Freudian Analysis of “Beauty and the Beast” Essay

           In â€Å"Beauty and the Beast†, Beauty, the dreamer, successfully travels through the phallic stage and the Oedipus complex into the latency and genital stages. She is at first attached to her father, and wants to protect him. She mentions that she is willing to even die for him so that he can live a happy life. Beauty eventually realizes that she is actually in love with the beast (Brett, n.p).             Beauty starts out in the phallic stage of development. She is starting to recognize the difference between male and female, however, she still views males as beastly, and chose her father over them. When the beast comes into the story, Beauty offers to sacrifice her life for her father. This shows the Oedipus complex of Beauty. She still is competing with other people for her dad. Beauty’s father depicts phallic symbolism of a man through the efforts that he undertakes to especially by portraying that he is a self-made man, that is wealthy and makes use of common sense (Brett, n.p). Beauty’s father is portrayed as a self-made, wealthy man with common sense. Despite his bad luck and loss of his wealth, he still manages to bring up his six children and provide them with quite a comfortable life, talking the role of the man of the house and ensuring that his family is provided for despite all the circumstances.             Beauty stays in the Oedipus complex when she is brought into the castle. She still views other males as gross (the beast) and puts her father first. When the beast asks to marry her, she quickly rejects him. However, the Beast continues to see her regularly, day after day (Brett, n.p). The beast offers for Beauty to see her father, except that he would die if this happened. This is when Beauty starts entering the latency stage.            When Beauty visits her father and her sisters, she starts to realize how much she is longing to see the Beast. She starts to get annoyed by her sisters, who are jealous of how beautiful she is. However, she spends most of her time with the same sex, a sure sign of the latency stage. Beauty is seen to be very close to her father in a way and has what is referred to as an â€Å"electra complex† which is an â€Å"oedipal complex†, a female version (Brett, n.p). She sees her father as one that never does anything wrong and is always a good person. There is no fight between her and her mother over her dad hence she becomes quite closer to him although she undergoes a very quick transition (Brett, n.p).          When Beauty sees Beast at the end of the story, she is scared that the Beast will kill himself since she did not keep her promise. The Beast is upset about this, but still says how happy he is to see her and that he will die satisfied. This is where the genital stage begins. Beauty explains her love for him and that she cannot live without him. She is basically starting to go through puberty, a sure sign of the genital stage (Brett, n.p).          As Beauty passes through the stages in her life, she has the desire to read but also has more desires that she wants to satisfy and is not sure of the place or the person to find it from but this change when she starts developing interest and liking for the Beast. On the other hand, the Beast is seen as unconsciously searching for some form of help as well as someone that can be able to love him for who he is. As the picture and symbol of morality, Beauty finally develops a super-ego that is great (Brett, n.p).             Beauty passes through all of the stages of psychosexual development without much of a problem. She overcomes a little bit of trouble with the Oedipus complex, but seems to finally get to the genital stage when the story is over (Brett, n.p). The end of the story represents the rest of the genital stage where Beauty recognizes her love for the opposite sex. She has to renounce her affection and care for her father for a suitor that she would be spending the rest of her life with (Brett, n.p). In this part, the Beast, despite the nature of that he has, undergoes a lot of struggle in trying to contain and control the urges that he has just to have someone to love him. The refinement of the Beast in to something that is more human is not a mere facade, but it is part of who he really is and also forms part of the reason why he is able to succeed in controlling his lust (Brett, n.p).               The Beast is symbol of dual nature of the males whereby the outside portrays the rough and manipulative males while the inside is full of love and care, similar to Beauty’s father. He is strong on the outside and strict with his daughters although in the inside he is compassionate and loves them hence takes care of them despite losing his wealth (Brett, n.p). From the overall story, male presence is dominant and the Beauty has to make a choice between men that she is emotionally attached to in her life. Her father has been part of life for a long time but she then finds love and intimacy in the Beast, of which she wants to experience in her life as she also loves the Beast. Reference Brett, Jan. Beauty and the Beast. New York: Clarion Books, 1989. Print. N.p Source document

Obesity: Nutrition and Fast Food Essay

Throughout the past ten years, childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed in the United States. Many experts and studies claim that parents are the ones to blame for their children’s unhealthy eating habits. However, today kids live in a world where marketing innovations have made eating fast food the norm, so how much influence do parents really have on their children? In my view, America’s childhood obesity epidemic is a direct result of fast-food marketing techniques that expand advertisements throughout schools, promote junk food on television, and increase portion sizes in restaurants. Schools are powerful marketing sites of fast food, seeing as they provide students the option of eating from outlets such as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut on a daily basis. Writer, David Barboza claims how numerous schools have special agreements with fast-food chains to sell their products. For example, he mentions how, â€Å"Vending machines now dominate school corridors. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have pouring rights contracts in hundreds of schools nationwide,† (2). By offering sugary beverages and other snacks all over campuses, schools are advocating unhealthy eating habits that in turn lead to obesity. When educators make fast food available at their schools, they are increasing funding yet they are providing students with meals that contain hundreds of calories. Although many schools do not have contracts with fast food companies, they still make junk food accessible by having special days dedicated to fast food. For example, writer Barboza describes how a school in Garden City, Kansas has â€Å"Pizza Hut Days,† (2). Ultimately, by virtue of scheduling days where fast food is often the only lunch option, schools are forcing students to decide between preparing their own meals or simply consuming the junk food that they offer. Since many students are not able to prepare their own meals, they end up consuming an incredible amount of calories from the fast food offered at the school that eventually leads to obesity. All over the United States, schools advertise fast food in order to make profits and do not pay attention to how they are influencing  childhood obesity rates. Apart from schools, television is one of the most influential marketing mediums for the selling of fast food to children because advertisements are constantly impacting kids via children’s networks such as Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. Barboza claims that fast food advertisements using program characters as pitchmen are taking over television channels. For instance, he describes how â€Å"SpongeBob SquarePants has his own show, but also sells Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Popsicles, Kleenex, etc,† (2). Barboza then discusses how Nicky Greenberg who is six years old knows the SpongeBob SquarePants song and eats Kellog’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch because she loves the commercials that feature SpongeBob (2-3). Through the use of a Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob, television is influencing young kids to develop unhealthy eating habits that can lend to obesity or Type 2 Diabetes. Fast food companies take advantage of these well-known television characters and use them as pitchmen to increase their profits, without caring that by promoting their high calorie foods they are in turn expanding waistlines. All in all persuasive fast-food advertisements on television are making kids believe a lie: that the consumption of junk food does not lead to obesity. Another significant advertising technique that contributes to childhood obesity is the increase of portion sizes. Writer David Zinczenko describes how fast food companies add on various ingredients and sugary beverages that make even a healthy meal unhealthy. For example, he describes a chicken salad that initially contains 150 calories, but turns out to be more than 1,040 calories with the additional almonds, noodles, dressing, and Coke (10). Not only are portions increased in fast food restaurants by adding more ingredients to the meal, but also by super-sizing foods. For instance, writer Susan Brownlee communicates how McDonald’s supersized its products when they introduced the 32 ounce â€Å"super size† soda and â€Å"super size† fries (5). Whether fast-food restaurants add more items to the overall meal or make food bigger, kids essentially end up consuming unnecessary calories and this gives rise to obesity at an early age. As soon as fast food restaurants change their portion sizes, childhood obesity rates will begin to decrease because kids will consume fewer calories. Although an increased portion  sizes bring in high profits now, this process will deteriorate when consumers see how the extra calories are affecting their lives. Overall dozens of fast-food marketing techniques are at fault for the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States. Yet the most influential of these techniques are the advertisements in schools and on television, as well as the increase of servings at chain restaurants. Critics might say, that parents must take the personal responsibility to prohibit children from watching certain channels or going to certain places. However, what happens when children are at their friend’s house where there are no restrictions on T.V., or out and about with their friends at the mall’s food court, who protects them then? One way to resolve increasing childhood obesity rates due to persuasive fast food promotions is to inform kids how to prepare healthier meals. Unless people take action against fast food marketing, childhood obesity will remain a problem across the United States.

