Saturday, August 31, 2019

Alternative Teaching Strategies

From Infancy until the late stages of our lives, we undergo different stages of development. In each of the stages, we are supposed to be mastering some craft, or prioritizing a task that we have not given the time of day before. Several psychologists have come up with theories about these stages, each intertwined with the other. This paper will concentrate on Jean Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development, specifically, to Concrete Operational Stage, in relation to the experience of tutoring Math to the children in St.Kitts. According Perret-Clermont and Bessire, (2004) from encyclopedia. com, â€Å"Piaget compared ideas and facts, the philosophy of science and the observation of children, working out the fundamental principles of genetic epistemology. † Concrete Operational Stage happens from the ages 7 to 11 years. According to Piaget, at this stage, reversibility, that is objects when changed has the ability to return to its original state, is attained. According to Marshall (1998) in encyclopedia.com, â€Å"In the stage of so-called concrete-operations (which lasts from about the ages of 7 to 11 or 12), children start to classify objects, can take the role of others and understand the nature of cause and effect, but still have difficulty thinking about abstract concepts without referring these to real events or particular images with which they are familiar. † Edwards, Hopgood, Rosenberg and Rush (2009) further wrote in their website, â€Å"During this stage, the thought process becomes more rational, mature and ‘adult like', or more ‘operational', although this process most often continues well into the teenage years.The process is divided by Piaget into two stages, the Concrete Operations, and the Formal Operations stage, which is normally undergone by adolescents. In the Concrete Operational stage, the child has the ability to develop logical thought about an object, if they are able to manipulate it. By comparison, howe ver, in the Formal Operations stage, the thoughts are able to be manipulated and the presence of the object is not necessary for the thought to take place. †Other characteristic for this stage was mentioned by Atherton (2009) in the Learning Teaching website: â€Å"Can think logically about objects and events; Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9); Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. † An Anonymous writer from Child Development institute (2008) said the following for this stage of development, â€Å"Evidence for organized, logical thought. There is the ability to perform multiple classification tasks, order objects in a logical sequence, and comprehend the principle of conservation.Thinking becomes less transductive and less egocentric. The child is capable of concrete problem-solving. Some reversibility now possible (quantities moved can be restored suc h as in arithmetic: 3+4 = 7 and 7-4 = 3, etc. ) Class logic-finding bases to sort unlike objects into logical groups where previously it was on superficial perceived attribute such as color. Categorical labels such as â€Å"number† or animal† now available. † It is from these that the project was initiated. For two months, the author of this paper has spent time with the school kids of St. Kitts.Everyday, tutorial lessons were held to aid children in accomplishing their tasks at school. A set of survey questions was also distributed to find out their views to help in setting up the project. The survey consisted of 10 questions specifically phrased and distributed to both the children and their parents. Of the ten questions answered by the children, the top four questions that were noticeable were questions number 2, 4, 5 and 9. Question number two asked them if their parents spend quality time with them and their schoolwork. Nearly 70% of the population said †Å"no.† Majority of the children answered 4-5 hours with question number four that asked about the amount of time they spend playing after school. When asked if they spend time studying at home, besides at school, for question number 5, only 43% said â€Å"yes. † It is however, noteworthy that 100% of the children answered â€Å"yes† in question number nine, â€Å"if I were to tutor you for the next two months, do you think you will be better? † As for the result on the survey to the parents, the top four questions that had numerical impact were questions number 1, 2, 3 and 5.For question number one, only 50% of the parents say that they are involved in their children’s homework. The involvement of the 50% though varies from subject to subject as they have limited knowledge to some areas. Close to 74% of the parents answered â€Å"yes† to question number two, â€Å"Do you ask to see their homework? † Comparing the results for both quest ions number one and two, the disparity between involvement (helping children out) and simply looking at the homework, is already evident. Looking at the homework does not necessarily mean seeing through the process of its completion.One of the more interesting results is the answer to question number three, as it deals with time frames parents set to their children in accomplishing their homework. Only 20% of the population does it. The last question that had impact is for the one that asked whether or not parents cut out distractions (like TV or computer) in the background? Only 12% were confident in saying â€Å"yes,† whereas a majority rated it as â€Å"not sure. † This result roots from the fact that they don’t entirely remove these distractions, because most of the parents still do their own chores and tasks while their children are doing their homework.The experience has brought the conclusion that lack of attention and attentiveness to and from the kids a re the biggest contributors for the knowledge deficit in the community. The objective of the project is to come up with an alternative that will help children concentrate on doing assignments to gain desire for learning anew, to help and equip parents with the styles of teaching, so that after this project, they can do it themselves. The project and teaching plan, however, are limited to tutoring Math, and not other subjects.Nursing Diagnosis: Knowledge deficit related to lack of application of age-appropriate (developmental stage) learning methodology. While the children answered in such manner to the survey questions, an apparent lack of appropriate application of the developmental ability and capability is a contributor to making the children interested in the subject area and making the parents involved in the assignments. Parents have little knowledge on how to approach teaching children, and they are not wary about the fact that children at different stages comprehend lessons in different manners or levels.

Educating the Re-Educated Essay

During China’s Cultural Revolution young intellectuals, who were described as men and women that graduated from high school, were sent to the countryside to be re-educated and learn about hard labor. During their re-education men and women were pushed to their limits to endure hard labor. These men and women were also prohibited to have anything reactionary because it was against their Chairman Mao. In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Luo and Ma, the main characters, are sent to Mountain of the Phoenix of the Sky to be â€Å"re-educated by the poor peasants,† but to their surprise they end up educating the peasants and the daughter of the local tailor, the Little Seamstress. Luo and Ma were two of the young men that were sent to the countryside and learn about labor. Although, these two young men only had a middle school education, it can be argued that their presence at Mountain Phoenix was contrary to their re-education. Instead of Ma and Luo being the students they became the educators and made a big difference in one of the characters life. Luo and Ma served not only as workers, but as educators. Although Luo and Ma only had a middle school education they were sent to re-education because their doctor parents were seen as enemies of the state. During their stay at Phoenix Mountain they befriended Four Eyes who was a young intellectual getting re-educated. Four eyes plays an important role in Luo’s and Ma’s education of the people. Four eyes possess a treasure trove of forbidden reactionary Western novels, which Luo and Ma desired and eventually stole. Ma and Luo stole the novels when Four Eyes was about to leave the mountain, they take the novels with them and fall in love. Another, person that plays an important role in Luo and Ma’s education of the people is the Headman. He sends Ma and Luo on trips to the city to watch movies. Luo and Ma are sent to watch the movies, but have to return and tell the movie to the people of the mountain. One of the most important characters is the Little Chinese Seamstress. Luo and Ma fall in love with her, but Luo stereotypes her and says she is â€Å"not civilized† enough for him. With this being said when Luo and Ma come across Four Eyes books they have the idea of educating the Little Seamstress and teaching her how to read. The books that the boys take from four eyes help them take their mind of where they are and what they are going through, but also help them improve the mentality of the Little Seamstress. The Little Seamstress has lived her whole life in the mountain and doesn’t clearly know what is outside of that area. When the boys read her the stories she imagines a completely different world than the one she is used to. The reader is able to see the impact the novels have on the Seamstress when she starts to make her clothes differently and starts d ressing differently. The Little Seamstress begins to wonder more what is outside of the mountains. She wants to know about other places and different people. When the Headman sends Luo and Ma to the city to watch a movie he does it with an intention of having them fail when they return to explain the movie to the people. To his surprise the boys come back and explain the movie better than anyone and the Headman sends them back every time so they can tell the movie. The boys go so many times that every time they come back they tell the movie better each time. They make the people feel as if they are right their watching the movie. The people become emotional and start crying at times, but that is just a sign that they are entertained by what they are hearing. The way they tell the story helps the people imagine what’s happening and feel the emotion of what’s happening to the characters. The movie telling becomes a way of entertainment for the people it’s a way of getting their minds out of their everyday tasks. The boys help the people think of new and different things every time they tell a movie. The Luo and Ma made a difference in the other people’s lives without realizing that they did anything. They changed the lives of the people listening to their movies and they changed the life of the little Seamstress. They educated the people listening ot their movies in the sense that they opened their mind to new things, to things that are outside of their surroundings. Luo and Ma may not have taught them how to read or how write but they opened their mind to new things. As the Etymology dictionary explains, to educate means to â€Å"bring forth and have a formative effect on the mind.† Luo and Ma made an effect in the people’s minds by telling them stories that they were able to visualize and feel. The biggest person they had an impact on was the Little Seamstress, they left a big effect on her that it made her want to change and become a new person. Without knowing what they did to her, they opened her mind to new things. The stories left her wanting more, in the sense that she wanted to see what’s out in the world without having to read about it. She not only wanted to read about it but wanted to experience it on her own. The knowledge they gave to her is most noticeable in the end of the novel, when she leaves. Without having the intention of making an impact on her mind they realized that they gave her more than just short stories and novels. Readers may argue that Ma and Luo did nothing other than what they were told which was to tell the movie, but Ma and Luo did more than just explain what happened in a movie. Ma and Luo acted out a lot of the scenes and tried to be as explanatory as possible. They even went a step farther and made â€Å"snow† appear in one of their scenes. Even though they acted out the scenes, people may still argue that one cannot educate others from just acting out a movie. It is true Luo and Ma didn’t teach the people any of the basic skills like reading, writing, and math, but they taught them how to visualize and how to explore a new world outside of theirs. Also, people may argue that they did not educate the Little Seamstress, that they only read her novels. Luo and Ma opened up a door to the Little Seamstress that she has never witnessed before. Reading her the novels let her imagine images from the novels that she would have never seen before or thought about. They let her imagine and wonder about new things. The Little Seamstress learned about other people, their lives, and what they think about. To her it was something new and out of the ordinary. Luo and Ma taught the people and the Little Seamstress to imagine and feel new things. They were like parents reading a story to their children before bed. In the end when the Little Seamstress leaves she takes notice that she learned something, but she doesn’t acknowledge she learned because of Ma and Luo. She says, â€Å"She had learnt one thing from Balzac,† in this moment she is acknowledging she learned something and that’s the reason she is leaving. If she had not learned anything she wouldn’t be leaving. The Little Seamstress acknowledgement of learning something goes to show that the Ma and Luo did not only go to Phoenix Mountain to get re-educated, but to educate the re-educated. Without acknowledging that their movie and storytelling would make a difference, the Little Seamstress leaving shows that they did more than just telling stories. They helped the Seamstress gain confidence in her and knowledge, enough to want to leave and explore what is outside of the mountain. As for the people they would tell the movies to they learned that there is more outside their mountain and they learned how to grow their imagination. Luo and Ma were sent to the mountain to gain new knowledge on hard labor, once they were their they did not just learn they taught. Bibliography * Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., Jan. 2001. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. * Sijie, Dai. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. New York: Anchor Books, 2001. Print. Outline Thesis: * Luo and Ma were sent to Mountain of the Phoenix of the Sky to be â€Å"re-educated by the poor peasants,† but ended up education the some of the peasents especially the little seamstress. Argument: * Describe what happens in the countryside like why the boys were sent their, how they got a hold of the books, how they met little seamstress and how they decided to educate her. * How the books help the boys with educating the seamstress * How the movie telling helps the boys educate the people * They made a difference without realizing they did anything Refutation: * People may argue that they didn’t do anything that all they did was follow orders of watching the movie and how does reading to a young lady educate her? Conclusion: * They educated the people without realizing they opened their eyes and imagination to a new place. It is most convincing that they did anything when the little seamstress leaves and says that what she learned is that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Divergent Minds

