A comparative study of Omani employees’ perception toward managers’ leadership styles and management competences in public and private sectors.

Introduction Leaders are fast becoming recognised as the key to success for organisations across the globe and as such studies on how leaders are created and how leaders interact with others are becoming much more prevalent (Chemmers, 1997). That said, the area of leadership in the Oman context has been largely overlooked when it comes to academic study and it is here that the research is going to focus. Leaders within business are increasingly being perceived as those who are responsible for either the success or the failure of the organisation in question and therefore their role within the organisation and the perception that others have of them are likely to be critical to their actions. Leadership has both an extrinsic and an intrinsic role. Firstly, it could be argued that leadership reflects the way in which the public view the company or the perceptions that those outside of the organisation have of how the company manages its operations; secondly, leadership looks at the way in which the employees and those who work directly with the managers are inspired and encouraged to perform in a suitable manner to meet with the organisation’s goals (Chemmers, 1997). Merely defining what is meant by â€Å"leadership† and the various styles that are seen to be available for such leaders is an academic study in itself, with one of the most accepted definitions being that of Chemers (1997, p.1) who stated that leadership is seen as â€Å"a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task†. This type of collaborative approach will form the basic underlying concept of leadership, regardless of the jurisdiction in which it is operating. Following on from this background understanding the research will then go on to look at how leadership in Oman can be developed to achieve greater commercial success with reference to the distinction between public and private sector organisations. Background of the Study Although there has been a large amount of general literature in the area of leadership and the emergent theories of leadership that have come about in recent years, there has been a small level of understanding regarding the role of leadership within the developing region of Oman. It has been suggested by Dorfman in 2004 that one of the main difficulties is that organisations in Oman are typically not very transparent with their operations and this can make it harder to identify any form of business strategy, let alone one that is rooted in the perceptions of individual employees. Taking an internal view of the way in which an organisation works is a crucial element of then looking at the role of the leader and how they can influence the performance of employees. It is argued here that one of the key issues is, in fact, that the political context of the region has a real and direct impact on the organisation and the types of leadership that are likely to be effective. Crucially, it i s also necessary to look at the cultural and political factors that are at play within Oman and not to simply assume that Arab culture will prevail. As a further point, by way of background, it is also noted by Dorfman that in Oman (as is the case in many developing regions) the public sector is often the driving force with internal practices, such as leadership development emanating from public sector agendas. Finally, it is worth noting that Oman itself is a relatively small country when looking at population, with a total of 3.5 million. On the face of it, the country has many similar characteristics with its Arab neighbours and is also subject to rapid economic growth; however, it is suggested in this paper that Oman has a unique geographical and political scope which encourages the organisations, both public and private, to outperform other countries in the same region (Haligan, 2007). There are arguably multiple factors that are likely to impact on how leadership is dealt with in Oman and these will be considered in greater detail in the thesis when comparing the approaches in the public and private sectors. These are briefly identified by Haligan in 2007 and include the political development in the region and the British influence, in particular. Issues of religion and culture are also thought to be important in the region and these are arguably factors that remain prevalent, even where there are economic changes or there are factors that may otherwise impact on the operation of the business. Problem Statement The problem statement for this research paper is to look primarily at the comparison between the public sector and private sector leadership skills, with reference to the employees’ perceptions of their leaders. Although this is a relatively specific area of study, there are potential issues that need to be looked at surrounding the study, in order to ascertain the impact that the various leadership styles have on the perceptions of employees and therefore on their ultimate behaviour. Employee behaviours are arguably linked to the leadership style, but it is also expected that other underlying factors, such as religion, culture and politics will have an impact. A comparison between public and private sectors may provide a greater understanding of these issues and the ways in which leaders can improve their own behaviours, in the future, to influence the performance of their employees. Research Question and Objectives The question here is to undertake a comparative study of the role of the managers and their leadership styles, from the point of view of employee perspectives, in both the public and private sectors in Oman with a view to presenting overall findings. In order to be able to provide a balanced response to this research question, there are several other objectives that need to be looked at, so that the answer to the research question can then provide future guidance, which can add value to those involved in corporate Oman. Firstly, there is a requirement to understand the various leadership styles that may be employed by leaders and the way in which these are likely to develop within the workplace. Factors that may impact on the choice of leadership approach will also be looked at, with reference to the corporate climate in Oman. For example, it may be thought that the political context is relevant to the leadership style and that this will then be different in the public and private se ctors. Similarly, it may be argued that religion or culture plays a much greater role than whether or not the organisation is public or private sector orientated. Secondly, as well as the actual factors that influence leadership styles, the next part of the research is to look at the impact that leadership styles have on employee perceptions of the leaders themselves, or indeed the organisation. The ultimate aim of this research is for those involved in leadership to be able to understand how they can influence employee behaviours to the benefit of the organisation, in the future. With this in mind, the research question will need to be broken down, to understand the factors that are present but unchangeable and those which can be influenced, so as to create a more balanced view as to what leaders and managers can do to change the operation and the perceptions of their employees within the workplace. Background Literature Review Despite the fact that there is a large amount of literature available in terms of leadership styles, all of which will be looked at as part of the main research, the real essence of this research will be to look at leadership in the context of Oman and Omani culture. Over the years, it is argued that Omani culture and how it deals with politics, in particular, is that it has supported a participative leadership approach as being the dominant form of accepted leadership within the culture. This was the subject of the discussion in the paper of Eickleman, (1987) who found that the people of Oman, in general, operated by consultation, with leaders being largely selected based on merit, rather than on succession. This type of underlying culture is important as a means of understanding the prevailing culture and the likely employee perceptions of their leaders. Specific research in the area of Omani business has also taken place, identifying that the way in which leaders are selected by p riests within the community by merit from a religions context which offers an opportunity for further analysis within the commercial context. Arguably, this type of social selection was also seen to be prevalent when Al-Ghailani researched the area, in 2005, considering how this then influences human resources practices. It was found in this research that the use of social criteria was often seen as important when it came to recruitment and promotional decisions. This was evidenced in the 2005 research by the fact that it was found that many religious leaders were petitioning the public sector to recruit family members into certain roles. He found that there were essentially two different leadership structures in operation, the first looking at merit and the notion of recruiting to fill a need and the second based on family and cultural issues. This two fold approach suggests that leadership is unlikely to be a black and white scenario and perceptions are going to vary from person t o person not just from organisation to organisation. By looking at other areas of research into leadership and therefore the employee perceptions that emerge as a result of the leadership, it can be seen that there are very distinct opinions, with those such as Farazmand, (2006) noting that this social element in fact complements leadership and improves perceptions, rather than being a detriment to the European and Western approach. A specific research paper that looked at the leadership values in Oman was undertaken by Neal et al (2005), which found that positive leaders were seen as those displaying attributes of strong charisma, being largely interactive and also having a degree of authority inherent in their attitude. This indicated that those successful leaders in Oman were not actually far remote from the Western ideals. In particular, Neal et al. found that an effective leader in Oman needed to be concerned with the personal welfare of all of the employees and that a further level of respect is given to the use of legal authority, which is seemingly logical given the high level of bureaucracy within the region. Methodology The methodology that is going to be used in the research here is inductive in nature, as it will look at the observations and actions of the various different managers, before then attempting to produce an overall theory that could ultimately apply across both private and public sector organisations. The first step of this research, therefore, is to undertake a full literature review and analysis of the leadership approaches and those factors that theoretically have a means of determining the different perceptions which are going to emerge from employees in relation to the leadership skills displayed. From this general theoretical understanding, primary research in the form of case study interviews will then be undertaken, with the author looking specifically at two organisations, one in the public sector and one in the private sector. Although it is recognised that ideally several different organisations should be looked at, it is noted that the reality is such that focusing on two organisations will allow for sufficient depth of comparison between the styles of leadership. This will then be used to produce a theory and a set of suggestions as to how the information can then be applied to establishing a set of recommendations for managers across Oman and indeed across other similar jurisdictions. Limitations / Ethical Considerations A key limitation which has been identified is that the case study element will only look at one organisation from the public sector and one from the private sector. It would be desirable to look at a broader range of organisations and even to undertake such research over a period of time, to ascertain how these issues change and the long term impact of culture and politics, at that point in time. There may also be concerns that the employees will not be as open as they could be, due to concerns about what their manager will think; therefore, anonymity is crucial and is something that needs to be taken to the forefront when collecting data. References Al-Ghailani, R. (2005). Equal opportunity in public office in principle and practice: An empirical study of the Omani Civil Service. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hull, Hull. Al-Hamadi, A., Budhwar, P., & Shipton, H. (2007). Management of human resources in Oman. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(1), 100-113. London Chemers M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, CA, Publishers. Dorfman, P., & House, R. (2004). Cultural influences on organizational leadership. In R. House, P. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. Dorfman, & V. Gupta (Eds.), Culture, leadership and organizations, the GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Farazmand, A. (2006). Public sector reforms and transformation: Implications for development administration. In A. Huque & H. Zafarullah (Eds.), International development governance. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor and Francis. Halligan, J. (2007). Leadership and the senior service from a comparative perspective. In B. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), Handbook of public administration (pp. 63-74). London: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Jabbra, J., & Jabbra, N. (2005). Administrative culture in the Middle East. In J. Jabbra & O. Dwivedi (Eds.), Administrative culture in a global context. Whitby, ON: de Sitter. Neal, M., Finlay, J., & Tansey, R. (2005). â€Å"My father knows the minister†: A comparative study of Arab women?s attitudes towards leadership authority. Women in Management Review, 20(7/8), 478-498. Riphenburg, C. (1998). Oman: Political development in a changing world. Westport, CT: Praeger. Winckler, O. (2000). Gulf monarchies as rentier states: The nationalization policies of the labor force. In J. Kostiner (Ed.), Middle East monarchies: The challenge of modernity (pp. 237-256). London: Lynne Rienner.

