Recount Starter Essay

I woke this morning just like every morning sprawled out on my old mattress on the floor. As I began to wake to what seemed like an ordinary hot summer day. As I was getting changed there was a loud urgent bang on the door of the little tin hut at the edge of the lake I called home. This was unusual as I live alone and don’t usually get any visitors apart from the odd lost hiker. I finished getting changed and opened to door to meet them. â€Å"Please I need your help!† a distressed teenager pleaded â€Å"My boyfriend and I were camping down the track and he’s missing!, there’s blood everywhere I, I just ran and ran and found a little track which lead me here†. Realising the extent of the situation I lead her inside and told her to tell me exactly what she remembered. The distressed girl said her name was Katie and that she and her boyfriend had come up to the mountains from the city for the weekend. â€Å"We set up camp yesterday and collected enough fire wood for a small fire to keep the mountain lions away†; â€Å"Did you notice anything strange whilst collecting the firewood?† I asked. Her blank facial expression showed that she was deep in thought, â€Å"I did come across a dead deer with its head decapitated, but what was strange is that it was still warm, I didn’t tell Blake as I didn’t want to freak him out, this was his first time camping† The girl sobbed as she began to cry. â€Å"It’s okay† I said, â€Å"you can stay here a while then we will drive up to your campsite if that is okay with you?†, â€Å"What if whatever took him is still around?† She wept â€Å"I have a rifle and a hunting dog whatever it was wouldn’t stand a chance† I said reassuringly. â€Å"Okay† she spluttered, clearly not wanting to go back there.