Divergent character or Divergent personality Thesis Statement on Personality vs Character: Even though society may have an impact to change our character, our decision is the ultimate factor that changes as we accommodate in the environment we live in. While parents have a major influence in our life at young age, what they instill is what has been created by their parents and their surrounding. We grow up with certain types of personalities from our parents but our characters are challenged or molded within our lifetime and who we are behind closed doors have made us to be divergent with society.The book â€Å"Divergent† by Veronica Roth shows how society can have an impact on ones personality but a persons character may never change. While parents have a major influence in our life at young age, Should our characters be challenged or molded by our surrounding? because I believe that personality traits and character traits are misunderstood. while personality is the first thi ng we see in a person such like a mask that someone would wear, we downsize the fact that a persons character is really who they are under pressure or alone in there room from the unseen eye of society.Personality perceives personality but who we are is rooted in our hidden character which are uniquely shaped by the surroundings in life, society, and culture we live in and Ironically, research has shown that personality traits are determined largely by heredity and are mostly immutable. Character traits, as opposed to personality traits, are based on beliefs (e. g, that honesty and treating others well is important—or not), and though beliefs can be changed, it's far harder than most realize.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Leadership Style and Characteristics of Richard Branson Assignment - 1

Leadership Style and Characteristics of Richard Branson - Assignment Example The music company made him numerous profits in 1973 and has led to the subsequent creation of the other facets of Virgin, including, radio, banking, healthcare, film, internet, commercial spacecraft, electronics, jewelry, mobile phones, music, radio, and retail, among others. The success of the Virgin group is attributed greatly to the personal qualities and leadership style of Richard Branson. This paper elaborates on the leadership style of the entrepreneur that makes his business flourish, having over fifty thousand employees at the moment. For the success of any business, discipline, and style of leadership of the manager is important. Richard Branson is a participative leader. He says that what leadership boils down to is people, whatever the style, technique, you need to trust in yourself (Branson, 2012). He adds that nobody can be prosperous alone, and that one cannot be a good leader without great people to lead. From the statement, it is clear and correct to say that he is t he kind of leader that involves people, and also himself, to ensure the success of Virgin group. In addition, the entrepreneur believes in the delegation. â€Å"I have continuously found in the art of delegation, finding the best people for Virgin, and giving them the freedom and encouragement to flourish, â€Å"he articulates (Dearlove, 2007). He allows people to do some work for him. In fact, when he started Virgin records, he even took a step back, just to let people do it for him. He believes in his staff and needs not be scared on underperformance â€Å"when I set up Virgin Records, I even decided to isolate myself physically from the company, by moving into a boathouse,† he explains (Branson & Overdrive, 2014). Apparently, the entrepreneur possesses an attitude that is unconventional and informal. Due to this, he has managed to gain fame all over the world. Through his leadership style, he turns every failure into success, by creating a campaign out of it.  

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Thelma & Louise Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Thelma & Louise - Research Paper Example She works as a waitress and has a boyfriend named Jimmy. On the other hand, Thelma is a housewife under the dominion of her husband. Despite their differences, the audience learns that they have organized a weekend road trip, but Thelma has to seek permission from her dominant husband. In the first scene of the film, the director depicts two different women in kitchens (Lanouette 2). Louise is in a commercial kitchen that appears huge and large with multiple processes going on. Thelma appears in her household kitchen, but that depicts a high level of disorganization. In addition, the kitchen appears highly messy. Moreover, the director depicts Louise dressed in white while Thelma wears a loosely hanging bathrobe. The director uses these different illustrations to introduce the evident differences between the women at the onset of the film. The conversation between Thelma and her husband Dareel serves to highlight to the audience that she is a voiceless housewife, having to bear with the suppressive nature of her husband. Thelma’s tone of addressing her husband reflects her passive nature since she struggles to impress her husband through her tone and choice of words. She struggles to find the right words to seek his permission, but she fails, and decides to leave for the trip without his consent. On the night prior to the trip, the director depicts the women packing, but in different ways. Louise is seen packing in an organized manner, having clear ideas on the items that she needs to pack. Louise’s apartment exhibits effective lighting and multiple mirrors. On the other hand, Thelma exhibits disorganization in the way she packs, clustering clothes, and items into her bag. In this scene, the director also emphasizes on the spatial opposition that is evident in the entire film. The effective use of costumes and props in the film serves to introduce the spatial opposition (Pramaggiore and Wallis 94). When the two women start their trip, they begin t o share the same space in the car. Previously, they had not shared any space, and their attitudes were different. At the onset of their trip, they exhibit different attributes. Louise is in control of her life, and makes decisions that define her moves(Lanouette 4). Thelma has just made the first defining decision of embarking on the trip without her husband’s consent. Since spatial opposition is minimal in the shared car, and the scenes that follow depict the many changes that occur between the spatial settings of the women. Thelma exhibits an emerging desire to make her personal decisions when she suggests that they stop at Silver Bullet, a club where the passive Thelma indulges in a flirty dance with a stranger Harlan. The club space defined by music, waitresses, and revelry serves to highlight a percentage of the transformation that occurs in Thelma. As the plot progresses, she seems to be pursuing more freedom. At the club, Harlan decides to take advantage of Thelma, and drags her to the parking where he intends to rape her. The lighting at the parking appears dim suggesting to the audience that something undesirable was about to happen(Pramaggiore and Wallis 95). The director also ensures a level of tension that ensues before Louise gets to the parking lot where the ordeal is transpiring. The vulnerability of Thelma is evident from her

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

African American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

African American History - Essay Example Due to industrialization, the north comprised of educated people both blacks and whites (Morgan, 68). As a result of the differences in northern and southern economies, perceptions about slavery also differed between the two economies. According to Morgan (68), the northern whites worked alongside the blacks in the industries and the blacks were not subjected to degradation. Some whites owned slaves who worked in farms and houses and one could buy his/her freedom. On contrary, the southern slaves did not mix with whites; they were slave societies. The African-American slaves were considered inferior to the whites hence subjected to hard work under poor working conditions. The northern was religious and believed in the unalienable rights of all human beings. Slavery was thus abolished in the north and all slaves freed. However, even after the emancipation proclamation by Lincoln, the south used Ku Klux Klan to maintain white supremacy; the blacks were denied the right to vote as they were inferior race. However, both the south and the north agreed that they were more superior since t hey were more educated and due to their color (Duiker & Spielvogel, 497-498). Frederick Douglass is considered the father of integration. He advocated for the abolition of slavery in America and believed in the virtues entailed in the declaration of independence; right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness (Myers, 2011). He also believed that the blacks could enjoy the rights, privileges and immunities that were enjoyed by the whites. He advocated for self-elevation or self-sufficiency to be able to acquire the same status as the whites. For him, dependency on the whites was out of question. The blacks needed education in order to be at the same level as the whites hence he advocated for removal of segregation in schools. All human beings are equal, hence the whites and the blacks could perform same tasks, have same rights of voting