Sir Mohammed Iqbal Biography Essay

Sir Mohammed Iqbal was born at Sialkot, India (now in Pakistan), on 9th November, 1877 of a pious family of small merchants and was educated at Government College, Lahore. He is commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal (Ø ¹Ã™â€žÃ˜ §Ã™â€¦Ã›  Ø §Ã™â€šÃ˜ ¨Ã˜ §Ã™â€žÃ¢â‚¬Å½, Allama meaning â€Å"Scholar†). In Europe from 1905 to 1908, he earned his degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, qualified as a barrister in London, and received a doctorate from the University of Munich. His thesis, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, revealed some aspects of Islamic mysticism formerly unknown in Europ On his return from Europe, he gained his livelihood by the practice of law, but his fame came from his Persian- and Urdu-language poetry, which was written in the classical style for public recitation. Through poetic symposia and in a milieu in which memorizing verse was customary, his poetry became widely known, even among the illiterate. Almost all the cultured Indian and Pakistani Muslims of his and later generations have had the habit of quoting Iqbal. Before he visited Europe, his poetry affirmed Indian nationalism, as in Naya shawala (â€Å"The New Altar†), but time away from India caused him to shift his perspective. He came to criticize nationalism for a twofold reason: in Europe it had led to destructive racism and imperialism, and in India it was not founded on an adequate degree of common purpose. In a speech delivered at Aligarh in 1910, under the title â€Å"Islam as a Social and Political Ideal,† he indicated the new Pan-Islamic direction of his hopes. The recurrent themes of Iqbal’s poetry are a memory of the vanished glories of Islam, a complaint about its present decadence, and a call to unity and reform. Reform can be achieved by strengthening the individual through three successive stages: obedience to the law of Islam, self-control, and acceptance of the idea that everyone is potentially a vicegerent of God (na`ib, or mu`min). Furthermore, the life of action is to be preferred to ascetic resignation. Three significant poems from this period, Shikwah (â€Å"The Complaint†), Jawab-e shikwah (â€Å"The Answer to the Complaint†), and Khizr-e rah (â€Å"Khizr, the Guide†), were published later in 1924 in the Urdu collection Bang-e dara (â€Å"The Call of the Bell†). In those works Iqbal gave intense expression to the anguish of Muslim powerlessness. Khizr (Arabic: Khidr), the Qur`anic  prophet who asks the most difficult questions, is pictured bringing from God the baffling problems of the early 20th century. Notoriety came in 1915 with the publication of his long Persian poem Asrar-e khudi (The Secrets of the Self). He wrote in Persian because he sought to address his appeal to the entire Muslim world. In this work he presents a theory of the self that is a strong condemnation of the self-negating quietism (i.e., the belief that perfection and spiritual peace are attained by passive absorption in contemplation of God and divine things) of classical Islamic mysticism; his criticism shocked many and excited controversy. Iqbal and his admirers steadily maintained that creative self-affirmation is a fundamental Muslim virtue; his critics said he imposed themes from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche on Islam. The dialectical quality of his thinking was expressed by the next long Persian poem, Rumuz-e bikhudi (1918; The Mysteries of Selflessness). Written as a counterpoint to the individualism preached in the Asrar-ekhudi, this poem called for self-surrender. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . Lo, like a candle wrestling with the night †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . O’er my own self I pour my flooding tears †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I spent my self, that there might be more light, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. .. More loveliness, more joy for other men. The Muslim community, as Iqbal conceived it, ought effectively to teach and to encourage generous service to the ideals of brotherhood and justice. The mystery of selflessness was the hidden strength of Islam. Ultimately, the only satisfactory mode of active self-realization was the sacrifice of the self in the service of causes greater than the self. The paradigm was the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the devoted service of the first believers. The second poem completes Iqbal’s conception of the final destiny of the self. Later, he published three more Persian volumes. Payam-e Mashriq (1923; â€Å"Message of the East†), written in response to J.W. von Goethe’s West-à ¶stlicher Divan (1819; â€Å"Divan of West and East†), affirmed the universal validity of Islam. In 1927 Zabur-e ‘Ajam (â€Å"Persian Psalms†)  appeared, about which A.J. Arberry, its translator into English, wrote: â€Å"Iqbal displayed here an altogether extraordinary tal ent for the most delicate and delightful of all Persian styles, the ghazal,† or love poem. Javid-nameh (1932; â€Å"The Song of Eternity†) is considered Iqbal’s masterpiece. Its theme, reminiscent of Dante’s Divine Comedy, is the ascent of the poet, guided by the great 13th-century Persian mystic Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi, through all the realms of thought and experience to the final encounter. Iqbal’s later publications of poetry in Urdu were Bal-e Jibril (1935; â€Å"Gabriel’s Wing†), Zarb-e kalim (1937; â€Å"The Blow of Moses†), and the posthumous Armaghan-e Hijaz (1938; â€Å"Gift of the Hejaz†), which contained verses in both Urdu and Persian. He is considered the greatest poet in Urdu of the 20th century. Upon his return to India in 1908, Iqbal took up assistant professorship at the Government College in Lahore, but for financial reasons he relinquished it within a year to practice law. During this period, Iqbal’s personal life was in turmoil. He divorced Karim Bibi in 1916, but provided financial support to her and their children for the rest of his life. While maintaining his legal practice, Iqbal began concentrating on spiritual and religious subjects, and publishing poetry and literary works. He became active in the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, a congress of Muslim intellectuals, writers and poets as well as politicians, and in 1919 became the general secretary of the organisation. Iqbal’s thoughts in his work primarily focused on the spiritual direction and development of human society, centred around experiences from his travel and stay in Western Europe and the Middle East. He was profoundly influenced by Western philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson and Goethe, and soon became a strong critic of Western society’s separation of religion from state and what he perceived as its obsession with materialist pursuits. The poetry and philosophy of Mawlana Rumi bore the deepest influence on Iqbal’s mind. Deeply grounded in religion since childhood, Iqbal would begin intensely concentrating on the study of Islam, the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its political future, and embrace Rumi as â€Å"his  guide.† Iqbal would feature Rumi in the role of a guide in many of his poems, and his works focused on reminding his readers of the past glories of Islamic civilization, and delivering a message of a pure, spiritual focus on Islam as a source for socio-political liberation and greatness. Iqbal denounced political divisions within and amongst Muslim nations, and frequently alluded to and spoke in terms of the global Muslim community, or the Ummah. Iqbal’s first work published in Urdu, the Bang-e-Dara (The Call of the Marching Bell) of 1924, was a collection of poetry written by him in three distinct phases of his life.[4] The poems he wrote up to 1905, the year Iqbal left for England imbibe patriotism and imagery of landscape, and includes the Tarana-e-Hind (The Song of India), popularly known as Saare Jahan Se Achcha and another poem Tarana-e-Milli (Anthem of the (Muslim) Community), which was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as Saare Jahan Se Achcha. The second set of poems date from between 1905 and 1908 when Iqbal studied in Europe and dwell upon the nature of European society, which he emphasized had lost spiritual and religious values. This inspired Iqbal to write poems on the historical and cultural heritage of Islamic culture and Muslim people, not from an Indian but a global perspective. Iqbal urges the global community of Muslims, addressed as the Ummah to define personal, social and political existence by the values and teachings of Islam. Poems such as Tulu’i Islam (Dawn of Islam) and Khizr-e-Rah (The Guided Path) are especially acclaimed. Iqbal preferred to work mainly in Persian for a predominant period of his career, but after 1930, his works were mainly in Urdu. The works of this period were often specifically directed at the Muslim masses of India, with an even stronger emphasis on Islam, and Muslim spiritual and political reawakening. Published in 1935, the Bal-e-Jibril (Wings of Gabriel) is considered by many critics as the finest of Iqbal’s Urdu poetry, and was inspired by his visit to Spain, where he visited the monuments and legacy of the kingdom of the Moors. It consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams and carries a strong sense religious passion.[4] The Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (What are we to do, O Nations of the East?) includes the poem Musafir (Traveller). Again, Iqbal depicts Rumi as a character and an exposition of the mysteries of Islamic laws and Sufi perceptions is given. Iqbal laments the dissension and disunity among the Indian Muslims as well as Muslim nations. Musafir is an account of one of Iqbal’s journeys to Afghanistan, in which the Pashtun people are counseled to learn the â€Å"secret of Islam† and to â€Å"build up the self† within themselves.[4] Iqbal’s final work was the Armughan-e-Hijaz (The Gift of Hijaz), published posthumously in 1938. The first part contains quatrains in Persian, and the second part contains some poems and epigrams in Urdu. The Persian quatrains convey the impression as though the poet is travelling through the Hijaz in his imagination. Profundity of ideas and intensity of passion are the salient features of these short poems. The Urdu portion of the book contains some categorical criticism of the intellectual movements and social and political revolutions of the modern age. While dividing his time between law and poetry, Iqbal had remained active in the Muslim League. He supported Indian involvement in World War I, as well as the Khilafat movement and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Maulana Mohammad Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian National Congress, which he regarded as dominated by Hindus and was disappointed with the League when during the 1920s, it was absorbed in factional divides between the pro-British group led by Sir Muhammad Shafi and the centrist group led by Jinnah. In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes. He supported the constitutional proposals presented by Jinnah with the aim of guaranteeing Muslim political rights and influence in a coalition with the Congress, and worked with the Aga Khan and other Muslim leaders to mend the factional divisions and achieve unity in the Muslim League. His philosophical position was articulated in The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1934), a volume based on six lectures delivered at Madras,  Hyderabad, and Aligarh in 1928-29. He argued that a rightly focused man should unceasingly generate vitality through interaction with the purposes of the living God. The Prophet Muhammad had returned from his unitary experience of God to let loose on the earth a new type of manhood and a cultural world characterized by the abolition of priesthood and hereditary kingship and by an emphasis on the study of history and nature. The Muslim community in the present age ought, through the exercise of ijtihad–the principle of legal advancement–to devise new social and political institutions. He also advocated a theory of ijma’–consensus. Iqbal tended to be progressive in adumbrating general principles of change but conservative in initiating actual change. During the time that he was delivering these lectures , Iqbal began working with the Muslim League. At the annual session of the league at Allahabad, in 1930, he gave the presidential address, in which he made a famous statement that the Muslims of northwestern India should demand status as a separate state. After a long period of ill health, Iqbal died in April 1938 and was buried in front of the great Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Two years later, the Muslim League voted for the idea of Pakistan. That the poet had influenced the making of that decision, which became a reality in 1947, is undisputed. He has been acclaimed as the father of Pakistan, and every year Iqbal Day is celebrated by Pakistanis. Aspects of his thought are explored in K.G. Saiyidain, Iqbal’s Educational Philosophy, 6th ed. rev. (1965), a standard analysis of the relevance of Iqbal’s ideas about education written by a distinguished Indian educationist; Annemarie Schimmel, Gabriel’s Wing, 2nd ed. (1989), a thorough analysis of Iqbal’s religious symbolism, including a comprehensive bibliography in English; Syed Abdul Vahid, Iqbal: His Art and Thought, new ed. (1959), a standard introduction; Hafeez Malik (ed.), Iqbal, Poet-Philosopher of Pakistan (1971), representative Pakistani views; and S.M .H. Burney (S.M.H. Barni), Iqbal, Poet-Patriot of India (1987), focusing on nationalism and secularism in his poetry.

