Thinking, Language, And Intelligence Essays - Sociolinguistics

Thinking, Language, And Intelligence Kristine Thornton Southern Technical College Dr. Andrea Goldstein We are surrounded by language during nearly every waking moment of our lives. We use language to communicate our thoughts and feelings, to connect with others and identify with our culture, and to understand the world around us. And for many people, this rich linguistic environment involves not just one language but two or more. In fact, the majority of the world's p opulation is bilingual or multilingual. In a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006, 56 percent of respondents reported being able to speak in a language other than their mother tongue. In many countries that percentage is even higherfor inst ance, 99 percent of Luxembourgers and 95 percent of Latvians speak more than one language. Even in the United States, which is widely considered to be monolingual, one-fifth of those over the age of five reported speaking a language other than English at h ome in 2007, an increase of 140 percent since 1980. Millions of Americans use a language other than En glish in their everyday lives outside of the home, when they are at work or in the classroom. Europe and the United States are not alone, either. The Ass ociated Press reports that up to 66 percent of the world's children are raised bilingual. Over the past few decades, technological advances have allowed researchers to peer deeper into the brain to investigate how bilingualism interacts with and changes th e cognitive and neurological systems. Research has overwhelmingly shown that when a bilingual person uses one language, the other is active at the same time. When a person hears a word, he or she doesn't hear the entire word all at once: the sounds arrive in sequential order. Long before the word is finished, the brain's language system begins to guess what that word might be by activating lots of words that match the signal. If you hear "can," you will likely activate words like "candy" and "candle" as we ll, at least during the earlier stages of word recognition. For bilingual people, this activation is not limited to a single language; auditory input activates corresponding words regardless of the language to which they belong. Some of the most compellin g evidence for language co-activation comes from studying eye movements. We tend to look at things that we are thinking, talking, or hearing about. A Russian-English bilingual person asked to "pick up a marker" from a set of objects would look more at a s tamp than someone who doesn't know Russian, because the Russian word for "stamp," " marka ," sounds like the English word he or she heard, "marker." In cases like this, language co-activation occurs because what the listener hears could map onto words in eit her language. Furthermore, language co-activation is so automatic that people consider words in both languages even without overt similarity. For example, when Chinese-English bilingual people judge how alike two English words are in meaning, their brain r esponses are affected by whether or not the Chinese translations of those words are written similarly. Even though the task does not require the bilingual people to engage their Chin ese, they do so anyway. Having to deal with this persistent linguistic co mpetition can result in language difficulties. For instance, knowing more than one language can cause speakers to name pictures more slowly and can increase tip-of-the-tongue states (where you're unable to fully conjure a word, but can remember specific de tails about it, like what letter it starts with). As a result, the constant juggling of two languages creates a need to control how much a person accesses a language at any given time. From a communicative standpoint, this is an important skill understand ing a message in one language can be difficult if your other language always interferes. Likewise, if a bilingual person frequently switches between languages when speaking, it can confuse the listener, especially if that listener knows only one of the spe aker's languages. To maintain the relative balance between two languages, the bilingual brain relies on executive functions, a regulatory system of general cognitive abilities that includes processes such as attention and inhibition.

A Non-Violent Revolution essays

A Non-Violent Revolution essays Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later to be known as, Mahatma Gandhi, or great soul, was born in 1869, a time of political struggle and British rule, to a high caste Indian family. In 1888, at the mere age of 19, Gandhi set sail for England, where he had decided to pursue a career in law (www.sscnet.ucla.edu). After a year of unsuccessful law practice, Gandhi traveled to South Africa to join a legal company. Gandhi was shocked when he encountered first hand the extent of the European racism towards the Indians when he was thrown out of a first-class train compartment, because of his skin color, though he had, in his possession, a first-class ticket.( This incident only fueled his strive for independence and respect for the Indian people. Later, Gandhi would come to be known as one of the most influential men of all time, inspiring not only his own people, but also changing politics and international relations forever. Gandhis influence and struggles based on revolutionary ideas of non -violent protests and resistance not only changed Indias, as well as many other countrys, policies and standard treatment towards lower-class citizens, but also influenced countless people to come. Gandhi first began using non violent resistance in South Africa and soon emerged as great the leader of the South African Indian community. His theories and practice of peaceful resistance (Satygraha) were revolutionary and soon had an enormous following. (www.sscnet.ucla.edu) Although Gandhis disciples mainly included oppressed Indians, tired of their treatment from the British, whom at the time controlled much of the prosperous country, their power would not be denied. At the time, Indians could not own land, engage in trade, and were forced to pay high taxes to live in their native land. In many places, Indians werent even allowed to vote. In 1915, Gandhi returned from South Africa to his homeland, India. At t...