Asias Economic Potential and Most about China

Asian countries look forward for a more favourable economic future. It is seen that the output can expand at a rate of 2 per cent every year if individual crisis is not met. With the discoveries of new resource frontiers and further development of advanced technology in source of energy and method processing, Asia cannot improve unless output grows (Atighechian et al., 2016). Under the conscious and skilful leadership, economic can change through a purposeful domestic action. Potential growth is determined by the supply of the economy. It particularly depends upon the changes in the structure of the economy like industrial employment, working-age population, share of net exports, export growth, share of foreign investment, GDP and human capital accumulation (Gillam & Siriwardena, 2013). Political landscape in Asia is evolving constantly throughout centuries. The dynamics within the regions of Asia like Japan, China, India, Singapore, etc. has ranged from vibrant multi party democrats to repressive regimes. The potential explode is contrary effecting the proliferation of cooperative multilateral mechanism to introduce peace (Atighechian et al., 2016). Many historical influences and contemporary issues have transformed Asia’s critical importance for long term U.S interests. NBR works assesses to render the in-depth analysis for policymakers and other business communities. Since Asia is affected by colonialism and imperialism, the governors retain close links with the states (Gillam & Siriwardena, 2013). As seen, China and India, Russia and Japan or North Korea and South Korea are moving towards peace treaty and greater co-operation and communication within the region of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Economic progress is highly essential to sustain political vigour including the national independence (Pestle, Crowley & Weirauch, 2014). China has experienced moderate growth in 2015, at 6.5%and is now gradually projected to a medium average of 6.2 in the coming 2016-20. There is this growing recognition of opportunity cost relating to intensive economic integration (Atighechian et al., 2016). Since the global economic outlook is volatile, it faces downside risks aroused from rising oil prices, protectionism, re-alignments, and etc. Also the underutilized capacity in engineering and construction industries is met. An intensive cooperation to match this capacity could put the region on a high growth trajectory and help Asia re-emerge as a centre of gravity in the world economic category The glittering cities and bustling ports bear record of calling Asia the ‘Asian Miracle’. Despite of gains many Asian countries fall victim to economic stagnation, social unrest and confront to crucial challenges that creates an unsustainable path to prosperity. Such challenges are persistent poverty, widening corruption and growing ethnic and religious conflicts (Gillam & Siriwardena, 2013). China has reported to change in the existing law to a two child policy to help address aging issues. This law was passed as a standing committee for couples now allowing having two children. Again Bangladesh women face region’s social progress; remuneration and treatment of gender for social justice according to gender equality and labour market launched at ADB’s headquarter Manila, Philippines. Asia has clearly identified a better way to understand technology adoption trend mostly in key Asia-Pacific (APAC) markets. As a result it influenced the assessing and profiling ownership for key consumer technologies, also identifying the technological adoption barriers. It also quantified the consumer purchase adding to buying behaviour and establishing priorities from a technology point of scale (Atighechian et al., 2016). Singapore is looking forward to build a smart nation using the block chain technology thereby replacing the central registries. This will lead the way in making a trusted, tamper proof depository publishing to a common platform, regulators or other interested parties and find real time trade. Asia developing economics face serious environmental problems that threaten its future growth, food security and regional stability. Endangered species problem, air pollution, coral reefs destruction, deforestation, water security, and increased urbanization has posed like an act of pulling people out of poverty and at an expense of local environment (Gillam & Siriwardena, 2013). This is acute for Southeast Asian nations because of their economic mostly the tourism sector that depends on their natural resources.   With fast, relevant and trusted legal advice on Asia’s corporate counsel, the change of foreign investment laws and its effect has turned its attention to Asia legal markets. Asia has explored few issues over successful efforts. Few are: lack of transparency and accountability, access to justice and human rights. Japan and Turkey have seized the potential growth seeking international capital and cross-border investments within (Atighechian et al., 2016). As complex transaction with offshore connection, Asia is sees the growing demand for offshore legal services in the region. Anyway the Chinese businesses have embraced the neutrality, flexibility and structured in accessing the international capital and in financing and trading transactions. This report is all about the analyse efforts of generative sectors that articulate domestic economic development with the creation of new systems of international economic and political relations. In conclusion the trade blocks association provide analysis to potential economic and social benefits through various pathways towards free trade areas thus identifying the challenges and realising the goals. Atighechian, G., Maleki, M. R., Aryankhesal, A., & Jahangari, K. (2016). Are Macro and Micro Environment Affecting Management of Fresh Water Resources? A Case from Iran with Pestle Analysis.  Materia Socio-Medica, 28(4), 307. Gillam, S., & Siriwardena, A. N. (2013). Leadership and management for quality.  Quality in primary care,  21(4), 253-259. Oey, E., & Nitihardjo, E. C. (2016). Selecting Regional Postponement Centre Using Pestle-Ahp-Topsis Methodology: A Case Study in a Pharmaceutical Company.  Global Business Review, 0972150916656696. Pestle, W. J., Crowley, B. E., & Weirauch, M. T. (2014). Quantifying inter-laboratory variability in stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletal remains.PloS one,  9(7), e102844. Visconti, R. M. (2016). Healthcare Public-Private Partnerships in Italy: Assessing Risk Sharing and Governance Issues with Pestle and Swot Analysis. Zalengera, C., Blanchard, R. E., Eames, P. C., Juma, A. M., Chitawo, M. L., & Gondwe, K. T. (2014). Overview of the Malawi energy situation and A Pestle analysis for sustainable development of renewable energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,  38, 335-347.

Consumer Behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consumer Behavior - Research Paper Example This can be seen in the way that films and cinema in general are advertised to induce consumers or groups of consumers to listen to specific points of view about the films, while blocking out other views (Walters 19). This paper seeks to focus on three theories of the media’s effect on consumer behavior. These are two step flow theory, hypodermic needle theory, and cultivation theory. These theories will be considered alongside how they affect cinemagoers. The hypodermic needle theory is also referred to as the magic bullet theory. This theoretical model implies that mass media portends a powerful, immediate, and direct effect on audiences (East et al 121). This was especially so in the 40s and 50s, during which cinema attendances were at their peak, and several factors contributed to the media’s strong effects during this period. First, television and radio saw a fast rise and increased popularity among consumers. In addition, the persuasion industry, which consists of propaganda and advertising, also saw an increase in use. This theory contends that it is possible for mass media to influence a large and diverse group in society through uniformly â€Å"injecting† them with specific and appropriate messages to trigger the response they desire (East et al 122). In the cinema industry, this theory suggests a direct and powerful informational flow between the sender and the receiver. It graphically suggests whatever message the cinema company sends out is the bullet that is fired from the media that takes the place of a gun into the mind of the consumer (East et al 122). The hypodermic needle analogy is used to show how the messages from the media are directly injected into a passive consumer base, whose opinions are immediately influenced by the implied message. In this case, the media communicates an idea about a film that is consumed by the audience who have no power to resist message’s impact (East et al 122). This theory was especi ally relevant during the 40s and 50s when film critics did not yet have a way to get their opinions out to the public efficiently. However, with the advent of the internet, this theory does not have as much effect on studying film consumer behavior because the audience has a way to validate the message they are getting from the media (East et al 123). However, in this model, the cinema-goers have no way to escape the message’s effects, which means that the message the cinema company puts across about their film will be taken as the truth. The audience is passive and has a lot of information â€Å"injected† into them. This gets to the point that they end up believing what they are told about a specific film because they do not have another information source from which to get information. However, this theory has seen less impact with the emergence of film critics and their role as opinion leaders. The two-step flow theory states that media indirectly affects consumers through the influence of opinion leaders. Most people, including cinemagoers, are influenced second-hand by media via opinion leaders and their personal influence. This theoretical model contends that opinion leaders in the media affect the manner in which consumers will form their behavior (Weimann 98). These opinion leaders are first exposed to media content, which they then interpret according to their personal opinion. These opinions then infiltrate the general public consumers

Selecting Patient Escorts Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Selecting Patient Escorts - Assignment Example The idea from the supervisor of patient escorts on using questioners to judge personality would also be limited in the sense that interaction between the patients and escorts would be verbal. He would rather suggest to the department conducting the interview to incorporate oral interview. Considering advice from the assistant human resource director that, the hospital should modify the typical interview through asking four or five stress producing questions. This would be very helpful because It would give the hospital better candidates that are competent enough to manage and cope with stress situations well (K. Kolcaba, Comfort theory and practice: a vision for holistic health care and research). Each applicant should submit three letters of recommendation from people that know them really well. This was the second suggestion made by the supervisor of patient escorts to curb the prevailing issues faced in the hospital. It is a good suggestion unlike the first criteria used where only one recommendation letter was required in recruiting escorts. It gives the impression that the individual applying for the job opportunity is interactive and has previously interacted with people. It also portrays the degree of socialization and other personal principles of an individual which is a crucial and relevant trait to look for in an individual. The previous system that the hospital used to recruit escorts is that, the hospital used to make a call within the hospital during a reference check because, those interviewed knew some other employees in the hospital. It is a good criterion for interviewing individuals and acts as assurance in the sense that, the hospital has experience working with the person writing the recommendation and their conduct at work reflected. This would be better compared to having recommendation given by people outside the institution. Suggestion by the head of the staffing section that, an attitude test be developed to measure applicants’ predisposition towards being friendly, helpful and sensitive is another step to tackle the problems facing the hospital. Test questions would also be a component of the attitude test package and would be a key role in the interview for competent escort. Recommend a procedure for recruiting and hiring patient escorts. Recruitment of patient escorts involves a series of steps in the choosing the right individuals for the job. The process involves; 1. Going through policies and procedures Policies and proced