Theories of Goal-Oriented Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theories of Goal-Oriented Communication - Essay Example Talented, the movie portrays John as not socially awkward, able to maintain friendships, and a healthy dating life. In this way, the viewer sees John as what many would consider being the very picture of a hopeful and bright future; he has friends, is incredibly smart, and the future itself is bright and open to whatever task he may set his mind to. Yet, as one who has watched the movie and analyzed its contents, the viewer can readily see that the filmmaker is merely relating the beginning of a story of which this first part of John’s life will not be the key determinant. Yet, beyond the story of mental disability that he suffers, the movie also represents an undercurrent of struggle that the protagonist has with accepting and understanding the reality around him. In this way, the following analysis will examine three theories of interpersonal communication and apply and relate them to the film in question. The first theory which will be discussed in relation to the film is k nown as relational patterns of interaction theory. Within this theory, it is understood that communication is oftentimes best understood and exhibited based on certain key determinants; such as the relationship or pattern that exists between the individuals involved in the communication. In this way, the manner in which John interacts with his wife and his family is oftentimes shown to be far more helpful than the manner in which he interacts with unknown individuals within the workplace (Goldreich 65). Similarly, a secondary theory that applies to the given case is with regards to symmetrical relationships. Due to the fact that John suffers from an acute case of schizophrenia, the viewer is led to assume that he will be unable to function in the world any longer.

Marketing Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Management - Assignment Example This has led to the growth of tremendous competition in the world wide markets among various fast foods brands in quick service or packaged formats. In this particular assignment, the focus is laid on Dominos Pizza, which is considered as the leader in the pizza delivery business in the US on the basis of consumer spending and occupies the second position in the globe, while comparing in terms of sales (Annual Report, Item 1). The company, founded in the year 1960, provides quality products that are made available to the consumers at affordable prices with excellence in product delivery (Dominos.com, 2008). I. Marketing Mix The marketing mix of a company increasingly talks about the process of value generation, value communication, value distribution and value capture through the 4 P’s of marketing which is commonly represented as product, place, promotion and price. Product The world’s second largest pizza company in the world in terms of volume has a highly diversifie d line of product portfolio. The company’s main product offerings are mostly the diversified kinds of pizzas that help the company to cater to the hunger needs of the consumers belonging to the mass markets by providing the required and desired nutritional food value through its food products to the customers. Apart from the basic product offering of pizzas, the globally present pizza manufacturer and delivery brand focuses on the process of value generation, value distribution and value capture through a widely diversified portfolio comprising of various categories of product like pasta, breads, chicken products, sandwiches, chips, drinks, deserts as well as some by product type auxiliary offerings. It also needs to be mentioned that in an attempt to service and cater to the needs of the customers in a better manner, the company also allows the consumers and customers to opt for customized product offering depending on their personal choice and preferences. Among each of the se diversified product lines, the company has various product variants which helps their product appeal to a broad range of customers in the American region as well as in various countries all over the globe. Place The largest pizza delivery company in the US follows a very generalized yet highly well developed and advanced model for the process of distributing value to the consumers. The company follows the strategy of expanding and entering in various markets through the process of offering franchisees. By the process of offering franchisees in various markets, the company gets the option for going for both intensive as well as exhaustive distribution of products. As of today’s date, the company has presence in various locations all over the globe with a store count of more than 9000 worldwide (Annual Report, p. 14). Promotion The company uses a mix of online and offline processes for promoting its products. For the purpose of increasing product and brand awareness in new m arkets, the brand goes for exploiting traditional promotional media like the television, hoardings, banners, newspaper ads, etc. The company also goes for in store promotions like offering discounts, coupons, value for money combo packs to promote its

Examine with reference to relevant case law the extent to which it is Essay

Examine with reference to relevant case law the extent to which it is true to say that in the event of a breach of contract the - Essay Example D.). There may be money damages someone can collect when a contract is breached; however, there are limitations to how much damages may be collect due to a breach of a contract. When a teacher is employed by a school district the teacher is under a contract. The contract states that the teacher will remain on staff throughout the duration of the school year, and the school district promises that the teacher will have a job for the duration of the school year(N. A., N. D.). Sometimes the contract between a teacher and a school district is breached. Under certain circumstances the school board may terminate the teachers contract during the school year. When the school board terminates the contract during the school year the teacher is left without a steady paycheck. When someone is fired the person does not normally receive a severance pay. The teacher may be entitled to severance pay in the amount the teacher would have received in wages for duration of the school year. The teacher is limited to only this amount of damages. If a teacher terminates a contract and leaves during the school year, the school district will need to find a replacement to teach the students. The school board may then be entitled to compensation because the teacher terminated the contract. The school board would again be limited to the amount of damages specified in the contract (N. A., N. D.). If someone hires a construction company and the construction company does not complete the job on time, or the construction company creates a faulty structure then the person who employed the construction company would be entitled to damages caused by the construction company breaching the contract made between the person, and the construction company (N. A., N. D.). The person is only permitted to collect damages in the amount of how much damage was caused by the construction company when the construction company did not complete the job on time. The person may have planned to rent the structure, and lost rental fees because the person was unable to rent the structure. The person would be entitled to the amount of fees lost because the person was unable to rent the structure when the company did not complete the structure on time. If a construction company does not complete a project within the time specified in the contract the person who employed the construction company is legally permitted to terminate the contract without any legal ramifications. The person who enters into a lease with an apartment complex is entitled to stay in the apartment community until the end of the lease (N. A., N. D.). The person signed a lease, and agreed to pay the apartment community the amount specified in the lease every month until the end of the lease. If for some reason the tenant is not able to pay the specified amount of monthly rent, and defaults on the rent, the apartment community may be entitled to damages caused by the tenant not paying the rent. The apartment community is entitl ed to collect the amount of money owed. If the tenant breaches the contract by nonpayment in the tenth month of residency the apartment community is limited to collect the fees owed for three months of rent, and attorney costs. A breach of a contract case is usually heard before a judge. A person in a breach of a contract case is entitled to receive a trial by a jury, but not always. The Constitution does not specify for a jury trial at all trials. In a breach of a contract case the judge, and possibly jury will hear all of the credible evidence

Disability and Economic Change in Africa Research Paper

Disability and Economic Change in Africa - Research Paper Example The analysis is from poverty and being employed to economic responsibility and social participation. According to statistics, 2 persons in 20 are disabled and most live in the upcoming countries. The World Bank also, estimates that 1 in 6 is the poorest. Poverty and disability are closely related directly and inversely, they are causes and consequences of the other. Households subjected to poverty are exposed to disabling situations by lack of diet, little access to medical health care, vulnerability and high chances of accidents. It has a great capacity to destroy the lives of the disabled and burden their families (Ashgate, 698). In this study, the aim is to show the variation of income of homes with and without disabilities. Households with members who are impaired are grouped as the affected households and the others, unaffected households. The research showed that about 300 of 5000 selected households had one or more impaired person, relatively poor. Despite these challenges, there is ignorance concerning the economic importance of focusing on the growth and development of people with disabilities and their supporters. In the country, the source of income is in the agricultural sector therefore, the employment level is very low. The supply is lower than the job demand and the non-disabled are the only employed (Ashgate,712). The marginal farmers do not hire workers rather they depend fully on their physical strengths thus, the impaired have catastrophic consequences. Only males are employed in large number and females left to care for their disabled, so the loss of income by the men results in the high amount of debts (Ashgate, 722). The level of unemployment leads to poor living standards of the family members.