Monday, August 26, 2019

Mary Rowlandson captiviity narrative vs. Douglas slave narrative Research Paper

Mary Rowlandson captiviity narrative vs. Douglas slave narrative - Research Paper Example the most famous and moving of a number of narratives written by former slaves, in factual detail describes the events of his life as a slave and thereafter. Both works are considered influential in early American literature. Analyzing the two, one sees that what at first appears to be a connection bound by the notion of captivity, that connection is well superseded by the very different personal and overall goals of the writers. .. a single individual, usually a woman, [who] stands passively under the strokes of evil, awaiting rescue by the grace of God. The sufferer represents the whole, chastened body of Puritan society; and the temporary bondage of the captive to the Indian is dual paradigm-- of the bondage of the soul to the flesh and the temptations arising from original sin, and of the self-exile of the English Israel from England. In the Indians devilish clutches, the captive had to meet and reject the temptation of Indian marriage and/or the Indians "cannibal" Eucharist. To partake of the Indians love or of his equivalent of bread and wine was to debase, to un-English the very soul. The captives ultimate redemption by the grace of Christ and the efforts of the Puritan magistrates is likened to the regeneration of the soul in conversion. The ordeal is at once threatful of pain and evil and promising of ultimate salvation. Through the captives proxy, the promise of a similar salvation could be offere d to the faithful among the reading public, while the captives torments remained to harrow the hearts of those not yet awakened to their fallen nature. (Stokes 94) Narratives of slavery, such as that written by Frederick Douglass, recounted the personal experiences of ante-bellum African Americans who had escaped from slavery and found their way to safety in the North. Employing the tradition of the captivity narrative, narratives of slavery were similarly reliant on Biblical references and imagery. Differing in context, however, they were replete with

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Native American from the Colonial American Era Research Paper

Native American from the Colonial American Era - Research Paper Example hese relationships altered and shaped the path of history in both cultures, effectively laying the foundation for the contemporary multicultural American society. Archaeological proof places the native tribe of Narragansett at the similarly named Narragansett Bay, currently known as Rhode Island, at least 30000 years ago1. The British colonizers arrived at Narragansett Bay in the year 1635. The tribe chiefs acted very friendly at first2. They even agreed to give Roger William, a Briton rejected by the neighboring native authorities, a track of land to create Providence; a settlement characterized by religious and political non-conformists. Roger William quickly learned the Narragansett language and became popular, spearheading friendly relations between the Narragansett and the British. The Narragansett even sought help from the British to fight against their long time tribal enemies, the Pequot, in an effort to regain territorial dominance. However, the mutual British-Narragansett relationship did not last for more than a decade. In 1675, war erupted between the two. The European attacked Narragansett for resisting their quest for more land. King Philip led the native warriors in fighting the British. However, the Narragansett lost the battle and were thrown out of their land. They later joined other native tribes in retaliation. Indians, unlike their Narragansett counterparts, were very suspicious from the beginning3. They showed mixed reactions; sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile. Part of their corporation is the batter trade that existed between them and the British. The British would give them weapons that they used to fight their native enemies. This case is similar to that of the Narragansett where the British were directly involved in fighting for Narragansett. In return to this favor, the Indians gave out fur. Unlike the Narragansett, they were very careful not to trade their land. The Indian-British relationship also ended in war. The Pequot war of

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Readers response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Readers response - Essay Example Finally, the plotline has almost nothing to do with a love story. Faulkner introduces Miss Emily Grierson as a woman who has never been provided an opportunity to become comfortable or familiar with the world outside of her father’s old world ideals. This created a situation in which Miss Emily â€Å"got to be thirty and was still single† (437), forced to live in her maidenhood forever and lacking any connection to the rest of the world. Her inability to relate to the real world outside her fantasy is seen when she refuses to acknowledge her father’s death. This reaction was considered strange and unusual by the people of the town who are narrating the tale, but justified by the way in which she’d been treated by this man. But this strangeness was forgotten when Emily started behaving like normal by dating Homer Barron and her retreat back into her house after he left seems understandable. The final revelation that she had killed Homer Barron and then slept with the dead corpse for years is surprising, but not out of ch aracter. The idea that this old lady slept with the decaying corpse of the lover she’d killed is really gruesome but makes a lot of sense at the same time. It seems unnecessary to explain why the story seems very gruesome. However, it also makes sense as the old people of the antebellum South continued to have troubles adjusting to the changing rules of society. Miss Emily was forced to become an old maid because there weren’t any more families of the ‘old ways’ that were close enough to her family’s old social position. By the time her father died, she was incapable of accepting any kind of change like a lot of people of the Old South were. She tried to break the mold a little bit when she started dating Homer Barron. He was a northerner and someone of a much lower social class than what

Friday, August 23, 2019

Chorley Fabrics Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chorley Fabrics Ltd - Essay Example The amount of units to produce was acquired by taking the values of the availability of resources (from another table) and the usage of resources per product. This was divided into the former to get a quotient: the maximum use of resources. Both Stevenson (2005)1 and Middleton (2006)2 explain how to use Excel in this fashion via the Solver tool. After this, the amount of units produced was multiplied by the profit per unit to obtain the value for total profit. X1, X2, X8, X9 and X10 are the profit bringers, and thus they should be placed on the schedule in order of profit received, starting from the highest: X2, X8, S9, X1 and X10. The others, as there is little profit from them, should be moved to the bottom of the list. X4 can likely be eliminated altogether. From this, using the SUMPRODUCT formula, which adds the sums of products of corresponding arrays, it can then be determined how much of each resource is used per week. For example, X1 can have 15 units produced, at a cost of 1.8 units in M/C 1. Unit 2 can have have 28 units, at a cost of 1.2 in M/C 2, and so on down the list. All these values are added up to get the total usage of resources. Alternatively, all values in the row corresponding to each product can be added to get the total cost per unit. Resource Usage Available M/C 1 369.75 400 M/C 2 206.75 250 M/C 3 280.00 280 M/C 4 212.82 270 M/C 5 324.00 340 Mat 1 600.00 600 Mat 2 780.00 780 Labour 182.80 229 This table denotes the usage of all resources, based upon the values gained from the procedure described above. Going by this, it can be seen that M/C 3 and both raw materials are used to optimum efficiency. There is no surplus or deficit. M/C 2 and M/C 4, hwever, are lacking; there is a a period of 44.3 hours left over for 2, and a period of 57.2 hours for 4. M/C 1, 3, and 5 are used efficiently; there is little available time left for them. 5. Marginal Benefits Resource Final Value Marginal Benefits Constraint R.H. Side Allowable Increase Allowable Decrease M/C 1 Usage 369.75 0.00 400 1E+30 30.24822533 M/C 2 Usage 206.84 0.00 250 1E+30 43.15699565 M/C 3 Usage 280.00 7.93 280 7.303252788 14.80479303 M/C 4 Usage 212.84 0.00 270 1E+30 57.15903366 M/C 5 Usage 322.01 0.00 340 1E+30 17.99473323 Mat 1 Usage 600.00 13.98 600 65.70689655 61.87637795 Mat 2

An analysis of corporate governance in the GCC countries and the Literature review - 1

An analysis of corporate governance in the GCC countries and the impact of sharia law on it - Literature review Example Other than the parties within the organization, corporate governance is also concerned with the relationships that exist among the stakeholders of an organization and its impact to the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives. In modern business organizations, major external business stakeholders include trade creditor, customers, suppliers, shareholders, debtors and the general public members who are directly or indirectly affected by the corporation’s activities (Maria and Thomas, 1999). There are also some internal stakeholders in every organization that too need to be taken care of by the management. These include the employees, board of directors, executives and management itself. The external stakeholders need more attention than the internal stakeholders since they are the one who help in meeting the expectations of the external ones. There are many debates held by scholars, researchers and modern economist on how economic well being is impacted by the corporate governance existing in a country or a certain trade block. The issue of concern here is the welfare of shareholders, who are the most sensitive external stakeholders in every corporation. Majority of these debaters argue that there is need to establish regulatory policies to ensure that companies have given the necessary priority to the needs of shareholders. To them economy efficiency in any country depends strongly on the ability of that country to attract many domestic and international investors. This can only be achieved if shareholders are satisfied hence attracting more investors or they can even increase their investment by increasing capital (Becht, 1997), There issue of concern in this study is basically on how corporate governance has been taking place in different parts of the world with more emphasis put on the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Change & Continuity over Time of Religion in Europe from the 1500-1900 Essay Example for Free

