie, Film 2014

In 1995, Disney produced a romanticized version of relationships between early Native Americans and Europeans in the film, Pocahontas. It is controversial whether this movie was intended to enlighten children about the beginning of America in a story-like manner, or a way to conceal a dark past and brainwash future generations with this illusion of a happy beginning to the United States of America. In order to make the Pocahontas and John Smith love myth suitable for children, it is understandable that Disney needed to alter the story. However, Disney's version of the Pocahontas myth is not only altered for the sake of violence, racial content, and ethnic content, it is also altered to be more appealing to Americans and to agree with their beliefs and culture. The film's purpose is controversial because there is a strong support for the European settlers and a lack of Native American culture shown. In addition, the little Native American culture that is shown, is not shown accurately. As a result, children across the nation are learning a distorted early American history through Pocahontas and sugar-coated songs taught in grammar school that share the same message. The most significant factor that a historical movie for children should have as opposed to an entertaining movie, is historical accuracy. This way, the film will be educational and will not give the audience false information to soak in. If the purpose of Pocahontas is in fact to educate, the film can be misconstrued as a brainwashing mechanism to hide the violence between two cultures because it gives a false interpretation of the Europeans and Native Americans's relationship. The reason for leaving the physical violence out of the... ... whether European and Native American, went through in order to gain a civil interaction with one another. By preparing American youth with the United States history that does not have gaps, they will be better prepared to comprehend when these topics are discussed more thoroughly in their higher levels of education. Works Cited Borthaiser, NÃ ³ra (2008). A Whole New World [Electronic Version]. Americana: E-journal of American Studies in Hungary, 4, 5-5. Dundes, Lauren (2001). Disney's Modern Heroine Pocahontas: Revealing Age-Old Gender Stereotypes and Role Discontinuity Under a Facade of Liberation [Electronic Version]. Giamo, Michael. Pocahontas. Disney, 1995. Film. Smith, John. From The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Bedford: Boston, 2008: P. 110-119.

Antimicrobial Assay Worksheet

University of Phoenix Material Antimicrobial Assay Worksheet Review the image and refer to Ch. 26 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms to answer the following questions. [pic] Adapted from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by Islands in the Sea, 2002. Answer the following in 100 to 200 words each: 1. What does this picture represent? To what is the area around the disks proportional?This picture represents an antimicrobial agent susceptibility assay by using the disc diffusion technique. The test measures the antimicrobial activity, by determining the smallest amount of agent necessary to inhibit the growth of a specific test organism, this value is the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The MIC expresses the lowest concentration of agent that completely inhibits the growth of the test organism (Madigan, Martinko, Stahl,  & Clark, 2012).The areas around the disks are the zone of inhibition, which are â€Å"proportional to the amount of antimicrobial agent add ed to the disc, the solubility of the agent, the diffusion coefficient, and the overall effectiveness of the agent† (Madigan, Martinko, Stahl,  & Clark, 2012, p. 763). 2. Which letter disk has the least potent antibiotic? Why? Which has the most? How do you know? Letter F disc has the least potent antibiotic because the zone of inhibition is not present with indicates that the antimicrobial agent is not an affective inhibitor of the test organism.Letter D disc has the greatest potent antibiotic because the agent is quite an affective inhibitor of the test organism. This agent creates a proportionally large zone of inhibition, which is greater than other test agents are. 3. Refer to Figure 26. 10 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms. What has happened in the minimum inhibitory concentration tube? Approximately, what is the bacterial concentration in that tube? In the minimum inhibitory concentration tube, the agent inhibits the growth of the test organism.This level of inhibiti on varies with certain factors to include the incubation conditions, culture medium, test organism, incubation time, and composition of the culture (Madigan, Martinko, Stahl,  & Clark, 2012). The bacterial concentration is approximately the same in the tube that contains the minimum inhibitory concentration level of antimicrobial agent because the agent inhibits the growth of the test organism. Reference Madigan, M. T. , Martinko, J. M. , Stahl, D. A. , & Clark, D. P. (2012). Brock biology of microorganisms (13th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Impact of Globalization on Developing Countries