Is Oil a Blessing or a Curse for the Middle East Essay

Is Oil a Blessing or a Curse for the Middle East - Essay Example The reality that many nations face with regards to being nearly entirely dependent upon their natural resources as the basic foundation of their economies is referred to as both â€Å"renterism† and the â€Å"Dutch disease†. The first term, renterism has to do with the fact that these nations ultimately rent out the access to their resources in exchange for direct payments for such an agreement. Similarly, the term Dutch disease is with regards to the Dutch nation’s dependence upon the revenues from the natural gas fields in the 1960’s and 1970’s. For purposes of this brief analysis, the issue of the resource curse will be viewed within the prism of seeking to understand it as it is exhibited within the nations of Saudi Arabia and Iran. These two nations have been selected due to the fact that they are both regional powers that have defined their economies around the oil wealth that they possess; albeit through slightly different means. Moreover, ev en though a similar economic stance has been taken with regards to a centrally planned economy in both nations, the overall levels of extreme wealth and pervasive poverty, social divisions, non-democratic forms of governance, problems with radical forms of Islam, and a host of other byproducts of the uneven economic development that oil wealth dependence portends crates a great deal of similarity between these two nations. History and Background: Prior to the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and Iran, both of these regions were seeking to integrate at a rather rapid rate with the rest of the world by developing their economies and seeking to industrialize. Although it is not fair to say that these nations were particularly backwards as compared to their neighbors, they exhibited a relatively low level of growth and change as compared to Western Europe and parts of Asia at that time. It can be noted that within both Iran and Saudi Arabia, there existed and much more decentralized und erstanding of governance and power. Although it is not the purpose of this analysis to go into a great deal of defining the means by which resource wealth encourages further levels of despotism, it should be understood that once a high level of valuable resources are located within a given region, it necessarily encourages individuals within government to more fully and completely exert their control over these resources as a means of promoting sovereignty, stability, and deriving profitability; both for themselves and for the nation in general. A byproduct of this increased level of centralization and control is necessarily the loss of specific civil liberties and freedoms. Aside from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and redefining the post-colonial borders, the discovery of oil and natural gas resources has had the most profound impact upon the course of development, politics, war, and even radical forms of Islam. With respect to the actual discovery of oil within the Middle Eas t, Iran was the first in 1908 (Neilberg, 2012) followed by Saudi Arabia in 1923 (Jones, 2012). Oil came to be an even more coveted resource to which all developed nations sought to procure. Accordingly, it was not abnormal to merely take over another country as a means of extracting its mineral wealth and diverting it back to the homeland. Such a model was utilized for nearly 25 years as the British extracted oil wealth from Saudi Arabia and Iran (Mainuddin, 2007). The ways in which key actors within

Elementary Education Major Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Elementary Education Major - Research Paper Example In this paper, I want to explain why I regard this course to be among the best courses given in our universities, its benefits, and some of the challenges that one can encounter as a profession. I am planning to bring-out my original assumptions, my findings from research and my final discoveries. What I Know, Assume or Imagine What I know is that several universities and constituent colleges distributed throughout this country offer this course. However, each university has specific qualifications requirements for admission in this course. The course takes four years when studied on full time bases. I am aware that the course involves assessments that vary depending with the intended purpose. For somebody to graduate, it is mandatory that the person must have passed all the assessments. My assumptions are that University of Florida is the best in offering this course and that it is among the ones that admit most students on the course. Another assumption that I have is that after th e four years of study and successful assessments I will come out of this university a fully qualified and competent elementary school teacher. I also have an assumption that I will be able to obtain a job soon after graduation. In addition, I have the assumption that that the course might be involving but not that much challenging and that I have full ability to handle it. What I imagine is how the teaching process and assessment process will be looking like. I imagine an assessment like being told to teach an elementary class while you are being assessed by a tutor or a supervisor. I also imagine what the course content might be. My imagination is that it will contain some course units teaching about learning behaviors and effective running styles. In this imagination, I suppose that it will criticize cramming and emphasize on understanding among students. Most of these imaginations, that I am not sure of them, might be true or false and might exist or not exist. The search One maj or component found in elementary education major course is field experience (Freshman Academic Advisory Services 3). Thus as an education major I should expect to find various fieldwork tasks throughout my training period. In most cases, supervisors or tutors will offer guidance and coaching on how those fieldwork activities should be effectively undertaken. Such activities could be both challenging and enjoyable depending on personal traits and characteristics. According to Harmon and Jones (20), the focus of education has changed from schooling as a preparation for participation in society to schooling as a vehicle to social change. Therefore, education professionals are required to develop not only the teaching skills but also interactive skills necessary for generating social change among students. As an education profession in the making, I am prepared to develop and nurture those skills that will make me a better elementary schools educator by the end of my training. The eleme ntary education should recover the characteristic compassion of children, which requires nurturing and protection from corruptive social forces (Letts and Sears 28). As an elementary school educator, I realize that I will be the one expected to play the key role in recovering this characteristic compassion of children among my students. I should thus ensure that I gain the required skills and tactics required to

Discuss the view that the differences between the German and Japanese Essay

Discuss the view that the differences between the German and Japanese economic institutions are so great that they cannot be viewed as being part of the same family of economies - Essay Example Since these companies do not need to operate in a government controlled environment, they have an access to an educated and trained labour force (Noel, 2004, p. 3; Pavitt, 1999, p. 5). The economies of Germany and Japan are two major examples of coordinated market economies (CMEs) in the world. Unlike the situation in United States and United Kingdom, these nations do not implement high-end regulations in their bank structure primarily due to the informal structure of organisation. However, despite the integral business environment being the same, many-a-times it is difficult to conceive them as part of the same group due to the diverse nature of their economies. The present paper takes up the issue and tries to figure out the extent to which the German and Japanese economic institutions differ from each other. Corporate governance in economic institutions located at Japan and Germany are almost similar to each other. Institutions in these nations are characterised by senior managers sitting at the head of the power unlike in case of liberal market economies, where the culture of corporate governance is seldom found. The shareholders are the ultimate owners of the organisations, although no corporate board structure is present in them. Though the strategies which these nations abide by have rendered them to a position much behind that of USA, the financial institutions of the former nations are believed to be fast picking up with those indigenous to the latter (Baums, Buxbaum & Hopt, 1994). Corporate governance in these nations is strengthened more due to the emphasis that company goodwill is being paid rather than in case of liberal market economies like the USA where people are more concerned about the final pay-off only (Jackson, 2005). Germany had been a capitalist at its heart at the time of unification. It had been one of the most popular of

Employee Engagement and Employee Voice Paper Essay

Employee Engagement and Employee Voice Paper - Essay Example It is however, not that very much different from employee voice (Kinnie, 2005:40). They both talk about employee involvement and influence towards increasing an organization’s productivity and retention. Employee engagement incorporates attitude and commitment (Edwards, 2009:91). This paper will seek to explore and discuss the various debates surrounding the concepts of employee engagement and employee voice basing its arguments on their definitions and nature in relation to managing employee relationship. The nature of ‘employee engagement’ and ‘employee voice’ in relation to managing the employee relationship As stated, employee engagement is all about behavior and attitude. In this case, attitude refers to employee commitment towards his job while behavior is merely the action to corporate. In other words, behavior in employee engagement can be what people commonly refer to as the extra mile taken by employees to ensure that the organizationâ€℠¢s decision-making process involves them (Buchanan, Fitzgerald, and Ketley, 2007:27). Analytical response to management consultants who happen to partake ‘employee engagement surveys’ it is true to say that engagement is mainly involves engagement with the organization an employee works for and engagement with the employer (Golan, 2007:29). Usually, those who measure employee engagement consider things like the time an employee wishes to stay with an employer, pride that he or she has for the firm that he works for, and their preparedness to exert extra pressure or effort on behalf of the firm (Redman and Snape, 2005:301). With reference to employee engagement and its definition, it is seeable that an employee’s commitment to a supervisor or a manager is more productive and a stronger link to recital compared to commitment towards an organization. This shows that it is not surprising to establish that some employees have multiple loyalties towards different thing s. In a number of situations some employees, in most cases professional workers such as lawyers or nurses, may appear ambivalent towards their boss but prove to be very passionate about their profession, team leader, customer, or co-workers (Kaufman, Beaumont, and Helfgott, 2003:48). One of the reliable cases that captures well this multi-faceted nature and behavior of employees in employee engagement practices is the Employee Engagement Consortium at Kingston University. The researchers stated that; the idea that every employee can make a substantial contribution towards the continuous improvement and successful functioning of all firm’s processes is the fundamental or rather primary concept of employee engagement (Purcell, 2009:44). Engagement is ideally about the creation of opportunities for workers in order to connect with their managers, co-workers, and the overall organization. It is also about creating an environment that motivates employees in view of wanting to buil d a relationship with what they do and care for doing a great job (Kinnie, 2005:61). This study notes the way in which it is evident that employee engagement enables workers to perform better compared to others, become less likely to leave their employer,

To Build a Fire by Jack London why did the traveler die If you know of Essay

To Build a Fire by Jack London why did the traveler die If you know of a personal application for the life lesson shown in this story, you may briefly inclu - Essay Example The man’s errors of judgment leads to his death, whereas the only way out of it would have been to show respect to the advice by experienced people, to the laws of the nature, and to his own natural instincts instead of relying too much on artificial means of survival. London employs a strict and effective economy of words and terse plot construction to produce a powerful story replete with multiple layers of meaning. Though the unpredictable aspects of Nature play a major part in the devastation of the protagonist, the presence of a wild dog that accompanies him on his journey brings in many contrasts. The most significant among them is between the man’s estrangement from his own instincts that causes his death and the uninformed yet natural instincts of the beast that helps it survive. The characterization of the man is done deftly through references to his attitude to the excruciating cold which he understands to be fifty degrees below zero, but is in fact seventy five below zero. London describes that the absence of the sun or the tremendous cold did not make an impression on the man. It is not because he was used to it, as he is a newcomer to the place and it was his first winter. â€Å"The trouble with him was that he was without imagination† (London). He understands the extreme cold temperature on practical terms only, and tries to deal with it logically, taking for granted the man-made equipments which he hopes will protect him from the powers of Nature. The information that the temperature is in fact much below what the man understood it to be is sufficient to prepare the readers for his death. His inexperience in the terrain and his ruthlessness in discarding good advice are also explained from the beginning. However, readers are apt to hope against hope for the man’s survival, as he is depicted as giving a hearty fight till the end. The natural