Change Continuity over Time of Religion in Europe from the 1500-1900 Essay The period between 1500 to 1900 also refers to the time period from the Middle Ages to the modern world. The period witnessed significant strides in state building in England, France, and Spain, where growing bureaucracies levied taxes to finance large-scale warfare and territorial expansion. At the same time encroachment on the longstanding powers of the nobility caused feudal reaction, while the breach with tradition, particularly by creating new taxes in an era plagued by war, famine, and disease, caused peasants to revolt. A number of historical trends emerged to give the period clear definition: the fragmentation of Christianity and growing secularism; pronounced demographic and economic fluctuation; the development of the European state system; and the emergence of a global, Europe-centered system of production and trade. In the second decade of the sixteenth century, the Christian church experienced the first in a series of religious divisions along geographic lines. The sequence of splits, beginning in the Holy Roman Empire and spreading to the whole of Europe by the end of the century, transformed the relationship of the reformed churches with state, society, and the people. Christianity also spread to the indigenous people of the Americas and Asia. There was a strong desire for religious unity, marked by mandatory conversions of Moors and Jews to Catholicism in Spain and an enthusiastic missionary effort both in Europe and abroad. At the same time in nearly every area of Europe religious conflict and calls for a redistribution of power became virtually unavoidable, causing crisis in authority at state and local levels. Religious evangelism encouraged stronger spiritual education of young people. During the same time period, the advances of scientific information provided new, conflicting methods of learning. For this reason, children of educated classes were brought up in a world of competing models of knowledge advanced by churchmen and scientists, while the children of ordinary people were exposed to combinations of evangelical claims, folk wisdom, and the overpowering and repressive Reformation churches. Protestant and Catholic teachers tried to clarify and define the boundaries of official doctrine. Their interactions with the commoners caused serious tensions. Popular beliefs were judged as pagan. Evangelists tried to impose religious uniformity and eliminate groups or individuals who could not be brought into the mainstream Christianity. In particular, the office of the Holy Inquisition denied the lay peoples claims to spiritual powers in an effort to give all powers to the clergy. It was an attempt to take away the spiritual dimension of the lay people, medicine and science. The religious campaign to denounce magic and witchcraft helped prepare the ground for the late-seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century scientific claims that the cosmos was mechanized. In the modern age, science would undermine magical beliefs and reduce the spiritual influence of the clergy. The religious Reformation, together with the critical and undemocratic nature of Renaissance humanism, shattered the unity of intellectual thought, developments that were vital to the advancement of science. The discovery of new worlds and people and that the earth was round; the invention of movable type; the development of firearms and of a lens that improved the visibility of the stars and planets; improved mechanical clocks; and the development of shipbuilding and navigation opened up new intellectual perspectives and methods of discovery that relied increasingly on rational thinking rather than religion. Scientists made new claims to authority and objectivity, and began explaining the world in mechanical terms. Separating the observable world from the spiritual sphere represented a fundamental shift in thought. To see the world operating on basic principles discoverable by reason created hope that humans could control their environment, a change in attitude that helped pave the way for nineteenth-century industrialization.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Psychological Manipulation Different Techniques Psychology Essay

Psychological Manipulation Different Techniques Psychology Essay Psychological manipulation is  like brain washing in that it wears away the victims self-confidence, sense of self-worth, trust in their own perceptions, and self-concept. Whichever way it is done, the results will be fairly similar. Eventually, the recipient of the abuse loses all sense of self and the final remaining vestiges of personal value. Psychological manipulation cuts through to the very core of a person. It cuts scars that are deeper and longer lasting than physical ones. Manipulators may take many forms to manipulate people throughout the different ages. Most people have all been manipulated by others. Telling a white lie in order to get what we want is one way of manipulation. Students are dishonorable for telling teachers that they couldnt get their paper in on time because their computer crashed the previous night. Employees claim to be sick in order to miss a day of work. When a manipulator manipulates other people, he is depriving them from their ability to make decisions based on their own accurate reading of reality. When a manipulator tells a lie, he provides an alternate reality to the other person therefore, they make decisions that may be to that manipulators advantage, but it may not be a decision that this person would make if he knew all the facts. People all want to trust and assume the best in other people. People believe that when someone tells them something, the other person is telling the truth. When people have been repeatedly hurt because others have taken advantage of our trust, People may change their beliefs about the world. They may become pessimistic and try to undermine others before we are hurt again. However, the best strategy is probably to trust until someone shows us that they cant be trusted. Its even better if we can learn how to recognize psychological manipulation when it appears. (Recognition of psychological manipulation will be seen later in this paper). Manipulators use many techniques of manipulation. I will now state two which I find used by many manipulators. A psychological manipulator is always displaying his/herself in the image of a willing helper. If you ask him/her to do something they will almost agree. In other words, when you ask him for something he agrees and when you thank him/her, he/she makes a lot of sighs or gestures that let you know they dont really want to do whatever you asked of him/her. Psychological manipulators can make you doubt yourself as they are very good at turning things around. They will say a thing and later assure you that they didnt where they can make you think that one plus one is three. Psychological Manipulation can be very effective that it may control ur behaviors and actions such as seen in the famous novel 1984. There are simple ways in which you can spot manipulators therefore preventing them from manipulating you. First thing to keep in mind is when a manipulator has years of experience they use words as their weapon of choice. They know exactly what to say and how to say it in order to get what they want.  Understand that psychological manipulators dont care what you want. They may act as though they do, but know that they have great acting ability. Many can cry on cue or act out fits of rage and not be angry at all. The second thing you should put in mind is that emotional manipulators are charming and all your friends and family will like them. They put on their best impersonation of a nice person around others. They continue this facade throughout your time together. This deception is how they make you turn out to be the crazy one.   Your feelings are your best friend. If something doesnt feel right and you are feeling confused, then you need to really pay close attention to what this person is saying and doing. When you find that their actions dont match their words, take this is a bright red flag. They will say something like Everybody makes mistakes. Even Im not perfect. This is a guilt trap set up and dont fall into it! Third psychological manipulation tactic is flirting. They flirt right in front of you, and then accuse you of over reacting. Naturally, then, youre the bad person ; theyre just being friendly, and so on. They thrive on your drama, so they find ways to push your buttons.   Remember, in the beginning theyre listening and watching, so they know what gets to you. Give them ammunition and they will use it! This is why you do not bare secrets early on. Its your secrets and fears that they use to make you appear unstable and unreasonable. The Fourth and most important to keep in mind is to look for doubt to set in, not in them, but in you. You will start doubting your own sanity. Did I really say that? Did I really do that? Emotional manipulation is all about making a person doubt themselves. This way the manipulator is always right and always gets their way. They are in control and plan to keep it that way. The use of guilt, anger, deception, intimidation, control and power will all come into play at some point. They will also be ambiguous, elusive, and emotionally unavailable. There is no love only lust. Sad to say, but many people mistake lust for love and fall for this tactic head first. The last thing to take care of is to know that the worst part of this is that if youre around them long enough, you will become like them. Thats right, you become like who youre around. How do you fight back or survive if you dont use emotional manipulation tactics yourself? After all, manipulators dont play fair! Its called natural adaptation. Many times it ends in sadness and violence; emotional baggage to carry for life unless counseling is sought. If you dont want to fall for these emotional manipulators build up your self esteem and confidence, so that you find their behaviors are unacceptable. People are sitting at a neutral state being swung back and forth on what and who to believe. They dont know that manipulation can be very dangerous and can be used in totalitarianism especially if they are manipulated by double think. An example of double think, the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in ones mind simultaneously and accepting both of them, as a manipulation technique for a large population (e.g. population of a country) is found in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. Where British citizens are psychologically manipulated to believe what the government and media declares. War is Peace is an example. To illustrate War is Peace, we must look at the term keeping the peace. America, the worlds liberator, has a wicked habit of keeping the peace in foreign lands. What this really means is that they send troops to these lands, armed with the most advanced weaponry, and threaten to kill everyone that goes against the interests of democracy. All of this is in the name of keeping the peace. The act of doublethink is now common in the world, many young adults are torn to believe contradictory statements about politics, and life which will prevent future generations from knowing what peace is. Not everyone in this world knows about psychological manipulation. Psychological manipulation techniques may be scattered all around your life; but that doesnt mean you have to give in to them. With this paper, you are now more equipped to handle different manipulative techniques. I also do recommend people to prepare their children to overcome manipulation. Sources: Books: Title: Mind Control. Publisher: Citadel; illustrated edition edition (August 1, 2006). Author: Dr.Haha Lung. Internet: http://www.manipulative-people.com/psychological-manipulation-an-overview/. http://mentalabuse.org/home.asp. http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/psychological-manipulation-techniques-3-awful-things-people-do-to-manipulate-others-1574468.html. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_manipulation. http://www.psychologicalharassment.com/psychological_manipulation.htm.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Audit Expectation Gap