Information Systems Case Study

Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies J. G. Thoburn Coventry University, UK S. Arunachalam Coventry University, UK A. Gunasekaran University of Massachusetts, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA Keywords Information systems, Agile production, Small-to-medium-sized enterprises Introduction Today, manufacturing organisations are increasingly required to be highly optimised.Abstract The ability to respond swiftly and effectively The necessity of maintaining optito produce new products and services has mal operations and becoming an agile and responsive enterprise is become not so much a method of gaining competitive advantage, but more a means of becoming increasingly important to survive in the global market. survival. Many companies have seen the need Consequently, all resources in the to adopt a whole range of practices that reduce companies need to be effectively inputs and waste, and allow greater responmarshalled.Tradit ionally SMEs siveness to customer needs and the markethave concentrated on the 4Ms  ± money, materials, machine and place. In reaction to changing requirements manpower but have often neand conditions, manufacturing paradigms glected the effective management continue to be defined. It is possible to identify of information, which many authors suggest is at the heart of two trends: those addressing predominantly any agile organisation.The effect the relationships required in local and global is inadequate or fragmented infor- trading environments such as that described mation systems (IS) that do not by Porter (1996) and those systems focusing on address the demands of operational or the wider strategic needs organisational structures within an enterof the company. The study reprise such as business process re-engineering ported here examines the diversi(Hammer and Champy, 1993).Arguably, the ties of problems that occur in agile manufacturing paradigm combines both. three different companies and, Changes in information technology and compares their systems to the communications in the last two decades have ideals of agile manufacturing. further shifted the balance towards the customer. There has been a huge growth in the number of computers in use, putting huge power on the desktop, at ever-decreasing hardware cost.The arrival of the Internet and the expansion of the free market in telecommunications present the option of simple and low cost communication. Now it has become easy for all players in the supply chain, or even individual consumers, to measure specification, price and supply performance against their needs. They can purchase goods that precisely meet their requirements from anywhere in the world, bypassing any perceived shortcomings of their local marketplace.In response to the need for agility or the requirements to link different parts of the International Journal of Agile organisation or elements of a supply chain Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 effectively, systems are emerging that may # MCB University Press fundamentally change the organisation of [ISSN 1465-4652] manufacturing. In order that they might [ 116 ] achieve this, companies must clearly understand and organise their information resources at the earliest possible stage in their development.It is clear that only those enterprises that are able to respond to market demands with minimum delay will survive. Kidd (1996) argues: The agility that arises can be used for competitive advantage, by being able to respond rapidly to changes occurring in the market environment and through the ability to use and exploit a fundamental resource, knowledge. People need to be brought together, in dynamic teams formed around clearly defined market opportunities, so that it becomes possible to level one another's knowledge. Through this process is sought the transformation of knowledge into new products and services.High reaction flexibility will be no more than a qualif ier in the future, just as high quality is today. This flexibility cannot be realised by high-tech equipment alone. Human creativity and organisational ability, if necessary supported by advanced computer based tools, will be the basis for survival and success strategies. This paper describes studies over a period of 15 months, of three companies, and analyses how far they are away from possessing the ability to become agile, by examining the areas that were dysfunctional.It explores the importance of information management and appraises information systems in place in these companies. It discusses the need for a more structured and holistic approach to transferring information in its various forms to the different areas of an organisation, aiming to give optimal access to information while eliminating wasteful duplication as well as generating and testing new knowledge about the firm's changing requirements. Information defined The term information is widely and often inaccurately used. Many authors agree that J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A.Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 there are three elemental types: data, information and knowledge. However, this paper argues that there is a fourth, intelligence, which is distinct from the others. All but data require an understanding of the socially defined context  ± where the information, knowledge and intelligence came from, the assumptions surrounding them, and their importance and limitations. Each of them may be defined as follows: .Data: a series of observations, measurements or facts. . Information: information is data organised into meaningful patterns by means of the application of knowledge. The act of organising data into information can itself generate knowledge, when a person reads, understands, interprets and applies the information in a specific wor k situation. . Knowledge: the intellectual capital resident within an organisation. The facts, experiences or competencies known by a person or group of people, or held within an organisation, gained by individual or shared experiences, training or education. Intelligence: what a company needs to know about its competitive, economic, technical and industry environment to enable it to anticipate change and formulate strategies to best provide for the needs of the marketplace and its specific customers. Yet many aspects of a company's IS are based, not around formal or technology based solutions, but rather on informal or human oriented systems. Mintzberg (1997) examined a wide range of managerial work, predominantly in large organisations. He reported that managers, while 40 percent of their time was devoted to gaining and sharing information, usually used informal systems centred on people.Nevertheless, he concluded that: the job of managing is fundamentally one of processing inform ation. that managing a company was essentially a matter of control. However, this implies a rigidity of framework and formality that does not fit well with today's organisation, and certainly does not promote agility. Flatter, less hierarchical business systems localise control and make it difficult for management to achieve enterprise-wide regulation. Smith (1984) however, believed that the vitality of living systems was not a matter of control, but rather of dynamic connectedness.Veryard (1994) argues that: systems are a dynamic interplay between adaptation and non-adaptation. This is precisely what is required in agile organisations, where there remains the need for stability and accountability, in an environment of necessary and perhaps rapid change. Dynamic connectedness in an agile organisation is provided by the flows of formal and informal information. Veryard further suggests that: the future belongs to symbiosis  ± external integration in pursuit of common business aims. The authors' research and experience shows that informal systems are equally important in every part of the organisation.This appears to be especially true in smaller organisations, where they have less developed formal systems, or formal systems are not performing optimally. In order to better understand and integrate the IS, the vital role of informal systems must be taken into account. The need for information systems in SMEs to successfully communicate and control For the better part of this century, classical management writers such as Henri Fayol (1949) and Gulick and Urwick (1937) taught This is evidenced in those extended enterprises now reported to be emerging.If this biological view is pursued, it can be seen that biological organisms, especially human ones, achieve precisely the continuous adaptation that is described in the agile paradigm. The most successful individuals are able to blend information from their external environment, with knowledge of their own capabilit ies, using formal and informal systems, whilst retaining information and knowledge in memory. There is constant building and retention of knowledge, with competencies taught by example as well as by the formal methods to be found in education and training.Concurrently, many of the control and co-ordination systems, even those learned, become largely autonomic, permitting more effective processing of environmental and circumstantial changes. Such systems may be clearly observed at work in individuals when they are, for example, driving a vehicle. Failure to function effectively in those circumstances leads to severe consequences. Also, by combining with other individuals, capabilities may be extended to be far more than the sum of the parts.Accordingly, biological systems may provide useful models for what may be expected to occur in manufacturing organisations of the future. With biological organisms, the need for adaptive ISs is most profound in growth and early learning stages, or in times of a significantly changing environment. Failure to adapt and learn from conditions [ 117 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 ay lead to survival difficulties. Similarly, small or growing companies, or those adapting to rapidly changing market conditions will require a dynamically linked IS that binds together all parts of the enterprise, and allows it to adapt to its external environment. This may be very different to the rather rigid systems of the past, operating on pre-defined rules and algorithms. Yet it must be within the reach of the smallest company functioning at low resource levels, which may well preclude expensive and complex IT based systems.Information management differences between large companies and SMEs The EC and the UK Government's Department of Trade and Industry have identified SMEs as critical to future economic growth and job creation within the European Union. They form large and important sectors in most industrialised countries, especially in Europe and the USA. Yet significant differences exist between the management of SMEs and larger companies, where much of the research in this field is concentrated.Just as a small fishing boat and a passenger liner may share the same ocean, so SMEs share the global trading environment with large organisations, and are no less susceptible to environmental effects. Indeed it may be argued that just like the smaller vessel, they are much less able to ride out the storms of uncertainty and rapid change, because of their lower resource base. As a result, they must be more, not less vigilant and adaptive than their larger counterparts, with intelligence systems able to influence their strategy and knowledge base much quicker.The Society of Practitioners of Insolvency in the UK concluded (SPI, 1998) from thei r 1998 survey that many companies, mostly SMEs, fail from lack of information  ± with loss of market being the single most important factor. Case studies Research took place in three companies over a period of three months with Company A, and more than six months each for Companies B and C, when one of the authors was in daily attendance. The companies were self-selected for study. Full access was allowed to every part of the business, its operations, management and financial systems, and to all employees.Research took the form of observation, participatory ethnographic and action research. Questioning of employees used unstructured or semi-structured interviews. [ 118 ] Company A was part of a large international group, operating in a number of countries and in every major geographical area in the world, with a group turnover at the time of the study around ? 1 billion. The group consisted in total of eleven divisions each producing a different product. The division studied was l ocated in France, and had approximately 200 employees. The company has been established a number of years and operates under an ISO 002 based system, as well as a number of other quality assurance regimes. The organisation manufactured a variety of special, large-scale products for the oil field, nuclear and defences industries worldwide. These complex products were produced individually to specific customer requirements. Lead times on nuclear products ranged from one to two years, and for the others, from six to 12 months. The products were manufactured as individual one-off specials, in a job-shop operation. The company was divided into seven departments, three by product sector, and the remainder by function.One of the latter was the information technology department. Unlike other departments, although it had a functioning office in the French division it was not a part of the local company; IT was attached directly to the parent company in Germany. Its responsibilities encompass ed the development and operation of the main computer and software systems used on the site for production management, purchasing, sales, production costing, and time and attendance systems. The department had additional responsibilities for networks and PCs which variously ran under MsDOS, Windows and Macintosh formats.Where information transfer took place between departments, it was almost entirely carried out manually, transferring information to paper, and then manually transferring it to the next system. No section used the same nomenclature or data dictionary for parts and components. The organisational design was partly hierarchical and partly a matrix structure, and used a predominantly formal communications network. There were a substantial number of formal and informal meetings, through which much of the departmental and inter-departmental co-ordination was attempted.All formal systems describing the company's operation and administration were well documented. Each departm ent, though relatively autonomous, seemed to be run with apparent efficiency. The operations and production management elements were especially highly developed, Company A J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 and had been subjected to repeated internal scrutiny as well as by local universities.Despite this, the company experienced considerable difficulties in meeting quoted leadtimes. Those lead-times were already longer than their major competitors, and the company was also losing price-competitiveness. As much as 50 percent over-run on lead times was common, and substantial underachievement of possible turnover, and erosion of market share resulted. Otherwise the company and its products enjoyed a long-standing high reputation, though the managers believed that without this, considerably greater eros ion of market would have occurred.Their major competitors, predominantly Japanese and American, through price, technical improvements, and a significantly better responsiveness and delivery performance, were nevertheless making increasing gains at the company's expense. The company was a self-contained profit centre, a division of a larger group that trades throughout the UK. There were approximately 25 employees on the site, though there were wide fluctuations in the total due to a self-imposed seasonality in turnover. Certain support services such as accounting and human resources management were provided from the central holding company.Otherwise the company was responsible for all aspects of its operations. The company was engaged in metal finishing to the engineering industry and as a first tier supplier to several Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). It had two production lines and operated under an ISO 9002 system. The formal IS of the company revolved around the sales or der processing (SOP) system operated from group headquarters and accessed remotely over a fixed link. SOP formed part of a non-standard accounting system, originally written for another group company operating in a non-manufacturing sector.The system itself was user unfriendly and slow, and no intuitive use was possible. At the start of the study only one person, the production supervisor, had any training in SOP. However, that training gave even him only limited knowledge of the system. Cryptic codes and generic descriptions entered by him into SOP made it impossible for others to distinguish between one product and another, and the division could not operate in his absence. Product and process knowledge was almost wholly vested in the production supervisor's head.There was no formal planning or production scheduling system, and no collection system for information concerning production times and material usage. Inter- Company B nal and external rejects were not generally noted or analysed. The company had three stand-alone personal computers, two of them extremely outdated. The central management-accountant exercised the most stringent control, and the company was expected to make bottom-line operating profits each month. The whole operational objectives became focused only upon this, and ignored other fundamentals.To reduce costs, â€Å"non-essential† spending such as machine maintenance, health and safety, training, housekeeping and sales were ruthlessly cut. Those â€Å"savings† often represented all of the profits made by the division. The lack of an IS significantly increased the time spent preparing reports, reduced their accuracy and eroded local management time. At the start of the study, new management was installed in the company. Several initiatives aimed at improving operating performance were considered. The absence of any suitable or appropriate IS soon emerged.In some cases, lack of coherent historical information prevented the j ustification of proposed initiatives, while the effectiveness of others could not be judged within the imposed monthly timescale. Machine and process measurement systems were designed and put into place. They quickly showed that processes were incapable. Similarly, measures of rejects and returns showed that external rejects were in excess of 30 percent while internal rejects were almost 60 percent. An analysis indicated the causes of the problems, and allowed them to be addressed.Reject rates fell to less than 1 percent within a few weeks. However the centre continued to rigorously apply the accountant's previous control measures. A monthly operating profit remained a continuous and absolute requirement even though large backlogs of rejects, and uncoated, badly corroded customer parts required processing, and machines needed to be brought to reliable operating condition. Consequently, employee training was vetoed, and workforce stabilisation measures overturned. In a climate previo usly dominated by dismissals and redundancy, the workforce actively delayed the implementation of an IS.After some time, substantial employee involvement began to overcome this barrier, and they became enthusiastic participants in data collection and process improvement. Customer confidence began to return and the customer base marginally improved. However, the new IS also begun to uncover previous managerial shortcomings, especially at group level. In response, draconian short-term financial measures were applied [ 119 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 rom the centre, and initiatives overruled. The workforce was further reduced, and training programmes cancelled. Workforce morale and customer confidence fell sharply. The division has now closed. Company C was a private limited company, whose dire ctors were its owner-managers. There were approximately 60 employees, with recruitment rising because of rapid growth and expansion. The company was in its third year of trading. The company operated under a newly introduced ISO 9002 based system. The company had two product lines. The first produced simple, low volume components for the automotive sector.The second built components for the machine tool industry. The operations involved in both of these activities were largely manual. The second group of products were much more complex  ± many containing more than one thousand sub-components. A number of variants of each were produced, and all work was carried out by hand. Much of the information within the company was held on personal computers. The internal system was networked into three sections; operations management (OM), purchasing and administration. OM includes quality assurance and control (QA), and a computer aided design (CAD) station.Each section was independent of th e others. Employees were inadequately trained in the use of software and frequent problems arose through their lack of understanding of the packages in use. There was considerable duplication of data entry, with employees in each of the sections entering and extracting information in an unstructured manner. Where information transfer took place between sections, it was almost entirely carried out manually, transferring information to paper, and then manually transferring it to the next system. No section used the same nomenclature or data dictionary for parts and components.Manufacturers' references and descriptions were entered in a casual and unstructured way, making cross-referencing impossible. The data structure of each system was entirely different, and there were further large differences even within systems. CAD and QA were not integrated into the OM system. Consequently, internal systems were largely unsynchronised. As they grew in size, so the problems that they created we re progressively magnified. Build and wiring order was an important factor, particularly in the case of control cabinets. It could significantly affect productivity, quality and finished appearance.Company C Consequently, the order and format of cutting and build lists were central to production aims. Despite this, methods of list production failed to recognise this. It was difficult to derive build-order from examination of design information alone. Product variants caused additional difficulties and required translation by unskilled production operatives. As a result, operatives frequently transferred build instructions onto handwritten sheets and maintained unofficial work instruction systems. There was no formal method of transferring or retaining their build-order knowledge.Comparative attributes, and a summary of the most significant problems arising from the collection and use of information, knowledge and data for each of the three companies are shown in Table I. Identified success factors/ dysfunctional areas In order to more accurately compare and analyse the areas of dysfunction in each of the companies it is necessary to use an objective measure. Bailey and Pearson (1983) have produced one of the most definitive and widely used lists of factors that identify the success factors in ISs. Li (1997) added a further seven factors.These 46 elements have been used to form a matrix, shown in Table II, against which the ISs of the case study companies can be compared. However we have made minor modifications to some of the original criteria to widen references from a computer based information system (CBIS) to simply information system (IS). A hash (#) is shown in the description in these cases. A seven-point scale has been used to describe the degree of success or dysfunction of the IS when first observed. The scale used is as follows: 0 Not applicable 1 Significantly unsuccessful or dysfunctional 2Moderately unsuccessful or dysfunctional 3 Broadly neutral  ± neither successful nor unsuccessful 4 Moderately successful 5 Significantly successful X No information available. Discussion and analysis The companies studied were self-selected, with the only common factor being that they were experiencing operational difficulties which extended to their trading environment in one form or another. There was nothing to suggest that they were other than typical of [ 120 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studiesInternational Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 Table I Company attributes Company B UK Manufacturing General engineering Throughout UK Yes Yes 25 Very high Low ? 