INTRODUCTION * Globalization describes the process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through a global network of ideas. * This integration has been fueled by technological advances in communication, transportation and trade that break down national divisions and barriers. * Globalization is recognized through a number of trends such as growing economic integration and liberalization; trade regulation; convergence of macroeconomic policies; modification of the role and concept of nation state; proliferation of supranational agreements and regulatory bodies; and globalization of information systems. These trends are associated with both positive and negative impacts on human well-being, the use and conservation of the environment, equity within countries and between developing and developed countries, participation and democratic decision-making, food security, poverty alleviation and others. 1 http://elearn. usiu. ac. ke/webapps/portal/frameset . jsp? tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4144_1%26url%3D- GLOBALIZATION LECTURE. PPTX EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Globalization has brought in new opportunities to developing countries.Greater access to developed country markets and technology transfer hold out promise, improved productivity and higher living standards. But globalization has also thrown up new challenges like growing inequality across and within nations, volatility in financial markets and environmental deteriorations. 2 This paper assesses the positive and negative impact of globalization on developing countries in the following dimensions; 1. Economic 2. Social 3. Political POSITIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT Increased Standard of Living Economic globalization gives governments of developing nations access to foreign lending.When these funds are used on infrastructure including roads, health care, education, and social services, the standard of living in the country increases. If the money is used only selectively, however, not all citizens will participate in the benefits. Access to New Markets Globalization leads to freer trade between countries. This is one of its largest benefits to developing nations. Homegrown industries see trade barriers fall and have access to a much wider international market. The growth this generates allows companies to develop new technologies and produce new products and services.Access to New and More capital Developing nations attract foreign investments resulting in better smooth consumption, deepens financial markets, and increases the degree of market discipline. In most developing nations, the financial markets are not fully developed, as such globalization is a boost to the country’s financial markets. Employment Opportunities Because the wages in developing countries is far lower than that of developed countries, work such as software development, customer support, marketing, accounting and insurance is outsourced to developing countries like India.The workers in the developing countries get employment. Access to technologies As a result of outsourcing, developing countries get access to the latest technology and technological improvements; they are thus able to use the technologies to improve the standard of living. They can also utilize these technologies in solving problems, for example advanced medicine to cure local diseases. Increased competition Due to the need to compete globally, companies have had to reduce prices, which is good for the consumer in such countries. In addition, there is improvement of goods and services accompanied by improved technology.Globalization is thus a win for consumers. NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT Widening Disparity in Incomes While an influx of foreign companies and foreign capital creates a reduction in overall unemployment and poverty, it can also increase the wage gap between those who are educated and those who are n ot. Over the longer term, education levels will rise as the financial health of developing countries rise, but in the short term, some of the poor will become poorer. Not everyone will participate in an elevation of living standards. Decreased EmploymentThe influx of foreign companies into developing countries increases employment in many sectors, especially for skilled workers. However, improvements in technology come with the new businesses and that technology spreads to domestic companies. Automation in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors lessens the need for unskilled labor and unemployment rises in those sectors. If there is no infrastructure to help the unemployed train for the globalized economy, social services in the country may become strained trying to care for the new underclass. http://smallbusiness. hron. com/effects-economic-globalization-developing-countries-3906. html Globalization for Developing Countries in Asia Backed by sound economic policies and informa tion technological advancements, the South-East Asian countries have prospered as their employment growth rate has increased tremendously. One fine example of this phenomenon is India which continues to have an economic growth rate of 8 percent or more per year. Easy access to foreign capital and increased foreign direct investment lays down the foundation for a competitive and yet, thriving market.Since the players increase in the market, the consumers not only get better products, but also at a cheaper price. Hence, another benefit is low inflation rate which helps the country to have a stabilized economy. Poverty has reduced in the Asian countries which have adopted liberalized economic policies. Companies from other countries bring their products with their technologies. Newer technologies in IT, production and research cut down the production cost, and increase sales. Moreover, they also sharpen the skills of the local labor force. Globalization in AfricaAfrica is a huge contin ent with many countries which are downtrodden and poor mostly sustaining life on agriculture and aquaculture. Not only that, there are regions which are torn apart by war and violence, and hence steady income from a stable employment would work as a respite from the in-fighting. Education plays a major role in the development of any nation and is one of the important drawbacks in the growth of the African region. UNESCO believed that 48% of children in Africa were never ever enrolled in primary schools in the year 2000.This disappointing number can go down if African countries open their doors to free market policies. With significant players in the market, a major positive impact would be on the education and technological field of the African continent. More resources and FDI would be at hand because of globalization and ensure lower exchange rate of local currency. Hence, it will indirectly help boom the economy. Though, globalization is not a magic wand and cannot wipe away all of Africa's woes, but it can surely create a favorable environment for a fair and stable government.Globalization would bring any African country more closer to rest of the world and any wrongdoing on the part of a government or a faction can be monitored and curtailed. Trade treaties and co-dependence in business is fostered by globalization. It can bring about a vast change in the political, economical, and social set ups in Africa. With more money, resources and people coming to Africa, the real and the most devastating problems of these countries could grab the limelight, and relief intervention can be provided by the global community. Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/benefits-of-globalization. html