The Audit Expectation Gap Introduction The audit expectation gap is critical to the auditing profession because the greater the unfulfilled expectations from the public, the lower is the credibility, earning potential and prestige associated with the work of auditors. The aim of this paper is to uncover the causes of an audit expectation gap. It is revealed that the existence of an audit expectation gap is due to complicated nature of an audit function; conflicting role of auditors; retrospective evaluation of auditors performance; time lag in responding to changing expectation; and self-regulation process of the auditing profession. For decades the auditing profession has been troubled with high levels of litigations and accusations. Such a problem has reached an unprecedented level as a result of the spectacular fall of well-publicized corporations like Enron and WorldCom (Porter Gowthorpe, 2004). Porter (1993) argues that the recent increase in criticism of and litigations against auditors is due to the failure of aud itors to meet societys expectations. The failure of living up to societal expectations have implicated the notion of â€Å"audit expectation gap†. The â€Å"expectations gap† is the difference between what users of financial statements, the general public perceives an audit to be and what the audit profession claim is expected of them in conducting an audit. In this respect, it is important to distinguish between the audit professions expectations of an audit on one hand, and the auditors perception of the audit on the other hand. Apart from users of financial statements and the general public, an auditor may also perceive a somewhat different interpretation or worse still, fail to comply with the standards set by the audit profession. If users of financial statements and the general public were educated to think that the auditors role embraces the detection and prevention of fraud, especially in relation to material items, the fraud and error detection role of an audit could be relatively objective. However, the Auditing Practices Board cannot guarantee absolute objectivity since materiality â€Å"and† material significance are subjective concepts, which require further clarification. A return to the primary role of detection and prevention would also be welcomed since there are at present, not sufficient measures to hold the auditor liable for negative consequences of his actions. Some sources of academic literature assume that the meaning of an audit is not objective/fixed whilst other sources such as contents of audit reports assume that the meaning of an audit is fixed. In relation to the latter assumption, there is the belief that the expectations gap could be significantly reduced if not possible to eliminate. Auditing is increasingly difficult and challenging, with new rules and regulations encouraging, if not requiring, auditors to enhance their efforts to detect fraud during an audit. Unfortunately, these rules and regulations contain terms like â€Å"reasonable,† â€Å"material,† â€Å"professional scepticism,† and â€Å"brainstorming,† whose meanings vary in the minds of different auditors. The â€Å"expectation gap† reflects a perceived difference between what one is expected to accomplish by others and what one personally believes he must accomplish. For example, the airline industry now expects a significant portion of flights to be delayed during the busy summer months. Passengers do not subscribe to this same belief, so when their flights are delayed, this exposes an expectation gap. Auditors face similar challenges when it comes to detecting fraud in an audit. In many instances, they are not sure how much effort must be made to uncover red flags for fraud. More important, they do not always take the appropriate steps to uncover fraud once a red flag surfaces during an audit. Clients, judges, shareholders, and other parties, however, expect auditors to take steps to detect fraud during the audit. They are often displeased when fraud goes undetected and is later uncovered by a tip or accident. The resulting investigation or financial statement restatement creates negative consequences for the company and its employees. The reasons an auditor may fail to identify red flags during an audit include the following: Over reliance on client representations; Lack of awareness or recognition of an observable condition indicating fraud; Lack of experience; Personal relationships with clients; Failure to brainstorm potential fraud schemes and scenarios; and A desire â€Å"not to know.† The expectation gap is driven by two variables: the auditors ability to detect fraud, and the auditors efforts to detect fraud. An auditor may possess the skills to detect fraud, but might choose to take shortcuts or disregard obvious signs of potential fraud. Or, an auditor might use a variety of techniques, but lack the experience to effectively uncover red flags. Both scenarios will broaden the expectation gap. An auditor must develop the requisite skills to detect fraud and obtain sufficient knowledge of the rules and regulations in order to better understand what is required during an audit. Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, requires auditors to obtain â€Å"reasonable† assurance that material fraud is not present. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) standard 1210.A2 requires auditors to possess â€Å"sufficient knowledge† to identify indicators of fraud. Whatever the words â€Å"reasonable† and â€Å"sufficient† mean to auditors will not matter if they fail to detect fraud. The definitions of â€Å"reasonable† and â€Å"sufficient† will be determined by their manager, client, senior management, or the judge or jury in a lawsuit. Developing Fraud Detection Skills Fraud examiners rely on the following tools: Knowledge of specific fraud schemes and scenarios; Knowledge of applicable laws and regulations; Excellent communication skills; and Strong interviewing skills. While auditors cannot be expected to develop these skills to the level of a fraud examiner, they should try to become more proficient through training, hands-on experience, reading the professional literature, brainstorming, and using fraud detection skills during the audit. Training and awareness: All auditors should possess basic knowledge of fraud schemes in order to better position themselves to detect red flags during an audit. Auditors can start by developing a basic understanding of fraud schemes and scenarios, as well as the reasons why people commit fraud. Organizations such as the IIA, the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) offer training that provides a basic understanding of the various schemes relating to financial statement fraud, asset misappropriation, and bribery and corruption schemes. Auditors who develop significant fraud-detection skills can choose to pursue certifications such as the ACFEs Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and the NACVAs Certified Forensic Financial Analyst (CFFA). In addition, many colleges and universities now offer fraud detection and examination courses as part of their business, accounting, or audit programs. Some schools even offer more advanced degrees in the field of forensic studies. This training typically ranges from a basic one-to-four-hour overview of fraud detection to a three-day comprehensive course, where auditors look for fraud by reviewing case studies, participating in-group sessions, and reviewing actual data. Brainstorming: Brainstorming fraud risks are critical to a successful audit and identifying red flags for fraud. If nothing else, brainstorming will create a mindset for auditors to think like a fraudster, supporting the adage, â€Å"to catch a crook, learn to think like one.† Approximately 50% of all auditors brainstorm fraud risks prior to the start of an audit. Of auditors who use brainstorming as a fraud detection tool, only about half make it a formal process where they document the schemes and identify techniques aimed at uncovering red flags. The other auditors conduct brainstorming on a more informal basis and admit to considering the risk for fraud without formally documenting this consideration. A more formal brainstorming process is necessary to fully benefit from this exercise. For example, auditors could use a spreadsheet and involve a team of at least three auditors. Preferably, the team should consist of a fraud examiner or an auditor experienced in fraud detection. Following these guidelines will make brainstorming more effective: Make it fun and interactive, with everyone participating. Present a fraud case study to stimulate responses. Involve an experienced fraud examiner. Identify previous company frauds in the discussion. Use a facilitator. After the brainstorming session, it is imperative to plan and perform the audit in accordance with the schemes and scenarios identified during the discussion. For example, if procurement fraud was identified as a high-risk area, the audit should include steps to identify red flags. These steps could include the following: Using data analytics to identify suspicious vendors; Reviewing vendor spending for the previous 12 months to identify suspicious patterns, including duplicate payments; Analysing vendors with post office box addresses to find â€Å"ghost vendor† schemes; Comparing employee addresses to vendor addresses for possible matches; Contacting vendors that bid unsuccessfully for contracts, to inquire about the bidding process; and Running a Benfords Law (which predicts the occurrence of digits in data) analysis on vendor invoices to identify suspicious patterns of invoice amounts. Interviewing skills: Auditors should consider effective interviewing as a basic forensic tool to use during an audit. Auditors can benefit from developing a basic awareness of deception and when someone may be lying. Generally, people are cooperative, energetic, receptive, and supportive of an auditors efforts. The auditor should spend the first 15 minutes or so of any discussion with an interviewee building rapport. It is important to watch the persons mannerisms, body language, and overall demeanour. It is also important to listen to an individuals tone of voice, willingness to volunteer information, and style of answering questions. Once an auditor establishes a rapport with the interviewee, she can proceed to the line of questioning associated with the audit. It is at this point that an auditor needs to be aware of any change in verbal or nonverbal behavior. Reducing the Gap The above prescriptions for increasing an auditors ability to detect fraud are undeniably arduous. Fraud detection requires effort and the ability to work hand in hand. Ability is enhanced through experience, training, and effort. Effort is enhanced through solid audit plans, brainstorming, and ability. The challenge to reduce the expectation gap stands before all auditors, internal and external. While the profession has made great strides through legislation, regulation, and audit standards, it must apply this guidance within its own ranks, expending the effort and developing the ability to reduce this gap. Auditors cannot be held responsible for uncovering all types of fraud. Collusive frauds and other intricate schemes are very difficult to uncover. This does not, however, give auditors a blanket excuse to refrain from looking for fraud. Developing the right mindset, embedding forensic procedures, and asking about fraud all increase auditors chances of finding it. Conclusion The auditing profession believes the increase in litigation against, and criticism of auditors can be traced to the audit expectation gap. The audit expectation gap is detrimental to the auditing profession as it has negative influences on the value of auditing and the reputation of auditors in the modern society. It is found that the existence of an audit expectation gap is due to complicated nature of an audit function; conflicting role of auditors; retrospective evaluation of auditors performance; time lag in responding to changing expectation; and self-regulation process of the auditing profession. Given such problematic factors that contribute to the existence of the expectation gap, it is neither the auditors nor users who should be blamed for the â€Å"audit expectation gap† crisis. References Boynton, W., Johnson, R. and Kell, W. (2005). Assurance and the integrity of financial reporting (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley Son, Inc. Chandler RA, Edwards JR and Anderson M, (1993). Changing Perceptions Auditor : 1840 1940, Accounting and Business Research Vol 23 Autumn Davidson, L. (1975). The role and responsibilities of the auditor: Perspective, expectations and analysis. Unpublished background paper for the commission on auditors responsibilities. Gloeck, J.D. and Jager, H. (1993). The audit expectation gap in the republic of South Africa, Working paper, School of Accountancy, University of Pretoria. Lee, T. H and Azham, Md. A. (2008). The evolving role of auditor: Where do we go from here? Accountants Today, (3), 18-22. Leung, P., Coram, P., Cooper, B., Cosserat. G. and Gill. G.. (2004). Modern Auditing Assurance Service (2nd ed.). Australia: John Wiley Sons. Miller, R.D. (1986). Governmental oversight of the role of the auditors. The CPA Journal, (9), 20-26. Porter, B. and Gowthorpe, C. (2004). Audit expectation-performance gap in the United Kingdom in 1999 and comparison with the Gap in New Zealand in 1989 and in 1999. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland Edinburgh. Shaked, A. and Sutton, J. (1982). Imperfect information, perceived quality and the formation of professional groups. Journal of Economic Theory, 27, 170-181.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Reintroduction of the Lynx Does More Harm Than Good :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Reintroduction of the Lynx Does More Harm Than Good   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There I was, standing face to face with the bobtailed lynx. It was looking right at me and licking its chops with delight. It seemed as if the beast was thinking "Lunch" on this cold, gray December day, but I wasn't worried about being attacked. The reason for this was the fact that this was a domestic lynx that just happened to be on the other side of a stout metal cage, so there was no chance of the lynx getting a hold of me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At one time, the lynx lived all the way along the Continental Divide clear up into Canada. Now, after being gone from Colorado for 25 years, the animal has been reintroduced into the lower tip of the lynx's historic habitat, the San Juan Mountains (Rogers). So far, out of 33 lynx that are being tracked, all of them are roaming in 276 square kilometers of the southwestern portion of Colorado that runs from the New Mexico border up to the I-70 corridor and from Monarch Pass over to Taylor Mesa (Shenk). In an attempt to find out how the animals, which look like bobcats with black tufts on their ears and huge paws, act in nature, scientists are tracking them with radio collars and airplanes (Lloyd).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, just a couple of years later, the Colorado Division of Wildlife is planning to release over 180 more lynx into the Colorado wilderness within the next five years. However, out of nearly 100 Canadian Lynx that have already been released so far, about half of them have died and none of them have reproduced. With the type of results that the process has received so far, the agencies involved in the reintroduction process should stop reintroducing the lynx into Colorado. Instead, they should try to find a way different way that will get results that save the species. The government agencies that are involved in reintroducing the lynx argue that it should be done in order to save an endangered species. In this argument they bring out three strong points for trying to save the lynx: every animal should have the opportunity to exist, many people feel happy when they see the animals they share the land with and all living things are part of a complex ecosystem ("Wild life Commission . . ."). However, they aren't sure how to reintroduce the lynx so that they don't all die.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Sainsburys Analysis and Recommendations Essay -- Business Management