170k ? 40 million Low Hierarchical High Very low Central Mixed, central file server, local PCs High Low Very low Yes No Very low Manual Management accountant Very high Yes Medium High Very Low Yes Yes Low Directors High Yes Company C UK Manufactu ring Automotive/machine tools English Midlands No N/A 60 Fairly high Low ? 1. 8 million ? 1. million Both high and low Team based Low Medium Local owner/directors Local PCs Characteristic Company A Country of operation Type of company Sales sector Sales area Part of a group High degree of central control Approximate number of employees on site Employee turnover rate General level of employee skills Approximate site sales turnover Approximate group sales turnover Product complexity Organisational structure Organisational formality Degree of manufacturing sophistication Origin of principal control Type of information systemDegree of manual systems Degree of computerisation Degree of IS training Islands of information Local networking Degree of IS integration Transfer between systems Provider of IT support Informal information systems External audit systems (e. g. ISO 9002) France Manufacturing Nuclear engineering/oil and gas production Worldwide Yes No 180 Low Very high ? 12 million ? 900 million High Hierarchical/matrix High Very high Local Mixed, central mainframe (financial), local mainframe and PCs Low High Medium Yes Some Low Manual IT department Medium Yes 121 ] (continued) J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 [ 122 ] Table I Company B . . . . . . . Characteristic Company A Company C Principal symptoms . . . . . . . Poor lead time performance Higher prices than competitors Loss of market share Serious loss of available turnover through lower throughput times . .Poor quality performance Poor lead time performance Extremely small customer base offering low value work Low profitability High degree of seasonality Poor quality performance Poor lead time performance Poor cash flow Frequent stoppages due to material shortages High degree of duplication and wasted effort Principal ca uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Failures in communication in verbal systems  ± formal and informal Need to manually transfer data between separate IT systems leading to delays and inaccuracy Poor communication with suppliers and failure to keep adequate ata on vendor performance Lack of unified IT and IS strategy . . . . . . . . Lack of any formal operations management and scheduling system Failure to keep manufacturing performance records Control using inappropriate measurements Failure to monitor customers' records and address reasons for erosion of customer base Failure to understand market conditions Failure to understand employment market Self-imposed seasonality High staff turnover and absenteeim Constant loss of skills and competencies Lack of skills sharing Poor training Inappropriate SOP systemInformation systems unable to cope with rates of growth Unstructured data gathering Inappropriate transfer of information to factory floor leading to proliferation of informa l systems Failure to feed back information and knowledge from production Failure to understand employment market Limited knowledge base and deliberate limiting of skills base Lack of understanding of quality failures Lack of appropriate IT training Inappropriate IT systems Ad-hoc IT systems leading to Lack of unified IT and IS strategyJ. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 Table II Success factors and dysfunctional areas Factor no. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Description factor Top management involvement Competition between computer based information system (CBIS) and non-CBIS units Allocation priorities for IS resources (#) Chargeback method of payment for services Relationship between users and the CBIS s taff Communications between users and the CBIS staff Technical competence of the CBIS staff Attitude of the CBIS staff Scheduling of CBIS products and services Time required for systems development Processing of requests for system changes Vendor's maintenance support Response/turnaround time Means of input/output with CBIS centre Convenience of access Accuracy of output Timeliness of output Precision of output Reliability of output Currency of output Completeness of output Format of output Features of computer language used Volume of output Realisation of user requirements Correction of errors Security of data and models Documentation of systems and procedures User's expectation of computer-based support User's understanding of the systems Perceived utility (worth vs. ost) User's confidence in the systems User's participation Personal control over the IS (#) Training provided to users Job effects of computer-based support Organisational position of the IS unit (#) Flexibility of th e systems Integration of the systems User's attitude toward the IS (#) Clarity of output Instructiveness of output Support of productivity tools Productivity improved by the IS (#) Efficiency of the systems Effectiveness of the systems A 3 2 3 X 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 X 4 4 4 3 2 3 3 2 4 4 4 2 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 Company B 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 C 2 3 2 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 2 3 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 4 2 3 3 4 4 1 2 5 4 2 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 companies of their size or sector. The studies aimed to determine the extent of use of ISs, report effectiveness and what contribution, if any, their systems had to the areas of dysfunction. They were intended to be preliminary studies from which initial conclusions could be drawn, with reference to published work. By spending a considerable amount of time in each company, and becoming involved with various aspects of their operations, and interacting with employees at all levels in each company, there is a high level of confidence that the systems observed were unaffected by short term experimental bias.Company A, with the highest turnover and backed by a large multi-national parent company was the most resource rich [ 123 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 company. It possessed a highly sophisticated and well-designed production and operations management system, backed by logistics, quality and design departments each equally efficient in their own right. The IS appears from Table II to perform reasonably well. Yet consistently it was unable to meet promised lead times, often by a substantial margin.It was found that the purchasing department was at the centre of many of the problems, with poor communication with suppliers, and adversarial purchasing based p rincipally on price. The consequence was many late deliveries and variable quality. Yet the true cause of the problems was not discovered to be there. The principal means of information transfer between different sections of the company's IT system was manual. Because of incompatible systems, even at PC level, where both Apple and MsDOS based systems were employed, communication was impossible. Each department's system had grown on an ad hoc basis to fulfil its own needs, without reference to others. Each data transfer took place using printed information, usually in the form of schedules, which was translated, then re-entered manually.There were often delays, some considerable, while this process took place. Subtle yet cumulative changes of data and information took place because of translation errors. This had the effect of de-synchronising the whole system. But the most significant effects on leadtime were not to be found in the IT system, but rather in verbal communication syste ms. A large number of formal and informal meetings were held to exchange information often in response to increasing delays against the planned schedule. In response to pressure, the spokespersons from individual departments often gave incorrect answers, sometimes inadvertently because of the cumulative errors or delays in information transfer.Other times, errors were deliberate, where attempts were apparently made to save face, or under pressure from a senior manager or colleagues, to agree to plans that they knew to be unrealistic. Different participants often repeated this process in turn during a meeting. Accordingly, this information was recorded and became crystallised into the formal system with the result that delays were progressively magnified. Thus it was lack of true dynamic connectedness of the system that created the problems that led to continual poor lead-time performance. In contrast, the IS in Company B was not only seriously deficient and absent in many places, bu t was dysfunctional in every area where it did exist. IT systems were limited, unfriendly and uncoordinated, with training and documentation absent.In the wider system information, and particularly feedback, was deliberately withheld, and knowledge generation stifled in response to the corporate culture. The annual haemorrhage of accumulated skills combined with the lack of training and poor human resources policies substantially added to the problem. Inappropriate measurement and control of the feedback systems that did exist reinforced this culture, and the problems that were occurring. Because of poor management techniques, both internal and external intelligence was ignored for considerable periods of time. At the times attention was placed upon this aspect, the system was incapable of multiple focus, and one set of problems was replaced with another.The response of senior group managers was particularly interesting. As IS was put in place or repaired, long-accumulated problems began to emerge which pointed to previous management failures. Their immediate response was to try to dismantle newly implanted systems, and halt knowledge generation and dissemination, and return to the previous culture. Once they took these steps, failure was inevitable. In Company C, the problems were quite different. There was a clear belief in the ability of computers to solve problems by their mere presence. Yet the growth and structure in their IS was wholly unplanned and uncoordinated, and was incapable of supporting the rapid growth of the organisation.There was substantial redundancy and duplication of software systems, and poor understanding of their capabilities that led to the disablement of important reporting and control facilities. Poor system management and training allowed proliferation of duplicated files, and it was often difficult to determine the correct version of any instruction. As a consequence, a considerably higher level of employee time was expended than necessary, substantially increasing costs. Poor data gathering, knowledge management and information generation techniques exacerbated these problems, and informal systems proliferated. Yet simple trial measures to return acquired manufacturing process and merge formal and informal systems, improved quality, productivity and worker-satisfaction.Information systems in an agile company should contribute to responsiveness as well as to overall corporate and organisational aims (Burgess, 1994; Goldman and Nagel, 1993; Kidd, 1994). There are a number of broadly accepted principles of the agilemanufacturing paradigm that provide the [ 124 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 basis for a rapid and flexible response to changing trading conditions. That is to say there is emphasis on strategies (Goldman et a l. , 1995), technologies, systems (Cho et al. , 1996; Gillenwater et al. , 1995) and people (Goldman et al. , 1995; Kidd, 1994).In many cases, many authors have placed great emphasis on the technological capabilities of the organisation (Adamides, 1996; Medhat and Rook, 1997; Merat et al. , 1997). Such resources may not be available to smaller companies. Does this necessarily mean that small companies may not be agile. This would be directly contradictory to the long held view that the strength of smaller companies is their inherent flexibility and responsiveness. Nevertheless, from the comparisons shown in Table III it is possible to conclude from this study that the more dysfunctional, and less dynamically connected the IS, the less able the company is to achieve agile outcomes, flexibility and responsiveness, in the broadest sense of its definition (Gehani, 1995; Kidd, 1996). Conclusion and implicationsIn this section consideration is given to three broad issues arising from the case studies: potential implications of the results; preliminary conclusions; and plans for further work. The studies found broadly in line with previous work, though we have suggested that the normal three-part definition of information of data, information and knowledge be extended to include a fourth, intelligence. We have further observed the fundamental importance of informal systems particularly in the case of the two smaller companies B and C. Here personnel at every operational level relied heavily on informal information, and constructed their own systems, either to protect their position, or to operate more effectively.We have also propounded the biological view that human behavioural systems in particular provide a useful view of how responsive organisations should behave if flexibility and responsiveness is the desired outcome. This paper then considered the companies against the background of agile manufacturing and compared their actual performance to the ideals of the paradigm. It can be concluded that in every case in this study, the more dysfunctional and less dynamically connected the IS, the less able the company is to be agile in the broadest sense of its definition. However current tools and techniques of evaluation and design of ISs are far less wellTable III Comparative performance against agility principles Company A Strategy Agile principles Technology Systems Lack of direct integration of IT systems and connectedness of IT and people-centred systems Absent, deficient or dysfunctional. Without effective coordination or integration People Flexibility Outcomes Responsiveness Low Good strategic Good to awareness excellent Low People highly trained, valued and rewarded but failure in communications in people-centred systems People poorly valued and rewarded. No training and deliberate withholding of knowledge in response to company culture Poor B Poor strategic Badly provided, maintained and awareness  ± understood with lack of internal and external intelligence Poor C Strategy held in individuals at board levelLimited, uncoordinated and unplanned. Computers seen as an answer by simply being present Uncoordinated and incapable of adapting to rapidly increasing demand Poor HR policies Rapidly decreasing leading to staff shortages and low reputation. Poor knowledge management Rapidly decreasing [ 125 ] J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A. Gunasekaran Difficulties arising from dysfunctional information systems in manufacturing SMEs  ± case studies International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116 ±126 suited to the needs of many companies (Sauer and Lau, 1997), SMEs in particular, and the achievement of their strategic, commercial and operational goals.This suggests that a new and simpler technique is required that aims to lay down the foundation for an IS at an early stage in the development of a company. This system must be capable of being applied by non-specialist managers in circumstances where there may be a mix of information technology and manual systems. Nevertheless it must be one that incorporates the four elements of information that have been defined in this paper. Work to devise such an audit and planning tool, together with a methodology for its application, is currently being undertaken. References Adamides, E. D. (1996), â€Å"Responsibility-based manufacturing†, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 439-48. Bailey, J. E. and Pearson, S. W. 1983), â€Å"Development of a tool for measuring and analysing computer user satisfaction†, Management Science, Vol. 29 No. 5, May, pp. 519-29. Burgess, T. F. (1994), â€Å"Making the leap to agility: defining and achieving agile manufacturing through business process redesign and business network redesign†, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Vol. 14 No. 11, pp. 23-34. Cho, H. , Jung, MY. and Kim, M. (1996), â€Å"Enabling technologie s of agile manufacturing and its related activities in Korea†, Computers and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 323-34. Fayol, H. (1949) General and Industrial Management, Pitman, London. Gehani, R. R. 1995), â€Å"Time-based management of technology: a taxonomic integration of tactical strategic roles†, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 19-35. Gillenwater, E. L. , Conlon, S. and Hwang, C. (1995), â€Å"Distributed manufacturing support systems  ± the integration of distributed group support systems with manufacturing support systems†, Omega  ± International Journal of Management Science, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 653-65. Goldman, S. L. and Nagel, R. N. (1993), â€Å"Management, technology and agility: the emergence of a new era in manufacturing†, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 8 Nos 1/2, pp. 18-38. Goldman, S. , Nagel, R. and Preiss, K. 1995), Agile Competitors and Virtual Organisa tions, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY. Gulick, L. H. and Urwick, L. F. (1937), Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration, New York, NY. Hammer, M. and Champy (1993), Re-engineering the Corporation, HarperCollins, New York, NY. Kidd, P. T (1994), Agile Manufacturing: Forging New Frontiers, Addison-Wesley, London. Kidd, P. T. (1996), Agile Manufacturing: A Strategy for the 21st Century, IEE Colloquium Digest Nos. 96/071, March, p. 3. Li, E. Y. (1997), â€Å"Perceived importance of information system success factors: a meta-analysis of group differences†, Information and Management, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 15-28. Medhat, S. S. and Rook, J. L. 1997), â€Å"Concurrent engineering  ± processes and techniques for the Agile Manufacturing Enterprise†, IIE Conference Publication, No. 435, pp. 9-14. Merat, F. L. , Barendt, N. A. , Quinn, R. D. , Causey, G. C. , Newman, W. S. , Velasco, V. B. Jr, Podgurski, A. , Kim, Y. , Ozsoyoglu, G. and Jo, J . Y. (1997), â€Å"Advances in agile manufacturing†, Proceedings  ± IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 2, pp. 121622, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ. Mintzberg, H. (1997), â€Å"Rounding out the managers job†, IEEE Engineering Management Review, pp. 119-33. Porter, M. E. (1996), â€Å"What is strategy? †, Harvard Business Review, November-December, pp. 61-78. Sauer, C. and Lau, C. 1997), â€Å"Trying to adopt systems development methodologies  ± a casebased exploration of business users' interests†, Information Systems, pp. 255-75. Smith, K. K. (1984), â€Å"Rabbits, lynxes and organisational transitions†, in Kimberly, J. R. and Quinn, R. E. (Eds), New Futures: The Challenge of Managing Corporate Transitions, Dow-Jones Irwin, Homewood, IL, pp. 269-94. SPI (Society of Practitioners of Insolvency) (1998), Insolvency, The Director, London, June, pp. 82-84. Veryard, R. (1994), Information Co-ordination: The Management of Informati on Models, Systems and Organisations, Prentice-Hall International (UK) Ltd, Hemel Hempstead, p. 22. [ 126 ]