Formation and Evolution Essay Example for Free

Formation and Evolution Essay A black hole is a theoretical region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even electromagnetic radiation (e. g. visible light), can escape its pull after having fallen past its event horizon. Black holes are objects so dense that not even light can escape their gravity, and since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape from inside a black hole. On the other hand, a black hole exerts the same force on something far away from it as any other object of the same mass would. For example, if our Sun was magically crushed until it was about 1 mile in size, it would become a black hole, but the Earth would remain in its same orbit. Even back in Isaac Newtons time, scientists speculated that such objects could exist, even though we now know they are more accurately described using Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Using this theory, black holes are fascinating objects where space and time become so warped that time practically stops in the vicinity of a black hole. The former types have measured masses ranging from 4 to 15 Suns, and are believed to be formed during supernova explosions. The after-effects are observed in some X-ray binaries known as black hole candidates. On the other hand, galaxy-mass black holes are found in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These are thought to have the mass of about 10 to 100 billion Suns. The mass of one of these super massive black holes has recently been measured using radio astronomy. X-ray observations of iron in the accretion disks may actually be showing the effects of such a massive black hole as well. Formation and Evolution The primary formation process for black holes is expected to be the gravitational collapse of heavy objects such as stars, but there are also more exotic processes that can lead to the production of black holes. Gravitational collapse occurs when an objects internal pressure is insufficient to resist the objects own gravity. For stars this usually occurs either because a star has too little fuel left to maintain its temperature, or because a star which would have been stable receives a lot of extra matter in a way which does not raise its core temperature. In either case the stars temperature is no longer high enough to prevent it from collapsing under its own weight. The result is one of the various types of compact star. Which type of compact star is formed depends on the mass of the remnant the matter left over after changes triggered by the collapse (such as supernova or pulsations leading to a planetary nebula) have blown away the outer layers. If the mass of the remnant exceeds ~3-4 solar masses (the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit)—either because the original star was very heavy or because the remnant collected additional mass through accretion of matter)—even the degeneracy pressure of neutrons is insufficient to stop the collapse. After this no known mechanism (except maybe the quark degeneracy pressure, see quark star) is powerful enough to stop the collapse and the object will inevitably collapse to a black hole. This gravitational collapse of heavy stars is assumed to be responsible for the formation of most (if not all) stellar mass black holes. Once a black hole has formed, it can continue to grow by absorbing additional matter. Any black hole will continually absorb interstellar dust from its direct surroundings and omnipresent cosmic background radiation, but neither of these processes should significantly affect the mass of a stellar black hole. Properties of Black Holes According to the No Hair theorem a black hole has only three independent physical properties: mass, charge and angular momentum. Any two black holes that share the same values for these properties are indistinguishable. This contrasts with other astrophysical objects such as stars, which have very many—possibly infinitely many—parameters. Consequently, a great deal of information is lost when a star collapses to form a black hole. Since in most physical theories information is preserved (in some sense), this loss of information in black holes is puzzling. Black Hole Types The simplest possible black hole is one that has mass but neither charge nor angular momentum. These black holes are often referred to as Schwarzschild black holes after the physicist Karl Schwarzschild who discovered this solution in 1915. It was the first (non-trivial) exact solution to the Einstein equations to be discovered, and according to Birkhoffs theorem, the only vacuum solution that is spherically symmetric. The Reissner-Nordstrom solution describes a black hole with electric charge, while the Kerr solution yields a rotating black hole. The most general known stationary black hole solution is the Kerr-Newman metric having both charge and angular momentum. Sizes Black holes occurring in nature are commonly classified according to their mass, independent of angular momentum J. The size of a black hole, as determined by the radius of the event horizon, or Schwarzschild radius, is proportional to the mass through where is the Schwarzschild radius and is the mass of the Sun. Thus, size and mass have a simple relationship, which is independent of rotation. According to this mass/size criterion then, black holes are commonly classified as Super massive black holes, Intermediate-mass black holes, Stellar-mass black holes, Micro black holes Conclusion There is very good evidence from astronomical observations that the universe is full of black holes with sizes ranging from six to a billion solar masses in size. Black hole accretion power is responsible for some of the most spectacular phenomena in the universe. These phenomena are NOT well understood, however, largely because of the complexity of the physics of the central accretion flow. There is little doubt, though, that black holes exist at the heart of active galactic nuclei, quasars, and certain X-ray binaries. Accretion power is an important contributor to the overall evolution and ecology of the universe. Electromagnetic observations are currently probing the innermost parts of accretion flows, and revealing interesting effects of the relativistic space-time assuming our models of the flows are not WAY wrong. How can one prove the existence of black holes, short of a suicidal leap across an event horizon? Detection of gravitational waves ripples in the fabric of space-time itself, is perhaps the only way. Currently astronomers view black holes if they are lit up electromagnetically a very biased view! Black holes which are lit up gravitationally may offer a very differently biased view. Works cited Kraus, Ute. Step by Step into a Black Hole. (2005-03-20) Remillard, Ronald A. ; McClintock, X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. (2006) 44: 49–92. Celotti, A. ; Miller, J. C. ; Sciama, D. W. , Astrophysical evidence for the existence of black holes, (1999) Class. Quant. Grav. 16. Hawking, S. W. ; Penrose, R. , The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology, (1970) Proc. Roy. Soc. Lon 314 (1519): 529–548 Schwarzschild, Karl , Uber das Gravitationsfeld eines Kugel aus inkompressibler Flussigkeit nach der Einsteinschen Theorie(1916), Sitzungsber. Preuss. Akad. D. Wiss. : 424–434.

Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay Example for Free

Legal, social, and economics of Business Essay The scenario in question gives us the portfolio of a person that likes to do things around the home and has come up with an idea that might benefit his/her home and perhaps other homes globally. Another version of this idea already exists on the market but the person believes his invention might further simplify and make the â€Å"appliance† more user friendly and safer. This person does not have available funds for the project and would therefore have to look to an outsider to complete the task at hand. The inventor has researched the market of the other â€Å"appliance† and found that it has an annual growth of 2%. He believes this invention could increase that growth because he thinks this invention might be used in many other â€Å"appliances† making the product quite versatile and therefore appealing to a wide range of markets. For the person to be able to make a wise decision about how to make his project a reality we look at three types of business, the sole proprietorship, general partnership and corporation, while considering the advantages and disadvantages. After looking thoroughly at these types of businesses, we try to make an informed decision in which type to recommend for the project, keeping in mind all the aspects of the persons â€Å"limitations†. These three types of businesses all have their advantages and disadvantages and based on those we determine that general partnership would be the smartest way to proceed, as the persons â€Å"limitations† minimize the chances of the two other options succeeding. Let us start by looking at closely at the three business types in question regarding the scenario. Sole proprietorship, a business owned and operated by one person. Advantages: He would be in full control, and accountable to no one but himself. In the case listed this could be good because he could manage his time between his business and the home equally, on the other hand it might also bring difficulties both to the home and business as one might suffer from the other. Managing a business by oneself must be a difficult task. It is easily achievable. The startup of a sole proprietorship would be easy, but does success come from ease? There must be some risks and difficulties involved. Less money to be raised for starting up the business. As written in the scenario, the subject does not have access to large funds, therefore this could be a less financially upsetting way to start. Disadvantages: He would be liable for all the debts of the business personally, there is no limit to his liability. Putting his family’s financial security at risk might not seem a good idea and hardly appealing to his spouse, but taking a considerable amount of risk would be necessary. He might find it difficult to attain funding. Being an individual with low â€Å"net worth† banks and other loan facilities might not want to take the chance of lending the money for the project. General partnership, two or more persons whom share monetary responsibilities. Advantages: Growth possibilities. As described in the scenario the idea could be usable with several â€Å"appliances† making the project likely to have considerable growth potential in time. Easier to attain funding. If two or more individuals take up partnership it is more likely to be appealing to monetary facilities to fund the project because two individuals are worth more than just one. Both partners are taxed as individuals. Only one level of taxation. Partners are taxed according to their partnership agreement and have full control over how their income is allocated in accordance to their interests as long as there is economic reason. Disadvantages: One person may be liable for all debts. If for example a person would only be letting someone use their name in the partnership agreement, that same person, even if he or she could prove never to have had anything to do with the business itself, could be liable. It is therefore extremely important to have a good, detailed partnership agreement that covers all aspects of the partnership. Conveyance of ownership can be arduous. If for example one of the partners died, the partnership would go to his next of kin or whomever is his or her heir. This could be a problem if that person is not interested in the partnership or for any other reason is unable to uphold the partnership agreement. Corporation, a business where owners have separate status from the business itself and are only financially liable at part. Advantages: The owners are only liable for the funds they bring into the business. There is an exception from this rule, if the incorporation of the company was not â€Å"up to par†, an owner can be held liable. The business is not reliant on the owners to continue. The board members can easily agree on â€Å"pushing† an owner out of the corporation, which can be become a reality in this particular scenario if the inventor or initial owner of the corporation does not have a â€Å"bulletproof† agreement and/or patent of the product of the corporation. If an owner dies or by any other means cannot uphold his status in the corporation it does not affect the corporation itself. Disadvantages: Costly startup. As written before, the subject is not a person of great means. Starting a corporation could be extremely difficult for this person. Rules and regulations. There are different rules and regulations in accordance with where the corporation is incorporated, for the subject it might be a wise decision to incorporate in another state than where he lives, which in turn could make the spouse unhappy for it would obviously make the home life difficult and/or resolve in them having to move the whole family to a new place. The owner as well as the business are taxed separately, making the income double taxed. â€Å"First, a corporation pays income taxes on company profits. Then stockholders pay taxes on their income (in form of dividends) returned by their investments.†( Ebert, R. J., Griffin,R. W. (2011), page 48) To make an informed decision regarding the type of business that best fits the person’s interests, abilities and the product, the first step for the person could be to have the idea assessed. There are several businesses that offer that kind of services and for this particular scenario it might be the best thing to do. From reading the scenario it is apparent that the persons spouse is insecure about the whole affair and by having the idea or invention assessed the inventor could get an experienced professional in this field to assess the product regarding manufacturing possibilities, consumer needs, legal aspects and distribution, before he jumps in â€Å"at the deep end† and puts his family’s financial security at risk. Having done that, based on the assessment, he could make an informed decision regarding the business type best suitable. After reading the scenario and studying the business types it would be likely that the best type in this case would be General partnership. That recommendation is based on the fact that the person is low on funding options and taking in consideration the families security, sole proprietorship seems too risky because the person would have to create large debts in the beginning to just produce the product, that is, if any type of monetary company would want to risk lending to the person in the first place. Also by opting for sole proprietorship, all obligations of the business would fall on the person, making the venture potentially minimize family time. Even though sole proprietorship could result in great personal success and money if all went as planned, the initial risk would be too great, especially when taken into consideration the fact that the person has little or no managerial skills. By choosing general partnership, the person could, after having the invention assessed, and perhaps patented the â€Å"appliance†, make detailed business plan that could be presented to one or more potential business partners with access to large funds and /or good credit, being careful in choosing someone who can bring to the table something that compensates his shortcomings, like his lack of managerial skills. General partnership also divides the risk, making the project more appealing to the persons spouse. By creating a â€Å"bulletproof† detailed partnership agreement it minimizes the risk of all factors of the disadvantages in general partnership. Choosing the corporation type at this time would not be wise because it requires large funds and could prove too large an undertaking for the person at this point. That however does not mean things cannot change in time.