Rationale for workers compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Rationale for workers compensation - Essay Example One of the objectives of workers compensation is prevention of accidents. The theory underlying in this is that employers will invest in accident- prevention programs to hold down compensation costs. Lower insurance premiums come as payoff to employers resulting to fewer accidents. Another objective is allocation of costs whereby cost allocation is spread cost of workers’ compensation appropriately and proportionately ranging from the most to the least hazardous. Replacement of income for the injured employees is another objective for workers compensation whereby it replaces the lost income due to injuries occurred during the job. Rehabilitation of the injured employee is the last objective of workers compensation It is difficult to make generalizations of who is in workers compensation. Eighty percent of the work force in America is covered, but those who are not covered are categorized as the general agricultural employees, domestic employees, casual employees, hazardous work employees, religious employees, employees of a small organization, maritime employees, contractors, minors and extraterritorial employees. Workers compensation help prevents future accidents by limiting stress-related claims, streamlining administration of the system and limiting vocational rehabilitation benefits (Wickert, 2012). In summary, workers compensation is here to benefit both the employers and employees in the end for smooth running of the

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example According to Huczyski and Buchanan (2009), a central part of the concept of the organization and administration is the development of administration perceptions and what skill should be termed as administration theory. The application of the theory brings complete alteration in the management practices. Management theories are a well-defined set of general guidelines that direct the managers to effectively manage an organization. Management theories are helpful for employees for carrying out effective collaboration with business objectives and the sources required for achieving the goal. Organisational behavior is based on understanding the management principles. Knowledge of the history helps in understanding the attributes of administration and management behavior along with the affirmation of the major areas of organizational function (Huczynski A & Buchanan, D 2009). Management theories are analytic and can be implemented in accordance with the diverse administrative contexts. Ap proaches to Management & Organisation The above chart describes the main approaches to organizational behavior (Mullins 2005). Organisational studies, organization behavior, and management practices are analytical concepts and they depict the precise use of ability on how humans as individuals and as groups act within the organization. The initial writers presented the management theories on the basis of understanding the various purposes of management and its functions within an organization.  Ã‚  ... 1. Classical Approach The initial writers presented the management theories on the basis of understanding the various purposes of management and its functions within an organisation. They built the management concept categorising it as work planning, the profound requirements of the organisation, challenge of management, and the acceptance of rational and analytic behaviour. 2. Human Relationship In Behaviour Management The human aspect of the classical writers was a framework for the organisation, however during the 1920s, the years of the Great Depression; the greater incorporation began with the human relations and the organisational behaviour (Mullins, 2005). 3. The System Approach In the recent days, interest has been focused on the evaluation of organisations as systems with an amount of shared sub-systems. The classical access emphasised the complex requirements of the organisation and its people. According to this theory, the managers should be able to understand the aspirati ons of their employees or subordinates in order to create an effective working relationship with them. It also determines the various factors by which an employee can be motivated towards working well in the firm. This would help in achieving organisational goals with more effectiveness and commitment. The theory draws attention towards the hygiene factors of motivation of employees within an organisation and the aspects that should be considered by managers in the course of management. An interrelationship can be drawn here with the understanding of organisational behaviour and the human relation theory of management which emphasises the behavioural element which is shared mutually with both the subjects. The concept of the management theory

The Centre for Visual Arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Centre for Visual Arts - Essay Example The name of the exhibition is ‘In Lak’ech San Diego to Denver: You Are My Other Self’ and was characterized by artists involved in looking into immigration, cultural variations and equality. This statement has made me learn that artists in San Diego have taken up the role of promoting unity despite difference, shared reverence of manifestation, experiences, and variations. Lopez’ artwork in the Center for Visual Arts exhibition in Metropolitan State University was paintings from the Guadalupe series. The drawings covered white paper surface with oil pastels with dark and light crayons marks achieving changes in value. Lopez is renowned missionary artists and a pioneers and figurehead feminists of the Chicana art movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Using the Guadalupana images, Lopez manages to reveal different perspectives of politics, religious, and cultural aspects. The choice of the virgin in her artwork portrays the contemporary Chicana womanhood. The imag es demonstrate that Chicana women are expected to live their true self’s by remaining active, passionate, and indigenous mestizas and not Santa’s with white skin, acquitted, shy, genderless, and young. Consequently, Lopez intentions in the images of Guadalupe series define the true Chicana grandmothers and mothers. Lopez artwork evidently demonstrates the aspect of ‘In lak’Ech’ or ‘You Are the Other Me’ in that they bring out a sense of community and autonomy. Self-dependency does not mean individualism or prioritizing self, but something that is not just intimately our own but that belongs to others as well. For Lopez, a Chicana, the images represent a journey, relationship, experience and prayers through La Virgen de Guadalupe and relates to her appreciating being Chicana from her grandmother and mother.

Application of the color combinations and principles of design Essay

Application of the color combinations and principles of design - Essay Example 31). Still life by Jacob van Walscapelle is a drawing showing fruits and flowers as the main life subjects. Light was used to emphasize on the sharpness of the fruits; with the peach being at its direction. The fine glass has a red wine, while the shorter one contains water. The grapes have their traditional pale purple shade showing maturity. In terms of principles of designs applied in the two paintings, rhythm is created in the first picture by having smooth transitions between all components of the pictures; there is no clear cut colour difference between the buildings and the field at the background. However, the audience can notice that the painting is detailed only under close scrutiny. The artist gave balance to the items in ‘Still life’ painting by arranging them at strategic points for the picture not to appear heavy at some points and light at the rest of the painting. In this respect, the tall glass is positioned at the left side; however, it balances with the huge pawpaw fruit situated at the right

Macbeths path to evil Essay Example for Free

Macbeths path to evil Essay In Macbeth, it is clear that Macbeth at the start of the play is a different person to Macbeth at the end of the play. During the course of the play, he changes a great deal, most obviously from a good and faithful thane of Scotland to a cruel and ruthless king. At the beginning of the play, he is at his noblest. He has shown great courage and loyalty: brave Macbeth well he deserves that name, and is considered a hero by Duncan, the king, for ending the rebellion in Scotland, and is thought trustworthy: O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! He is a great warrior and one of the leaders of the Scottish army: like valours minion carvd out his passage. Yet he is ambitious, and this leads him to become a terrible king, moving from one act of violence to another, seeing one threat after another, so killing conscience and pity. As he is king of Scotland, his evil floods Scotland, making it horribly unnatural and filled with fear: A falcon/Was by a mousing owl hawkd at and killd. However, at the end of the play he still shows that he has not lost his courage as he dies fighting: Exeunt, fighting, but it is somewhat diminished and his fear has grown as earlier in the play he is scared of the apparitions: But no more sights! Yet at the beginning of the play he fought a bloody and gruesome battle in which a single, detached, armoured head (the appearance of the first apparition) would not have been an uncommon sight. It could be said that at the end of the play Macbeth is a villain, as Malcolm does: this dead butcher, or that he is a tragic hero, as he fought, knowing that Macduff would kill him: And thou opposd, being of no woman born, /Yet I will try the last. In order to be a tragic hero however, he needs a tragic flaw. This could either be his ambition, which causes him to be willingly swayed by the witches and risk everything, or it could be his courage, as he does not realise that courage is sometimes the ability to say no. But Shakespeares audience would more than likely consider him bound for Hell, as he at no point in the play asks for forgiveness. One of the beliefs on which Christianity is built is that no matter what people do on Earth, if they ask for forgiveness they will be forgiven by God, and Shakespeares audience would mostly have been made up of faithful Christians. No matter what people do to redeem themselves, God does not forgive them unless they ask to be. But this change from good to evil does not happen overnight. It is triggered at the beginning by the witches, who open the play in the most unnatural of ways for a Shakespearian tragedy. The scene is very short, only 12 lines long, and it is unnatural in every way possible. The three witches are supernatural beings: you should be women, /And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/That you are so, the weather is unnatural and violent, even the incantatory poetry that Shakespeare gives them is unnatural, as no one else in the play ever speaks in the same way as they do. It is a prologue to the evil events that will occur throughout the play. They have planned out everything and know exactly what will happen when they tell Macbeth that he will be king one day: There to meet with Macbeth, All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be King hereafter. Throughout the play, Macbeth tries to control the witches, yet he never can: Speak, I charge you. Witches vanish, and he tries the same with the apparitions, and is scolded by the witches: He knows thy thought: /Hear his speech, but say thou nought. He does not realize that he cannot control either Fate or such unearthly creatures as the witches. Also throughout the play, the witches treat Macbeth as one of their own, and he does not realise that he finds them only because they want him to: Something wicked this way comes. /Open locks, /Whoever knocks. Shakespeare makes this comparison between them in Macbeths very first line, by giving him almost the exact same words as he gave the witches: So foul and fair a day I have not seen. The witches are also significant to Shakespeares audience because there are three of them. There has always been an ancient superstition that the number three is a magical number, yet most of the Shakespearian audience would immediately associate it with the Holy Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In Macbeth this has been inverted, as so many other things are. Instead, there is an Infernal Trinity; the three witches or a more elaborate one, made up of the witches, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth. Still, there could also be an incarnation of the Holy Trinity in Macbeth, represented by Macduff, Malcolm, and Banquo. Macbeths progression to evil is chiefly marked out by his soliloquies and the murders that he performs, or orders. He starts as a mighty and noble warrior, killing rebels for his King and country. Then, once his ambition has started to take over, he goes on to kill Duncan, an innocent, defenceless, old man: Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope/the Lords anointed temple. He puts much thought into this before performing the deed, debating with himself whether to do it or not: Hes here in double trust/his host, /Who should against his murderer shut the door/Not bear the knife myself. And once he has performed the horrific deed, he regrets it bitterly: Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst! His hesitation however, is not the hesitation of fear, as he has a terrible courage, but of an intimate, buried knowledge between right and wrong. Then he goes on to kill Banquo, though not personally. He gives less thought to this deed: There is none but he/Whose being I do fear; and he does not regret the deed at all, yet is petrified of Banquos ghost at the coronation banquet. Banquo, when he is killed, knows what has transpired: I fear, /Thou playdst most foully for t. He knows how Macbeth became king and that he killed Duncan, and also knows that he is behind his own murder: O treachery! Macbeth finally orders the murders of Lady Macduff and her children: give to the edge of the sword/His wife, his babes. While killing men was considered a great crime, killing a woman and her children was considered a much worse crime. This is done without second thought and never regrets it at all; he never mentions it to himself after it has occurred: The very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand. As he becomes increasingly evil, so Scotland becomes increasingly unnatural. This is most obviously shown when Banquo dies to save Fleance, a parent sacrificing himself for his childs life, which is natural: Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Later in the play however, it is clear that Scotland has become more unnatural as the Son dies in an attempt to save Lady Macduff, a child sacrificing himself for his parents life: He has killd me, mother: /Run away; I pray you! This is unnatural and fails, as both Lady Macduff and her Son die. Finally, another sign of Macbeths descent to evil is that he becomes more and more secluded. This is mainly shown by the increasing amount of soliloquies that Shakespeare gives him, but is also shown by his relationship with Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the play they are a happy couple, who love each other intensely: my dearest partner of greatness, yet as the play progresses, especially after Duncans murder, Macbeth separates himself from his wife, and once he is king, she must ask to see him: Say to the king, I would attend his leisure. All Macbeths deeds are consequently thought out by himself, unlike the murder of Duncan, in which Lady Macbeth did most of the thinking and planning: Leave all the rest to me, and Macbeth keeps Lady Macbeth out of the murder of Banquo even when she asks him what he is planning: Be innocent of the knowledge/Till thou applaud the deed. All of these points show how Macbeth becomes increasingly evil throughout the play, eventually becoming a much feared villain, or a tragic hero.

