Vignette

Application of ethical theory to a case study vignette Instructions: †¢ Choose ONE of the following four cases †¢ Identify key stakeholders in this case. Identify and discuss main (ethical) issues of this case in relation to the stakeholders. †¢ Evaluate the case using TWO ethical theories (you must use the theories that were taught in the lectures apart from Ethical Egoism). †¢ Explain how you would act / you would have acted in this situation, and why. Your word limit must not exceed 1,700 words. Do not forget to include your word count in Your essay.The essay will be marked using the following criteria: †¢ Identification of stakeholders and issues †¢ Outlining of main features of ethical theories and application of theories to case †¢ Style and Presentation (including authenticity and accurate referencing) Submission deadline is Friday, 25 January, 2013, 9pm. Failure to submit on time will result in a fail grade. You are required to submit your c oursework both electronically through TurnItIn (see instructions in module handbook), and as hard copy to the UniHelpdesk in the Sheppard Library.Please ensure that you submit exactly the same versions of your work as hard copy and electronic copy. The electronic copy is the one that will be marked. You should also be aware that students may beasked to attend a viva should there be any doubts regarding the authenticity of their work. Case 1 Safia, having completed her Business Management degree at Middlesex University, has found a job as executive assistant in a medium-sized city law firm. She very much enjoys her job and, although she has only been working for the firm for a few months, has already become a valuable and trusted employee.She has been asked by Jamal, the partner in the firm for whom she works, to organise the event that the firm hosts every year for its corporate clients. Her brief includes organising the catering (finger food and drinks) and because they are expecti ng up to 200 guests, she is required to follow the company guidelines, which state that she has to get quotes from four catering firms and then give the contract to the firm that offers best value for money. Meera, a close friend of Safia’s, has recently taken over her father’s struggling catering business.Meera’s father has been suffering from a long-standing and severe illness, which forced him to retire from the business. Safia knows that a large catering contract would provide a much needed boost to Meera’s business, and therefore includes it in the list of firms who she will ask to produce a quote for her. Even though the food and service offered in each quote is not exactly identical, Meera’s quote is not quite the best value for money. Safia asks Meera to revise her quote so that she can give her the business.Has Safia done the right thing? Case 2 Tom works for a small firm specialising in textile print designs. The firm has recently landed a contract with a large supermarket chain. Among other things, they have been asked to produce a print design for a sweatshirt, to be sold to young adult females. Tom is given the brief. He drafts various designs but is not very happy with them, neither is the managing director, who occasionally asks how Tom is getting on with his work. Tom is also busy working on a range of other projects.As the deadline approaches, Tom gets slightly desperate, but then while browsing the internet during his lunch break he comes across a girl called Nina’s internet blog. Nina is a fashion student and uses pictures of herself on her blog to advertise her own fashion designs. One of the photos depicts her in a dreamy-looking pose, and Tom thinks that with some flower pattern placed around the photo, that would make the perfect print design for the sweatshirt. Nina has a statement on her blog that says that all the content featured on her site belongs to her and permission for use any of her ph otos is required.He emails her to ask her permission to use her photo but does not hear back from her. The deadline arrives, he still hasn’t heard from Nina but he does not want to ask for an extension of deadline, knowing that the supermarket chain would not be pleased about it and also because he has been in trouble before for not meeting deadlines. He passes his design on to the managing director, who likes it. The managing director usually trusts that his employees work within copyright rules and therefore does not ask Tom any questions regarding the photo.The designs the company has produced find the supermarket’s approval and shortly afterwards clothes with the new print designs are going on sale in all their large stores across the country. Did Tom do the right thing? Case 3 Dr Victoria Patel is a non-executive board director at SuperSoftware, a FTSE 250 company. The company had been struggling for some time to retain its market share. As a result, SuperSoftware hired a new CEO called Richard Smart, with the aim to turn the company’s fortune around.Victoria is a member of the company’s nomination committee and as such was responsible, together with the other committee members, for the hiring of the new CEO. What impressed her and her fellow board directors was not only the experience Richard brought from his previous work roles but also his qualifications, which include a computer science degree from Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. One year on, SuperSoftware’s board directors are very happy with Richard Smart’s work.Following the implementation of his new strategic plan, the company has been gaining significant ground on its competitors. Furthermore, the CEO has been playing a vital role in the development of SuperSoftware’s CSR policy, which now includes a workplace scheme that the company offers to disadvantaged young people in the community. At a school reunion, Victoria r uns into her old friend Janet, with whom she had lost contact over the last few years. Victoria remembers that Janet also went to Harvard to study computer science and that would have been around the same time that Richard Smart was a student there, too.Victoria decides to mention her new CEO to Janet and ask her how well she remembers him from her time at Harvard. Janet gives Victoria a blank look and says that she had never heard Richard’s name before, she is nearly absolutely certain that no student with that name studied on the university’s computer science programme. Victoria is a little puzzled by this. She decides to check with the university herself and they confirm that Richard Smart has not been among their computer science graduates. What should Victoria do?Case 4 (adapted from Siu and Lam 2009) Sam works in the design department of Baby Mobile, a pram and children’s accessories manufacturer. In the past, the company has been quite successful in selli ng infant carriers that can also be used as infant car seats. However, the current models are relatively expensive to manufacture so profit-margins are rather low. Sam is member of the project team that has been asked to design a new, lighter weight model that should be in line with current trends but is also less expensive to manufacture.Michael, the head of the design department, makes it clear to the team that he expects them to develop the new model within the set deadline, especially as executive management have already communicated to shareholders their plans of launching a new, more profitable product. On the day of the deadline, the team reports to Michael that they have come up with a new design that meets the project brief. However, the new model, because of its lighter materials, currently has a slightly higher risk of handle collapse, which could cause injury to children.Their report states that they would need a few more weeks to find a solution to the problem with the handle. Michael Says that he will pass on their report to the executives. Two days later, Sam’s team learns that the executives have decided to treat the ‘handle problem’ as a quality issue and launch the model as it is to satisfy shareholder expectations, although Improvements to the product may be incorporated later on. Sam thinks of his sister who has not Too long ago given birth to a baby girl†¦ What should Sam do?