Do You Think Footballers Deserve

Even though soldiers provide a more valuable service. All footballers do is kick a ball around a field and moan that they don't get paid enough while soldiers are over in another country risking their lives to protect ours spending months on end away from their families. This happened to my older brother he was sent on a tour of Afghanistan for nine months and he missed the birth of his son (his first words, his first steps) he even missed our mothers death and funeral.Footballers don't have to do that they can just leave training if they have an emergency! Some people think that when soldiers sign up to join the army they know what they are getting not and its their own choice and they aren't being forced into the army. I think these people are heartless. Secondly, I believe that the money footballers get paid could be put to better use. In the Premier League alone around two hundred million pounds are spent on players' salaries per year! With that money you could change some of Afr ica into a first world country.You could give them proper housing, clean endless supply of water, electricity, schools, hospitals and especially jobs. Some might say that footballers do give to charity and already donate money to those things but hey don't give much; they could still give a lot more! There are some very charitable footballers such as Tidier Dragon who spent three million pounds of his wages to building a hospital in his hometown of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. However, there are others who give nothing.One man can't change the world! Another reason why many players shouldn't get paid so much is because most of them just waste it. Karri Benzene is a good example, he bought a chrome three million pounds Budgets Everyone super sport which he hardly uses. Many of them buy stupid pointless things that aren't even important or they just do it as a joke like one footballer bought an Oxbow one just so he could throw it off a balcony another bought a Lampooning Reverent for one mil lion pounds so he could blow it up.Other people may believe that it is their money and they can do with it what they want but they should be more responsible! They could donate some money to charity or keep it in savings for when they retire. Even do something worthwhile for their family! Furthermore, some footballers don't deserve it because some Of them are just bad people like the obvious Luis Square, who bit Atman Baked whilst playing for Ajax against SSP and he but Barbarian Avionic whilst playing for Liverpool against Chelsea! He also bit Giorgio Chilling at the world cup for Uruguay against Italy.In addition to this violent conduct he was racist to Patrice Ever by refusing to shake his hand, is this man is a good role model for children? Does he really deserve to earn thousands each week? Another example is a star Brazilian footballer who tortured and killed his mistress then fed her dismembered body to his pet Arteriole's. Goalkeeper Bruno Fernando De Souza who was tipped to play for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, is accused of murdering model Elise Samurai to avoid paying child support after she gave birth to his love child.