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards 1. INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to understand the basic concept of crosswall construction, and a proposal for Armature Crosswalls to be used as earthquake hazard mitigation for reinforced concrete and masonry infill-wall buildings vulnerable to collapse. RC frame and infill construction is common throughout the world and often has proved lethal in earthquakes. The paper traces the history of masonry infill construction from pre-modern forms that have shown earthquake resistance in the past, to the early modern steel skeleton frame buildings that survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. the construction flow at real time in step by step procedures and quantifying the benefits and studying their applications. This is done by making a comparison in usage of the same technique in two different countries namely India and the United Kingdom. This comparison is aimed at producing an insight into the technique and to identify the areas of improvement. 2. Crosswall construction 2.1 Definition: Crosswall is a modern method of building construction using division walls which transfers the floor loads through the building to the foundations. The name crosswall itself signifies the masonry connection is on either sides of the main wall. It employs concrete components like lift and stair cores, precision engineered (highly skilled), and precasted in the factories. 2.2 Applications: This type of pre-cast single-skin or flat panel concrete construction is becoming more popular in commercial applications such as hotels, motels, prisons, military barracks and student accommodations. These types of structures up to 16 storeys have been finished in U.K using the crosswall technique. The use of such panels can result in fast, simple construction process on site followed quickly by finishing trades. Crosswall is mainly used for medium and high rise buildings. 2.3 Benefits: Cross wall construction method reduces the wet trades and creates very early dry boxes for subsequent trades. This helps in speeding up the construction process without delay in work. Crosswalls also helps to eliminate internal cladding and other items such as party walls because the concrete crosswalls and floors do more than load carrying system. Crosswall technique reduces the labour onsite. A precast panel provides concrete frames without structural down stands. Cross wall construction which has been developed for providing very fast and high quality in repetitive accommodation units such as hotels and the opportunity for multi storey apartments is rising, student accommodation buildings, stadiums etc. but the crosswall technique optimisation in low rise buildings is minimal(single houses) because the dimensions of each room may not be the similar. The Crosswall construction is incorporated with a series of both horizontal and vertical ties which are designed in such a way to prevent the failures and collapses according to building specifications. Other precast work can be started simultaneously before the precast units are erected. The crosswall buildings have less maintenance service and have good acoustics values. The acoustic performance of crosswall is excellent because of its mass and effective damping. Crosswalls reduces the risks of failing pre completion acoustic tests. (The Concrete Centre, 2006) Pre cast walls and floor units are more than just a structure (highly effective in costs, speed, early start for other trades, and provision of fire separation panels), wall panels are provided with good finish and air tight tolerance. Tight tolerance enables fitting of bathroom pods, carpets and built in furniture. Flat pack construction is very quick and cost effective because it reduces the material waste on the site and the party walls are largely eliminated. The separation of acoustics and additional finishes are reduced as the wall panels provide the sufficient airborne noise separation. Thermal mass is provided by concrete and the thermal is utilised in crosswall constructions because the concrete widely spreads on the unfinished surfaces and the thermal mass reduces the risk of over heating in summer season by keeping the surrounding cool.( Doebber, Ellis M.W; 2005) The main features incorporated in cross wall construction are Direct decorative finish to the walls with only minor pre decoration treatments. Solid room sized slabs pre finished for direct ceiling decorations. Reduced structural zone without downstands. Cross wall system generally utilises stair cores and lift cores for overall stability. Pre fitted windows eliminates internal cladding. Optimal methods of floor construction, allowing flexibility for individual client requirements. Construction of stairs and lift cores can permit early access for subsequent trades. (The Concrete Centre, 2007) 2.4 Limitations: In spite of several benefits offered by the precast panels, it has found that there is no wide acceptance of the precast panels in construction because of Highly skilled engineers or labours are required for manufacturing, placing and erecting the moulds on required positions. Lack of awareness and initiatives especially in Indian construction industry because of invariable labour intensive methods which leads to delay in the construction and that result in cost over-run and poor workmanship. Shortage of skilled and semi-skilled personnel availability may bring poor finishes, leakages in the buildings, corrosion of structural elements. These defects can be only minimised by the use of mass scale projects such as schools, offices, hospitals and other similar projects.(A.B.Shah,2005) Precast wall panel construction may be more or equal expensive as masonry construction because it mainly depends upon the transportation of offsite fabricated materials to onsite. (Havel.G, 2006) Difficult to transport heavy weight and size of the precast panels. The profit margin is very low in the small scale constructions. For single and two storey dwellings it would be typical to use single storey height walls panels between 90-300mm thick concrete for external walls and 70-100mm thick panels for the internal walls. The variation in designs leads to the problem and the single housing clients are not happy with the precast technique even though it provides a higher quality and good finish. This crosswall technique is mostly used for large repetitive structures may not be used for small scale construction like individual housing because the crosswall is more expensive tool when compared. (Glass.J, 2000) 2.4.1 Fire Conditions: The building with large precast wall panels often has high ceilings and heavy fire loadings, as in retail stores, factories and warehouses. The fire in one of these occupancies require large volumes of water from large lines, if the fire is not controlled master stream appliances will be needed. The fire in large precast buildings is likely to cause an early collapse of the roofs even if they are no weak connections. In this type of precast panel construction all the parts of the building are tied together as part of a structure, the roof collapses are more likely to tip the walls inwards and outwards. As we know, the roof supports are more securely connected to the walls, the chances of roof collapsing is high before the wall connection fails. The failure of any part of the structure may affect the stability of the other parts of the building. (Havel.G, 2006) 3. Historical background: The precast concrete wall panel system was devised in England by William H.Lascelles (1832-85) of Exeter. In 19th century the pre-casting concrete for the structural purposes was started. Francois Hennebique (1842-1921) first introduced precast concrete into cast in-situ flour mill in France. White and Morris had given the historical accounts of the early development on precast concrete. (Elliot.K.S; 2000) Later in 1930s the use of precast as been expanded by companies such as Bison, Trent concrete and girling. Whilst precast concrete usage was stand at the first place it differs from country to country. One of the reason was the structural timber became more limited in some of the countries which led to development and improvement of precast usage. During the next 25 years the development in the precast frames, precast cladding as increased the market share to around 15% in industrial, commercial sectors. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) Since the 1990s, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the seismic behavior and the design of precast wall paneled structures that do not emulate the behavior of cast-in-place reinforced concrete construction. 4.Development Of Precast Concrete Panel Frame Systems: Precast panel frame systems have been successfully emerged from the research use of post tensioning between the precast beam and columns to achieve the lateral load resistance needed in seismic areas. (Seismic design of friction-damped precast concrete frame structure) For the Docklands project on constructing student accommodation blocks in London, the concrete was prefabricated in Belgium and transported because the northern Europe was only able to cope up with the demands of the project and other small local markets were tightened. Precast concrete wall panels in buildings speeds up the building process by adopting the precast concrete moulds. Decorative and light weight blocks have a great to offer visual values and technical values. The small store buildings from the precast industries offer excellent means of construction within the budget. The farm buildings, ware houses, industrial buildings are required to be constructed on exposed sites so the materials of standard precast frame components are supplied. Precasting of simple lintels offers opportunities of time saving on the site. The schools, universities are built by using the precast modular components. 4.1 Comparison of Conventional and Large precast panel Construction (Shah.A.B, 2005) The above table clearly signifies the benefits of large precast construction over conventional construction methods in various fields. 4.2 Structural Superiority: The precast panel structural system can be quiet efficient compared to other systems and it was tested and proven. (Fintel.M, July1991). In cast in-situ concrete structures, the large stresses may built up in the structure due to the curing, shrinkage, creep, temperature etc. However no such stresses are built in large precast panel systems during casting. Due to these special characteristics of large panels it has proved its efficiency for more than 50 years in Europe, America and other developed countries. (Shah.A.B, 2005) 5. Precast Concrete Panel Manufacture Process 5.1 Casting: Precast concrete panels can be manufactured by various casting methods. 5.1.1 Wet casting : It is generally used for small number of units having similar specifications. The moulds are manufactured by heating them in the enclosed and covered zones. Skilled engineers design the type of moulds depending upon the requirement for the project and also under the guidance of trained supervisions. As this casting is used for small units, it can be manufactured manually depending upon the number of units to be prepared. This casting can be provided for small housing. Wet casting provides the concrete in the cube strength ranging from 21 to 50N/mm, the slump varying from 0 to 175mm with a compacting factor varying from 0.8 to 0.97.(specifications are derived from CP 110 Unified code for structural concrete) 5.1.2 Gang casting: It is usually used when the moulds are combined together into a large unit assembly. The gang casting is developed by the modification of wet castings. The gang casting could be used when the similar unit requirement is more. For example: gang casting can be used in the production of stair case in the multi storied buildings. The main factors for adopting gang casting process is because of the designed units, and the general components of concrete. The gang casting can be arranged horizontally and the outputs which are achieved from gang casting can be more enhance in the stack casting. The main advantage of gang casting is it allows the concrete to place faster and than the concrete is compacted with the help of immersion-type vibrators. The greater accuracy of the component units are produced with the gang casting. The gang moulds are tied up in series so that the pressure loading on each individual unit is counteracted by the adjacent units, by this way it reduces the number of tie members. The gang moulds can be used for long horizontal spans, but the filling of gang moulds must be carefully controlled such that the intermediate moulds are not subjected to differential loading which may cause deflections and waves along the line of moulds. (Gibb.A, 1999) 5.1.2 Stack Casting: Stack casting is the slight modification to the flat and gang casting units. In this casting process gang moulds are filled and hardened after the hardening process the divider plates are driven into the mould up to an appropriate depths so that the next layer will be ready for casting. Stack casting is used to produce A frames and can be used in the repetitive structures such as prisons constructions. All the rooms are of same size and dimensions. Precasters have found that the incorporation of through holes, barrels or by insertion of anchors allows fastening the mould sides and bring them to the subsequent positions with exact casting thickness. 5.1.3 Battery casting: It is mostly used on wider scale, battery moulds has become more popular in large concrete wall panel constructions and the casting technique is also used for the manufacture of floor slabs and for decorative cladding components. The battery casting can be used in the manufacture of L shaped components such as balcony elements and lift enclosures. In this type, the units are generally cast in batteries of two or more. The battery mould can also have eight to twelve cells in the same mould. The changes on the casting process which provides a continuous casting, hardening, and curing schedule prior to de moulding. The battery mould which basically contains a series of plates that are spaced a part by the other mould members. A Battery mould allows high density of casting to be carried in the available space. Care and proper supervision is required in the assembly operations so it results in securely tied moulds which will be impossible for the concrete member to get separate from the mould. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) 5.2. Direct Casting and Inverted Shell Procedures: The precasted concrete panels can be obtained from the flexible formwork. The fabric formwork can be used to produce two basic types of concrete panels such as direct casting and inverted shells. In the direct cast panels, the concrete moulds are formed by the sandwiching fabric between the two rectangular frames. Firstly, the lower frame has the intermediate supports place inside it. The lower frame is X- shaped intermediate supports. The fabric membrane is than prestressed between the lower and intermediate supports. Finally, the upper frame is placed over the membrane and than aligned with the lower frames. When the concrete is placed in the mould, the fabric form bends downwards and creates three dimensional tension curves between the available supports. Using the direct casting method, a single membrane can be moulded to form different varieties of designs by simply changing the design of the intermediate supports. The produced precasted frames with different designs can be used as various building components. The direct cast panel can be used as moulds to produce light weight shaft panels with compressed shells are caste from the mould. The panel has a minimum thickness of 38mm at the apex and a maximum thickness of 127mm at the perimeter and the diagonal X beams. The two glass fiber reinforced concrete panels can also be produced by optimising the same process of tilting the direct cast panel to produce a compression shell panel. The final obtained glass fibre reinforced concrete panel cast from the mould which significantly varies in thickness from 13 to 38mm. Unlimited desired number of different pattern or designs can be produced from these methods. Each intermediate supports produces its own set of compression shells. The moulds can be produced by providing the compression resistance to different load patterns by the changing the loading which is used in direct cast mould productions. This method helps in developing an architectural quality concrete finishes using the industrial concrete mixing. Also expands the architectural potential of concrete constructions. But the problem was identified that there was no suitable method for predicting the magnitude of deflections in the formwork membranes under the variety of loading and also structural behaviour of some of the structures are not examined, precise engineers may solve the problem of structural behaviour in the precast concrete panels. (West.M, April 2004) 6.Crosswall Construction Procedures Precasting the elements such as foundations, wall panels, floors, stairs, chajjas, water tanks are manufactured at the factory and they are directly installed on the site. 6.1 Foundations: The foundations along with the walls up to the plinth levels can be cast by using M20 grade concrete in the factories and further construction can be processed by using precast panels. 6.2 Precast Wall Panels: The precast wall panels can be made of concrete with the reinforcement provided as per the specifications. The wall panels can be cast in horizontal positions and than they are lifted from the casting beds after the concrete attains minimum required strengths. They are three main types of wall elements that are solid panels, panels with door openings and panels with window openings. 6.2.1 Sandwich Panels: The sandwich panel which involves a precast concrete outerleaf, and the choice of simulated stone finishes or facings, insulating layer and a blacking leaf of plane grey concrete. The insulation which is installed under the factory conditions is well protected by the concrete. The thickness of the insulation contained in the sandwich panels can be varied to achieve the required U-values. The precast concrete sandwich panels are often used for the building exteriors cladding and also serves as shear walls. The two sandwich layers are generally connected by the stainless steel connectors, which may consists of wind and the shear connectors. Several insulation types such as mineral fibre insulation materials can be used. A cavity can also be introduced if necessary. Mineral fibre insulation is environmentally friendly, fire resistant when compared to the expanded polystyrene products. The sandwich panels may support floors, slabs and beams. The main advantage of the load bearing panels is they may not require perimeter columns and instead increases the floor area and gives flush wall profiles. The applied finish panels may include terracotta, glazed bricks, tiles, granite, and limestone. A panel may incorporate more than 1000 bricks or 100 stones. (Dawson.S, 2004) The sandwich panel system which includes polystyrene insulation sandwiched between the two concrete walls. The interior of the sandwich panel is thicker because several studies as shown the thermal capacitance of benefits are greater when the thermal capacitance is within the insulation barrier (Kossecka Kossny, 2002) The two types of precast concrete panel systems are One is waffle precast concrete panel system which is currently used in the light commercial and residential industry and the other is sandwich precast concrete panel system which represents the available wall technologies which has greater thermal performance than the waffle panel system. The inner leaf of the sandwich panel may be used as a load bearing structural element for giving support to the floor units. This provides more efficiency to the construction process and minimises the need to integrate different trades. Techrete Company has manufactured the load bearing sandwich panels for Dublins city centre; the city centre was designed by OMahony Pike and for the first time the sandwich panel was used in a structural capacity on residential development. The sandwich panel provides very strong, durable, energy-efficient and fire resistant cladding systems. All the panels are manufactured in the factory and they are Just in time delivered to the site, they are enabled to provide very high quality finishes. Construction will be much faster and the load bearing walls panels they provide both structural support and external finish, the labour on site is minimised. (Taylor.P.J, 1992) Most of the precast concrete cladding system comprises of a single layered structural concrete panels which are manufactured in the factory and than installed on multi storey buildings with a weather resistant external finishes. Sandwich panel generally contains insulated material between the two precast layers. Techrete is one of the leading precast concrete manufacturers which has expanded the range and potential of the sandwiched panels. The Techrete company has introduced the precast panels in stone and bricks. The air cavity can be fixed in between the panels and they can be integrated as a part of load bearing structures. 6.2.1.1 Two-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The precast concrete slabs are constructed by two Wythes of concrete which are separated by thermal insulation layer. Two Wythes panels are provided with strong concrete which enables both lifting and handling. The solid concrete may also have catastrophic impact on the thermal performance on the precast concrete panels. The research was mainly directed towards the development of precast concrete three-Wythe sandwich panel with the improved thermal performances. Often, both the concrete Wythes are of same thickness and the surface of the exterior Wythes may include the architectural panels. The panels with two concrete Wythes and one insulated layer are referred to as two-Wythe panels. (Lee B.J,Pessiki; 2006) 6.2.1.2 Three-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The three Wythe panel which usually as three concrete Wythes and two insulated layers, those are connected by solid concrete and they are staggered in location so that no concrete path extends directly through the entire thickness of the panel. In practice, the three-Wythe panels are evaluated by estimating the thermal resistance (R-value) using the finite element methods. Three Wythe panel was developed to reduce the thermal bridges which were produced by solid concrete. Generally the thermal performance of three Wythe panel is evaluated by estimating the R-Values (thermal resistance) using finite element methods. The benefits of three Wythe panels are: The concrete connection between the Wythes allows improving the thermal performance over the two Wythe panel. The increased overall panel thickness may lead to increased span capability, this how which increases the usage of sandwiched panels. But the three-Wythe sandwiched panel may not be applicable for all scenarios because it increases the production time and production costs when compared to two sandwiched panels. On the whole three Wythes panels provide greater advantages in thermal performance than two Wythe panel but with higher cost and time productivities. (LEE, PESSIKI; 2003) 6.2.2 Tilt-Up Panels: The tilt up technique which combines the advantage of precast walls with other benefits of site casting, the size and the thickness of the panel is reduced. The tilt up construction had grown more rapidly with respect to the increase in the demands for more durable and economical buildings. The use of WWR(wire welded reinforcement) in the tilt up panels is relatively new concept. According to concrete international there are inherent advantages and disadvantages to the use of the WWR. (Griffin.J, 2003) WWR (wire welded reinforcement) mats are manufactured in the plant-controlled environment, which gives the correct number of bars that to be placed in the panels depending upon the additional drawings. In the fields the prefabricated mats give assurance that the bars do not bunch or free float together in the plane of reinforcement, step- through meshes are well maintained which offers the workers the ability to step between adjacent bars, reduction of labour on the site. Tilt up panel can be reinforced in less time because of the labour reduction. This wire welded reinforcement(WWR) may be used in joining the precast concrete walls and may finish the work very quickly without the need of excess labour and has an advantage in reducing size and thickness of the walls in multi-storey structures. 6.2.3 Double wall precast panels: Double wall building technology means that both sides of the wall and the floor components are form finished. The interior surfaces of the walls are dry and smooth, only single coat of paint may be required to achieve the look and feel the drywall finish. The exterior surfaces of the walls can be produced with variety of finishes and surface treatments. Dukane Precast Company has used the double wall technique for the low-rise residential and non residential constructions. This company has built a plant geared for low cost production of roof and wall that created safest, durable and most energy efficient building systems. The double wall building method may offer significant energy conservation by recognising thermal mass properties. The benefits of double wall panels: The double wall panel design may be a good choice for the home buyers looking primarily in cost, comfort, health benefits. The high degree of insulation provided by the panels can permit the use of smaller heating and air conditioning units, thus may save monthly operating costs of the house. (Concrete Products Staff, 2002) 6.3 Floors/Roof Panels: 6.3.1 Hollowcore Floors: Hollowcore and prestressed floors are also commonly used as floor slabs in multi-Family housing, schools, and hotels, offices which may take an advantage of span to depth ratios, high load carrying capacity, fire ratings and speed of construction. The hollow unit reduces the self weight of the slabs. These floor units may be available in 1200mm in widths depths from 110 to 400 mm. The hollow core slabs for the residential buildings may have very good span capabilities (short long span). The long span is used for the car parks and office constructions and they can exhibit upward cambers. The short spans can also be provided with a layer of the expanded polysterene on the soffit to provide the insulation for the ground floor situations. The hollowcore slabs with reinforcement can be generally 225mm deep and 1200 mm wide Termodeck Company is more specialised in providing hollow core units. (Borghoff.M, 2006) The hollow core wall panels can be installed with or without insulation. The floor units can be provided with the polysterene or poly-isocyanurate (PIR) insulation material. The benefits of using hollowcore floor units are as follows: It may include high load carrying capacity, long spans, durability, erection speed, providing instant working, and very good thermal and sound insulation, providing the floor with fire resistant properties without the need for the fire protection treatment. Hollow core units may be the ideal building material for the construction of ware houses, manufacturing plants, schools, retail stores, office buildings and administration buildings. The use of pre stressed hollow core units and the solution which may enables fast construction and it is cost effective because the secondary fire resistance treatment is not required Precast hollowcore floors are designed with up to 4 hours fire resistance by using tabulated data that gives minimum dimensions for the depth of concrete cover to the prestressing strand or wires as well as overall depth of the floor slab to be used. (Norman E Brown, Head of Engineering Services – British Precast Secretary – Precast Flooring Federation) 6.4 Transportation: The precast concrete panels can delivered to the site over the highways by semi trailer trucks. A few can be shipped by rail or other modes of transportation depending upon the feasibility of resources. The precast plants may not restrict the size and weight of the precast panel production if there is ease of transportation. The use of light weight aggregate concrete panels can minimize the impact of weight on shipping, handling and