Effects Pine Beetles Have on the Forests

Effects Pine Beetles Have on the Forests Climate change and the effects pine beetles have on the forests. Introduction The ever growing effects of natural and man-made climate change are having a wide-spread effect on many mixed and coniferous forest ecosystems. Particularly as average annual temperatures increase, the habitat for the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosa, has expanded, because the beetle is able to occupy new habitats at higher elevations, which were previously too cold for it. The mountain pine beetle habitat extends from Mexico through the Western United States and up to Canada. The damage caused to cone-bearing trees by the mountain pine beetle is threatening the strength of the North American mixed and coniferous ecosystems at every trophic level, as well as affecting the mountain forest carbon cycle and watershed hydrology. This damage has combined with the effects of human logging practices in the coniferous forest to drastically alter these ecosystems. Though these areas have been severely degraded, there are solutions that can slow or reverse the damage that has alrea dy been done. Background Human-caused climate change is having a pronounced effect on many different ecosystems. One of these effects is the spread of mountain pine beetles through the forests of the Western United States and Canada. Mountain pine beetles inhabit many species of coniferous trees such as jack pine, whitebark, lodgepole, Scotch, ponderosa, and limber pines. Pine beetles typically attack and inhabit trees at lower elevations, but the effects of climate change have allowed them to inhabit ever higher elevations. With mild winters and warmer summers, the pine beetles have been able to infest mature pine trees that could resist the beetles before the change in average temperature (Carroll et al. 2003). There were many pine beetle outbreaks in Canada and the U.S. Rockies since the 1940’s but they are considered mild compared to the more recent outbreaks. The earlier outbreaks were partly contained by human intervention and were ultimately ended by severe winter conditions, the natural regula tor of pine beetle populations. As climate change undermines this natural regulation system, the current infestations are much larger in scope and much harder to contain through human intervention (Ono. 2003). Mountain pine beetles spend their life cycle in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In the summer the adults migrate and infest new trees. During the stages of their life they live under the tree bark where they feed and lay their eggs (Carroll et al. 2003). The mountain pine beetles’ life cycle and survival rate is regulated by the temperature of their habitat. Temperature at a particular time of year helps regulate the life cycle stage of the beetles, determining in part when eggs are laid, when the pupas become adults, when they migrate, and ultimately when the beetles die. A rapid decrease in temperature can kill an entire population of beetles. Other factors for survival include the dryness of the tree and the amount of snow insulation, but mainly the change (drop) in temperature is what keeps beetle populations in control (Creeden et al. 2013). Effects on the Ecosystem Changing climate and weather conditions in the higher elevations and their forest ecosystems are expanding the survivable habitat for the mountain pine beetle. The climate change occurring in these areas is weakening the overall strength of mixed and coniferous forest ecosystems. Hotter summers with less rainfall have caused many tree species to lose their natural defenses. Drought conditions have long been an indicator of previous outbreaks and are now a predictor of new pine beetle outbreaks. In turn, extended drought can also have a negative effect on the pine beetles if the drought lasts too long and the number of available hosts drops. Rising temperatures creates tree loss from drought and fires that hinders pine beetle migration (Creeden et al. 2013). At the same time, climate change exposes beetle infested conifers to a greater risk of fire and drought, reduces their resistance to both, and threatens both the beetles and the trees. Climate change is not only affecting the pine beetles, but species at every trophic level. One of the biggest food sources in the forest is new tree growth and seeds from mature trees. With changing climate conditions trees are not able to reproduce at the pre-climate-change rates. This is especially true in drought areas where the mountain pine beetle has infested the trees. The pine beetles weaken and destroy trees and reduce the rate of seed production and new tree growth, which affects small mammals such as squirrels that rely on the seeds pines produce. Decreasing food supply for smaller animals affects the population size of these species, which in turn affects their larger predators on higher trophic levels (Bartos et al. 1990). Climate change and the spread of pine beetle habitat are having such large effects on mountain ecosystems that it can change the diversity of species in the forests. The mountain pine beetle is no longer just an important species in the forest ecosystems they normally in habitat, they have becom e an important indicator species for ecological problems areas they normally do not inhabit. The expansion of their habitat demonstrates that climate change is having an effect on the entire ecosystem. Moreover, climate change is having an immediate effect on biodiversity and the ecosystem of conifer forests, which is increasing and accelerating (Logan et al. 2003). This is why it is important to keep track of the health of the ecosystem and make quick decisions when detrimental changes are observed. Effects on the Carbon Cycle Climate change and pine beetle outbreaks are also having an adverse effect on the carbon feedback cycle. Currently in British Columbia, Canada the outbreak of mountain pine beetles is so large that Canadian conifer forests have turned from carbon sinks to sources of carbon. Because of the combined effects of mountain pine beetle infestation, logging, and forest fires, large sections of forest are being damaged, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 435 million trees have been lost to the combined effects of climate change. This is having a big economic effect on the timber industry. The industry has responded by increasing the rate of harvesting and moving into areas that have not previously been logged. (Kurz et al. 2008). In these area loggers are stripping the biomass of the forest and turning it into, among other things, wood pellets as an energy source for Europe. Combining the damage from the mountain pine beetles, increased forest fires, drought, a nd all the commercial uses, these forests will release more carbon dioxide than they absorbs. This will increase both the causes and effects of climate change and worsen the situation years from now (Lamers et al. 2014). Kurtz modeled the effects of the mountain pine beetle in a test area of 374,000 km ² during the years 2000 to 2020. The study estimated that 270 megatons of carbon would be released during the pine beetle outbreaks in the test area. The model showed that if an area was untouched by pine beetle infestation but had moderate timber harvesting and fires, then the test area was a slight carbon sink; in the control scenario the area averaged 1 to 5 megatons of carbon release per year between 2007 and 2020. Two test scenarios were modeled, one in which the forest was infested with mountain pine beetles and one that included both infestation and additional timber harvesting. The scenario with mountain pine beetle infestation and normal harvesting showed the forest to be a net carbon source ranging from 10 to 20 megatons of carbon per year during 2007-2020. The scenario with the section of forest infested with mountain pine beetles and having additional harvesting due to timber damage showed that the forest was a net source ranging from 10 to 25 megatons of carbon per year for the years 2007 to 2020 (Kurz et al. 2008). This model shows that in the forests of British Columbia mountain pine beetle infestation combines with natural disasters and timber harvesting to help drive climate change (See fig 1). Effects on Watershed Hydrology Increased destruction of forests by the mountain pine beetle is causing a large effect on the hydrology of pines forests and the watershed. The increase in dead trees is having an effect on evapotranspiration as less of the sunlight evaporates water from live trees and instead heats the surrounding surface, raising local temperatures. This is turn is causing a change in hydrology locally and in areas downstream. The damage to the trees is also having an effect on the water quality and the biochemistry of the area (Mikkelson et al. 2013). The snow packs are also being affected; there has been an increase in canopy transmittance and a decrease in the amount of snow that is stored in the canopy. As more trees die solar radiation has been able to penetrate farther causing an increase in evaporation and a change in albedo (Winkler et al. 2012). Once an area of forest is affected, it takes several years for the changes in the canopy cover to effect a complete change. It takes an average of two to three years for the needles of the pine trees to change from green to red. During this time only a small portion of the canopy cover is lost and results in only a small change in interception. A few years after the needles turn red is when the trees turns gray and the majority of the needles are lost to the forest floor. During this stage pine needles and branches fall to the forest floor and eventually the entire tree falls and decays. This increases the amount of nutrients in the soil such as carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen, which leads to nitrification of the water supply (Mikkelson et al. 2013). These changes alone will cause noticeable changes in the quantity and quality of the water. Adding more numerous forest fires and increased timber harvesting can have a drastic effect on the local watershed (See Fig. 2). Rita Winkler and her colleagues studied the effects of snow accumulation, forest structure, and snow surface albedo in the Rocky Mountains after a mountain pine beetle infestation. Over a seven-year period they studied these effects in areas that were clear cut, mixed, or young pine forests. Their study showed that areas that were primarily infested young pines completely lost their canopy within six years. Due to the loss of their canopy the snow accumulation decreased while transmittance and snow surface albedo increased when trees turned from green to gray. The study found that as trees turned from green to gray the rate of snow water melt increased. In areas that had mixed species of trees the effects were not as drastic as the areas with only young pines. The primary reason that snow accumulation and surface snow albedo were not as affected was due to a large diversity of tree species. In these areas there was also a more developed understory that reduced the effects seen in areas that were primarily young pine. Moreover, while the effects increased from mixed species areas to young pine areas, the affects in neither area compared to the far greater affects in areas that were clear cut (Winkler et al. 2012). It is easy to see from this study that the type of forest, level of beetle infestation, and timber harvesting practices will have a significant or large effect on the water cycle and the hydrology of the surrounding watershed. In the Rocky Mountains this can have a particularly extreme effect on the quality and quantity of river flow in this region since the Colorado River is supplied largely by snow melt. If this trend continues, the amount of water coming out of the Colorado River will decrease, which could lead to increased water shortages in the Southwest. Managing Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks As the population and habitat of the mountain pine beetle continues to expand several types of management practices have been tried. Currently Western Canada is experiencing one of the largest expansions of mountain pine beetles, with estimates that over 13 million hectares of conifer and mixed forest have been affected. There are two main methods to manage pine beetle outbreaks, or at least slow their expansion. The indirect control is a preventative method that tries to limit host trees through prescribed burning and forest thinning. The direct method tries to limit the population and growth rate of the beetle by destroying infected trees before the beetles emerge to migrate and attack new hosts (Wulder et al. 2009). There have also been studies done using chemicals on non-infected trees to try and limit the expansion of beetles to these areas. While this type of managing technique is effective, it is too costly to use on a large area of affected trees (Fettig et al. 2007). Coggins and his colleagues completed a study in Western Canada to test which management practices were the most effective. In their study, they used two different areas and selected 28 sites with each plot of trees having a radius of 30 meters. Each plot was selected due to the age of the trees, elevation, and the severity of beetle infestation. They broke their plots into two groups. Eighteen of the plots were not managed while management practices were implemented on the other ten plots. For the ten plots that were selected for mitigation they used tree removal techniques to remove the infected trees before beetle migration. In their study, they calculated that at the beginning of their study, the average expansion rate was 0.29 for non-managed plots and 0.12 for managed plots. Over a ten-year period they showed that the plots of unmanaged areas grew exponentially. While during this same period the managed plots went to zero infected trees after ten years with a 43% detection rate. The s tudy found that the time to reach zero infected trees would be shorter if the detection rate was increased (Coggins et al. 2010). It can be concluded that managing practices will have an effect on the migration of the mountain pine beetle. The main problem with controlling their migration is detecting infected green trees. The problem is that they cannot be detected from the sky, so people have to actively go into the field to detect them. This causes a problem because some areas are inaccessible for a variety of reasons. Even with all of the problems associated with managing the mountain pine beetle, it is vital for the forest ecosystems of North America that these practices continue. Conclusion While the mountain pine beetles will continue to expand and inhabit new areas management practices need to be put into place. The main cause of the mountain pine beetle expansion is primarily due to climate change, particularly drier, hotter summers and shorter, warmer, drier winters. These insects in turn are also contributing to climate change. As their habitat expands, they are turning forests that were once net carbon sinks into net carbon sources. When infected trees die and decay, they release carbon dioxide and increase the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen in the ground. The damage the beetle is causing to forests is also changing the watershed in negative ways. Both the quality and quantity of water is being degraded, which affects the health of the ecosystem. All of these changes combined are having an extreme effect on the ecosystem and negatively affecting every species in it. At every trophic level there is some kind of effect as the mountain pine beetle expands and dest roys the forests. More studies must be done to help mitigate mountain pine beetle expansion and more money needs to be invested in managing them. As a society we will take a major economic hit if the timber we need is destroyed by the mountain pine beetle. Also, if their expansion continues in the Rocky Mountains and damages the watershed there, it could affect a large portion of the drinking water for the Western United States. We need to manage the mountain pine beetle as we reduce carbon dioxide emissions to curb the effects of global warming. Figure 1 Figure 2 Works Cited Bartos, D. L. and K. E. Gibson. Insects of whitebark pine with emphasis on mountain pine beetle. UT 84321. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Montana, United States. Carroll, A. L., S. W. Taylor, J. Regniere and L. Safranyik. Effects of climate change on range expansion by the mountain pine beetle in British Columbia. BC-V8Z-1M5. Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Coggins, S. B., N. C. Coops, M. A. Wulder and C.W. Bater. 2011. Comparing the impacts of mitigation and non-mitigation on mountain pine beetle populations. Journal of environmental management 92: 112-120. Creeden, E. P., J. A. Hicke and P. C. Buotte. 2013. Climate, weather, and recent mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the western United States. Forest Ecology and Management 312: 239-251. Fettig, C. J., K. D. Klepzig, R. F. Billings, A. S. Munson, T. E. Nebeker, J. F. Negron and J. T. Nowak. 2007. The effectiveness of vegetation management practices for prevention and control of bark beetle infestations in coniferous forests of the western and southern United States. Forest ecology and management 238: 24-53. Lamers, P., M. Junginger, C. C. Dymond and A. Faaij. 2014. Damaged forest provide an opportunity to mitigate climate change. Bioenegy 6: 44-60. Logan, J. A., J. Regniere and J. A. Powell. 2003. Assessing the impacts of global warming on forest pest dynamics. Frontiers in ecology and the environment 1: 130-137. Mikkelson, K. M., L. A. Bearup, R. M. Maxwell, J. D. Stednick, J. E. McCray and J. O. Sharp. 2013. Bark beetle infestation impacts on nutrient cycling, water quality and interdependent hydrological effects. Biogeochemistry 115: 1-21. Ono Hideji. 2003. The mountain pine beetle: Scope of the problem and key issues in Alberta. BC-X-399. Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Kurz, W. A., C. C. Dymond, G. Stinson, G. J. Rampley, E. T. Neilson, A. L. Carroll, T. Ebata and L. Safranyik. 2008. Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature 452: 987-990. Winkler, R., S. Boon, B. Zimonick and D. Spittlehouse. 2009. Snow accumulation and ablation response to changes in forest structure and snow surface albedo after attack by mountain pine beetle. Hydrological Processes 28: 197-209. Wulder, M. A., S. M. Ortlepp, J. C. White, N. C. Coops and S. B. Coggins. 2009. Monitoring the impacts of mountain pine beetle mitigation. Forest ecology and management 258: 1181-1187.