Policy and Performance of Indian Education Essay

In terms of demographic profile, India remains one of the youngest nations in the world with 38.2% of its population in the 0-5 year age bracket. This translates into the Indian Education system being one of the largest educational systems globally with a network of more than 1.2 mn schools and around 31,000 Higher education institutes. Education, being one of the important determinants of human welfare of any nation, the GoI has accorded priority for the promotion of education especially primary & secondary education in India. Correspondingly, the government’s spend on education as a percentage of GDP stood at 3% while accounting for 11.3% as a proportion of all public expenditure. However, the GoI is faced with several hurdles in terms of penetration across all education segments viz: Pre- school, K-12, Higher education etc as well as reaching out to the students in tier-III cities and rural areas. The GoI has therefore emphasised on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in education so as to augment the literacy rate from 74% as per the Census 2011. The educational segments i.e. Pre-school, K-12, Information & Technology (ICT) in schools and Higher education form the important constituents of the Indian education. Of the same, the Pre- school market in India still remains largely unorganised and under-penetrated. However, the ease of setting-up of pre-schools as well as the growing acceptability of pre-school concept in India augurs well for the industry. The K-12 institutes in India largely remain governed by the GoI accounting for 80.2% of the total 13.5 lakh schools in India. Of late, with greater interest evinced by the private corporates/ trusts / educational societies etc, the share of private institutions in the K-12 space has grown from 18.9% in FY07 to 19.8% during FY11. The scope of ICT in schools has also gained prominence in recent times through GoI’s programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), ICT @ Schools etc. The penetration of ICT in schools however remains low especially owing to the slower pace of such roll-outs in the government owned or aided K-12 schools. In case of Higher education institutes, the ‘not-for-profit’ mandate coupled with the requirement of  affiliation from multiple regulatory bodies such as UGC, AICTE etc proves to be a roadblock for the entry of private institutes. However, in view of the rising enrolments in higher education coupled with the growing variety of educational streams, the private sector participation is expected to grow to catch in the growing penetration levels. CARE Research expects the size of the Indian Education System at US$ 102.1 bn with CAGR of 11.2% during FY11-15. Apart from the growth of educational segments as mentioned above, CARE Research expects the other trends such as GoI’s orientation towards PPP, entry of corporates and foreign educational institutions (especially in K-12 & Higher education), growing focus on the Distance education mode of learning and growing acceptability of the vocational courses to remain the key drivers to the growth of education in India. Introductory: Beginning with a brief statement on the educational situation on the eve of independence, In spite of all that had been achieved under the British Rule, we began our Freedom on a fairly low level of attainment in education in almost all respects. We then had 17 universities and 636 colleges (With a total enrolment of 238,000 students), 5,297 secondary schools with 870,000 students, implying that not even one youth in every twenty in the age-group 14-17 was in school, 12,843 middle schools with two million pupils and 1,72,661 primary schools with fourteen million students (which implied that only one child out of every three in the age-group 6-11 was in school). Vocational and technical education was but poorly developed, both at the school and university stages, and the supply of high level trained scientific man-power was very limited. Educational inequalities were very large, especially between one region and another, between urban and rural areas, between men and women, and between the advanced and intermediate castes on the one hand and the scheduled castes and tribes on the other. The standards of education were generally unsatisfactory, especially at the school stage, with too much of emphasis on English and too little stress on mathematics, science or the Indian languages. The percentage of literacy was only about fourteen and the total educational expenditure was just about Rs. 570 million or less than half a per cent of the national income. It was this challenging situation which the nation was called upon to reform whenit kept  its first tryst with destiny in 1947. The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to â€Å"modern† subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student. POLICY The Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In 1929, the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established. Later, boards were established in some of the states. But eventually, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). All schools in Delhi and some other regions came under the Board. It was the function of the Board to decide on things like curriculum, textbooks and examination system for all schools affiliated to it. Today there are thousands of schools affiliated to the Board, both within India and in many other countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished dream of the new government of the Republic of India. This is evident from the fact that i t is incorporated as a directive policy in article 45 of the constitution. But this objective remains far away even more than half a century later. However, in the recent past, the government appears to have taken a serious note of this lapse and has made primary education a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. The pressures of economic growth and the acute scarcity of skilled and trained manpower must certainly have played a role to make the government take such a step. The expenditure by the Government of India on school education in recent years comes to around 3% of the GDP, which is recognized to be very low. â€Å"In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being  the National Common Minimum Program (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship program such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Market Overview India has the world’s largest population in the age bracket 5 to 24 years of about 450 million. It also has around 500 million in the 25 to 59 age bracket which constitutes the working population and is expected to continuously increase even as the world’s working population ages and diminishes. This phenomenon will make India a supplier of workforce to the entire world. In the wake of this reality, the Indian education system should therefore be able to produce a workforce which is globally competitive and thus reap its demographic dividend. Literacy in India is one of the key deterrents to socioeconomic progress of the country. The Indian literacy rate currently stands at 74% compared to 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although there has been a six fold growth, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the largest illiterate population compared to any other nation in the world. A quick look at Exhibit 1 below provides an insight into the current literacy levels of Indians. Therefore, as India moves ahead on the path of globalization, it needs to overhaul its education system to meet the future demands. Enrolment Levels Despite having the largest Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K- 12) population globally, India has a low enrolment rate in schools, especially at the senior secondary level. The enrolment percentage has fallen from 113% at  primary to 81% at middle school and then to 31% at secondary & higher secondary levels. Low enrolment and high drop-out rates are caused by low availability of schools in rural areas, low awareness, and prevalence of child labour amongst lower income strata. The enrolment percentage is calculated as the ratio of total numbers of students enrolled in specified grades to total number of children in that age group. At the primary level this is upwards of 100%, as even children greater than 11 years of age are enrolled in Grades 1-5. This is largely a rural phenomenon prevalent in Govt. schools across the country. Key Segments The Indian Education sector can be segmented under four broad heads, namely, Schooling, Higher Education, Vocational Education & Skill Development and Ancillary. The Exhibit 3 below provides an overview of the various education segments and their respective subsegments. Schooling Segment The schooling segment covers the largest population of our society as compared to any other form of education. The segment is also the largest education segment valued at USD 44 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach USD 144 bn by the year 2020. The market size of its various sub-segments with growth rates and projections for the year 2020 is mentioned in Exhibit 4. Out-of-School Children: The number of out-of-school children has declined from 25 million in 2003 to 8.1 million in mid–2009. The most significant improvements have been in Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur and Chhattisgarh. The percentage of out-of-school children in highly populated states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar remains a cause of concern. Social Inclusion: Although there have been significant improvements in the proportion of children from socially disadvantaged groups in school, persistence gaps remain. Girls are still less likely to enroll in school than boys; in 2005, for upper primary school (Grades 6-8) girls’ enrolment was still 8.8 points lower than boys, for Scheduled Tribes (ST) the gender gap was 12.6 points and 16 points for Scheduled Castes (SC). In addition, ST and SC children are less likely to access their right to 8 years of schooling; the drop-out rate for ST children being 62.9% and 55.2% for SC children compared to a national average of 48.8% leaving school before completing Grade 8.

Training and Workouts

Erick Johnson is an endurance athlete who trains for the 3,000 metre race.   His training schedule involves steady pace runs, anaerobic threshold training, cruise intervals, pace surge training and repetition training.   Interval training and speed endurance also form part of his weekly workouts (Rogers, 2000).   The steady pace runs are aimed at increasing running efficiency, developing the cardiovascular system and improving the process of capillarization. For him to be able to tolerate and buffer the rise in lactic acid during running, Erick performs anaerobic threshold training.   Repetition training aims at   developing the pace consciousness of the athlete while pace-surging training involves alternating steady-pace runs with surges r bursts off speed running.   This helps him to be able to adjust to the shifts in the pace during a competition. All these components of his training are also aimed at increasing his endurance by lowering the rate at which lactate acid builds up and enhancing oxygen transportation. The exercises have the effect of increasing his metabolism to higher levels than that of the average human being. A weekly work out for Erick would be as follows, on a Monday he performs 20 minutes of aerobic threshold training run, followed by build ups and a period of cool-down.   On Tuesday he does an easy run of the 3000 metre race.   On Wednesday he does negative split runs four times, after which he does build-ups.   When doing the negative split run, he starts with five minutes warm up that involves walking briskly and jogging lightly. He then   runs at a moderate pace for ten minutes and increase his pace over the next ten minutes then he cools down for five minutes.   (http://outside.away.com/outside/fracture/2000609/negative-split-workout.html).   On Thursdays he does five repetitions of the actual race pace but that have been broken down to 900metre races.   Erick does the easy run and practices accelerations which means he is practising to increase his speed on Fridays.   On Saturdays he does his best average speed for the race in 1000metre intervals then on Sundays he does a long run. His training schedule sometimes changes by the week especially if a competition is close but with basically the same activities though at different frequencies and intervals. Daily Diet Breakfast 2 slices whole wheat toast Grape fruit 1 poached egg 1 tsp butter or vegetable margarine or honey Lunch 1 cup clear vegetable soup sprinkled with fresh herbs Brown rice 1 cup beans Green salad in season Dinner 2 slices meat steaks with vegetable Crisp bread 25g cottage cheese with fresh herbs 75g fresh fruit salad Snacks 1 cup apple juice, canned  ½ cup raw black berries 1 piece fruit cake 3 fig bar cookies Crackles regular wheat  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (USDA, 2005) The B complex vitamins are important for an endurance athlete especially because they have increased needs for vitamins due to the higher metabolism rates that are above the normal population.   The B complex vitamins are also involved in formation of red blood cells.   If deficient, red blood cells formation is compromised leading to fewer or poorly formed red blood cells resulting in decreased capacity for oxygen transportation which would compromise the endurance of the athlete (Moore, 2004) Deficiencies of the B complex vitamin may result in decreased capacity for endurance.   Vitamin B6 takes part in different processes of metabolism involving proteins and glycogen.   A high protein diet will thus result in increased need for vitamin B6.   Vitamin B12 is necessary for the formation of red blood cells and is also important to ensure their normal functioning.   Folic acid is also a requirement for red blood cell formation and metabolism of amino acids (Moore, 2004). References Rogers J, 2000 USA Track and Field Coaching Manual, Human Kinetics, ISBN 0880116048 Moore J, 2004 Vitamins, USMS retrieved from http://www.usms.org/articles/articledispaly.php?a=77 USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 20   

How can RyanAir maintain its dominance in the European low-cost Dissertation

How can RyanAir maintain its dominance in the European low-cost airline market - Dissertation Example Ryanair caters to the European passengers through the organisation of a large number of flight programs maintained along several routes. Current estimates show that the airlines company operates along 1100 separate flying routes connecting various European and African regions. The company specialises in the rendering of services at highly economical rates which helps in gaining attention of a large number of consumers. Further the company through the cooperation of the European airports aims at rendering additional services to the customers countering checking of baggage, rendering food and beverages to the passengers on board and other such things at concessional rates. This creates an economic advantage to the company and also helps the customers to gain a lot services at low costs. Ryanair in order to compete in the international markets counters huge investments in the paradigm of training the staffs and also in rendering large amount of checks on the quality of services rendered . The company endeavours to counter weekly checks on the operational parameters of the flight carriers and also caters to render effective training to the staffs to reduce the chances of flight accidents. Ryanair also enhances the service paradigm by focusing on the creation and enhancement of the web sphere. The company encourages large number of people to counter booking through the online sphere which enhances the brand loyalty of the concern. Ryanair’s effective marketing program helped the company to rightly analyse the needs of the European customers in chalking out effective and cost reduced services. The company also during 2004 strategized to launch a huge promotional program which rendered large number of seats to the passengers at highly reduced fares. Further the company also takes resort of large number of innovations both in the service and product category to fulfil its responsibilities towards the society and in helping the customers get the feel of productive services. The government of Europe is also pleased with the operational standards of Ryanair in that it has introduced models which are environment friendly and also in helping other sick companies to revive out of their fallen condition. Ryanair through the acquiring of large number of small and medium airline companies helped in gaining access to newer market areas. The opening up of the European economy through the liberalisation and privatisation policies helped the airlines company gain control over the European airlines industry. (Ryanair, pp.1-4). The present paper divulges to understand the strategic dimensions taken by the company to gain sustainable dominance in the European Airlines market. Low Cost Airlines Market in UK Airline industry has always been a large and significant industry with a considerable growth rate. The industry is dynamic in nature considering the fact that its trends change in accordance to the economic condition of Europe. The profitability of the a irlines is strongly tied to the