The founder of the Turkish Republic is often described as a dictator Essay

The founder of the Turkish Republic is often described as a dictator but was actually more like a latter-day king. (Andrew Ma - Essay Example A modern-day leader strives for greatness. Ataturk was the type of leader who needed to say something, stand by it and achieve it. A modern day leader does not also accept the status quo that he/she found when they took the leadership seat of their country; however, they assume a forward momentum of driving their country forward. This was the kind of leader that Ataturk was. Modern-day kings also argue coherently and cohesively. In addition, it is the aim of this paper to praise Ataturk and not to defame him by referring to him as a dictator as other previous authors have done (Dogan 2003, p. 45; Huntington 2006, p. 34; Alayarian 2008, p. 56; Blythe 2000, p. 1). The paper will first offer a short account/version of his life and achievements, followed by my key purpose of studying the political legacy of Ataturk, as well as why I consider that he is a particularly interesting and rare case of a constructive or kind dictator. His Achievements (Life and Military) Kemal Ataturk was born, in 1881, to a middle-class or average family in Salonica (Thessolaniki, Greece), in the world famous Ottoman Empire. His first name was Mustafa, but it is not known who gave him a second name, Kemal. People argue that it is his teacher due to his excellence, or he/she wanted to differentiate him from Mustafa (Mango 1999, p. 185). Others argue that the name was given to him by Ataturk himself following the release of a famous poem. All through his life, Ataturk gained the more honourific names of Pasha, Bey, Ghazi, as well as three years prior to his death, Ataturk, which stands for â€Å"Father of the Turks.† Critics argue that people can attribute both the young Ataturk’s future military occupation and his modernising changes to the reality that his father had devoted him, at a young age, to the military and also sent him to a contemporarily secular school instead of an Islamic madrassa (Mango 1999, p. 186). Also, Ataturk was enrolled in numerous military schools fro m 1893-1905, and went to be one of the Kingdom’s best young military officers, at the status of Major (Kasaba 2008, p. 45). At times, secretly, Ataturk also took part in revolutionary groups, which wanted to reform the Kingdom. Ataturk effectively defended an Ottoman fortification in Libya all through the 1911-12 Italo-Turkish warfare, which was one of the very few triumphs for the Turks against the advanced Italian forces. In 1912-13, Ataturk acquitted himself commendably once more in a losing battle in the Balkan warfare, where he was appointed to the Gallipoli peninsula, which also would motivate him for his next and more prominent role (Zurcher 1998, p. 33). During the First World War, wherein Ataturk individually opposed neutrality, he was the principal Turkish commander in the Gallipoli war (Mango, 1999, 186). This incompetent and disastrous gamble by Winston Churchill led to a total of over 250,000 deaths on both sides – Ottoman and Australian, British and New Z ealand, respectively. Ataturk fruitfully revolted waves of Allied armies and caused a big defeat on the Allied armies. He also won a crucial victory for the Turkish citizens (Ahma 2003, p. 53). He used the rest of the war to gather tactical triumphs in other regions of the Empire against British and Russian forces, in what were eventually a fated Central Powers and Ottoman war efforts that he had foreseen following a mid-war trip to

Second Amendment of the US Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Second Amendment of the US Constitution - Essay Example Several issues still remained unaddressed, for example, whether legislation, less stringent than the D.C. state violate the Second Amendment, whether lower courts will use their dicta with regards to allowable restrictions, and what to what extent should the courts apply scrutiny when analyzing a statute that imposes upon the Second Amendment. Keeping in view several issues and the interpretations in focus it all has helped in shaping the nation’s gun control debate. There are several societies and groups which are supporting an individual right to own a personal gun licensed by the National Rifle Association. Further, it was argued that the Second Amendment will provide all citizens with not only with powers of militia but they will possess a power and right to own a gun. Moreover, the agencies which propel a stricter gun control such as Brady Campaign believed that the Second Amendment is not a blank check for anyone to possess a gun. It is required to place certain restrict ions on firearms; some of these rules include the right who can have them, what specific condition is necessary for carrying a gun, where these firearms can be taken and what category of firearms are safe to carry and what is the appropriate place to buy such things(Ersin, 2014).In the context of the above-stated information, we turn now to the case of Ivette Ros was dismissed from Wells Fargo after the corporation found that she had a hidden carry license and a gun.Ivette was brought up in a house where her father kept guns.

Trustees Duties and Powers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Trustees Duties and Powers - Essay Example â€Å"A Trust is an arrangement where one or more persons (the â€Å"Trustees†) hold property for another person or persons (the â€Å"Beneficiaries†). This relationship is governed primarily by the document creating the trust (the â€Å"Trust Deed†) and by legislation and case law. Legal ownership of Trust property is in the Trustees’ names but the beneficial interest belongs to the beneficiaries. The idea behind a Trust is the concept of duty. Trustees are under a duty to deal with the property in their hands in the interests of the beneficiaries. If they do not do so, they will be in breach of Trust and the beneficiaries may seek relief from the courts to ensure that the terms of the Trust are carried out.† Understanding from the above explanation, we find that a trust is an arrangement of one or more persons, who are known as the trustees. Over here, Sally is a trustee. A trustee arranges property, which may also be included as cash money, for the benefit of another person or persons, and those persons are known as beneficiaries. Therefore, from the understanding of the quoted text, we may figure out that under this circumstance, Harry and Caroline. The question is whether George may be included as a beneficiary for the 25,000 USD legacies. With regard to the first question, the trust which Sally had held for George is a secret trust. She has put the 25,000 on her own legacy as the money which is deemed to be distinguished from the main trust beneficial to her 2 children. There are many reasons why an individual might want to have a protective trust against the name of an outsider, however the purpose is to allow a certain sum of money as a safeguard in case of any misfortune or unfortunate event happening in the distribution of the trust. Since Bill is the executor of the will, it is on his discretion to award the legacy of the trust to George. The gift which Sally has given to George is a valid gift under the law of trust and therefore should be awarded to the beneficiary, which is George on the discretion of Bill himself. B) The second question is as follows: â€Å"Harry has, since Sally’s death, been made bankrupt. He asks for money from his trust fund to buy a house for himself Louise and George to live in. † As mentioned before, Harry is one of the main beneficiaries in the distribution of the trust. Even though his mother did not approve of his lifestyle and found him to be irresponsible to carry out the duties as beneficiary properly, there is no denying to the fact that he is indeed one of the beneficiaries and therefore has all the rights under the trust law to claim his stake in the property left by his mother. Understanding from the above statement, only the trustee has the power to assign where the trust is distributed, and the document of trust has the final binding nature with respect to the distribution of the trust property. Over here, Sally had assigned a protective trust to her son of an amount of 500,000 USD to be given to him, and the rest on RSCPA. â€Å"In order to understand a protective trust, it is first necessary to understand the purpose of its establishment. In contrast to an asset protection trust, which tends to be established with the interests of the settler (that is, the individual establishing the trust) in mind, a protective trus

RNCOA Mission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

RNCOA Mission - Essay Example Academy staff, faculty members, and Small Group Leaders are effective in managing, leading and changing our Signal students to adapt to an ever-changing technological world. Our highly educated and motivated Small Group Leaders, who embody the warrior ethos, must be confident, competent decision makers, prudent risk takers, effective communicators, innovative, adaptive, professionally educated, and dedicated to the life-long learning process of our Signal ALC/SLC students. The Signal Noncommissioned Officer Academy staff and faculty must be equipped with the technical adeptness to employ modern computer systems and training to World Class proficiency, capable of strategic responsiveness, and the ability to dominate various technologies across the full spectrum of operations. To Fulfill our Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦We are committed to a strong and comprehensive World Class educational program and learning environment which enhances self-esteem provides and develops positive community role models, optimize each Signal NCO’s potential, develops a lifelong love of learning, builds personal responsibility, and accentuates individual respect. Fundamental to our Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Is a commitment to the of a competent and caring Academy staff, teamwork, shared leadership, effective management of resources, and a safe and orderly learning environment for our Signal NCOs. We pride ourselves on our dedication to our students, their families, our community, our professions, each other, and to continuous learning.  

Compare and contrast two therapeutic approaches for people suffering Essay

Compare and contrast two therapeutic approaches for people suffering from depression - Essay Example This paper analyses these two methods critically (Roy, 2005). Depression is a feeling or medical illness that is characterized by varied symptoms all combined. People suffering from depression do not have same symptoms. That could be attributed to the fact that the extent of the depressive nature differs from one person to another. Depression is characterized by feelings of sadness that get prolonged over a period of time. It could also have character such as one feeling hopeless, guilty and seeing no worth in living. Irritability and feelings of restlessness coupled up with feelings of helplessness and pessimism are also signs of someone who is depressed. Others may experience moments where they totally lose interest in doing things they have fun doing, insomnia, overeating and to others, loss of appetite (Berne, 2007). Depression is caused by many factors including, trauma, losing a loved one through death, and going through an abusive and difficult relationship. It is mainly caused by stressful situations that people go through. No matter how strong someone may be, they could still suffer from depression. Scientists and medical research also show that depression could be caused by genetic, environmental and biological factors. This explains why people of a family could suffer from depression. This is because a given gene runs through a family and those carrying that gene risk suffering from this medical illness (Andrews, 2010). There are different types of depression. Major depression is a type of depression that disables and deters one from performing normally. One undergoing such depression experiences symptoms that impede one’s ability to do work, study, sleep, enjoy hobbies and even make one lose their appetite. Dysthymia is another form of depression characterized by symptoms that last for quite some time, hindering one from functioning well. Minor depression

International Human Resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Human Resource management - Essay Example The range of markets served by InterContinental Hotels Group span along the regions of America, Europe, American-European-African Nexus or AMEA and also encompasses Greater China. Total number of hotels encompassed by IHG in the global context range to 4,542 operating based on different brand portfolios (IGH-a, 2012). Current Global Position Pertaining to Global Ranking or Position IHG was found firstly to gain the award of Gifted Ranking in an evaluation made by the Digital IQ Index. The same Index related the hotel company to the Sixth Rank in comparison to around 52 other competing hotel brands (IHG-b, 2012). IHG’S Approach to Human Resource Management HRM in Hospitality IndustryThe recruitment of the people in the hospitality industries undergoes a process of evaluation of the personality traits and attributes of the individual to work in a challenging job atmosphere. Moreover the individual is subjected to different types of psychometric tests to understand the individual ’s problem-solving and team building abilities. Similarly different types of amenities and benefits related to work-time flexibility along with bonuses and increments are rendered to motivate the individual. Opportunities for growth are framed through incorporation of training programs in the work culture along with encouraging the people to intercommunicate amongst each other. Moreover incorporation of a 360 Degree Appraisal Process coupled with Empowering Individuals to take managerial and strategic decisions and rewarding.