Ludwig Van Beethoven Essay -- essays research papers

The composer of some of the most influential pieces of music ever written, Ludwig van Beethoven created a bridge between the 18th-century classical period and the new beginnings of Romanticism. His greatest breakthroughs in composition came in his instrumental work, including his symphonies. Unlike his predecessor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for whom writing music seemed to come easily, Beethoven always struggled to perfect his work. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and was baptized on Dec. 17, 1770. (There is no record of his birth date.) His father and grandfather worked as court musicians in Bonn. Ludwig's father, a singer, gave him his early musical training. Although he had only meager academic schooling, he studied piano, violin, and French horn, and before he was 12 years old he became a court organist. Ludwig's first important teacher of composition was Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787 he studied briefly with Mozart, and five years later he left Bonn permanently and went to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn and later with Antonio Salieri. Beethoven's first public appearance in Vienna was on March 29, 1795, as a soloist in one of his piano concerti. Even before he left Bonn, he had developed a reputation for fine improvisatory performances. In Vienna young Beethoven soon had a long list of aristocratic patrons who loved music and were eager to help him. Onset of Deafness In the l...

Essay --

The days of a fair complex-ion being the â€Å"in-style† are long gone. Nowadays the way to appear more attrac-tive is to lie in a bed of artificial ultraviolet rays and get a fake tan. Today, 2.3 teenage girls tan annu-ally in an indoor bed (Komis 34). This isn’t to say that boys never tan and are innocent; it’s just that the majority of tanners under the age of 18 are girls. So why do girls feel that it is necessary to do this to their bodies, when there are so many reasons not to, the biggest being a greater chance of skin can-cer later in life? Let’s first start off by explaining just exactly what indoor tanning is. Most would agree that in-door tanning is going to a salon where there are sev-eral tanning beds where us-ers can choose to lie down or stand and then are ex-posed to very high intensi-ties of ultraviolet, or UV, rays in periods of twenty minutes or less (Loh 1). Because these UV rays are twice as intense as the natural sunlight, there have been rules and regula-tions to keep everything in tact. Some of these rules include: 1) only being able to use a bed from that sa-lon...

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury :: Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451

Montag, Beatty and the rest of the firemen expected it to be just another burning. They did not expect an unidentified woman to commit suicide along with burning her books. As the firemen attempted to save the woman, she told them to â€Å"go on.† Within a moment, â€Å"The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against the railing.† On the way back to the firehouse, the men didn’t speak or look at each other. While Beatty began showing the knowledge he has gained from books, which along with the death, firemen begin to show that they are thinking and showing emotions. While listening to Beatty, Blackstone passes the turn to the firehouse, while Montag is amazed at his intelligence. After meeting the exiles, the war has begun, and a bomb was dropped in the city, killing everyone. Before they begin they’re adventure back towards the city, Granger decides to start a fire and cook some beacon. While eating, Granger mentions the Phoenix, and explains how society is related to the Phoenix; â€Å"He must have been the first cousin to man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprung out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we’re doing the same thing over and over.† After arriving to Montag’s home, Beatty instructs Montag to burn his own books as his punishment. Instead, Montag burns the television sets and the bed, in spite of Millie’s pleasures. When Beatty discovers the hidden book in Montag’s jacket and the earpiece, he tells Montag he and Faber will be arrested. In fear, Montag turns the flame thrower on Beatty, making him a â€Å"shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering manikin no longer human or known.† After burning the mechanical dog, Montag reassures himself that Beatty wanted to die. Montage burns his first house, showing his pleasure and joy in his job. â€Å"It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten and blacken and change.† By the end of the novel, Montag watches the sun as he floats down the river. Montag decides that he must never burn again; â€Å"The sun burnt everyday. It burnt time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people away, without any help from him.