Contemporary Issues in Financial Services Essay - 2

Contemporary Issues in Financial Services - Essay Example This paper will, therefore, identify and discuss some of the key and contemporary issues that have emerged in the financial services sector. The main aim will be to bring into focus some of the key issues in the nature and functionality of financial systems that continue to influence the economy and other financial service operations. To begin, it has been noted that the financial systems in the contemporary society have increasingly been associated with a linkage to overall economic conditions of nations. This will be discussed in the section that follows. Links between the Financial System and the Real Economy The relationship between a financial system and the real economy can be clearly understood in three components. They include the composition of aggregate demand, level of aggregate demand and allocation of resources. Composition of Aggregate Demand The financial system plays an important role in the economy in various ways. At the beginning, one should mention aggregate deman ds in relation to the total expenditure of goods and services of an economy for a specified period for a specified price (McEachern, 2011). The financial system of an economy has a bearing on the way its aggregate demand is constituted. One of the ways it influences economic dynamism is in the way it acts as a facilitator of lending on the one hand and borrowing on the other. Since scarcity is one of the great hindrances to economic growth, by providing a means of obtaining extra resources to offset deficits, the financial sector is therefore a good linkage to economic growth (Burton and Brown, 2009). In effect, the financial sector plays a direct role in the effective planning of expenditure independent of an individual or organization’s present income. A good example is the way creditors or lending institutions are able to store wealth for future consumption through giving out at certain levels of interest whereas borrowers are able to acquire finances to make purchases in advance of income. The result of positive influence of a well regulated and efficient financial system will lead to a relatively higher investment rate than that of consumption in the given economy. Since economic growth relies on investment levels, a financial system is, therefore, a necessary component of the economy. Level of Aggregate Demand Financial development levels may also have an influence on the level of aggregate demand. The level of agreement is subject to the rate of flow of the finances or money in the financial system. A high flow, or otherwise referred to as velocity, is a great determinant of the level of aggregate demand. In a financial system, individuals or lending institutions may decide to retain the cash they have at their disposal as a result of taking precautions for speculative purposes or by having them in solid assets. As a result, the flow or velocity of finances may be lowered as a consequence of decreased liquidity. On the other hand, a well function ing financial system that is able to effectively produce a range of assets that are liquid in nature may help reduce the amounts held by the said parties in the financial markets. The resultant effect will be that of increased velocity of money in the economy which is healthy for economic growth enhancement. The level of aggreg

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

Case Study Example 2. The HR department will also offer monthly training to all employees. This is because 76 % of the respondents signified that they needed additional training. Employees will be categorized into two groups based on the training they need. The trainings available are computer and communication training. Computer training will be offered by a local- based institution, providing training on computer packages, for 4 months. Training will be offered on every afternoon of Friday and Saturday. Much of the training will focus on computer packages, as networking is an essential tool of communication, in the modern corporate world. On the other hand, five members of the staff will lead their colleagues in leaning communication techniques. This will be done daily as from 3pm to 5pm. 3. The facilities and comfort provided by the company are pretty reasonable; however, the HR department will consider improving medical and transport facilities because 90 % of the respondents need modern welfare administration. In the next 3 months, the company’s heath unit is going to be stocked with modern medical equipment to improve service delivery. Additionally, one doctor and three nurses are going to join the medical team, in the next one month. Two more luxury buses will be delivered to the fleet department, in two months time. This, in addition to the existing buses, will enhance movement of employees from one point to another. 4. The HR department will also review its promotion and transfer strategies because 63 % of employees need regular employee movement. It is necessary to note that this will only depend on an employee’s performance and efficiency. Therefore, those who need regular movements must improve their work output and efficiency. While interviewing employees, most of the correspondents complained that relationship between labour force and management is

Health Care Reform & the Future of Nursing Essay

Health Care Reform & the Future of Nursing - Essay Example er expectations have led to improved service delivery as they are entitled to quality health care, which is catered fro through the universal health insurance schemes. The Affordable Care Act holds that all human being are entitled to medical attention as it is a basic human right, regardless of the patient’s financial position. The ethical principle of providing quality and equal health care to everyone is upheld through the act. The affordability of health care makes it possible for everyone to access health care regardless of the person’s financial position. The protection of human rights and offering of quality health care to every citizen are upheld in the ACA (Poskauer, 2014). The Accountable care organizations provide for grouping of patients so as to manage their medical care with the purpose of offering high quality care while cutting costs. This is done through collaborative efforts between hospitals, medical groups, as well as other providers of health care. The amount of money saved through this initiative is kept by the health care providers. The retail clinics model is also a popular innovation. This gives immediate health care to those seeking medical care without the need to have appointments. The dual- eligible model is also gaining ground. This allows patients to receive care using Medicare and Medicaid. This is especially helpful for patients with high medical expenses. The bundled payments are also gaining prominence as it focuses on the quality of care provided and not quantity. The concept bundles all medical costs by the patient into one payment. This ensures that the patient receives standard care for any ailments (Daly, 2013). The nursing leaders need to learn how to handle patients with different needs accordingly. This is because the care provides for all levels and types of care that are sought by the patients. The nurses must learn to seek medical history appropriately so as to ensure that the medical care offered is consistent.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF INTL BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

LEGAL ASPECTS OF INTL BUSINESS - Essay Example American may use all forms of treats against Russia including economic sanctions, but will never go to war with Russia. This article addresses issues that relate to international relations, business, and law, as most consequences of Russia actions in Ukraine will be felt outside Ukraine. The outside effect will be felt in international business, political stability, and law. Business and other economic activities in both countries have been affected especially the Crimea region where Russian troops have seized the Airport and borders (Peck 1). The sovereignty of Ukraine has also been interfered with since international laws, which recognizes the sovereignty of a country have been violated by Russia invasion. Among the issues raised in this article are reasons why America may never manage to go to war with Russia over Ukraine. I believe that these reasons would make sense to anyone reading this article due to the facts supporting. The Russian army is powerful and alongside the power of the army, they are a nuclear superpower. Russia has the advantage of being close to Ukraine than US making it easier for them to send troop. The US is tired after a long period of war and does not have adequate army to send to Russia. The American people are also tired of war and most of their allies tired as well and are not ready for war. However, it is not in order for countries to think war always whenever conflict arises between them. Russia has over 4500 active nuclear warheads that could devastate the US totally and the world at large (Peck 1). Their military is well equipped with weapons that would make America not good enough. Compared to Taliban and Iraqis, the Russian army is not lightly armed as them. Russia can easily send its troops to Ukraine, which is close unlike US. With nearly 13 years of involving itself in war, America has used most of its resources and need a

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT (MARKETING) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12000 words

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT (MARKETING) - Essay Example Following by that, different theories regarding communication and how celebrities play an important role in framing communication strategies has been clarified. Then four types of celebrity endorsement modes have been explicated in order to understand how different celebrities are associated with different products or services. After that this chapter moves out to understand the major part of literature review i.e. four-variable models which are 1] Source credibility model, 2] Source attractiveness model, 3] Product match up model and 4] Meaning transfer model. Finally, this chapter ends with benefits of using celebrities and the risks attached with celebrity endorsement. Furthermore, research objectives have been drafted at the end of the section. Celebrity endorsement is one of the most popular strategies for marketing communication and advertisers. Customers see advertisements containing celebrities everyday whether they are at home or outside with their friends and family. Varieties of celebrities’ options are available to advertisers today through which companies can decide on celebrities on the basis of their product, target audience, popularity of celebrity and others. For instance, sports product companies like Nike and Adidas approach present celebrities of the popular sports of their target market audience. The choices are not just limited to sports stars of particular sport like baseball, basketball or cricket, but national or international player choices are also available to them. These celebrities are usually paid high sign up amounts and their contract with the endorsing brand has a specific validity period. Celebrities usually earn from their profession, but they can also earn the sign up amount for any endorsement which is usually higher than their average earning for the same time period. According to Forbes.com (2007), in the list of Celebrity 100 the first five celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Madonna, Rolling Stones and Brad Pitt