Comic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Comic - Essay Example (2004) Hopefully this paper will meet the objective of demonstrating a growing understanding of what the reading, viewing and interpretation of comics and -more specific to our topic- bande dessine, really means, as well as some of the techniques that are involved in both the creation and appreciation of two francophone comics in particular: L'autoroute du Soleil by Baru and L'annee Derniere by Phillip Dupuy. Bande Dessine (BD) or francophone "drawn strips" -a term preferred by BD authors and scholars as opposed to "comic strips", which they sustain would imply limitation of subject-matter to the comical (Wikipedia, 2005)- is also known as the Ninth Art or le neuvime art. Two important, award-winning exponents of the ninth art are Baru (born Herv Barulea, 1947, France) and Phillipe Dupuy (born 1960, France). Baru works by himself, serving as both the writer and artist of his strips and albums (works over 60 pages in length). He began by drawing on his experiences from his teenage years and travels in the 1960's. His debut came in 1982, when he got published in Pilote, but it wasn't until 1995 that his 400+ page album, L'Autoroute du Soleil (The Highway of the Sun), considered his breakthrough work, allowed him to gain exposure to larger audiences (Comiclopedia, 2005). In contrast, almost from the start of his career, Dupuy has worked as part of the duo known as Berberian-Dupuy (often mistaken for a single person bearing a sophisticated, hyphenated surname but actually the simple combination of the surnames of Charles Berberian and Phillipe Dupuy). Dupuy had begun his career working for several different BD magazines over a three-year period, but when he met Berberian there was immediate synergy and from then on it has been a partnership, if not made in heaven, at least made for the delight of BD fans around the world. L'Autoroute du Soleil This lengthy album was a result of the experimental work of the Japanese-cartoon, or manga, publishing house, Kodansha, consisting of commissioning certain authors from the Occidental world to create comics for readers in Japan. It made its debut on the Japanese comics scene as a series of instalments in the weekly magazine entitled Morning, whose target audience was comprised of 20- to 30-year-old males. It is a black and white comic or "graphic novel"1, vibrant and stark at the same time, that is representative of the beginnings of la nouvelle manga, an ongoing project of some comics authors and publishers to mesh the Japanese manga with the French bande dessine.2 This groundbreaking work reunited the two worlds in a big way, while preserving some of the main traits of Baru's work: his inclusion of daily-life events, the protagonism of youthful characters, use of the anecdotal, and anti-racism statements (Serrano, 2003) often disguised in metaphor. The drawings are dynamic and the

College Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College - Math Problem Example Hi! It is simple, though unusual. Vectors differ from many other mathematical notions because a vector is determined by both numerical value and vector's direction. So, vector is not only a number. You can imagine a vector as an arrow of certain length. Exactly! You can compare it with buses that have the same route but go in the opposite direction. If you stand at a bus stop waiting for the bus to go to the nearby town, it does not help you if exactly the same minute the bus leaves the town of your destination and heads the other way. Although it is the same bus, you can not ride it as it goes in the different direction. The straight-line movement of the bus can be characterized by a vector. To determine whether it is better to use elimination or substitution method to solve a system of equations, first of all, it is advisable to examine closely the coefficients in the equations of the original system. If the coefficients before one of the variables in two of the equations are the same, but have the opposite sign (or have the same sign - then one of the equations should be simply multiplied by -1) then it would be more practical to use the elimination method. This method is also handy for solving bigger systems that contain three or more variables.

The reasons for stalemate on the Western Front Essay Example for Free

The reasons for stalemate on the Western Front Essay WW1 started as a war of quick lightning thrusts and high mobility, but degenerated into an astonishingly protracted war of static battle lines. The Western Front was the name given to the line of trenches stretching from the Belgium coast to Verdun. Following the Battle of Marne and Aisne of 1914, both sides dug in believing trenches to be temporary. The Front stretched for hundreds of miles, meshed with complex trench systems and barbed wire. Why Stalemate The military plans (Schlieffen, XVII) had established a strict war by timetable. However, aside from the quick mobilisation of nations, the plans failed. They were proved to be useless as modern warfare removed the momentum from conflict. A poverty of strategic thought led to the stalemate. Both the British and French commanders were afflicted by the cult of the offensive. French generals Joffre and Nivelle were obsessed with the philosophy of esprit de corps mass infantry charges (a reluctance to charge was linked to defeatism). The British generals shared this outlook, as is superlatively demonstrated by Haigs Big Push. The aim to engage the enemy and bleed them proved successful in the end, however it needed time over years to prove so. The supremacy of defence due to technology helped prolong the war. WW1 was the first total war- a conflict between highly industrialized economies and militaries. Factories churned out ammunition; mass shells and people from both sides were conscripted. Barbed wire, machine guns, gas and rifles held out enemy advances. The absence of super weapons such as the tank and bomber were not yet developed and thus failed to counter these defensive tactics. The ability of the machine gun was equivalent to half a company of riflemen. Thus, sides were able to repel the enemy with relative ease. The Somme illuminates the verity of the artilleries misjudgements. A massive  8-day bombardment of the Germans did very little, with 1/3 of the shells failing to explode. This also suggests the effectiveness of dugouts. The German dugouts were up to 8 metres deep, thus very few shells hit the troops. Technology of mass transit systems also prolonged the war. Railroads and roads were used to bring ammunition and troops quickly to the front, to restock losses. Added to the unwillingness of generals to follow up on small victories, this led to neither side being outweighed by the other. Attempts to break the stalemate Both sides attempted to end the war quickly, however many of these strategies did the opposite. The development of tanks, gas and aerial support all served the purpose of shortening the war. Both the Battle of the Somme and Verdun represent the respective mass pushes to topple the enemy. However the Somme was left unchecked despite the huge casualties. Generals were set to sacrifice troops, and time for eventual strategic victory. The 1917 Battle of Cambrai also illustrates the successful use of the tank to mobilise the war. Entente tanks pushed through the German lines, giving an indication of how future battles would be fought. Total war- the attempt of both sides to sink all efforts to the waging of war, was for the purposes of breaking the stalemate. Troops were conscripted en masse, while an economic war was being fought. The naval blockades helped starve the enemy.