Sexual Assault in Prison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sexual Assault in Prison - Research Paper Example Prison violence includes rape, gang fights, duty manipulation and death as a resultant. The paper will be a focus on rape as a form of prison violence. Rape cases are familiar in all genders. However, masculine prisons record the highest number of prison rape victims. Rape is defined as the act by which sexual relations are obtained through physical force, threats or intimidation. The rate of prison rape cases have grown significantly in recent years. The issue has become sensitive that special groups have been given the mandate to find lasting solutions. Sexual violence in male prisons is a very sensitive issue when being tackled within the prison. Due to fear of being raped, victims and fellow prisoners choose not to report cases of rape. It is found that under assurance of secrecy and security, prisoners give out information on their sexual experiences while in prison, (Smith, pp. 97). For instance, there was a prisoner interview held in the Philadelphia correctional facilities. I n the exercise, 3,304 prisoners were interviewed. 156 prisoners interviewed admitted to be victims of sexual violence. This gives about 4.7% of the prisoners in the institution. This can lead to an assumption that the rape cases are no different for the past prisoners in the institution. ... In another report, a prison in Nebraska has the highest rate of staff-inmate sexual abuse of 12.2%. September 4th 2003: The day when the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission was founded under the Prison rape elimination act of 2003. The commission was issued with the mandate of the detection, analyzing and finding solutions to reduce prison sexual abuse. With the commission, abused prisoners are able to step up and report these cases of abuse. Rather than having the feeling of justice being done, it also gives them psychological confidence. Boosting psychological confidence of a sexual victim is the first way to recovery and forgiveness. Human right groups also influence greatly on the cases of prison abuse. These agencies may force a prison reshuffle and provision of medical care that the victims must be provided with. Agencies also push for prison staff alignment. With a proper and just prison staff, the welfare of prisons will be in good hands. This will also reduce the num ber of staff-inmate abuse. To curb this menace, a proper program and design should be established and implemented. The design should be able to rattle all stakeholders in prison facilities. The program should cover from top shelf management, to the bottom prison guard and warden. The design should be in a way that inmate-staff manipulation will be stopped. The design should mostly focus on prison management. With a proper management, there will be a proper staff and, hence, a proper open environment in the prisons. Most of all, the design should be able to give sexual abuse victims the room to report the incidences. After the report has been filed, the design should be able to find the appropriate way to