Difference Between CML and SML Essay Example for Free

Difference Between CML and SML Essay CML stands for Capital Market Line, and SML stands for Security Market Line. The CML is a line that is used to show the rates of return, which depends on risk-free rates of return and levels of risk for a specific portfolio. SML, which is also called a Characteristic Line, is a graphical representation of the market’s risk and return at a given time. One of the differences between CML and SML, is how the risk factors are measured. While standard deviation is the measure of risk for CML, Beta coefficient determines the risk factors of the SML. The CML measures the risk through standard deviation, or through a total risk factor. On the other hand, the SML measures the risk through beta, which helps to find the security’s risk contribution for the portfolio. While the Capital Market Line graphs define efficient portfolios, the Security Market Line graphs define both efficient and non-efficient portfolios. While calculating the returns, the expected return of the portfolio for CML is shown along the Y- axis. On the contrary, for SML, the return of the securities is shown along the Y-axis. The standard deviation of the portfolio is shown along the X-axis for CML, whereas, the Beta of security is shown along the X-axis for SML. Where the market portfolio and risk free assets are determined by the CML, all security factors are determined by the SML. Unlike the Capital Market Line, the Security Market Line shows the expected returns of individual assets. The CML determines the risk or return for efficient portfolios, and the SML demonstrates the risk or return for individual stocks. Well, the Capital Market Line is considered to be superior when measuring the risk factors. Summary: 1. The CML is a line that is used to show the rates of return, which depends on risk-free rates of return and levels of risk for a specific portfolio. SML, which is also called a Characteristic Line, is a graphical representation of the market’s risk and return at a given time. 2. While standard deviation is the measure of risk in CML, Beta coefficient determines the risk factors of the SML. 3. While the Capital Market Line graphs define efficient portfolios, the Security Market Line graphs define both efficient and non-efficient portfolios. 4. The Capital Market Line is considered to be superior when measuring the risk factors. 5. Where the  market portfolio and risk free assets are determined by the CML, all security factors are determined by the SML.

Managing change in the British Airways

Managing change in the British Airways Contemporary business firms face unique opportunities and challenges in their search for survival and growth. British Airways, the UKs flag carrier airline, has constantly had to deal with numerous external and internal challenges, ever since its formation in 1974. BA has suffered harsh financial losses during 2009 and 2010; its cumulative net losses for the two years amount to around 800 million GBP. The organisational management recognises the need to bring in a significant strategic change in order to grow and improve its market share and competitive advantage. The companys change initiatives, however, face numerous obstacles. This report examines the need for strategic change at British Airways. This is followed by discussions on the requisites for successful organisational change, the barriers faced by the corporation in bringing about such change, and recommendations on the way forward. 1.1. Overview Modern day organisations face unprecedented opportunities and challenges in their quest for business success and competitive advantage. Environmental change of astonishing and global dimensions has changed the landscape of contemporary business (Hughes, 2006, p 14). Such environmental change, which commenced in earnest after the Second World War with the decolonisation of huge populations, accelerated in later years with the growth and subsequent collapse of the Soviet bloc, the reunification of Germany, the formation of the European Union, economic liberalisation across developing countries, the emergence of China and India as economic and political powers, astonishing developments in technology, and of course globalisation (Hughes, 2006, p 14). Whilst changes in global environmental conditions and advances in science and technology opened up numerous opportunities to business organisations, they also resulted in the creation of numerous challenges that threatened the operations and the very existence of established business firms (Hughes, 2006, p 14). Much of the modern day challenges to business organisations come from intensified competition, the emergence of numerous new products and substitutes, the development of equal quality but low-cost production and service centres in the emerging economies and from technological advances (Henry, 2008, p 44). The Japanese focus on fuel efficient small cars, pulled the rug from beneath the feet of huge automobile makers like General Motors and Ford, dethroning them from their positions of undisputed global leaders of the automobile sector (Henry, 2008, p 44). Low cost mining of Rare Earth Metals in China led to the closing of mines of such metals in the US and other countries and to concentration of 97% of global production of Rare Earth Metals in China (Areddy, 2010, p 11). Liberalisation of travel and free movement of people across the world for purposes of business and travel resulted in the emergence of low cost airlines like Ryan Air and Easy Jet in the UK and others in different par ts of the world, causing body blows to established airline giants like British Airways, Air France, and Swiss Air, some of which, (like Swiss Air), closed shop (Lynch, 2006, p 52). British Airways, the flag carrier airline of the UK has constantly faced external and internal challenges, ever since its inception in the early 1970s (British Airways, 2011, p 1). Formed by the coming together of BOAC, BEA, Cambrian Airways and North East Airlines in 1974, the organisation worked as a public sector corporation for 13 years until it was privatised by UKs Conservative government in 1987 (British Airways, 2011, History). British Airways (BA) has had to face numerous environmental challenges in its history, both as a public and as a private sector carrier. Such challenges have occurred on account of reasons like intense competition from other airlines in its domestic and global operations, erosion of market share on account of entry of low cost airlines, global terrorism, pandemics like SARS and Bird Flu, and natural calamities (British Airways, 2011, Annual Reports). The terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001, resulted in a huge downturn in local and international tra vel, resulting in the collapse of numerous airlines and in significant financial losses (approximately 200 million GBP in 2002) for British Airways, which lost (British Airways, 2011, Annual Report 2002). The volcanic explosion in Iceland, which resulted in ash filled skies and disruption of flights in early 2010, also resulted in significant revenue losses (Milmo, 2010, p 1). The last two years, 2009 (losses of 400 million GBP before taxes) and 2010 (losses of 530 million GBP before taxes) have been truly alarming for the organisation (Milmo, 2010, p 1). It also needs to be realised that whilst thousands of shareholders enthusiastically subscribed to the companys shares at the time of its privatisation, they have gained very little, by way of dividends or market value appreciation, in the last 24 years (Hosking, 2009, p 1). The management of British Airways recognises the need for the Airline to change significantly in response to various environmental challenges in order to grow and enhance market share and competitive advantage. A number of change initiatives have also been introduced by the company in various strategic and operational areas with varying degrees of success. 1.2. Objective This report examines the need for strategic change at British Airways. Such examination is followed by discussions on the requisites for successful organisational change and the barriers faced by the corporation in bringing about such change. The report closes with a section on recommendations and conclusions. 2. Strategic Change at British Airways Modern day organisations, as discussed in the preceding section, need to change on account of various internal and external environmental reasons, in order to achieve organisational growth, enhance productivity and profitability, and enhance competitive advantage (Cameron Green, 2004, p 31). Such strategic change could be needed to exploit new opportunities as well to obtain protection from threats. Such strategic change could also be necessary to break out from existing conditions of financial distress or operational or strategic deficiencies (Cameron Green, 2004, p 31). The importance of bringing about strategic change has been emphasised by numerous management academics and experts, who have repeatedly addressed its importance for modern day organisations (Cameron Green, 2004, p 31). Peter Drucker in fact drives the point home by stating that it is the responsibility of every responsible manager to constantly search for ways in which he or she can beneficially contribute to the process of strategic change (Stein, 2010, p 7). Whilst organisations clearly have to engage in strategic change, if not out of choice than out of necessity, their track record of success in its realisation is poor (Balogun, 2001, p 2). Many senior managements fail to understand that implementation of strategic change, i.e. the conversion of plans to reality, constitutes the most difficult part of the change process (Balogun, 2001, p 2). Such change can become possible only when individuals working in organisations change their behavioural ways and patterns and align them with new strategic objectives (Balogun, 2001, p 2). Strategic change is not new to BA. Numerous case studies detail BAs success in change management. The organisation engaged in strategic downsizing by practically 40% in 1981 and 1983 (Docshare, 2009, pp 27 to 30). Privatisation in 1987 called for the bringing about of significant cultural change. The adoption of the Putting People First