The Fungus Rhizopus Stolonifer

The Fungus Rhizopus Stolonifer The fungus Rhizopus stolonifer is a widely distributed thread like mold which is commonly found upon bread surfaces and other food. This is why it has the common name of black bread mold. Due to the fact that it is so common and can easily grow upon bread substances it makes it a very appropriate fungal choice to experiment on. Rhizopus stolonifer grows rapidly when placed in a moist environment where the temperature stays between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius and can easily reproduce in these temperatures. Rhizopus stolonifer is capable of causing infections in humans and so it makes it appropriate to choose Dettol, Savlon, and Bleach as substances to apply to the fungus as these substances are known to kill pathogens, fungus and clean surfaces. Fungi are known to have a resistance to certain antiseptics however if sufficient concentration of a substance is added, the antiseptic can overcome such resistances. Aim: To determine the effect of certain household substances on the growth of the Rhizopus stolonifer fungus species. Hypothesis: From the research gathered in the literature review, it is expected that- if the variables of the fungus being tested such as species, size are kept constant- Dettol will have the greatest effect on the fungal growth. As it will most efficiently overcome the resistance of the cell membrane as it will be the the first to overcome the resistance of the cell membranes of the fungi due to two of its active ingrients (CHLOROXYLENOL and ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL). It is expected that Savlon will have little or no effect on fungal growth, as through previous research gathered ( stated in literature review) Savlon only has anti-bacterial properties. Literature Reviews: There is a research paper by Mahmood and Doughari from the African Journal of Biotechnology, from the Department of Microbiology, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Federal University of Technology which was posted for peer review on 16 May 2008. It shows an experiment that was conducted in order to determine the effect of Dettol on the viability of some microorganisms associated with nosocomial infection such as Candidia albicans which is a fungus. The experiment sought to determine which concentration of Dettol the fungus would be more susceptible to destruction. Results showed that after adding Dettol little change occurred in the cell count of the fungus in 5 minutes however after 10 minutes there was a rapid decline in the cell count of the fungus. Cove and Holland suggested in 1983 that in order to completely kill all of the fungal cells, a sufficiently high concentration of the antiseptic must be in contact with the cells for longer than those cells resistance time. Cove and Holland also reported that microorganisms which were exposed to toxic agents will almost always show a constant death rate in the cells. Doughari found and then supported the idea of Cove who stated that there is a constant death rate of the cells when in prolonged contact with an antiseptic. What was good about the experiment/research? The same type of fungus was tested and all the fungi were grown to the same size. The fungi were all exposed to the same volume of antiseptic. Two types of water were used to dilute the Dettol. Bad things about the experiment/research: It was not repeated more than twice for each concentration. Our hypothesis stated that if fungi, with constant variables, were exposed to equal concentrations of Dettol, Savlon and Bleach, the Dettol would be the first substance to overcome the fungus resistance and therefore start decreasing the growth of the fungus by killing its cells. This report shows exactly how quickly the Dettol kills the cells and therefore supports our hypothesis. [1] Similarly there was another research paper by Emeka, Awodele, Agbamuche and Akintonwa which was peer review and posted on 16 April 2007 at the African Journal of Biotechnology, from the Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Idi-Araba. University of Lagos, Nigeria. Which was all about the antimicrobial activities of some commonly used disinfectants on several bacteria and fungi such as Candilida albicans. They tested Savlon, Jik and Methylated Spirit. The experiment showed that Jik and Methylated Spirit had inhibitory activities on both fungi and bacteria however Savlon had only antibacterial activity. Good things about the experiment: They inoculated and incubated each of the fungi and bacteria before the experiment to keep them sterile and to avoid cross contamination. Constant variables such as temperature were kept constant. A control was introduced. Bad things about the experiment They did not repeat the experiment enough times. In our hypothesis we expected Savlon to be weaker as an antifungal substance compared to Bleach because through this research we have come to realise that there is a potential issue that no matter how concentrated the Savlon is, it proves to be unable to kill the cells of the fungus and therefore it has no effect on the growth of the fungus. However we will still be incorporating Savlon in our experiment in order to test whether this result was valid and correct. [2] There was a third journal which had a similar experiment which was conducted in Nigeria by Oyewale, Mojeed and Oladapo at the Department of Applied Sciences. The experiment tested the effectiveness of antiseptic substances such as Savlon and Bleach on fungal growth. The results matched their hypotheses: both Bleach and Savlon managed to completely kill off the mould. Existing knowledge is that Pelczar observed that there was an initial time which enables penetration of chemical agents into the fungal cells and then this will interfere with those cells protein synthesis. The results relate to our hypothesis because it shows that Bleach can act as an effective antifungal antiseptic and therefore there is the potential that our original hypothesis is valid and correct however it opposes the experiment results of Emeka, Awodele, Agbamuche and Akintonwas experiment which stated that Savlon has no effect upon fungal growth. [3] Method: Data Plan: We will measure the size of the fungi using a series of utensils such as a square cm grid, as well as using a ruler to measure the area regularly. The growth of the fungi will be monitored and recorded daily. Then once the fungi have grown to a useable size we will measure and record the size of each fungus in each Petri dish using the same methods as before. We will then trim the fungi which are too large as we need to keep size a constant. Temperature will remain constant as well as light available to the fungi. We will then record exactly what the concentration of substance used on each fungus. This will be constant for every dish. We will then measure the change that this substance causes every 30 min for 6 hours. We will leave the fungi for a week longer, recording results and appearances daily. After a week we will restart the experiment but increase the concentration of the substances added to the fungi. Method: Prepare the bread which will be used to grow the fungus by cutting one slice into 4 equal pieces and then removing the crusts on all pieces. In this way the type of bread, thickness and size of the slice and the age of the bread is kept constant. The size of the bread should be 5 x 5 cm however this will differ according to chosen bread size. Place one piece into each Petri dish. Label the dishes A-D. Contaminate each piece with chosen fungus by using sterilized instruments. Each bread piece must receive spores of the same species of fungus. Monitor the fungi growth for about two weeks until it has grown enough to undergo the experiment with. These dishes must be left in the same environment therefore keeping light and temperature equal for all dishes, preferably a temperature/light controlled room. Trim the larger grown fungi so that the size of the fungi is constant in all dishes however this is not strictly necessary. Record the size of the fungi. Prepare the household substances which you will be treating the fungi with. The concentration of substance to water must be equal for all the substances; therefore if one substance is mixed with water, then all are mixed with the same volume of water. Using substance A, place 2ml of substance on every 1cm of fungus growth in dish A. Do the same for dishes B and C. Place the same amount of sterilized water onto the fungus in dish D. Record the size of the fungi every 30 minutes for 8 hours. Take note of any other observational changes such as colour and smell. Note: Replace the lid on the Petri dish and place back in a light/temperature controlled room. After an hour, leave the fungi for the night and take notes the next day. Record size changes again if available. Do this every day for the rest of the week. After a week, clean up the dishes and sterilize all equipment. Repeat the experiments however use a stronger concentration of substances this time. Results: Table showing the results recordings every 30 minutes for the size changes in the fungi after 3 different substances were individually placed in contact with the fungus.

Juvenile System Vs Adult Justice System Criminology Essay

Juvenile System Vs Adult Justice System Criminology Essay A criminal justice system is a mechanism, utilized by a society to enforce a given standard of conduct in order to protect the members of the community (Colquitt 2002). It consists of apprehending, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing violators of the basic rule of group existence within a society. The purposes of such a system are to remove dangerous members of the community, discourage the rest from criminal behavior, and give society the chance to change violators into law-abiding citizens. The core philosophy of the American criminal justice system is that the government may punish a person who has violated a specific law. A juvenile court, on the other hand, is viewed as a helping social agency. Its purpose is to prescribe carefully individualized treatment to young people who are in trouble with society but in a non-adversarial way (Colquitt). Violators older than 18 years old are tried in regular courts according to the adult justice system. The juvenile court is a fairly new device. A violator or offender who was 7 or older up to the 18th century would have been tried and treated as an adult by the courts (Stolba 2001). The belief at the time was that a person under 7 did not have full moral capacity and capacity to give consent. But beyond 7, he could be considered an adult. Even with the introduction of the juvenile justice system in the late 1800s, adult courts were still used in sentencing the most violent and most defiant violators. The original juvenile court in Chicago moved 37 boys to the adult criminal court in its very first year of operation (Stolba). The juvenile justice system was instituted to reform US policies on young offenders When the juvenile pleads not guilty, the trial becomes a jurisdictional hearing for juveniles (Calderon 2006). It has to be held up to 15 days or 30 days if the child is not in the custody of the court. In the case of adults and despite their right to speedy trial, the proceedings can take very long for a number of factors. These include change of venue, new motion for new evidence and many others. Juvenile courts do not have jurors as in adult courts. Juveniles are not subjected to jury trials but to adjucatory hearing where the judge renders a final decision. Adult proceedings are open to the public but juvenile proceedings are not. The court findings or results are called a disposition in both justice systems. These are a dismissal, a fine, a probation, treatment programs or institutionalization. The juvenile justice aims at rehabilitation and treatment. Thus, the least punitive or restrictive is exacted by many courts on young offenders. Another important difference is the right of adults to a jury trial. A juvenile can have a jury trial if his case is transferred or appealed to a circuit court (Calderon). In deciding a juvenile case, the probation or parole officer, alternative program directors, the attorneys and the judge come up with the best solution to the problem (Calderon 2006). If an adult case can qualify for a plea bargaining, a juvenile case may also achieve a desired result. An interview with the young or adult offender considers family factors, social involvement, church, education level, job skills, history of criminality, IQ level, psychological factors and other aspects needed to reach a decision. Comparatively with adult cases, some issues can lead to a disposition. It determines if the young offender should be detained in alternative programs, dismissed, proceed to the juvenile court, or transfer him to adult courts through waivering. The disposition in an adult case determines whether the offender is guilty or innocent of the crime charge. In a juvenile case, the respondent is always found delinquent beyond reasonable doubt. In rare cases when the judges find a youn g offender too violent or chronic and resistant to treatment, the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the offender to the adult criminal court. Some courts automatically exclude young offenders charged with heinous offenses, such as murder, from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court (Calderon). Many adult cases go through plea bargaining (Calderon 2006). These are more lenient sentencing, admission or positive evidence of guilt and reduced costs in the proceedings. In many juvenile cases, the respondent pleads guilty. In recent years, policymakers went tough on repeat juvenile offenders and introduced some changes on the sentencing structure. Many of them felt that more young people were committing more violent crimes and that the juvenile justice system was ineffective in its role. More young offenders then were waived or transferred to adult courts where they were subjected to blended sentencing. This means getting adjudicated as a delinquent and getting sentenced as an adult for the same offense. Laws began losing favor for lenient and indeterminate sentencing and punishment and leaning towards determinate disposition. Legislators and policymakers did not find early release effective in rehabilitating young offenders. It was a similar view held for adult criminals. This getting-tough philosophy manifested itself quite severely in applying the death penalty on children as young as 16. There has been a growing sentiment that young criminals threaten the security of society in many ways. Citizens find children committing adult crimes loathsome but neither are the penalties imposed acceptable. This dilemma has led some to propose on the abolition of juvenile criminal courts so that more appropriate punishments for juvenile offenders who commit serious crimes could be devised (Calderon). Reforms in recent times have endowed young offenders with more rights (Calderon 2006). These included appointed attorneys and protection from Constitutional rights. They now also enjoy the rights to due process and to unreasonable searches and seizures more than in the past. State laws vary on the process of interrogation. But the courts have ruled on the overall totality of the circumstances as the determinant of the age for making legal decisions. In some States, parental presence is not a requirement. Complications are also present in both justice systems. The other role-players in the juvenile system are the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the social service worker, the probation officer, the family and the judge himself. The roles they play are similar to those they play in adult cases. The prosecutor and law enforcement officers determine the charges. The judge has the authority to decide what motions to suppress, accepting or rejecting a plea bargain, waiving the juvenile courts jurisdiction to an adult court and acting as the jury on the case. He is the leader who interacts with the other court officers. These players all make signific ant contributions to the proceedings, during follow-ups and the aftercare period. And alternative sentencing is available in both justice systems (Calderon). The actual court proceedings in a juvenile court consist of the arrest procedure, search and seizure, and custodial interrogation (Calderon 2006). The concept has been that the delinquent is a child rather than a criminal. Hence, rehabilitation rather than punishment is the court and the systems goal. But the major aspects of the juvenile justice system continue to hound its supporters. One is the cause of serious juvenile crime. Another is that young offenders need to be rehabilitated under a surrogate entity of the parens patriae concept. Another is a recent redefinition of young violent offenders as adults and their transfer to adult courts and the criminal or adult justice system. There has been increasing belief that they pose a serious and genuine threat to the safety of other young people and the community as a whole. An increase in serious juvenile crimes warrants more severe punishment. But moving them to the same place with adult offenders is a critical step, as there has a s yet no understanding or agreement on what age sufficient understanding develops. Trying a juvenile offender as an adult offender is a serious decision, which will also seriously affect society and the young offenders future. The vested interests of the other players in the court decision likewise merit consideration. The two justice systems use different legal standards. Children naturally lack the cognitive ability to participate in the adjudicative process. And the choice of whether the young offender should be tried in an adult or juvenile court necessarily determines the outcome of the adjudication. A finding of guilt in an adult court almost always means some punishment. A finding of delinquency in a juvenile court results in rehabilitation and punishment in combination. Rather than eliminating it or reintegrating it into the adult criminal justice system, the juvenile justice system needs an overhaul, more funding, and better initiatives for programs, which will truly incorp orate the parents patria concept into the young offenders rehabilitation (Calderon). Other opinions argue that offenders 12 years old and under should not be moved to adult courts on the basis of their limited adjudicative competence (Steinberg 2001). This does not mean they should not be punished but rather held within a system viewing them as children and not yet as fully mature adults. But the large majority of offenders 16 years old and older are not to different from adults and can sufficiently participate in adjudication within the adult criminal justice system. Offenders between 12 and 16 require individualized assessment of their competence to stand trial. The judges, prosecutors and defense attorney should be allowed to evaluate and judge the offenders maturity and eligibility for transfer to an adult court (Steinberg). There are also issues of race and ideology to contend with as among the impediments and issues confronting the current juvenile justice system (Hopson and Obidah 2002). Young people of color experience unequal and inequitable treatment within the system. The larger situation suggests that the decisions are tougher on them. The problems they confront go way beyond what has plagued the juvenile court for more than a hundred years. Youth criminality, deviance and discipline for young people of color have compounded the situation. There have been disproportionate numbers of African Americans and Native Americans arrested and handled by juvenile courts. A racial double standard is revealed. These young offenders of color find themselves at a clear disadvantage in their struggle to obtain equal protection under the law and the right to a good attorney. Reforms made to rehabilitate the system have created contradictory effects on juveniles of color. The young Black offender sees race as a s ignificant factor in his or her treatment through the juvenile justice process. African American youth have been over-represented in official reports of youth crime. These reports said that African Americans accounted for only 15% of the American population. Yet they were responsible for approximately 50% of arrests for violent crime. The Sentencing Project Briefing Fact Sheets also said that 75% of juvenile defendants arrested and charged with drug offenses were Black and 95% of juveniles waived to adult prison for drug violations were minorities (Hopson and Obidah). The American Bar Association said that approximately 200,000 youths are tried in adult courts every year (Juvenile Justice Digest 2001). The figure had doubled between 1985 and 1997 and was expected to increase as more laws were created for juveniles to be tried as adults. The Association published guidelines for juvenile cases referred to adult courts for use by policymakers and law practitioners. The guidelines were derived from the seven general principles, which included the developmental differences between young and adult offenders and in all the aspects of the criminal justice system (Juvenile Justice Digest). Within the realm of a justice system is the basic social belief that society is responsible for rearing and raising children into peace-loving and useful adults (Steinberg 2001). Their family, friends, peers, the community, social workers, the justice system and everyone else in society each have a role to play in bringing them up to fit the image (Steinberg). Yet contemporary society, with a newly and recently evolved victim culture, has eagerly embraced therapy and a strong belief in the powers of social engineering (Stolba 2001). It finds the idea of certain individuals, especially children, as deliberately refusing to change as something simply distasteful. Many juvenile offenders are products of very unsettled times and turbulent environments. But it is the States responsibility to save and reform them (Stolba). In that direction, it must first figure out how to categorize these offenders before it can appropriately deal with them in realizing its mission within the current syst em of justice.

William Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing Essay -- William Shakespe

William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the play "Much Ado About Nothing", William Shakespeare describes how a person can do a lot of things out of nothing. There are four main characters in this play that find a lot to do about stupid things and it can make things very difficult. The main characters are: Benedick, Claudio, Beatrice, and Hero. Shakespeare explains the roles of these four different characters and how relationships work. It's amazing what he knew 400 years ago about relationships and how it is very similar to today's relationships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Benedick is the young Lord of Padua, and is a man who will never get married nor settle down with one woman. Benedick is what we would call in the nineties, a bachelor. He likes to play the field and is a typical male, Benedick thinks that no woman can hold him down and he will never fall in love. Benedick will also never listen to a girl or do what she says either. Then he comes into the town of Messina and Claudio and Don Pedro decide to play cupid and match up Benedick and Beatrice. Benedick thinks that Beatrice is in love with him and wants to wed him, which is somewhat untrue and this changes Benedict's mind completely. He is now flustered with emotions and is in love and he wonders how this could be. Now Beatrice is a very pretty woman but the old Benedict didn't care, he's a man and no woman can hold him down. The new Benedict, on the other hand is head over heels in love and would do anything for sweet Beatrice. This is very ironic on how a person can chan ge completely when falling in love. A great example is when Beatrice tells Benedick to kill Claudio, his best friend, and he ponders it and then says I will draw him to a duel. That is when the audience knows for sure that Benedick is in love and it is also the changing point in the play for Benedick.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Claudio is the young Lord of Florence, and he is a handsome young man and has a thing for Hero, and in fact proposes to her and marries her. Claudio is like a Tom Cruise in today's society, he is every woman's dream man. Claudio is also a good man, as Leonato, Hero's father, just adores Claudio with all his heart. Leonato thinks Hero is a lucky woman since Claudio is a perfect man. Claudio is also Benedick's best friends and they get along very well together despite their differences in takes on women. Claudio is the gentleman... ...explain. Hero is a beautiful woman caught in the middle of high school rumors and it really hurts her and her father. When they find out that Hero is right with her story the friar has to come up with an idea on how to get her back with Claudio. The plan is that Hero killed herself and she has a cousin who is almost identical as Hero(which is truly Hero) which Claudio will marry cause he feels so bad about his love. So Hero and Claudio end up happily together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This play is a great example of a relationship where best friends date two woman who are close and something bad is bound to happen. But in "Much Ado About Nothing", William Shakespeare ends it with a two couple wedding which is usually in his plays. Claudio and Hero have a beautiful wedding and Benedick and Beatrice also do have a fine wedding. Everything turns out okay despite the rumors that were stirred up by Don John the Bastard. I think this play is a great example of relationships and how people act and can change in them. It is amazing how Shakespeare writes this play as if it was in today's time period with relationships, but then I guess love doesn't change and people may always act this way when in love.

The Scientific Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

During the Scientific Revolution scientists such as Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes and Bacon wrestled with questions about God, human aptitude, and the possibilities of understanding the world. Eventually, the implications of the new scientific findings began to affect the way people thought and behaved throughout Europe. Society began to question the authority of traditional knowledge about the universe. This in turn, allowed them to question traditional views of the state and social order. No longer was the world constructed as the somewhat simple Ptolemaic Model suggested. The Earth for the first time became explicable and was no longer the center of the universe. Many beliefs that had been held for hundreds of years now proved to be false. In addition to this, the Roman Catholic Church, which had always clarified the movements of the universe with the divine power of God, was now questioned by many. The Roman Catholic Church was naturally set as an opponent of the Scientific Revo lution, not so much because of opposition to new ideas but instead because the new information contradicted the model of the world the church had created. Fortunately the revolution did not happen overnight but moderately over a 150-year period. Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the first astronomers to question the single worldview that the Christian faith supported. Though it was in the later years of his life that the he published On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, the question was now raised as to the correctness of the mechanics of the world. In his writings, Copernicus was not able to accurately describe the revolutions of the Earth, Sun and Stars, but he was the first man to use mathematics and observation in order to create a more accurate picture of the universe. However, in order to conform to the Roman Catholic Church, Copernicus expressed himself carefully. Copernicus states,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I may well presume, most Holy Father, that certain people,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  as soon as they hear that in this book about the Revolutions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of the Spheres of the Universe I ascribe movement to the earthly   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  globe, will cry out that, holding such views, I should at once be   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  hissed off the stage†¦ (Aspects of Western Civilization 41) Through this statement, Cop... ...leo had attempted to complete. With his information the model of the universe had been at last completed. The Bible and God were no longer needed to explain the mysterious connection of the planets and stars. Newton did not receive the same resistance from the church perhaps because his finding where towards the end of the Scientific Revolution. The Roman Catholic Church could no longer refute the finding of science and submitted. The advances in science over the 150-year period served to crush superstitions and magical believes that people had fathomed to explain the world. Copernicus began the revolution with his finding on the Earth, planets and stars. Galileo went further to connect the world. This came to him at great cost. Bacon and Newton meet less resistance from the Church, possibly due to their approach. In the end science proved to have the final say in the matter, not so much as to discredit the church but rather to dictate there place in the world of science. Religion is based on faith; it always has been, during the Scientific Revolution the church had extended their grip into science. In the end they remain separate, leaving each individual to decide on their own.