A Better Man

Abel Villalbaso Edward Gika English 21 2/27/13 Better Man This experience taught me to be a better man. Unfortunately I learn that acting like a man made me act like a child. When I was fifteen, I drank alcohol for the first time. I was with my neighbors outside grilling food and talking. Everyone there were all men in their twenties and drinking beers. I chose to drink with them to be a part of their group and act like a man. After a few hours I had drank six beers and decided to go to bed. The next morning, I woke up with a hangover and left to school. During my first class I got a headache.I had never thought about the consequences at the moment. All I wanted to do is take a nap at the nurse’s office. When I arrived to see the nurse she asked what’s wrong. I told her I had a headache. She could smell alcohol on my breath. She knew that I was intoxicated. I confess that I had drunk beer the day before. She called security to escort me to the principal’s office. When I got outside to the principal’s office she asked me to go inside her office. She handed me a paper letting me know I was suspended from school for a week. I was ordered to leave and walked back to my house. Suspended from school I was scared to go home.When I got to my house, my mother asked me why was I home early. I told her the whole story. My mother was very disappointed and told me that I should make better choices in life and become successful in life. After that incident, my mother became more supportive to me. She always gave me good advice about good and evil. I finally realized that it is not easy for my mother to raise four kids by herself. She was always committed a poor single mother on welfare but now I learn that being a man is to respect yourself. Tough times never last but tough people do. Over the years I appreciate my mother even more and now I am on my way to success.