programme in the 1980s aimed to align organisational working with new competitive realities and modify the behaviour of customers, who were deserting the airline in droves (Docshare, 2009, p 36). Recent years have also witnessed a number of change initiatives, primarily in response to intense competition by low cost carriers like Ryan Air and Easy Jet and altered customer expectations. The commissioning of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, which encountered significant negative publicity in account of opening day operational goof-ups, is one such example. The company is currently operating with a multi-pronged business strategy that includes (a) up gradation of customer experience, (b) modernisation of aircraft fleet, (c) offering new services, (d) managing its cost base and (e) increasing corporate social responsibility in areas of environment (British Airways, 2011, Annual Report 2008, Chairmans Speech).Whilst this report does not deal with an elaborate strategic analysis of the company, the most important factors about its internal and external environment, as well as its current performance are bulleted below. The organisation operates in an environment of intense regulation and heightened security because of terrorist threats. Its sales revenues and profitability are under threat because of the global economic crisis, slow projected global economic growth, the weakening of the pound, and oil prices, which have started soaring again. With the population of its home market ageing steadily, the organisation will be under stress to achieve the same amount of revenues from existing customers. With passengers becoming increasingly aware and vocal about their rights and expected service levels, BA continues to be under pressure on account of underperformance in areas of cancelled flights and poor baggage handling. The management and the cabin crew union are in direct confrontation with each other. The organisation has suffered severe financial losses during the last two years; with cumulative net losses for 2009 and 2010 near 800 million GBP. The organisations biggest threat, now and in the coming years is in the area of revenues, sales, costs and profits. With competition likely to intensify and global economic growth forecasted to be low, the company urgently needs to engage in activities for improving its financial viability (Milmo, 2010, p 1). Cost management and reduction is a critical element of organisational strategy. Whilst all airlines are equally affected by fluctuations in fuel costs, large economic and passenger movement trends, terrorism and global political instability, BAs labour and workforce costs are significantly higher than its competitors (Carley, 2009, p 1). It is relevant to note in this context that BA employees earn more than 2 times the remuneration earned by Virgin Air workers (Robertson, 2009, p 1). BA has adopted a strategy of cost management and reduction to overcome these financial challenges. Whilst the organisation is still financially strong, further periods of poor performance could well strain its financial resources (Carley, 2009, p 1). The major area of cost reduction relates to remuneration and employment terms of its employees, especially its cabin crew. 3. Change Management Strategies Whilst BAs immediate and imperative change strategy focuses on the critical area of financial viability, the route is extremely challenging because of its need for considerable employee sacrifice. It needs to be appreciated that the organisation has initiated a number of other strategic changes to improve customer satisfaction and satisfaction, including the commissioning of terminal 5 at Heathrow, (McGinn, 2009, p 2), and the need to achieve financial viability has now assumed important dimensions. Change management theories focus on three important dimensions, namely (a) the planning and implementation of the change process, (b) the involvement of the organisation in the proposed strategic change, and (c) the role of leadership in the change process for bringing about of successful strategic change (Hayes, 2006, p 71). Both Lewin and Kotter stress upon the need to implement change in a planned process that takes the organisation from its current stage to its desired state through clearly demarcated phases. Lewin states that change management can be best achieved through the planned application of three phases, namely unfreezing, implementing of change and refreezing the organisation in its new state through institutionalisation of implemented changes (Lewin, 2005, p 9). Kotter, whilst basically following Lewins theory, feels that the process can be better achieved through the implementation of change in 7 stages (Kotter, 1996, p 7). Change management experts secondly call for the committed involvement of organisational staff for the successful implementation of strategic change proposals (Bovey Hede, 2001, p 373). Many proposed strategic changes can result in resistance from organisational employees on account of causes like (a) incomplete knowledge of the proposed change, (b) ignorance about change objectives and benefits, (c) lack of belief in change benefits, and (d) change associated threats to the individual and collective wellbeing of organisational employees (Bovey Hede, 2001, p 373). Whilst ignorance about the nature and objectives of change can be set right through appropriately designed and powerful communication, tackling change related threat perceptions of employees is totally another matter (Bovey Hede, 2001, p 373). Such threat perceptions could arise because of apprehensions about (a) change in working condition, (b) change in terms of employment, (c) change in location, (d) requirement to tak e up new functions, (e) need to learn new skills, (f) loss of remuneration, and (g) loss of employment (Bovey Hede, 2001, p 373). The third critical factor in bringing about successful strategic change concerns the role of organisational leaderships (Hayes, 2006, p 78). Organisational leaders must clearly outline the proposed strategic changes, communicate the change objectives and the reasons for such change to organisational members, and bring about intense involvement of organisational employees in the change process (Hayes, 2006, p 78). Such involvement is essentially done by leading from the front and through visible commitment to the change process. Effective leaders identify and encourage change champions throughout the organisation to support the change process, engage in constant and transparent communication about the benefits of change and obtain he support of the overwhelming majority of organisational employees to the change process (Hayes, 2006, p 78). 4. Barriers to Change at British Airways BA has asked individual employees to accept temporary earning reductions and has engaged in negotiations with unions for pay cuts, alterations in employment terms, and reduction in its workforce. The companys management asked employees in June 2009 to work without basic pay for a maximum period of 4 weeks over six months, take a year of unpaid leave, and change from fulltime to part time employment for a period that could stretch up to a year. It is proving to be difficult to bring about strategic changes for effecting reduction in employee costs at the airline because of intense opposition by well organised and united cabin crew members to proposed changes (Carley, 2009, p 1). Whilst BAs pilots have agreed to some reduction in remuneration, the cabin crew has strongly opposed the changes and has constantly threatened to take industrial action if such changes are implemented (Carley, 2009, p 1). Effective strategic change, it is accepted, is difficult to implement without employee involvement and participation. Organisational leaderships try to bring about such involvement through communication, creation of awareness and training. The involvement and agreement of even a significant proportion of employees in the change process, along with constructive empathy for employees likely to be adversely affected by the change process, helps organisations to implement change processes that include termination, salary reduction and downsizing. It is necessary to understand that BAs cabin crew, whose agreement and involvement is important for effecting strategic change, are strongly united in their opposition to organisational plans and strategies (Neilcaff, 2011, p 1). The strength of their unity has been evidenced in the past when their strikes have resulted in significant stoppages and financial losses (Neilcaff, 2011, p 1). The last two years have been marked by intense confrontation between the management and the cabin crew on this issue, with no constructive result. The first half of the current year has been spent in the shadow of a proposed strike during the Easter holidays (Neilcaff, 2011, p 1). Some part of this problem can also be attributed to the current organisational leadership at British Airways. The leadership style of Willie Walsh, the existing CEO could also be a barrier to the change process. Walshs autocratic and uncompromising style is not encouraging employee stakeholders to acknowledge and embrace the required change. Other leaders, like Schultz at Starbucks, have been more successful at driving change programmes. 5. Recommendations and Conclusions The course of urgently required strategic change at British Airways is being thwarted by constant stand-offs between the management and employee unions, even as the organisation continues to be buffeted by a difficult competitive environment, soaring fuel prices and intense competition. It is relevant to note that the principal owners of the organisation, i.e. the shareholders, have received little benefits over the years, even as two sets of agents, the management and the employees, have obtained significant financial benefits and continue to wrangle over their individual interests and egos. It would appear to be opportune for shareholder organisations and even the government to step in, appoint neutral experts, obtain suggestions for strategic change, and push such measures through, even at the risk of industrial action and financial losses. The failure to take firm action and drive change forward could well have catastrophic repercussions for the company.