Compressive Sensing: Performance Comparison of Measurement

Compressive Sensing: Performance Comparison of Measurement Compressive Sensing: A Performance Comparison of Measurement Matrices Y. Arjoune, N. Kaabouch, H. El Ghazi, and A. Tamtaoui AbstractCompressive sensing paradigm involves three main processes: sparse representation, measurement, and sparse recovery process. This theory deals with sparse signals using the fact that most of the real world signals are sparse. Thus, it uses a measurement matrix to sample only the components that best represent the sparse signal. The choice of the measurement matrix affects the success of the sparse recovery process. Hence, the design of an accurate measurement matrix is an important process in compressive sensing. Over the last decades, several measurement matrices have been proposed. Therefore, a detailed review of these measurement matrices and a comparison of their performances is needed. This paper gives an overview on compressive sensing and highlights the process of measurement. Then, proposes a three-level measurement matrix classification and compares the performance of eight measurement matrices after presenting the mathematical model of each matrix. Several experimen ts are performed to compare these measurement matrices using four evaluation metrics which are sparse recovery error, processing time, covariance, and phase transition diagram. Results show that Circulant, Toeplitz, and Partial Hadamard measurement matrices allow fast reconstruction of sparse signals with small recovery errors. Index Terms Compressive sensing, sparse representation, measurement matrix, random matrix, deterministic matrix, sparse recovery. TRADITIONAL data acquisition techniques acquire N samples of a given signal sampled at a rate at least twice the Nyquist rate in order to guarantee perfect signal reconstruction. After data acquisition, data compression is needed to reduce the high number of samples because most of the signals are sparse and need few samples to be represented. This process is time consuming because of the large number of samples acquired. In addition, devices are often not able to store the amount of data generated. Therefore, compressing sensing is necessary to reduce the processing time and the number of samples to be stored. This sensing technique includes data acquisition and data compression in one process. It exploits the sparsity of the signal to recover the original sparse signal from a small set of measurements [1]. A signal is sparse if only a few components of this signal are nonzero.   Compressive sensing has proven itself as a promising solution for high-density signals and has major a pplications ranging from image processing [2] to wireless sensor networks [3-4], spectrum sensing in cognitive radio [5-8], and channel estimation [9-10].   As shown in Fig. 1. compressive sensing involves three main processes: sparse representation, measurement, and sparse recovery process. If signals are not sparse, sparse representation projects the signal on a suitable basis so the signal can be sparse. Examples of sparse representation techniques are Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) [11]. The measurement process consists of selecting a few measurements,   from the sparse signal that best represents the signal where. Mathematically, this process consists of multiplying the sparse signal by a measurement matrix. This matrix has to have a small mutual coherence or satisfy the Restricted Isometry Property. The sparse recovery process aims at recovering the sparse signal from the few measurements selected in the measurement process given the measurement matrix ÃŽ ¦. Thus, the sparse recovery problem is an undetermined system of linear equations, which has an inf inite number of solutions. However, sparsity of the signal and the small mutual coherence of the measurement matrix ensure a unique solution to this problem, which can be formulated as a linear optimization problem. Several algorithms have been proposed to solve this sparse recovery problem. These algorithms can be classified into three main categories: Convex and Relaxation category [12-14], Greedy category [15-20], and Bayesian category [21-23]. Techniques under the Convex and Relaxation category solve the sparse recovery problem through optimization algorithms such as Gradient Descent and Basis Pursuit. These techniques are complex and have a high recovery time. As an alternative solution to reduce the processing time and speed up the recovery, Greedy techniques have been proposed which build the solution iteratively. Examples of these techniques include Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and its derivatives. These Greedy techniques are faster but sometimes inefficient. Bayesian b ased techniques which use a prior knowledge of the sparse signal to recover the original sparse signal can be a good approach to solve sparse recovery problem. Examples of these techniques include Bayesian via Laplace Prior (BSC-LP), Bayesian via Relevance Vector Machine (BSC-RVM), and Bayesian via Belief Propagation (BSC-BP). In general, the existence and the uniqueness of the solution are guaranteed as soon as the measurement matrix used to sample the sparse signal satisfies some criteria. The two well-known criteria are the Mutual Coherence Property (MIP) and the Restricted Isometry Property (RIP) [24]. Therefore, the design of measurement matrices is an important process in compressive sensing. It involves two fundamental steps: 1) selection of a measurement matrix and 2) determination of the number of measurements necessary to sample the sparse signal without losing the information stored in it. A number of measurement matrices have been proposed. These matrices can be classified into two main categories: random and deterministic. Random matrices are generated by identical or independent distributions such as Gaussian, Bernoulli, and random Fourier ensembles. These matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured.  Ã‚   Unstructured type matrices are generated randomly following a given distribution. Example of these matrices include Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform. These matrices are easy to construct and satisfy the RIP with high probability [26]; however, because of the randomness, they present some drawbacks such as high computation and costly hardware implementation [27]. Structured type matrices are generated following a given structure. Examples of matrices of this type include the random partial Fourier and the random partial Hadamard. On the other hand, deterministic matrices are constructed deterministically to have a small mutual coherence or satisfy the RIP. Matrices of this category are of two types: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. Semi-deterministic type matrices have a deterministic construction that involves the randomness in the process of construction. Example of semi-deterministic type matrices are Toeplitz and Circulant matrices [31]. Full-deterministic type matrices have a pure deterministic construction. Examples of this type measurement matrices include second-order Reed-Muller codes [28], Chirp sensing matrices [29], binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes [30], and quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check code (QC-LDPC) matrix [32]. Several papers that provide a performance comparison of deterministic and random matrices have been published. For instance, Monajemi et al. [43] describe some semi-deterministic matrices such as Toeplitz and Circulant and show that their phase transition diagrams are similar as those of the random Gaussian matrices. In [11], the authors provide a survey on the applications of compressive sensing, highlight the drawbacks of unstructured random measurement matrices, and they present the advantages of some full-deterministic measurement matrices. In [27], the authors provide a survey on full-deterministic matrices (Chirp, second order Reed-Muller matrices, and Binary BCH matrices) and their comparison with unstructured random matrices (Gaussian, Bernoulli, Uniform matrices). All these papers provide comparisons between two types of matrices of the same category or from two types of two different categories. However, to the best of knowledge, no previous work compared the performances of measurement matrices from the two categories and all types: random unstructured, random structured, semi-deterministic, and full-deterministic. Thus, this paper addresses this gap of knowledge by providing an in depth overview of the measurement process and comparing the performances of eight measurement matrices, two from each type. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we give the mathematical model behind compressive sensing. In Section 3, we provide a three-level classification of measurement matrices. Section 4 gives the mathematical model of each of the eight measurement matrices. Section 5 describes the experiment setup, defines the evaluation metrics used for the performance comparison, and discusses the experimental results. In section 6, conclusions and perspectives are given. Compressive sensing exploits the sparsity and compresses a k-sparse signal by multiplying it by a measurement matrix where. The resulting vector    is called the measurement vector. If the signal is not sparse, a simple projection of this signal on a suitable basis, can make it sparse i.e. where. The sparse recovery process aims at recovering the sparse signal given the measurement matrix and the vector of measurements. Thus, the sparse recovery problem, which is an undetermined system of linear equations, can be stated as: (1) Where is the, is a sparse signal in the basis , is the measurement matrix, and   is the set of measurements. For the next of this paper, we consider that the signals are sparse i.e. and . The problem (1) then can be written as: (2) This problem is an NP-hard problem; it cannot be solved in practice. Instead, its convex relaxation is considered by replacing the by the . Thus, this sparse recovery problem can be stated as: (3) Where is the -norm, is the k-parse signal, the measurement matrix and is the set of measurements. Having the solution of problem (3) is guaranteed as soon as the measurement matrix has a small mutual coherence or satisfies RIP of order. Definition 1: The coherence measures the maximum correlation between any two columns of the measurement matrix . If is a matrix with normalized column vector , each is of unit length. Then the mutual coherence Constant (MIC) is defined as: (4) Compressive sensing is concerned with matrices that have low coherence, which means that a few samples are required for a perfect recovery of the sparse signal. Definition 2: A measurement matrix satisfies the Restricted Isometry Property if there exist a constant such as: (5) Where is the and is called the Restricted Isometry Constant (RIC) of which should be much smaller than 1. As shown in the Fig .2, measurement matrices can be classified into two main categories: random and deterministic. Matrices of the first category are generated at random, easy to construct, and satisfy the RIP with a high probability. Random matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured. Matrices of the unstructured random type are generated at random following a given distribution. For example, Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform are unstructured random type matrices that are generated following Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform distribution, respectively. Matrices of the second type, structured random, their entries are generated following a given function or specific structure. Then the randomness comes into play by selecting random rows from the generated matrix. Examples of structured random matrices are the Random Partial Fourier and the Random Partial Hadamard matrices. Matrices of the second category, deterministic, are highly desirable because they are constructed deter ministically to satisfy the RIP or to have a small mutual coherence. Deterministic matrices are also of two types: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. The generation of semi-deterministic type matrices are done in two steps: the first step consists of the generation of the entries of the first column randomly and the second step generates the entries of the rest of the columns of this matrix based on the first column by applying a simple transformation on it such as shifting the element of the first columns. Examples of these matrices include Circulant and Toeplitz matrices [24]. Full-deterministic matrices have a pure deterministic construction. Binary BCH, second-order Reed-Solomon, Chirp sensing, and quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check code (QC-LDPC) matrices are examples of full-deterministic type matrices. Based on the classification provided in the previous section, eight measurement matrices were implemented: two from each category with two from each type. The following matrices were implemented: Gaussian and Bernoulli measurement matrices from the structured random type, random partial Fourier and Hadamard measurement matrices from the unstructured random type, Toeplitz and Circulant measurement matrices from the semi-deterministic type, and finally Chirp and Binary BCH measurement matrices from the full-deterministic type. In the following, the mathematical model of each of these eight measurement matrices is described. A. Random Measurement Matrices Random matrices are generated by identical or independent distributions such as normal, Bernoulli, and random Fourier ensembles. These random matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured measurement random matrices. 1) Unstructured random type matrices Unstructured random type measurement matrices are generated randomly following a given distribution. The generated matrix is of size . Then M rows is randomly selected from N. Examples of this type of matrices include Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform. In this work, we selected the Random Gaussian and Random Bernoulli matrix for the implementation. The mathematical model of each of these two measurement matrices is given below. a) Random Gaussian matrix The entries of a Gaussian matrix are independent and follow a normal distribution with expectation 0 and variance. The probability density function of a normal distribution is: (6) Where is the mean or the expectation of the distribution, is the standard deviation, and is the variance. This random Gaussian matrix satisfies the RIP with probability at least given that the sparsity satisfy the following formula: (7) Where is the sparsity of the signal, is the number of measurements, and is the length of the sparse signal [36]. b) Random Bernoulli matrix A random Bernoulli matrix is a matrix whose entries take the value or with equal probabilities. It, therefore, follows a Bernoulli distribution which has two possible outcomes labeled by n=0 and n=1.   The outcome n=1 occurs with the probability p=1/2 and n=0 occurs with the probability q=1-p=1/2. Thus, the probability density function is: (8) The Random Bernoulli matrix satisfies the RIP with the same probability as the Random Gaussian matrix [36]. 2) Structured Random Type matrices The Gaussian or other unstructured matrices have the disadvantage of being slow; thus, large-scale problems are not practicable with Gaussian or Bernoulli matrices. Even the implementation in term of hardware of an unstructured matrix is more difficult and requires significant space memory space. On the other hand, random structured matrices are generated following a given structure, which reduce the randomness, memory storage, and processing time. Two structured matrices are selected to be implemented in this work: Random Partial Fourier and Partial Hadamard matrix. The mathematical model of each of these two measurement matrices is described below: a) Random Partial Fourier matrix The Discrete Fourier matrix is a matrix whose entry is given by the equation: (9) Where. Random Partial Fourier matrix which consists of choosing random M rows of the Discrete Fourier matrix satisfies the RIP with a probability of at least , if: (10) Where M is the number of measurements, K is the sparsity, and N is the length of the sparse signal [36]. b) Random Partial Hadamard matrix The Hadamard measurement matrix is a matrix whose entries are 1 and -1. The columns of this matrix are orthogonal. Given a matrix H of order n, H is said to be a Hadamard matrix if the transpose of the matrix H is closely related to its inverse. This can be expressed by: (11) Where is the identity matrix, is the transpose of the matrix. The Random Partial Hadamard matrix consists of taking random rows from the Hadamard matrix. This measurement matrix satisfies the RIP with probability at least provided    with and as positive constants, K is the sparsity of the signal, N is its length and M is the number of measurements [35]. B. Deterministic measurement matrices Deterministic measurement matrices are matrices that are designed following a deterministic construction to satisfy the RIP or to have a low mutual coherence. Several deterministic measurement matrices have been proposed to solve the problems of the random matrices. These matrices are of two types as mentioned in the previous section: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. In the following, we investigate and present matrices from both types in terms of coherence and RIP. 1) Semi-deterministic type matrices To generate a semi-deterministic type measurement matrix, two steps are required. The first step is randomly generating the first columns and the second step is generating the full matrix by applying a simple transformation on the first column such as a rotation to generate each row of the matrix. Examples of matrices of this type are the Circulant and Toeplitz matrices. In the following, the mathematical models of these two measurement matrices are given. a) Circulant matrix For a given vector, its associated circulant matrix whose entry is given by: (11) Where. Thus, Circulant matrix has the following form: C= If we choose a random subset of cardinality, then the partial circulant submatrix that consists of the rows indexed by achieves the RIP with high probability given that: (12) Where is the length of the sparse signal and its sparsity [34]. b) Toeplitz matrix The Toeplitz matrix, which is associated to a vector    whose entry is given by: (13) Where. The Toeplitz matrix is a Circulant matrix with a constant diagonal i.e. .   Thus, the Toeplitz matrix has the following form: T= If we randomly select a subset of cardinality , the Restricted Isometry Constant of the Toeplitz matrix restricted to the rows indexed by the set S satisfies with a high probability provided (14) Where is the sparsity of the signal and is its length [34]. 2) Full-deterministic type matrices Full-deterministic type matrices are matrices that have pure deterministic constructions based on the mutual coherence or on the RIP property. In the following, two examples of deterministic construction of measurements matrices are given which are the Chirp and Binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes matrices. a) Chirp Sensing Matrices The Chirp Sensing matrices are matrices their columns are given by the chirp signal. A discrete chirp signal of length à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡ has the form:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (15) The full chirp measurement matrix can be written as: (16) Where is an matrix with columns are given by the chirp signals with a fixed and base frequency   values that vary from 0 to m-1. To illustrate this process, let us assume that and Given , The full chirp matrix is as follows: In order to calculate, the matrices and should be calculated. Using the chirp signal, the entries of these matrices are calculated and given as: ; Thus, we get the chirp measurement matrix as: Given that is a -sparse signal with chirp code measurements and is the length of the chirp code. If (17) then is the unique solution to the sparse recovery algorithms. The complexity of the computation of the chirp measurement matrix is. The main limitation of this matrix is the restriction of the number of measurements to    [29]. b) Binary BCH matrices Let denote as a divisor of for some integer an