Organizational Learning Essay

1. 0 Introduction The title of this journal is Organizational Learning Practices in the Project Management Environment. The author is Timothy G. Kotnour from University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA. This journal focuses on understanding how project managers continuously improve their project quality and performance by building knowledge through learning. Beside that, for the project organization to learn, organizational members must create, share and apply knowledge. The organizations members will create new knowledge for learning experiences. Learning-by-doing occurs when a problem solver associates plans and actions to accomplish positive results and avoid negative results (Anzai, 1987). While, the plan-duty-study-act (PDSA) cycle, is used to represent the learning process in a project environment. There have two learning cycle in this journal which is Inter-project learning cycle and Intra-project learning cycle. Inter-project learning is the combining and sharing of lessons learned across projects to apply and develop new knowledge. Tools to support inter-project learning include information technology tools and employee groups aimed at sharing knowledge across the organization provides a detailed example of an online system for recognizing, documenting, validating and making available lessons learned for an organization. While, intra-project learning is the creation and sharing of knowledge within a project. Intra-project learning focuses on tasks within a single project and supports the delivery of a successful project by identifying problems and solving them during the project. Learning take place when a project team members discuss approaches for completing a task or overcoming problems. The intra-learning occurs throughout routine reporting cycle such as weekly or monthly status and review meetings, project deliverables or major occurrences in the project. 2. 0 Research Methodology & Framework The research methodology involves a lessons learned oriented survey was completely by 43 project managers who were attending a chapter meeting of the Project Management Institute. The survey used to lesson learned terminology because it is more familiar to project managers than organization learning. The survey contained four question sets. The first set asked project manager their background in project management. The second set focused on how project managers produce lessons learned which is including when, what about, how know, what to produce a lesson learned about and what is included in a lesson learned. While, the third set asked respondent to describe, using five-point Likert scale ( 5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 = not sure, 2 = disagree, 1 = strongly disagree ), which is the degree to which they practice project management learning practices. Next the fourth set asked respondent to describe using a five-point Likert scale the degree to which their organization is achieving the learning outcomes. Factor analysis was performed on the third and fourth data sets. There are five general steps to factor analysis which is assessing applicability of the factor analysis process, determining the number of factors through factor extraction, grouping the variables into factors according to factor loading, producing weighted factor scores and lastly each factors reliability was computed using Cronbach’s alpha 3. 0 Framework, Independent Variable (IV) and Dependent Variable (DV) The learning framework offer an implications for a project manager to use in focusing the learning activities of a project team which is first, the opportunity for learning is an inherent part of the project management process. The project management process parallels the learning process. The steps in the process provide the foundation for learning. In a discussion with a project manager, most of the them viewed producing lessons learned as a valuable and important exercises. However, they felt that they did not have time to complete a formal lesson learned and viewed the learning as a separate activity. This situation showed that, there has a weak relationship between IV and DV. Second, the use of lessons learned can be conducted throughout a project life-cycle, not just at the end of the project. Using the intra-learning cycle, lesson learned can be produced for each cycle in a project to carry on learning to the next cycle and to the next project. And the lastly is the learning process can break down at any stage of the intra- or inter-learning PDSA cycle. For example, the break down can happened in the learning process if there have not using the project management process and tools in a systematic fashion on the model of intra- and inter-project learning. Other than that, the learning process also can fail in the â€Å"plan† step by not reviewing past plans and lessons learned to apply to the current project. In the â€Å"do† step, learning can break down as a result of the project team not following the plan or collecting data on the performance and changes to the plans. While learning also can fail in the â€Å"study† step by not analysing project performance with project tools and not competing lesson learned. Finally, in the act â€Å"step†, learning process can fail because there have no sharing with or incorporating lessons learned into the next project. 4. 0 Result of the Journal The results of survey analysis in this journal are divided into two areas. First, hypothesis testing is completed and second descriptive analysis is completed on how project managers produce lesson learned. Table III contains the result of regression analysis for hypothesis testing. [pic] 4. 1 Project Performance As shown in Table III, project management performance is positively associated with project knowledge. Having knowledge about what could be wrong, ways to ensure success and ways to avoid problems supports the organization in delivering better products and services and managing projects better regarding plan a project and meet cost, schedule and performance requirements. 4. 2 Project Management. As shown in Table III, intra- and inter-project learning practices are directly associated with project knowledge. Producing lesson learned is hypothesized to support the intra- and inter-project learning activities by providing a mechanism to reflect on the project and sharing the knowledge across the project. 4. 3 Learning Practices. Based on Table III, producing a lesson learned is related to inter-project learning. The important factor to increase inter-project learning is not just to produce a lessons learned but to conduct multiple activities for producing lesson learned. 4. 4 Learning Support According on Table III, learning support is needed for each of the learning activities such as inter, intra and lesson learned. Collecting data about the set of steps on a project supports intra-project learning by providing the data and information to compare against the plan and identify mistakes. Being willing to openly and honestly address the mistakes helps drive the learning for intra-project learning and produce lessons learned which can be shared across the organization through inter-project learning. 5. 0 Suggestion/Recommendation There have some recommendation for organizational practices in the project management environment. Project organizations are faced with continuously improving the quality and performance of their products and services to compete in the competitive environment. To learning such an integrated in the project management environments from project experiences to improve knowledge and performance, there must have provide a learning framework which defines the learning processes in a project management environmental. Beside that, analysing the survey result of practicing project manager’s perception on learning outcomes and practices. Other than that, by integrating and sharing the experiences and learning across project, the organizational will have a greater knowledge. While, project team members must need support for learning to enable them to learn from experiences. Next, for developed organizational practices in the project management environment, the factor analysis and reliability results for the project management learning practices should be provided. This included how project manager share knowledge from one project to next, how project managers create knowledge during a project and the action project managers take to support the learning process. There also recommend to provides the factor analysis and reliability results for the learning outcomes. There have 2 factors for learning outcome which is the increased knowledge by sharing lessons learned across projects and how to learning process helps the organization improve in managing a project and delivering products and services. 6. 0 Conclusions As a conclusion, project organization should focus on building knowledge because increased knowledge is associated with increased project performance. To support knowledge building the organization must focus on the learning both and between projects. However, the learning process needs to support by using management tools to plan and monitor results. There also needs to be supported with an environment which allows team members to admit mistakes and openly discuss solutions to problems. All of this needs to be completed to lead to project management success. 7. 0 References Kotnour, T. G. , Orr, C., Spaulding, J. and Guidi, J. (1997), â€Å"Determining the benefit of knowledge management activities†, 1997 International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, October 12-15, pp. 94-9. Anzai, Y. (1987), â€Å"Doing, understanding, and learning in problem solving†, in Klahr, D. , Langley, P. and Neches, R (Eds), Production System Models of Learning and Development, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 55-98. Argyris, C. and Schon, D. A. (1978), Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective,Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Abdullah, H. S. Research Method Guide. Gido, C. Effective Project Management, 5th Edition.