Development of VLSI Technology

Development of VLSI Technology CHAPTER 1 1. INTRODUCTION The VLSI was an important pioneer in the electronic design automation industry. The â€Å"lambda-based† design style which was advocated by carver mead and Lynn Conway offered a refined packages of tools.. VLSI became the early hawker of standard cell (cell-based technology). Rapid advancement in VLSI technology has lead to a new paradigm in designing integrated circuits where a system-on-a-chip (SOC) is constructed based on predesigned and pre-verified cores such as CPUs, digital signals processors, and RAMs. Testing these cores requires a large amount of test data which is continuously increasing with the rapid increase in the complexity of SOC. Test compression and compaction techniques are widely used to reduce the storage data and test time by reducing the size of the test data. The Very large scale integration design or manufacturing of extremely small uses complex circuitry of modified semiconductor material. In 1959- jack St. Claire Kilby (Texas instruments) they developed the first integrated circuit of 10 components on 9 mm2. In 1959, Robert Norton Noyce (founder, Fairchild semiconductor) has improved this integrated circuit which has been developed by Jack St Claire Kilby, in 1968- Noyce, Gordon E. Moore found Intel, in 1971- Ted Hoff (Intel) has developed the first microprocessor (4004) consists of 2300 transistors on 9 mm2, since then the continuous improvement in technology has allowed for increased performance as predicted by Moores law. The rate of development of VLSI technology has historically progressed hand-in-hand with technology innovations. Many conventional VLSI systems as a result have engendered highly specialized technologies for their support. Most of the achievements in dense systems integration have derived from scaling in silicon VLSI process. As manufacturing has improved, it has become more cost-effective in many applications to replace a chip set with a monolithic IC: package costs are decreased, interconnect path shrink, and power loss in I/O drivers is reduced. As an example consider integrated circuit technology: the semi conductor industry Association predicts that, over the next 15 years, circuit technology will advance from the current four metallization layers up to seven layers. As a result, the phase of circuit testing in the design process is moving to the head as a major problem in VLSI design. In fact, Kenneth M, Thompson, vice president and general manager of the Technology, Manufactur ing, and Engineering Group for Intel Corporation, states that a major falsehood of testing is that â€Å"we have made a lot progress in testing† in reality it is very difficult for testing to keep speed with semi conductor manufacturing technology. Todays circuits are expected to perform a very broad range of functions as it also meets very high standards of performance, quality, and reliability. At the same time practical in terms of time and cost. 1.1 Analog Digital Electronics In science, technology, business, and, in fact, most other fields of endeavor, we are constantly dealing with quantities. In the most physical systems, quantities are measured, monitored, recorded, manipulated, arithmetically, observed. We should be able to represent the values efficiently and accurately when we deal with various quantities. There are basically two ways of representing the numerical value of quantities: analog and digital 1.2 Analog Electronics Analogue/Analog electronics are those electronic systems with a continuously variable signal. In contrast, two different levels are usually taken in digital electronics signals. In analog representation a quantity is represented by a voltage, current, or meter movement that is comparative to the value of that quantity. Analog quantities such as those cited above have n important characteristic: they can vary over a continuous range of values. 1.3 Digital Electronics In digital representation the quantities are represented not by proportional quantities but by symbols called digits. As an example, consider the digital watch, which provides the time of day in the form of decimal digits which represent hours and minutes (and sometimes seconds). As we know, the time of day changes continuously, but the digital watch reading does not change continuously; rather, it changes in steps of one per minute (or per second). In other words, this digital representation of the time of day changes in discrete steps, as compared with the representation of time provided by an analog watch, where the dial reading changes continuously. Digital electronics that deals with â€Å"1s and 0s†, but thats a vast oversimplification of the in and outs of going digital. Digital electronics operates on the premise that all signals have two distinct levels. Certain voltages might be the levels near the power supply level and ground depending on the type of devices used. The logical meaning should not be mixed with the physical signal because the meaning of this signal level depends on the design of the circuit. Here are some common terms used in digital electronics: Logical-refers to a signal or device in terms of its meaning, such as â€Å"TRUE† or â€Å"FALSE† Physical-refers to a signal in terms of voltage or current or a devices physical characteristics HIGH-the signal level with the greater voltage LOW-the signal level with the lower voltage TRUE or 1-the signal level that results from logic conditions being met FALSE or 0-the signal level that results from logic conditions not being met Active High-a HIGH signal indicates that a logical condition is occurring Active Low-a LOW signal indicates that a logical condition is occurring Truth Table-a table showing the logical operation of a devices outputs based on the devices inputs, such as the following table for an OR gate described as below 1.4 Number Systems Digital logic may work with â€Å"1s and 0s†, but it combines them into several different groupings that form different number systems. Most of are familiar with the decimal system, of course. Thats a base-10 system in which each digit represents a power of ten. There are some other number system representations, Binary-base two (each bit represents a power of two), digits are 0 and 1, numbers are denoted with a ‘B or ‘b at the end, such as 01001101B (77 in the decimal system) Hexadecimal or ‘Hex-base 16 (each digit represents a power of 16), digits are 0 through 9 plus A-B-C-D-E-F representing 10-15, numbers are denoted with ‘0x at the beginning or ‘h at the end, such as 0x5A or 5Ah (90 in the decimal system) and require four binary bits each. A dollar sign preceding the number ($01BE) is sometimes used, as well. Binary-coded decimal or BCD-a four-bit number similar to hexadecimal, except that the decimal value of the number is limited to 0-9. Decimal-the usual number system. Decimal numbers are usually denoted by‘d at the end, like 24d especially when they are combined with other numbering systems. Octal-base eight (each digit represents a power of 8), digits are 0-7, and each requires three bits. It is rarely used in modern designs. 1.5 Digital Construction Techniques Building digital circuits is somewhat easier than for analog circuits-there is fewer components and the devices tend to be in similarly sized packages. Connections are less susceptible to noise. The trade-off is that there can be many connections, so it is easy to make a mistake and harder to find them. There are a few visual clues as result of uniform packages. 1.5.1 Prototyping Boards Prototypes is nothing but putting together some temporary circuits, or, as part of the exercises using a common workbench accessory known as a prototyping board. A typical board is shown in Figure 1 with a DIP packaged IC plugged into the board across the centre gap. This board contains sets of sockets in rows which are connected mutually for the component leads to be connected and plugged in without soldering. Apart from these outer edges of the board which contains long rows of sockets are also connected together so that they can be used for ground connections and power supply which are common to most components. Assembling wiring layout on the prototype board should be carried out systematically, similar to the schematic diagram shown. 1.5.2 Reading Pin Connections IC pins are almost always arranged so that pin 1 is in a corner or by an identifying mark on the IC body and the sequence increases in a counter-clockwise sequence looking down on the IC or â€Å"chip† as shown in Figure 1. In almost all DIP packages, the identifying mark is a dot in the corner marking pin 1. Both can be seen in the diagram, but on any given IC only one is expected to be utilised. 1.5.3 Powering Digital Logic Where analog electronics is usually somewhat flexible in its power requirements and tolerant of variations in power supply voltage, digital logic is not nearly so carefree. Whatever logic family you choose, you will need to regulate the power supply voltages to at least  ±5 percent, with adequate filter capacitors to filter out sharp sags or spikes. To provide references to the internal electronics that sense the low or high voltages and also act on them as logic signals, the logic devices rely on stable power supply voltages. The device could be confused and also misinterpret the inputs if the devices ground voltage is kept away from 0 volts, which in turn causes temporary changes in the signals, popularly known as glitches. It is better to ensure that the power supply is very clean as the corresponding outcome can be very difficult to troubleshoot. A good technique is to connect a 10 ~ 100  µF electrolytic or tantalum capacitor and a 0.1  µF ceramic capacitor in parallel across the power supply connections on your prototyping board. CHAPTER 2 2. REVIEW AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF ITERATIVE CIRCUITS As a background research, recent work on iterative circuits was investigated. In this section, seven main proposals from the literature will be reviewed. The first paper by Douglas Lewin published in (1974, pg.76,277), titled Logic Design of Switching Circuits, in this book he states that quite often in combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of a truth table is inadequate. He stated that for a simple network, a terminal description will often suffice, but for more complex circuits, and in particular when relay logic is to be employed, the truth table method can lead to a laborious and inelegant solution. 2.1 Example: A logic system could be decomposed into a number identical sub-systems, then if we could produce a design for the sub-system, or cell, the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. The outputs of one cell form the inputs to the next one in the chain and so on, each cell is identical except for the first one (and frequently he last one) whose cell inputs must be deduced from the initial conditions. Each cell has external inputs as well as inputs from the preceding cell, which are distinguished by defining the outputs of a cell as its state. Figure 2.1 Iterative Switching Systems The second proposal which will b reviewed was presented by Fredrick J. Hil and Gerald R. Peterson published in (1981, pg. 570), titled Introduction to Switching Theory and Logic Design, in this book, they discussed that iterative network is highly repetitive form of a combinational logic network. The repetitive structure make possible to describe the iterative networks utilizing techniques that already developed for sequential circuits, the author in this books he has limited his discussion to one dimensional iterative networks represented by the cascade or identical cells given in below figure. A typical cell with appropriate input and output notation is given in one more figure below (b). Now note the two distinct types of inputs, i.e., primary inputs from the outside world and secondary inputs from the previous cell in the cascade. And similarly and there are two types of outputs, i.e., primary to the outside world and secondary to the next cell in the cascade. The boundary input s which are at the left of the cascade denoted by us in the same manner as secondary inputs. At some cases the inputs will be constant values. A set of boundary inputs emerges from the right most cell in the cascade. although these outputs are to the outside world, they will be labelled in the same manners secondary outputs. The boundary outputs will be the only outputs of the iterative networks. The third proposal by Barri Wilkinson with Raffic Makki, published in (1992, pg. 72-4) titled -digital design principles, in this book, they discussed about the design and problems of iterative circuits and stated that, there are some design problems which would require a large number of gates if designed as two level circuits. On approach i.e., is to divide each function into a number of identical sub functions which need be performed in sequence and the result of one sub function is used in the next sub function. A design based around the iterative approach is shown in below figure. There are seven logic circuit cells each cell accepts one code word digit and the output from the preceding cell. The cell produces one output, Z, which is a 1 whenever the number of 1s on the two inputs is odd. Hence successive outputs are a 1 when the number of 1s on inputs to that point is odd and the final output is a 1 only when the number of 1s in the whole code word is odd as required. To create an iterative design, the number of cells and the number of data inputs to each cell need to be determined and also the number of different states that must be recognized by the cell. The number of different states will define the number of lines to the next cell (usually carrying binary encoded information). The fourth proposal was reviewed by Douglas Lewin and David Protheroe published in (1992, pg. 369),titled Design of Logic systems, in this book, according to them, iterative networks were widely used in the early days of switching systems when relays were the major means of realizing logic circuits. these technique fell into disuse when electronic logic gates widely available. It is possible to implement an arbitrary logic function in the form of an iterative array, the technique is most often applied to functions which are in the sense ‘regular in that the overall function may be achieved by performing the same operation up to a sequence of a data bits. Iterative cell techniques are particularly well suited to pattern recognition and encoding and decoding circuits with large numbers of parallel inputs. The method is also directly applicable to the design of VLSI circuits and has the advantage of producing a modular structure based on a standard cell which may be optimized independently in terms of layout etc. Circuits containing any number of input variables can easily be constructed by simply extending the network with more cells. they examine the iterative circuits with some examples, although it is possible to implement an arbitrary logic function in the form of an iterative array, the technique is most often applied to functions which are in this sense ‘regular in that the overall function may be achieved by performing the same operation upon a sequence of data bits. Suppose a logic system could be decomposed into a number of identical subsystems; then if we could produce a design for the subsystem, or cell, the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. Problem Reduced: this problem now has