Thomas Malthus :: essays papers

Thomas Malthus Two hundred years ago, Thomas Robert Malthus wrote â€Å"An Essay on the principle of population† in which he argued that the world population would increase faster than the food supply. This would cause disastrous results for the general human welfare. A world population of 250 million at the time has now gone up to about 6 billion. This is in spite of wars, plagues, famine, and epidemics. World food production has been keeping pace with population growth until recently. If the world food supply had been distributed equally to each member of society in the mid 1980’s, with a population of 4.7 billion people, each person would have gotten a weekly diet of 11 ponds. This included meat, grains, and fish. In today’s society, the population has increased over one billion and the food supply has gone down to about 10 pounds per person per week. A world population of 10 to 11 billion by mid century would leave each person with only 6 to 7 pounds per week. This is the same as the diet that people living in poverty get in our present day society. However, by trying to help poverty, we are (according to Malthus) making the situation worse. IN the short run, there seems to be an improvement because those poor people are better off and can do well. This situation would lead to a larger population than before. This in turn would lead to more people becoming impoverished due to lack of food supply. Malthus believed that if people left poverty alone, it would take care of itself. At the start of the 21st Century, it is very easy to debunk his starting point that population grows â€Å"geometrically† while food supply only â€Å"arithmetically†. This will lead to a widening gap between population and food supply. However, by saying that, he was mistaken, the improving technology has meant that food supply has also increased geometrically. If we were to take a mathematical approach to this, population, food production, energy use, industrial production, waste production, etc. are all increasing under mechanisms that can shown on an exponential curve like a parabola, then all will be approaching a vertical asymptote.

Information Systems Ethics :: Technology Internet Papers

The area of Information Systems ethics has received a fair amount of attention in recent times. IS Professionals generally agree that we need adequate ground rules to govern the use of present day Information Technology. We have also recognized for many years the need to incorporate ethics into IS curricula. Current mechanisms which attempt to make IS professionals and students more sensitive to the ethical concerns within IT and IS may be too tightly focused in terms of both issues and audience, especially in the light of the rapid proliferation of Internet use. To properly analyze the impact of the Internet on IS ethics, we would need to establish the appropriate context. To this end, this paper explores several aspects of computer ethics that are relevant to today's users of IT. For example, who are the people that need to be educated on these issues? What are the issues, and what has been the impact of the Internet on these issues? What are current attitudes, perceptions, and behavior in situations involving computer ethics, and what is the effect of the Internet? Do we have guidelines and codes that provide assistance for these ethical situations? What else needs to be done to help address some of the problems in this important area? The People Solomon and O'Brien found that software piracy didn't seem to be much of a problem until microcomputers made their first major corporate and home appearance about 20 years ago. Rapid proliferation of inexpensive technology certainly does provide an ample arena for an increase in the unethical use of this technology. Today, the pervasiveness of microcomputer and technology use is not limited solely to IS professionals and students. As early as 1984, in his testimony before the US Congress, computer security expert Robert Campbell accused the computer industry of failing to develop the necessary ethical framework for IT use. He went on to say that the technology had already breached the boundaries of the professional arena and proliferated into the public domain. Today, technology use spans the widest possible range of activities and often begins at home at an early age. The Internet promises to push this trend forward at a rapid pace. In spite of this growth in use, many people who us e technology at home and at work still find it to be a new and rapidly changing phenomenon. As a result, for many users of IT today, just learning how to use this volatile technology is the most important, and often the only, consideration; ethics and other related concerns are relegated to the distant background.

Formation and Organization of the Athalassic Salt Lakes of Australia :: Geology Research Papers

Formation and Organization of the Athalassic Salt Lakes of Australia Preface Upon my acceptance to the Biomes of Australia 2003 program – a biologically-oriented summer experience in the â€Å"Land Down Under† that, for the 6th consecutive year, has been organized by Dr. Warren Dolphin of Iowa State University – I was presented with the task of writing a research paper on an aspect of the Australian landscape. Anxious to apply my new knowledge of geomorphology and desiring to investigate an ecosystem from the holistic perspective of an environmental scientist, I settled upon investigating the formative elements of athalassic (inland) salt lakes and how they determine the ecological structure of salt lake playas. The research summarized in this report is an assimilation of fragmented literature on the subject and represents an attempt to integrate those pieces for better clarity. I believe that my travel companions, to whom I am obligated to present this information, shall derive a greater understanding of Australian salt lake systems f rom a broad examination of the subject than from an intensely focused analysis of but a single component. Although the information that I present is indeed broad in scope, the reader must realize that it falls short of comprehensiveness. The shear volume of literature prohibits designing anything other than a series of encyclopedias to encompass the full complexity of salt lake systems. It is my hope, rather, that this paper elicits the reader’s curiosity and prompts further reading on this fascinating area. The introduction draws a necessary overview of salt lakes in basic geographic and geologic terms. Part I examines the processes of basin and lake formation, first the physical mechanisms of creation and secondly the concentration of ions within the basin. Part II explores the effects of salinity and other chemical characteristics on lake fauna. Part III explains how climatic adjustments determine the composition of vegetation in and around salt lake basins. Together, these pieces should provide some insight to a central question of this paper: What physical and chemical characteristics of athalassic salt lakes, as determined by the regional climatic and hydrologic regime, determine local ecologies? Abstract The athalassic salt lakes of Australia arose during the continent’s shift to the present arid/semi-arid climate regime. Some, such as Lake Eyre are ephemeral and hold water only after infrequent and irregular rains; others flood intermittently or permanently contain water.