Mis †Walmart Essay

INTRODUCTION A Management information system (MIS) is a system or process that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information system gives the business managers the information that they need to make decisions. Early business computers were used for simple operations such as tracking inventory, billing, sales, or payroll data, with little detail or structure but now days it has been replaced by the advanced techniques like ERP, EPM, SCM and SAP. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. HISTORY OF WALLMART Sam Walton who is a businessman from ARKANASAS, begin his carrier with retail industry and started working on June 3, 1940. On July 2 1962 he opened first walmart discount city store located in ARKANASAS. Walmart is one of the most technically advanced companies in the world and reason behind this is availability of accurate and up to date information which intern a basis of its growth in the market. And for collecting the accurate information on time it is necessary that management should continuously review the information, which is possible only by an integrated management system. Walmart became one of the first companies in retail sector to use MIS. MIS IN DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANISATION: 1.OPERATIONS: In the world of retailing, Wal-Mart has what is considered to be the most sophisticated distribution system called Retail Link. This system connects each store with headquarters and over 2,000 suppliers so that they will never run out of or have too much inventory. Wal-Mart turns over their inventory more than any other retail store. The current challenge exists with supplying their overseas stores, especially while this is the area that they are concentrating on growing. In order to become more efficient overseas, Wal-Mart has started is on Customs Brokering division to take care of its global procurement, which saves them brokering and freight forwarding fees, and also gives them more control. They have also started to â€Å"request† strongly that their suppliers also be physically located in the countries where Wal-Mart is to better supply them. Procurement of material Walmart is a bulk purchaser and they follow centralised purchased system, so the company directly procure the materials from manufacturers thus eliminating all the intermediaries and middlemen. This is essential to reduce the cost and offer best pricing. They first find out the potential supplier and then after getting prices from everyone the will decide finally according to the cost structure of the offer. For efficiently managing this information wall mart uses EDI model(electronic data interchange) it is basically a computer based system of walmart in this system the computers of suppliers and vendors are connected with walmart. EDI enables supplier to download purchase order along with store to store sales information related to their product like no of product sold, no. of product received. As supplier receives the information about sales of various products, the supplier shipped the required goods to different walmart distribution centres. Basically it is a high speed integrat ion system between supplier and walmart and which is very helpful in making the process fast and efficient. Transportation A company owned transportation system also assists Wal-Martin shipping goods from warehouse to store in less than 48 hours. This allows Wal-Mart to replenish the shelves 4 times faster than its competition.Wal-Mart owns the largest and most sophisticated computer system in the private sector. It uses a MPP (massively parallel processor) computer system to track stock and movement which keeps it abreast of fast changes in the market .Information related to sales and inventory is disseminated visits advanced satellite communications system. MPP is basically used to track the movement of goods and stock level and information for this is transmitted through advanced satellite communication system. So when the information about movement of goods is transmitted it automatically generate the information and pass it on to transportation department and from there the logistic facility is ensured. Inventory management Wal-Mart invested heavily in IT & communication system to effectively track sales and merchandise inventories in stores across all the outlets in the country. For this company needs to have excellent communication system. And Walmart is using the technique of PRETTY DARN QUICK DISPLAY (PDQ) TECHNIQUE. In this technique the company asked its suppliers to ship goods inshore-ready displays called pretty darn quick (PDQ) displays.Goods were packed in PDQ displays that arrived at the stores ready to be boarded on the racks.WalMart’s employees could directly replace the empty racks at the stores with fully packed racks, instead of refilling each and every item at the racks. HUB AND SPOK SYSTEM – in the early1970s, Wal-Mart became one of the first retailing companies in the world to centralize its distribution system, pioneering the retail hub-andspoke system. Under the system, goods were centrally ordered, assembled at a massive warehouse, known as distribution centre · (hub), from where they were dispatched to the individual stores (spoke). The hub and spoke system enabled Wal-Mart to achieve significant cost advantages by the centralized purchasing of goods in huge quantities. And also the used of RFID technology (radio frequency identification) this technique is used to replace the bar coding technique and increase the efficiency of employees because with this employees are no longer requires to physically scan the bar code thus it improve efficiency and reduce the stock outs. Reordering Wal-Mart built an automated reordering system linking computers between Procter & Gamble (â€Å"P&G†) and its stores and distribution centres. The computer system sends a signal from a store to P&G identifying an item low in stock. It then sends a resupply order, via satellite, to the nearest P&G factory, which then ships the item to a Wal-Mart distribution centre or directly to the store. This interaction between Wal-Mart and P&G is a win-win proposition because with better coordination, P&G can lower its costs and pass some of the savings on to Wal-Mart. Thus walmart is efficiently using the MIS to achieve efficiency and cost minimization. 2. MARKETING FUNCTION (MIS) Marketing activities are directed toward planning, promoting, and selling goods and services to satisfy the needs of customers and the objectives of the organization. Marketing information systems support decision making regarding the marketing mix. These include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Product Price Place Promotion Sources of Data and Information for Marketing: Boundary-Spanning and Transaction Processing Subsystems A marketing information system relies on external information to a far greater degree than other organizational information systems. It includes two subsystems designed for boundary spanning – bringing into the firm data and information about the marketplace. The objective of marketing research is to collect data on the actual customers and the potential customers, known as prospects. The identification of the needs of the customer is a fundamental starting point for total quality management (TQM). Electronic commerce on the WEB makes it easy to compile statistics on actual buyer behaviour. Marketing research software supports statistical analysis of data. It enables the firm to correlate buyer behaviour with very detailed geographic variables, demographic variables, and psychographic variables. Marketing (competitive) intelligence is responsible for the gathering and interpretation of data regarding the firm’s competitors, and for the dissemination of the competitive information to the appropriate users. Most of the competitor information comes from corporate annual reports, media-tracking services, and from reports purchased from external providers, including on-line database services. The Internet has become a major source of competitive intelligence. Marketing Mix Subsystems The marketing mix subsystems support decision making regarding product introduction, pricing, promotion (advertising and personal selling), and distribution. These decisions are integrated into the sales forecast and marketing plans against which the ongoing sales results are compared. Product Subsystem The product subsystem helps to plan the introduction of new products. Continually bringing new products to market is vital in today’s competitive environment of rapid change. Although decisions regarding the introduction of new products are unstructured, information systems support this process in several ways: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · Professional support systems assist designers in their knowledge work DSSs are used to evaluate proposed new products With a DSS, a marketing manager can score the desirability of a new product. Electronic meeting systems help bring the expertise of people dispersed in space and time to bear on the problem Information derived from marketing intelligence and research is vital in evaluating new product ideas. Place Subsystem The place subsystem assists the decision makers in making the product available to the customer at the right place at the right time. The place subsystem helps plan the distribution channels for the product and track their performance. The use of information technology has dramatically increased the availability of information on product movement in the distribution channel. Promotion Subsystem The promotion subsystem is often the most elaborate in the marketing information system, since it supports both personal selling and advertising. Media selection packages assist in selecting a mix of avenues to persuade the potential purchaser, including direct mail, television, print media, and the electronic media such as the Internet and the WEB in particular. The effectiveness of the selected media mix is monitored and its composition is continually adjusted. Database marketing relies on the accumulation and use of extensive databases to segment potential customers and reach team with personalized promotional information. The role of telemarketing, marketing over the telephone, has increased. Telemarketing calls are well supported by information technology. Sales management is thoroughly supported with information technology. Customer profitability analysis helps identify high-profit and high-growth customers and target marketing efforts in order to retain and develop these accou nts. Sales force automation involves equipping salespeople with portable computers tied into the corporate information systems. This gives the salespeople instantaneous access to information and frees them from the reporting paperwork. This increases selling time and the level of performance. Access to corporate databases is sometimes accompanied by access to corporate expertise; either by being able to contact the experts or by using expert systems that help specifies the product meeting customer requirements. Price Subsystem Pricing decisions find a degree of support from DSSs and access to databases that contain industry prices. These highly unstructured decisions are made in pursuit of the companies pricing objectives. General strategies range from profit maximization to forgoing a part of the profit in order to increase a market share. Information systems provide an opportunity to finely segment customer groups, and charge different prices depending on the combination of products and services provided, as well as the circumstances of the sale transaction. Sales Forecasting Based on the planned marketing mix and outstanding orders, sales are forecast and a full marketing plan is developed. Sale forecasting is an area where any quantitative methods employed must be tempered with human insight and experience. The actual sales will depend to a large degree on the dynamics of the environment. Qualitative techniques are generally used for environmental forecasting – an attempt to predict the social, economic, legal, and technological environment in which the company will try to realize its plans. Sales forecasting uses numerous techniques, which include: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · Group decision making techniques are used to elicit broad expert opinion Scenario analysis in which each scenario in this process is a plausible future environment Extrapolation of trends and cycles through a time-series analysis. 3.FINANCE For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2011, Wal-Mart reported a net income of $15.4 billion on $422 billion of revenue with a 24.7 percent gross profit margin. The corporation’s international operations accounted for $109.2 billion, or 26.1 percent, of total sales. It is the world’s 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue. Walmart on an average hire about 10000 employees every year and on opening every single store Walmart employees 300 new employees. Their main source of funds is there sales and basic expenditure goes on building new stores and employees salary. Job Hierarchy at Wal-Mart Human Resources Wal-Mart is the largest non-government employer in the world. They realize that turnover is high in retail, but that their associates are one of their most important assets. Their written policy regarding associates is as follows: â€Å"they are encouraged to maintain the highest standards of honesty, morality, and business ethics†. In order to become a Wal-Mart associate, candidates must take a multiple-choice test and select what are considered the appropriate â€Å"Wal-Mart† responses in order to be hired. Due to the fact that Wal-Mart strives to keep their costs low, they do not offer high wages. They exist on many part-time and temporary workers, do not offer these employees benefits, and do not pay their employees enough to live on. Wal-Mart has a 20-30% cost advantage over competition, as their labor is not unionized. Besides facing current litigation for not paying employees for overtime there are and have been several cases regarding discrimination on the basis of gender (female) that females are often not hired or promoted to be managers.