been reduced to that of specifying and designing the cell, rather than the complete system. The fifth proposal presented by Brians Holdsworth published in (1993, pg. 165-166) titled Digital Logic Design, stated that iterative networks widely used before the introduction of electronic gates are again of some interest to the logic designers as a result of developments in semiconductor technology. Moss pass transistors which are easily fabricated are used in LSI circuits where these LSI circuits require less space and allow higher packing densities. One of the major disadvantages of hard-wired iterative networks was the long propagation delays because of the time taken for signals to ripple through a chain of iterated cells. This is no longer such a significant disadvantage since of the length of the signal paths on an LSI chip are much reduced in comparison with the hard-wired connections between SSI and MSI circuits. However, the number of pass transistors that can be connected in series is limited because of signal degradation and it is necessary to provide intercell buffe rs to restore the original signal levels. One additional advantage is the structural simplicity and the identical nature of the cells which allows a more economical circuit layout. A book proposed by Brians Holdsworth and R.C. Woods published in (2002, pg.135), titled Digital Logic Design, in this book, the discussion on the structure has made and stated that iterative network consists of number of identical cells interconnected in a regular manners as shown in figure with the variables X1.Xn are termed as primary input signals while the output signals termed as Z1Zn and another variable is also taken a1an+1 are termed as secondary inputs or outputs depending on whether these signals are entering or leaving a cell. The structure of an iterative circuit may be defined as one which receives the incoming primary data in parallel form where each cell process the incoming primary and secondary data and generates a secondary output signal which is transmitted to the next cell. Secondary data is transmitted along the chain of cells and the time taken to reach steady state is determined by the delay times of the individual cells and their interconnections. According to Larry L. Kinney, Charles .H and Roth. JR, published in (2004, pg.519) titled Fundamentals of Logic design, in this book they discussed that many design procedures used for sequential circuits can be applied to the design of the iterative circuits, they consists of number of identical cells interconnected in a regular manner. Some operations such as binary addition, naturally lend themselves to realization with an iterative circuit because of the same operation is performed on each pair input bits. The regular structure of an iterative circuit makes it easier to fabricate in integrated circuit from than circuits with less regular structures, the simplest form of a iterative circuit consists of a linear array of combinational cells with signals between cells travelling in only one direction, each cell is a combinational circuit with one or more primary inputs and possibly one or more primary outputs. In addition, each cell has one or more secondary inputs and one or more secondary outputs. Then the produced signals carry information about the â€Å"state† of one cell to the next cell. The primary inputs to the cells are applied in parallel; that is, they are applied at the same time, the signals then propagate down the line of cells. Because the circuit is combinational, the time required for the circuit to reach a steady- state condition is determined only by the delay times of the gates in the cell. As soon as steady state is reached, the output may be read. Thus, the iterative circuits can function as a parallel- input, parallel-output device, in contrast with the sequential circuit in which the input and output are serial. One can think of the iterative circuits as receive its inputs as a sequence in time. Example: parallel adder is an example of iterative circuits that has four identical cells. The serial adder uses the same full adder cell as he parallel adder, but it receives its inputs serially and stores the carry in a flip-flop instead of propagating it from cell to cell. The final proposal was authored by JOHN F WAKERLY, published in (2006, pg. 459, 462, 756), titled Digital Design Principles, in this book he quoted that, iterative circuits is a special type of combinational circuits, with the structure shown in below figure. This circuit contains n identical modules, each of which contains both primary inputs and primary outputs and cascading inputs and cascading outputs. The left most cascading inputs which is shown in below figure are called boundary inputs and are connected to fixed logic values in most iterative circuits. The right most cascading outputs are called boundary outputs and these cascading output provides important information. Iterative circuits are well suited to problems that can be solved by a simple iterative algorithm: Set C0 to its initial value and set i=0 Use Ci and Pli to determine the values of P0i and Ci+1. Increment i. If i In an iterative circuit, the loop of steps 2-4 is â€Å"unwound† by providing a separate combinational circuit that performs step 2 for each value of i. Each of the works reviewed makes an important contribution to improve the disadvantages and problems by iterative circuits, which is lead to improving the iterative circuits, thus it is appealing me to pursue an investigation on the sequential circuits for better understanding about the iterative circuits CHAPTER 3 3. OVERVIEW OF DESIGN METHODS FOR ITERATIVE CIRCUITS 3.1 Iterative design Iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. Changes and refinements are made, in the most recent iteration of a design, based on the results of testing. The quality and functionality design can be improved by this process. The interaction with the designed system is used as a research for informing and evolving a project, as successive versions in Iterative design. 3.2 Iterative Design Process The iterative design process may be applied throughout the new product development process. In the early stages of development changes are easy and affordable to implement. In the iterative design process the first is to develop a prototype. In order to deliver non-biased opinions the prototype should be examined by a focus group which is not associated with the product. The Information gained from the focus group should be integrated and synthesized into next stage of iterative design. This particular process must be recurred until an acceptable level is achieved for the user. Figure 3.1 Iterative Design Process 3.3 Iterative Circuits Iterative Circuits may be classified as, Combinational Circuits Sequential Circuits. Combinatorial circuit generalized using gates has m inputs and n outputs. This circuit can be built as n different combinatorial circuits, apiece with exactly one output. If the entire n-output circuit is constructed at once then some important sharing of intermediate signals may take place. This sharing drastically decreases the number of gates needed to construct the circuit. In some cases, we might be interested to minimize the number of transistors. In other, we might want a little delay, or we may need to reduce the power consumption. Normally a mixture of such type must be applied. In combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of a truth table is inadequate. For a simple network, a terminal description will often suffice, but for more complex circuits, and in particular when relay logic is to be employed, the truth method can lead to laborious and inelegant solutions. Iterative cell techniques are particularly well suited to pattern recognition and encoding and decoding circuits with a large number of parallel inputs, circuits specification is simplified and large variable problems reduced to a more tractable size, this method is directly applicable to the design of VLSI circuits. It should be pointed out though that the speed of the circuit is reduced because of the time required for the signals to propagate along the network; the number of interconnections is also considerably increased. In general, iterative design does not necessarily result in a more minimal circuit. As the advantage of producing a modular structure, circuits containing any number of input variables can be easily constructed by simple extending the networks with more cells. Suppose for example a logic system could be decomposed into number of identical sub subsystems, then if we would produce a design for the subsystem or a cell the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. The problem has now been reduced to that of specifying and designing the cell, rather than the complex systems In general, we define a synchronous sequential circuit, or just sequential circuit as a circuit with m inputs, n outputs, and a distinguished clock input. The description of the circuit is made with the help of a state table with latches and flip-flops are the building blocks of sequential circuits. The definition of a sequential circuit has been simplified as the number of different states of the circuit is completely determined by the number of outputs. Hence, with these combinational circuits we are going to discuss a normal method that in the worst case may waste a large number of transistors For a sequential circuit with m inputs and n outputs, our method uses n D-flip-flops (one for each output), and a combinatorial circuit with m + n inputs and n outputs. 3.4 Iterative Circuits-Example An iterative circuit is a special type of combinational circuit, with the structure shown, The above diagram represents the iterative circuits and this circuit contains ‘n identical modules each of which has both primary inputs and outputs and cascading inputs and outputs. The left most cascading inputs are called boundary inputs and are connected to fixed logic values in most iterative circuits. The right most cascading outputs are called boundary outputs and usually provide important information. Quiet often in combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of truth table is inadequate. Iterative circuits are well suited to problems that can be solved by an algorithm i.e iterative algorithm Set C0 to initial value and set i to 0. Use Ci and Pli to determine the values of P0i and Ci+1. Increment i. If i In an iterative circuits, the loop of steps 2-4 is â€Å"unwound† by providing a separate combinational circuit that performs step 2 for each value of i. 3.5 Improving the testability of Iterative Circuits As stated by A.Rubio et al, (1989, pg.240-245), the increase in the complexity of the integrated circuits and the inherent increase in the cost of the test carried out on them are making it necessary to look for ways of improving the testability of iterative circuits.The integrated circuits structured as iteration of identical cells, because their regularity have a set of advantages that make them attractive for many applications. Among these advantages are their simplicity of design, because the structural repetition of the basic cell, manufacturing, test, fault tolerance and their interest for concurrent algorithmic structure implementation. Here in this journal we also study about the testability of iterative circuits the below figure illustrates the typical organization of an N-cells iterative unidimensional circuit (all the signals go from left to right); however the results can be extended to stable class of bilateral circuits. The N cells have identical functionality. Every cell (i) has an external input yi and an internal input xi coming from the previous cell (i-1). Every cell generates a circuit output signal yi and an internal output xi that goes to the following cell (i+1).The following assumptions about these signals are considered below All the yi vectors are independent. Only the x1, y1, y2.yn signals are directly controllable for test procedures. Only the y1, y2 yn signals are directly observable. The xi and ^xi signals are called the states (input and output states respectively) of the ith-cell and are not directly controllable (except xi) neither observable (except xn). Kautz gives the condition of the basic cell functionality that warrants the exhaustive testing of each of the cells of the array. These conditions assure the controllability and observability of the states. In circuits that verify these conditions the length of the test increase linearly with the number of cells of the array with a resulting length that is inferior to the corresponding length for other implementation structures. A fundamental contribution to the easy testability of iterative circuits was made by Freidman. In his work the concept of C-testability is introduced; an iterative circuit is C-testable if a cell-level exhaustive test with a constant length can be generated. This means the length is independent of the number of cells composing the array (N). The results are generalised in several ways. In all these works it is assumed that there is only one faulty cell in the array. Cell level stuck-at (single or multiple) and truth-table fault models are considered. The set T of test vectors of the basic cell is formed by a sequence (what ever the order may be) of input vectors to the cell. Kautz proposed the cell fault model (CFM) which was adopted my most researchers in testing ILAs. As assumed by CFM only one cell can be faulty at a time. As long as the cell remains combinational, the output functions of the faulty cell could be affected by the fault. In order to test ILA under CFM every cell should be supplied with all its input combinations. In Addition to this, the output of the faulty cell should be propagated to some primary output of the ILA. Friedman introduced c-testability. An ILA is C-testable if it can be tested with a number of test vectors which are independent of the size of the ILA. The target of research in ILA testing was the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for many types of ILAs (one dimensional with or without vertical outputs, two-dimensional, unilateral, bilateral) to be C-testable. The derivations of these conditions were based on the study of flow table of the basic cells of the array. In the case of an ILA which is not C-testable modifications to its flow table (and therefore as to its internal structure) and/or modifications to the overall structure of the array, were proposed to make it C-testable. Otherwise, a test set with length usually proportional to the ILA size was derived (linear testability). In most cases modifications to the internal structure of the cells and/or the overall structure of the ILA increase the area occupied by the ILA and also affect it performance. ILA testing considering sequential faults has been studied, sequential fault detection in ripple carry adders was considered with the target to construct a shortest length sequence. In sufficient conditions for testing one dimensional ILAs for sequential faults were given. It was not shown that whenever the function of basic cell of an ILA is bijective it can be tested with constant number of tests for sequential faults. To construct such a test set like this a procedure was also introduced. The following considerations from the basis of our work. Many of the computer aided design tools are based on standard cells libraries. While testing an ILA, the best that can be done is to test each of its cells exhaustively with respe