Sainsburys Analysis and Recommendations Management Styles There are three main types of management styles. These are autocratic, consultative and democratic. Autocratic ---------- The autocratic management style is one where the manager is used to give instructions. They tell people what to do instead of asking for their opinion on the matter in hand. The manager is the only person contributing to the decision making process in the business. Consultative ------------ The consultative management style is where managers consult other people before making a decision. This management style is the opposite to autocratic. This type of management style wants to collect more sources of information and opinions before any final decision is made. To do this successfully the business will have good communication channels so that the employees are able to give their opinions easily. The consultative manager will have to have listening skills and also the ability to create the right sorts of channels to consult other people. Things such as newsletters team briefings or suggestion boxes could be introduced to gather employee's ideas and opinions. Democratic The democratic management style involves empowerment. Individual employees and teams are given the responsibility to make their own decisions. The individuals or team is then held responsible for the decisions that it chooses to make. The manager will have to feel comfortable with their employees and have a good understanding of them and decisions that they are making so that he/she doesn't fall behind on what the business is doing. They will need contin... ... communication within stores would make the employees feel more part of a team. If sainsburys were to relay less on post-it notes stuck on walls and actually speak to individuals about issues in the store I think employees would feel happier. As I discussed before, daily team talks with employees who started first thing. These would only last five minutes and be about issues that employees would need to know for example how much the store is taking, how much it needs to take to reach its target, things to look out for e.g. doggie cheques. Each department would do this. Employees who didn't start first thing would have to read this team talk and sign it before starting work. If employees found working more enjoyable and it had more of a team atmosphere within sainsburys it would hopefully lead to a lower staff turnover.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Web Architecture In Website Commun

Web Architecture in Website Communications Search Engines Web Spiders Before search engines tell you where a file of document is, it has to be found. To find information on hundreds of millions of Web pages, a search engine used special software robots called spiders to build lists of the words found on websites. When the list is being built by spiders, it's called Web crawling. To build and maintain a useful list of words, a search engine's spiders have to go through a lot of sites.The process is quite simple. When a sequence of words is typed into a search engine such as ‘Suffolk One', the spider looks at a HTML page and takes note of two things; The words within the page, and where the words are found. Words in the title, subtitle, meta tags and other positions are noted for special consideration during a search by a user. Most spiders are built to ignore significant words on pages such as ‘a'. ‘an' and the'. When the spider has built up an index of different pag es, it builds a list of words and notes where they were found.It then builds an index of these websites by creating a system of weighting. The more times a series of words is mentioned on the website, such as ‘BBC', the website will be higher. If a website is linked from the BBC, which will also feature higher in the search than if it was linked to a less known website. After the spider has created an index it encodes the data to a save space and stores data for users to access. Metadata A metadata is a special HTML tag which provides information about a Weeping.Metadata don't affect how the page looks, unlike normal HTML tags. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, how often it's updated, what the age is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Boolean Boolean is a data type which has two values, usually true and false. With search engines, Boolean is used to get better search results. If ‘AND' is in the search, it will find all t he words either side of the and, for example ‘suit and ties', and give results of both if both terms are on the site..If ‘OR' is in the search it will search for one of the other, for example ‘suit or ties'. There will be results for both, but they will give sites which has one or the other words on there. If ‘NOT is in the search, it will search for one term, and make sure the other word isn't in the page. For example ‘Suits not men's'. This will show suits for women, and any sites with men's suits on will not show. E-commerce Buying, Selling and Marketing Customers can use e-commerce (online shopping) to buy and sell products online.The most used e-commerce site for buying is Amazon. Amazon attracts customers by having TV adverts. Most of their adverts are for their Kindle e-reader. They also attract customers by having low costs on high street products such as CDC, DVD's, and games. Amazon use email to attract customers. They send emails to customers showing what's new, and what's been a weekly best seller. They also use this email to give customers special recommendations based on what they have bought or looked at on the site. Other e-commerce sites such as eBay and play. Mom also attract customers in similar ways; by having adverts, emails, and recommendations on their site. 24/7/365 E-commerce sites run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They never go offline. This is good for e-commerce sites because people can order whenever, and wherever they like. This also meaner people who work hours during the day so cannot get into their local store before it closes will also be able to buy from that store Electronic Payments Customers can pay for their products online through the Internet with no hassle.Most websites also remember credit card information, so the next time a customer shops using that site they won't have to type their details in again. Fewer Overheads/ Costs E-commerce sites have cheaper costs than norm al high street shops because they don't have to pay for as much rent for shops, and staffing costs will be low. They also don't have to pay for delivery to the shops around the country/world. Customer Benefits Customers get a lot of benefits from shopping online. Most of the products are cheaper to buy which will save customers money.They also get delivery straight to their door, which is good for people who live in remote areas, who are elderly, or people who are disabled. Killing off High Street Shops E-commerce sites are killing off high street shops. Stores like HEM and Jeepers have closed because it's easier and cheaper for people to buy online. Customers want to mind the best price, and if they can find it cheaper online, which is also convenient because they can order it from home, they will order it online.Privacy Issues Some customers want to know how their information is being used, and what data e- commerce sites have on them. E-commerce sites may know more about them tha n the customer knows, like what size underwear they have ordered, or what types of films they like. Customer Service When customers buy online, they won't get the customer service they get if they went to a high street store. Some customers like the service they get because they can ask questions about a certain product, or get product recommendations.Security Customers may be afraid to shop online because of security issues. They may not want to type in their credit card details because of hackers, or pushing on the site. To reassure customers, HTTPS will need to be used which will encrypt the data sent and prevent unwanted guests seeing the information. E-commerce at Work Information goes from the client PC through the ISP to the merchant's web server. It then goes to the merchant's database server to see if it is in stock. If the item isn't in tock is shows similar items, and other items customers bought.If it is in stock, it goes to the payment gateway where money is taken from the client's bank to the merchant's bank. Once the payment process is complete, the order goes to the warehouse, to the delivery service, and finally delivered to the client's house. Web 2. 0 CHIC – User Generated Content User generated content meaner no HTML needs to be typed in. The coding is set for the site, and when a user changes something like a picture or updated their status, the code changes without the user seeing it.The user is in control, and needs no HTML expertise because the creator of the site has already done important coding to get the site up and working for users to change different settings. Social Networking Social networking sites such as Twitter and Faceable use Web 2. 0. On Faceable, Web 2. 0 allows users to change their status, change their profile picture, and change their cover photo. Twitter also allows users to send tweets, change their profile picture, change their header, and update their bio. Users can also change their background on their pr ofile, as shown in the picture below. Blobbing Anyone can become a flogger and create a blob, which is usually public but can be private. There are tools are provided for readers to comment and contribute. Blob entries have the same format throughout, and usually have somewhere for users to comment. HTML code has already put in for this to automatically show on each blob entry. Wise (Wisped) Wise is a place where all users can contribute to information. The biggest example is Wisped which is an encyclopedia website where anyone can contribute to an article, or create a new one.On Wisped, the same layout follows throughout, and o all users need to do is type the information in normal text, and the website will add it in the format of all the other pages. Online Applications (Cloud Computing) Instead of buying applications and installing it onto a computer, online applications allow users to use programs on the internet. This meaner they're accessible from any computer with an Interne t connection. The online applications have the same layout as any software on a computer, but because it's online it's run using HTML. Users do not need to understand HTML to use the website because it used Web 2. 0.