Suggestions for President Obama's Strategy of Declaring Essay

Suggestions for President Obama's Strategy of Declaring - Essay Example United States is one of the countries considered with the best constitutions globally. However, there are several functional departments that citizens are crying foul of their effectiveness in the country, for instance, the congress. Basically, I agree with Obama’s suggestion that he cannot wait for a â€Å"dysfunctional† congress due to the constitutional system adopted by the United States. This paper focuses on difficulties imposed on policy making by the United States’ constitutional system. It also discuses why founders opted for a system based on separation of power, checks and balances. Moreover, it evaluates its effectiveness in the present situation of the United States. Finally, it offers personal suggestions on Obama’s strategy on declaration that he cannot wait for a â€Å"dysfunctional† congress and suggests several policies. United States is considered the world super power with strong and operational constitutional system. However, th e policies system and structure were only effective in the past years. This is because in the past years United States had really advanced both economically and politically. In the recent few years, the constitutional system adopted by United States has proved ineffective and unreliable (Child 48). This is due to non-responsive nature of the system to the problems facing the country over the past few years. In the past years that is twentieth century, united states have been faced with series of problems that have greatly compromised its position globally and exposed certain weaknesses of the constitutional system on policy making and implementation (Congress 37). United states have been faced with series of problems most of which can be controlled by the country, but the policy making procedure adopted in the constitution does not allow for quick response to such issues due to the legal procedures. For instance, unemployment rate have greatly increased in the United States over the past years (Schwartz 90). Basically, this has been caused by trade with china. China offers cheap products in the country which cannot be adequately and effectively competed against by the country’s locally produced commodities. This has led to closure of several companies’ especially local company. This is because they cannot adequately compete against Chinese products due to their market prices. This has led to exportation of unemployment from china to the United States (Leebrick 79). United States is the largest importer of Chinese products. Low cost of Chinese products is due to their currency value and regulation by the government on value regulation of the currency. Though this has caused United States its economic strength and china emerging as a potential contender as a global power house, United States have done little on addressing the issue (Schwartz 43). The country through its legislation could have suspended trade with china so as to address the problems in the economy due to the trade. However, this has taken long and the country has been frequently faced with similar problems arising from trade between the country and china. The issue has not been addressed due to the policy making procedure in the country and separation of power, checks and balances that take long. According to the constitution of the country, there are several departments and legal investigation and considerations that have to be taken before sanctioning trade with china. This shows the weak

Business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Business report - Essay Example Walmart’s leadership is often attracts criticisms for visionless business strategies. Debate about the replacing of present CEO is going on. Walmart’s failure to incorporate technology properly with the supply chain operations is bringing lot of criticisms. In any case, business practices in Wal-Mart are undergoing microscopic examination at present. In short, Walmart’s business practices need lot of modifications. This business report critically analyses Wal-Mart’s business practices and provides recommendations to improve it. Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, American based Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world at present. Retail revolutions were taking place in America in the 60’s and 70’s and Sam Walton exploited the opportunities very well with the help of innovative business strategies. â€Å"Sam Waltons strategy was built on an unshakeable foundation: The Lowest Prices Anytime, Anywhere. As of 2012, the company employs 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves 200 million customers each week at more than 10,000 stores in 27 countries† (Wal-Mart: History timeline, 2012). Despite of unfavorable market conditions, Wal-Mart was able to maintain its growth in recent years also. â€Å"Net sales increased by 5.9 percent to $443.9 billion, and consolidated operating income grew by 4 percent to $26.6 billion in 2012† (50 years of helping customers save money and live better, 2012, p.3). (See appendix 1 for more details about Wal-Mart’s performance in last 50 years). It should be noted that global markets are currently going through a bad patch because of the ongoing recession problems. Yet, Wal-Mart seems to be less affected by these problems. Even though, Wal-Mart’s published financial results in recent times are extremely good, many people believe that the company is facing too many strategic problems at present. It is believed that