Thornton Wilders Our Town Essay -- Essays Papers

Thornton Wilder's Our Town Our Town is play written a while ago, but it relates to any time. Showing that routine is a part of everybody’s life. No matter what day and age you live in your going to have a routine. This play shows an example of two families and their daily routines. The whole play relates to routine even the different acts. Our Town takes place in Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire around the turn of the century. (1900’s). This play uses a lot of flashbacks. There’s one with George and Emily when they first fall in love at Mr. Morgan’s shop. It also uses foreshadowing. When they told of how everyone died. Another flashback is when Joe comes back after about ten years and they talk about the dead and everyone’s lives. George was one of my favorite characters. He’s really the only one I could relate to. He seems to be the only one that isn’t caught up in the routine thing as much as the other characters. He plays baseball and loves Emily. He is the protagonist. Emily was a round static character too. Simon the town drunk was an antagonist, flat, and dynamic. There were 3 acts. These three acts are all different days that are years apart. A cycle, born, get married, and die. In Our Town Act one was the beginning of a day and the childhood of George and Emily. Act two was in the middle of the day years later where George and Emily get married. Finally Act three is the end of the day when Emily is dead and goes back for her twelfth birthday. The stage direc...

working good :: essays research papers

Related Articles Boost efficiency in your workplace Could a private Web site help your business? 10 tips for using instant messaging for business Related Resources Create an e-mail community Collaborate privately online Upgrade your accounting software Every office harbors inefficiencies — fax machines that don't work properly, files disorganized or missing, high-traffic areas that make productive work impossible. But the number of businesses that simply adapt to poor setups, rather than eliminating them, is surprising. Look around your office for these common office-productivity drains, and follow these eight tips to address them. Outdated technology Computers, printers, software and other technology that have outlived their usefulness can quickly eat into productivity. For example, a graphic designer who works on an underpowered PC may have to wait 20-30 seconds each time an image loads or is saved. Employees who access the Internet with slow dial-up connections face similar problems when Web pages can't be loaded or, worse, crash their PCs. How do you know your technology is dated? As a general rule, if your computer can't run the latest version of a key program, it is probably time for an upgrade. Your investment in new equipment may quickly be recouped in increased workflow. Poorly designed workspace Spend a few days monitoring work patterns to highlight inefficiencies built into the way you work. For instance, you might move to another room anytime you need to lay out papers because you lack enough desktop room. Or maybe you type up notes after finishing a conference call because your phone is too far away from your computer, preventing you from taking notes during the call. Fixing these kinds of productivity saps is often a matter of reorganizing physical workspace. It may be as simple as transferring books away from a countertop or getting a phone extension cord. Inefficient filing systems Disorganized files make it harder to find the information you need when you need it, which can double the amount of time spent on a paper chase. To fix messy filing practices, make sure you and your staffers have the necessary supplies to keep files organized. Assess whether or not you need additional file cabinets to allow all staff members to have easy access to the papers they need. Finally, consider moving inactive files to a storeroom to make it easier for workers to find active files. Untamed information flow The increasing availability of technology such as e-mail and cell phones has inundated the work environment with news, marketing messages, junk mail, and personal communications. working good :: essays research papers Related Articles Boost efficiency in your workplace Could a private Web site help your business? 10 tips for using instant messaging for business Related Resources Create an e-mail community Collaborate privately online Upgrade your accounting software Every office harbors inefficiencies — fax machines that don't work properly, files disorganized or missing, high-traffic areas that make productive work impossible. But the number of businesses that simply adapt to poor setups, rather than eliminating them, is surprising. Look around your office for these common office-productivity drains, and follow these eight tips to address them. Outdated technology Computers, printers, software and other technology that have outlived their usefulness can quickly eat into productivity. For example, a graphic designer who works on an underpowered PC may have to wait 20-30 seconds each time an image loads or is saved. Employees who access the Internet with slow dial-up connections face similar problems when Web pages can't be loaded or, worse, crash their PCs. How do you know your technology is dated? As a general rule, if your computer can't run the latest version of a key program, it is probably time for an upgrade. Your investment in new equipment may quickly be recouped in increased workflow. Poorly designed workspace Spend a few days monitoring work patterns to highlight inefficiencies built into the way you work. For instance, you might move to another room anytime you need to lay out papers because you lack enough desktop room. Or maybe you type up notes after finishing a conference call because your phone is too far away from your computer, preventing you from taking notes during the call. Fixing these kinds of productivity saps is often a matter of reorganizing physical workspace. It may be as simple as transferring books away from a countertop or getting a phone extension cord. Inefficient filing systems Disorganized files make it harder to find the information you need when you need it, which can double the amount of time spent on a paper chase. To fix messy filing practices, make sure you and your staffers have the necessary supplies to keep files organized. Assess whether or not you need additional file cabinets to allow all staff members to have easy access to the papers they need. Finally, consider moving inactive files to a storeroom to make it easier for workers to find active files. Untamed information flow The increasing availability of technology such as e-mail and cell phones has inundated the work environment with news, marketing messages, junk mail, and personal communications.

Paret the Boxer

â€Å"Paret died on his feet. As he took those eighteen punches something happened to everyone who was in psychic range of the event. Some part of his death reached out to us.† The passage has a sympathetic effect. The writer is sad that Paret the Boxer is dead, and in the passage the writer uses diction, imagery, and similes to show the sympathetic effect. The writer uses diction to show that he thought the fight was animalistic. â€Å"But in the last two years, over fifteen round fights, he had started to take some bad maulings.† The writer's use of the word maulings suggest that his attack was like an animal attack. â€Å"Griffith making a pent-up whimpering sound all the while he attacked.† The writer's use of the words â€Å"whimpering† and â€Å"attacked† make Griffith sound like an animal attacking his prey. The writer has sympathy for Paret because he is the prey. â€Å"He hit him eighteen times in a row, an act which took perhaps three or four seconds†¦Over the referee's face came a look of woe as if some spasm had passed its way through him.† The writer also uses imagery to produce the sympathetic effect. The way the writer paints a picture of thw punches and the look on tje ref's face show that the punches were very painful, and it was not an easy thing to watch. The writer's use of imagery also produces a sympathetic effect. â€Å"The right hand whipping like a piston rod which has broken through the crankcase, or like a baseball bat demolishing a pumpkin.† The similes that the writer uses to show how bad the punches make it very hard not to sympathize with Paret. Even when Paret died the writer uses similes to show that everyone was. Everyone was not ready for Paret to die, and neither was Paret. â€Å"As he went down, the sound of Griffith's punches echoed in the mind like a heavy ax in the distance chopping into a wet log. In conclusion, the sympathetic effect that the passage has is due to the writer’s use of animalistic imagery, diction, and similes. â€Å"And Paret? Paret died on his feet.†The death of Paret was devastating to the spectators and the writer.