Film History

Have you ever wondered how the movies or videos that you watch first started? Well, you won’t stay with the doubt for long because I am about to tell you how it all began. One of the first inventions was called the zoetrope is a cylinder looking gadget which contains drawings in a strip of paper inside that appears to move according to The Museum of Childhood. This invention came out in 1834 by a great inventor called W. G. Horner. His invention is something that lots of people can enjoy by looking at the sequence.In 1867, the first device that showed movies and animated pictures was called a â€Å"zoopraxiscope† or the â€Å"wheel of life†. This starting invention was patented by a man called William Lincoln. The zoopraxiscope started by the motion of photographs and drawings. Later in 1895, a portable motion picture camera was invented by Louis Lumiere, a Frenchman. His invention became known as Cinematographe. It was a film processing unit and projector. This invention gave motion pictures the popularity. (According to the History of the Motion Picture http://inventors. about. om/library/inventors/ blmotionpictures . htm). After those two great inventions came even a better one. Thomas Edison and William Dickson, his British assistant, constructed a device for recording movement on film and another to view it in the late 1880s. (http://www. filmsite. org/pre20sintro. html). But new inventions didn’t stop here; in 1890 a new invention called Kinetograph was constructed by William Dickenson. This device gave directors a reason for motion pictures. The kinetograph was a â€Å"motor-powered camara that could photograph motion pictures† according to Film History Before 1920.It was designed so you were able to move the film through the camara by an electric motor. I think that the way that the inventions were coming was great because every time a new invention came it had better technology and it was a little bit more practical a nd easier to use than the ones from before. Film creation became greater later on, when one of the five big studios started: Warner Bros. Pictures. This is one of the world’s largest producers of film and entertainment. Warner Bros. Pictures was founded by Polish-Canadian immigrants in 1918. (According to Wikipedia)

Friday, August 16, 2019

Management, Personal Relationship and Decision Making Essay

The concept of interpersonal relationships and management involves ideas, taught, and beliefs that are related with social association and affiliations which are employed as approached to marketing, operations, training, management and executive decision (Giddens, 2001). These taught and perceptions constitute different philosophies used by various organizations that create a harmonious place for members and personnel. These beliefs allow the organization’s business to improve. Business improves since personnel performances are able to maximize their potential because people are working perfectly as a team. It is no secret that in order for business to be successful, management plays a very important role (Virine, 2007). Thus, for business to prosper, philosophy in management should be carefully taken into consideration (Virine, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     In order to successfully manage an activity or personnel it is important that a manager is strong-willed, determined and possessed the â€Å"drive† needed to achieve the desired goal.   It is significant that a person should do a specific thing really well. In order to achieve this, a fine plan should be accomplished and when the plan is executed it is necessary that the plan is strictly followed. It is also important that the existing plan can adapt to changes that when problems are encountered, it can easily be resolved. Also in managing, it will be fitting to add that it is not enough that a person would know how to do things correctly, but it would be a welcome addition to recognize that a person knows how to things better.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A person should understand and put into his mind that there are occasions when great just isn’t good enough. He should not settle for less instead strive and work harder to deliver and perform things way beyond what people have expected. He should not be satisfied by saying â€Å"this will already do† and â€Å"this is alright†. He should always work to be the best. Being the best should not be the endpoint that will mark the conclusion of a venture, but it should be a starting point of something that is great. Through sheer innovation one should take something that works, it could be ideas, or various products such as electric appliances, glassware or simple things like papers and plastics, then transform them and improve them to something that is really unexpected. A person should always try to work to achieve excellence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, in order to properly manage things there are other factors that should be taken into account. One major factor is inter-personal relationship. Relationship with others influences the way we manage things our everyday life (Kahneman, 2000). It is because of our relationship to our love ones that we strive to make things better. It is because of these people who are close to us and we hold dearly in our hearts that we struggle in order to create a better living condition. Because of them we â€Å"shoot for the stars† and aim for the best. Furthermore, our relationship in our workplace with fellow personnel and with the manager dictates the success or the failure of an activity. As mentioned before, it is important to achieve a working area that is surrounded by people which are friendly and are always prepared in lending help. Somehow, they can be your family that during the most challenging times in the work one would have somebody to lean on (Lauria, 1964). They would provide you support and the much needed boost during office hours. With someone to call on, personnel can fully utilize their skills and maximize their talents. Workers do not need to be worry of accidents that may happen, since a sense of security and protection is given to them, as a result they become more focused. Also, in return workers and personnel would work doubly harder to showcase their affection to the people who have helped them in work and their gratitude to the organization and their bosses. Another essential issue that arises from the proper managing of things is decision making. Making a sound decision is hard and when at one point an organization has arrived to a decision, it is always certain that not everyone would be pleased, there would always be contentions. Generally, there are no rules that would make a person a good decision –maker (Plous, 1993). There are always risks that are involved and often times these risks impose immense problems that lead to the downfall of what seems a fair decision at the beginning. There are, however things that can help a person in making decision. Information should first be gathered and accumulated about the issue at hand. Careful study and precautions must be done to properly weigh things. In making a decision it is important to first ask who will be affected once the decision is handed out. Then, we should also understand who will benefit and to whom the decision is detrimental. In making a decision, one should decide for the good of majority and sacrifice his own self interest. To be a good decision maker one needs to be self-less. It is a noble act, a supreme sacrifice. A situation that recently took place in my office is the grudge that happens between two of my colleagues. The conflict occurs because of a misunderstanding for the division of labor in the office. Due to the misunderstanding, a part of the job was left undone. When the deadline arrives and portion of their proposal was still incomplete, pressure started to build up and emotions run high. As a result, a dispute between them existed. For a period of one month or so they started not to talk with each other after their proposal was dumped. Since, both are my friends and I am the one who is being caught from their fight I decided to talk to them and invite them to be part of a project that was assigned to me. Although they were hesitant to work with each other, I convinced them telling they are the most trusted person I knew that could help me and the only person which fitted the job. Professional as they are, they put aside their differences, and worked as a real team. With me calling the shots, and making sure everything is carefully attended and no single detail taken for granted we finished an astonishing job with lots of time to spare. We can infer that by setting aside their argument and their pride for a better cause, and giving each other another chance to work a fine output is achieved. They decided to be selfless and put the organization on top of their priority. References Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity. Kahneman, D. (2000). Choice, Values, Frames. Cambridge: The Unviersity Press. Lauria, A. (1964). Respeto, Relajo and Inter-Personal Relations in Puerto Rico Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 3 (No. 2). Plous, S. (1993). The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making New York: McGraw-Hill. Virine, L. (2007). Management Concepts: Vienna.   

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Sap Bw Parallel Data Load

Scenario You have an SAP BW system with several (application) servers. You would like to distribute the workload of the data loads and other data warehouse management activities in a way that fits your needs best. This could mean that you would like to have all processes distributed across all available servers or that you would like to have one dedicated server for these processes. 2 Introduction SAP uses the terms instance and application server synonymously. In order to avoid misunderstandings we use the term instance for an SAP instance (application server) in this document.For a physical machine we use the term server. Some of the settings described in this document are done on an instance level, some on a server level. If you don’t have several instances (of the same SAP system) on one server you don’t have to draw this distinction between instance and server when reading this document. There are a host of functions and settings in the area of load balancing provi ded by the basis system (Web Application Server). However, these have been designed primarily for SAP’s ERP system.Customizing these features for optimal use with SAP BW requires further considerations. The challenges presented with data load processing originate from the fact that many fairly long running processes can be started almost simultanesouly. The standard SAP load balancing approach takes the quality of the instances into consideration when distributing the load. This quality is evaluated in regular intervals (five minutes by default). Within one interval a lot of parallel processes may be started on the best instance, using a lot of work processes while the other instances are idle.An optimal distribution of BW OLAP workload or data load resource consumption cannot readily be achieved with this standard method. Without adequate planning, and under heavy workload (peak) conditions, the risks can increase that hardware becomes a bottleneck; a limited number of serve rs can become saturated with processes consuming resources, and performance (and stability) can potentially suffer significantly. A successful load balancing approach optimally utilizes the hardware resources that have been allocated to the BW system.Note that this discussion assumes that an adequate sizing has been performed to properly size the SAP BW system (see SAP Service Marketplace alias â€Å"quicksizer† for more information). This document describes load balancing approaches for typical SAP BW activities. Commonly these activities process large amounts of data. Data (within one process) is split into packages and can thus be processed in parallel on one or across several servers or instances. On the other hand, several processes can run in parallel on one or on several servers or instances.This means that we can have parallel processing (and consequently achieve load balancing) both within one process and across processes. In our examples we will use a system called XXX as SAP BW system and a system called YYY as an SAP source system of XXX. During data load processing, data is extracted from the source system and sent to the target SAP BW system. Other load processes involve the SAP BW system as source system, as well as the target system (for example, DataMarts, activation of data in ODS objects). The instances and servers on XXX are as follows, the server ab1234 being the database server:

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Status Demand Respect

Respect has a great importance in our everyday life. As children we are taught to respect our parents, teachers, elders, school rules, traffic laws, family and cultural traditions, other people's feelings, and people's differing opinions. We come to value respect for such things when we're older as well as through our experiences in life. Sometimes we may shake our heads or fists at people who seem to have not learned to respect them. We develop great respect for people we consider pure and lose respect for those we discover to be artificial, and so we may try to respect only those who are truly worthy of our respect.In reality at some level, all people are worthy of respect. Respect is also important in today’s society. If you want a job and go to an interview for one, and you are rude to the boss you are most likely not going to get the job. Jobs and relationships become unbearable if we receive no respect in them and we don’t perform at 100 percent as a consequence. The price of disrespect if we violate the street law, â€Å"Diss me and you die. † is an increasingly part of public life this time of days.Members of racial-ethnic minorities and those discriminated against because of their gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, and economic status demand respect both as social and moral equals for their cultural differences. We live in a diverse nation made up of many different cultures, languages, races, and backgrounds. A variety that can make our lives very different and exciting if we get along. You may not like every single person you meet but if you respect them they will respect you and that will make life a bit simpler.We learn that our lives are better when we respect the things that deserve to be respected and that we should be courteous in giving respect to all equally. It is crucial that are lives depend every bit as much on whether we respect ourselves. The value of self-respect is something we take for granted in most cases, or we may discover how very serious it is when our self-respect is threatened, or when we lose it and struggle to regain it. In some cases people find out that finally being able to respect themselves is what matters most in life and they accomplish this by kicking a disgusting habit, or defending something they stand for.Others sadly discover that life is no longer worth living or cherishing if self-respect is irretrievably lost. It is essential that respect and self-respect are deeply connected with each other. It is tough if not merely impossible both to respect others if we don't respect ourselves and to respect ourselves if others don't respect us. One of the keys to building or tearing down ego is respect. The interchange of respect or failure to interchange respect can affect ones self esteem greatly. Sometimes it can take an eternity of investment to exhibit love, respect, admiration for ones self as well as for others.Respect to me, is a way of showing someone t hat you think highly of them and well, respect them. Respect is a very important part of life. If a person is respected, it makes him fell good and in return, he or she respects you. Respect is important to me because if a person didn’t respect anyone, he himself would not be admired, and over time, he would grow up to be a very rude and inconsiderate person. Rudeness and kindness are also two very big components of respect. Everyone has a different opinion on respect and who deserves theirs. If you are rude to people or a person, you are disrespectful.If you are purposely mean or nasty to people, you are disrespectful. Respecting teachers is a very important part of education and life. Teachers feel good when they are respected and tend to be less grumpy and nicer during the day. Respect can take years to earn or it can almost be earned overnight. Teachers, priests, authority figures and other groups of people spend years in school before they earn their respect. Musicians c an right a song and earn respect almost immediately. Respect is ten Gaining respect from someone is one of the hardest things to do.I think nowadays that it's even harder to gain respect from people than before. Most respect goes to the actors, actresses and musicians, so I guess people have some competition when it comes to that. Sure, there are people who do get respect for being kind, for not being a pushover, but most respect is given to those in â€Å"gaudy† careers, action can loose a person their respect. People can spend their whole lives thinking of ways to earn respect, but unless they do something they will never get it. In contrast respect is something everyone wants and something no-one wants to loose.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

MULTICULTURAL BUSSINESS MANAGEMENT & Global leadership Essay

MULTICULTURAL BUSSINESS MANAGEMENT & Global leadership - Essay Example ome decided to outource jut certain part of their organization. The telecommunication indutry wa advancing, but Global Communication wa being left behind. I have created thi analyi to how the problem and potential olution Global Communication ha dealt with along with the ethical dilemma faced by the takeholder and the end tate viion of the company. My paper will include the comprehenive gap analyi for Global Communication; what i going with them at thi point in time and where the company i trying to be, regaining the reputation of being one of the larget, progreing global tool throughout the telecommunication indutry. Global Communication uffer from the tre of the indutrie and trying to maintain competition while oberving their tock price falling. The tockholder are preuring Global Communication to correct the problem, along with coming up with new innovative way to keep the conumer wanting to do buine with Global Communication. Thi analyi i deigned to how optional olution to Global Communication preent tribulation, rik management for the uggete d alternative olution, the optimal olution and finally the implementation plan to deal with the problem. ituation Analyi Iue and Opportunity Identification everal iue are acknowledged for Global Communication throughout the ituation. ... Competition i one of the reaon why Global Communication tock ha falling o dratically. Another iue Global Communication faced i the uproar of the employee and union worker becaue of the layoff that are planned. Global Communication leaderhip team came up with thi ingeniou plan to of moving ome of the technical call center to India and Ireland which hould reduce unit cot for handling call by nearly 40%. Although the move will ave Global Communication money, they did not think about the ending cot in human capital. In addition to the other iue provided, Global Communication i having communication problem within. Global Communication i an organization that i conidered one of the bet for taking care of the employee need to make ure they at leat addre all the iue. "By improving deciion making, knowledge management, employee need and coordination; company can progre and retain the name in the communication indutry. Workplace communication ha a ignificant effect on organizational performance (Mchane & Glinow, 205). "Firt organization depend on the ability of people to coordinate their individual work effort toward a common goal (Mchane & Glinow, 25). Global Communication i faced with economic iue in which the leaderhip team i trying to apply trategic planning to retructure the company and make it properou again. Although they have trategically planned a olution, the leaderhip team i having difficultie conveying the new plan to the employee. Local, long ditance and international market are all competing for the ame buine. New calling feature and uite of local and long ditance ervice helped, but the indutry uffered a huge blow at the hand of the cable companie, who tepped in to provide complete olution

Monday, August 12, 2019

Asset Planning Discussion Post 5 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Asset Planning Discussion Post 5 - Coursework Example Legally, she would be held liable for making decisions without involving her mother who is the genuine investor (Securities and Exchange Commission, 2003). As a result, a broker cannot proceed with the changes before getting permission from the original investor. It was evident that Joyce had no clue on the happenings and looked confused on the questions raised by the broker. The first step a broker would take is to ensure that the original broker was consulted the proposed changes. This is to avoid impersonation and misrepresentation of material facts that would later jeopardize the agreement. Another viable step to take is to ignore the changes because of the investor’s age factor that cannot allow for a long-term investment plan. Similarly, investment objective was another issue that directly affects suitability (Securities and Exchange Commission, 2003). Rebecca wanted venture-capital type investments contrary to Joyce’s small-cap growth, which was against the agreement. In this regard, the lack of interest shown by Joyce was a clear manifestation that she was not privy to the proposals made by her daughter Rebecca. The investment advisor or broker should not make any changes since it is illegal and can result in financial losses (Stanley,

Three Laws in One Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Three Laws in One Life - Essay Example Johannes is said to have been a rather sickly child, but was impossibly brilliant and excelled through his schooling, despite constant bullying and teasing by the other pupils. Somewhat of a loner, Johannes considered himself as an outsider, and tended to keep to himself during his childhood years. Kepler was introduced to mathematics and astrology at a young age, and began attending the University of Tbingen in 1587. There he concentrated solely on his studies, proving himself as a superb mathematician. He graduated from there in 1591 and went on pursuing various different studies, until April of 1594, when he was offered the position of teacher of mathematics and astronomy at the Protestant school in Graz, Austria - he immediately accepted. In April 1597, Kepler married Barbara Mller, and together they had three children: Susanna (1602), Friedrich (1604-1611), and Ludwig (1607-1663). It was in that same year in which he married that he published his first significant piece of work, The Cosmographic Mystery, in which he explained his argument on the relative distances of the planets from the Sun in the Copernican System. It was in this work which he defended the Copernican theory that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was at the center of the solar system. Although some had doubts, Kepler's opinions proved to be remarkably accurate. "Kepler was forced to leave his teaching post at Graz due to the Counter Reformation because he was Lutheran and moved to Prague to work with the renowned Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe." ("Kepler Mission," 2005). "Unlike Brahe, Kepler believed firmly in the Copernican system." ("Astronomy 161," n.d.). When Brahe died in 1601, Kepler was appointed as his successor and given the title of 'Imper ial Mathematician', the most esteemed appointment in mathematics in Europe. What are the Most Important Things Johannes Kepler Accomplished in his Lifetime It was at this point in his life when Kepler truly began his list of incredulous accomplishments. Within a span of only several years he published numerous works, including Astronomia Nova ("New Astronomy") in 1609, which contained his first two laws: one that planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun as one of the foci, and the other, that a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times. Following an opposite precept to other astronomers, Kepler brought an excitingly new view to things. "Kepler took an openly dynamic approach, introducing the physics into the heavens." ("The Galileo Project," 1995). In 1613 Kepler published a work on chronology and the year of Jesus' birth which demonstrated that in his opinion the Christian calendar was in error by five years, and that Jesus had actually been born in 4 BC - an opinion that is now universally shared. Between 1617 and 1621 Kepler published still more ingenious works, including Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae ("Epitome of Copernican Astronomy"), which was the most instrumental introduction to heliocentric