Shanghai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Shanghai - Essay Example The city’s economic history began in the thirteenth century through cotton manufacturing and production. The production of Cotton and textile were the city’s economic backbone of city’s economy through to the nineteenth century. The economic development of Shanghai continued to grow after the construction of dikes, canals, and real estate development by private investors during the Song Dynasty. The city would have developed earlier in the fifteenth century, but the Ming Dynasty placed restrictions on trade in efforts to guard the city against Wokou. The dynasty was also responsible for the construction of the city’s wall. Part of the reasons that were encouraging rapid grow in Shanghai was the inclusion of the city as a treaty port in the Treaty of Nanjing of 1842. Around mid nineteenth century, the city of Shanghai was an established regional trade point, which attracted the Great Britain’s interest in the land. After victory in the First opium wa r, Britain began efforts to acquire land in the region, managing to obtain both trading rights and 140 acres on the riverbank to the north of the Chinese city. France and America were the next invaders around the city, with France settling in the western part of the town (later called the French Concession), and the American establishing themselves to the north of Suzhou Creek in 1863 (combining with the British settlement to be the International Settlement). These foreign communities were trading on opium in exchange to the goods they had come with. They had their own rules apart from the Chinese. During the Taiping uprising between 1850 and 1864, the international communities stepped in to contain the revolt throughout the city and the entire country. Their interest was Shanghai’s fortune, and this led to further development of the city’s infrastructure, including buildings in the foreigners’ style, telephones in 1881, electricity the year that followed, and r unning water in 1884. Shanghai defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was a leading factor for the establishment of the 1895 Japanese Concession, with manufacturing rights. Soon, the city had a diverse set of foreigners, from the White Russians to the Iraqi Jews (O’Sullivan, 2008). In accordance with the theory of existence and origin of cities, Shanghai developed from a self-sufficient household to innovative development by the foreign settlers. The influx of diverse communities decorated the city, making it a cosmopolitan location in China. It is set to eclipse its rival Hong Kong in the near future. Growth The growth of Shanghai was slow in the Ming Dynasty due to the trade restrictions. It began re-establishing inter-state trade in the Song Dynasty, and that is when it began to grow and develop rapidly. The major growth factor of Shanghai was its strategic position in the Grand Canal and the intersection of the East China Sea, as well as the Yangzi confluence (O’Sullivan, 2008). This was a good exposure point for development of a trade center, considering that at the time, the main means of long-distance travel was water transport. Another important growth aspect was the incorporation of the city as a treaty port with four other cities, including Xiamen, Fuzhou, Linbou, and Canton. The treaty ports were part of the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing between the Great Britain and China. The treaty permitted

Issue Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Issue Analysis - Essay Example Though there is no definite law protecting bisexual, lesbian, and gay employees from discrimination at work, there are possible amendments to existing laws that could benefit bisexual, lesbian, and gay employees, dependent on the jurisdiction the employee is in and the type of employment the employee holds. For employees employed by the federal or state government, in case of termination, there should be the option of suing the employer based on a violation of federal or state due process and equal protection of law. The procedural due process case should be able to assert that the termination of the bisexual, lesbian, or gay employee violated due process if the employee was not given an opportunity to be heard or a proper notice prior to the date of effectivity of the termination. A considerable due process case should address the equality of the law itself. The employee should be able to file a case against the employer in case the federal or state's termination of the employee for being bisexual, lesbian, or gay in unreasonable and would dispossess the employee of a property or personal right ensured by the constitution. An equal protection argument must be able to assert that the employer gave a different treatment to the bisexual, lesbian, or gay employee from other equally placed employees, for no grounds that are justifiable in law (4). E Employers have no trouble dealing with the worry of proving that the reason for a government action is rational. Until now, alienage, nationality, and race are the only classifications that were directly given the mantle of suspect classification that has produced the instinctive utilization of the pressing state interest test (5). Also, quasi-suspect qualifications were recognized by the Court (6), and merely one court has spared putting lesbians, bisexuals, and gays in this classification (7). That middle ground between rational basis and suspect class require a showing that the government action can be "significantly associated to a valid interest of the state" (8). For employers, it is not hard to defend the disparity in treatment between non-gay and gay employees under the more relaxed rational basis test. Even though courts have largely backed off from allowing a disparity in management based mainly on the employee's identification or standing as lesbian or gay (9), it gener ally does not take much to prove that being lesbian or gay is, on way or another, linked to performance at work. For example, the possibility of security risks from discovery of lesbian or gay employees' affinity orientation was a frequently used justification in treating these employees differently (10). This happens even when the employee does not really conceal their orientation or affinity so that "discovery" is not really a concern (11). On the other hand, some local and state jurisdictions have in fact implemented laws particularly to protect lesbian and gay public employees from discrimination at work, therefore freeing them from this legal struggle over due process or equal protection classification (12). Private Employees The situation is not considerably different for private employees. There is almost no protection from suffering job discrimination merely by being bisexual, lesbian, or gay, or being perceived as such, unless the employee resides in one of the few states that have anti-discrimination laws (13). Under the