Random sampling in hypothesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Random sampling in hypothesis - Essay Example Therefore, it is important to use the random sample to enable the ease of making the comparison in the null hypothesis of a population. Random sampling receives support from probability mathematics whose facts have been proved beyond doubt. Convenience sample does not use probability in arriving at the final sample. It is not suitable for assessing a population. Due to its ‘non-probability’ nature, convenience sampling is not suitable for studying the relationship between a population and sample. Random sampling gives a true representation of the population because it is not biased to any side. The use of Convenience samples makes researchers choose samples that they prefer but not a true representation of a population (Duttalo, 123). It gives a conclusion that is not true about the population. In statistics, bias should not be given to any part of a population. A true hypothesis should not have the bias. For example, in a data that contains a population of one hundred, it is wrong to select the first ten elements to represent the population. The best representative of the population should involve random sampling. Random sampling requires that one chooses any ten elements from the population without taking any consideration to the position.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY - Research Paper Example The proposed research will examine the use of assistive technology in elementary schools, seeking to establish the merits and demerits of such use. Through the research, policymakers, individuals, and the community as a whole will be empowered to make informed decisions on whether to use assistive technology. The expected findings are that the advantages of using assistive technology are more than the disadvantages, and the paper recommends the review of education policies and curriculum to enable more children with disabilities to use assistive devices in learning institutions. Introduction Assistive technology is any product, equipment, or technology that is adapted or specially designed to improve the function of an individual with disability. The use of such technology in the education sector has been on the increase in the recent past, particularly due to the regular advancements in technology experienced in the 21st century. Learners with disabilities are enabled to access curriculum material using the help of assistive technology in reading, hearing, and walking, and as such, their participation in learning is greatly enhanced. However, several barriers to the use of assistive technology in classroom settings have been identified over time, as well as challenges hampering the effectiveness of the technology in learning. These barriers include inadequate funding, lack of knowledge and skills to promote the use of assistive technology, and negative attitudes among learners with disabilities and caregivers towards the use of assistive equipment. Although challenges a nd limitations to widespread use of assistive technology among learners with disabilities abound, assistive technology has many benefits, both to individual users and to the community as a whole. It is therefore necessary to sensitize people on the advantages surrounding the use of assistive technology, and to make them aware of the disadvantages associated with such use, both in the short term and in the long term. Increasing community awareness on the advantages and disadvantages of assistive technology would enable policymakers, individuals, and the larger community to make informed decisions related to assistive technology. Statement of the problem Over time, there has been increasing use of assistive technology to enhance learning among people with disabilities. Studies related to this use have largely focused on the barriers, challenges, and limitations of the practice in the community, with very few examining the advantages and disadvantages of assistive technology. As such, there is need for research to be undertaken with the aim of establishing the merits and demerits of using assistive technology. This paper seeks to propose a study of the advantages and disadvantages of assistive technology, aimed at providing information to individuals, policymakers, and interested individuals in the community on the use of the technology. The study will enable people to make decisions on the use of assistive technology with accurate and reliable information on the advantages and disadvantages of such usage, and will provide both short term and long-term effects of assistive technology. In addition, the study will consider the impacts of assistive technology on the individual user, the caregivers, and the community in which this technology is used, thus providing exhaustive information on the advantages and disadvantages of the technology to all affected parties in the community. Literature review Stumbo, Martin, and Hedrick (2009) observe that assistive technol

Risk Management in Business: A Case Study

Risk Management in Business: A Case Study INTRODUCTION SITUATION Every day, there is the chance that some sort of business interruption, crisis, disaster, or emergency will occur. Anything that prevents access to key processes and activities can be defined as a disaster. Companies can experience many different threats to their mission critical systems such as fires, floods, lightning storms and humidity to disgruntled employees, hackers, human error, power failures and viruses. A disaster can happen at any time and it is vital to be prepared in the event that one occurs. NEED To be prepared for a business interruption, the organization must have a carefully crafted and comprehensive plan that describes risks, impacts, and step-by-step recovery strategies for critical business processes in various disaster and emergency scenarios. Without a plan, the team will be flying blind when an interruption occurs. The plan provides the necessary tools to mitigate interruptions and resume operations as quickly as possible, greatly facilitating decision-making and taking action when there is scant time and stress levels are elevated. CHALLENGE Using the information in the risk assessment to create effective recovery strategies for critical processes in all departments, incorporating these strategies into a comprehensive business continuity plan, and encouraging ownership of the plan across the organization, and ultimately, achieving the highest resiliency possible with limited resources. SOLUTION Create the recovery strategies department-by-department, process-by-process. This allows each department to focus on strategies specifically relevant to their critical processes without extraneous information from other departments. Do the same for your business continuity plan, writing smaller plans by department. Also, use a template to document your recovery strategies to ensure process consistency across the organization. Finally, have plans reviewed and approved by department heads and distributed to all employees to encourage ownership and pride in the plan. RESULT Each department in the organization will have a comprehensive action plan for business continuity outlining the steps to take to recover vital processes in various emergency scenarios. All employees will have their own copy of the plan, ready to use immediately when a disruption occurs. Employees will take ownership of the organizations business continuity effort and this effort will be further ingrained in the organizations corporate culture. CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURING COMPANY AN OVERVIEW The Chocolate Company since inception in 1990 has been largely responsible for satisfying the countrys demand for Chocolates and Sugar Confectionery. Situated at Rusayl Industrial Estates in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, the plant has various lines producing a wide range of confectionery like Éclairs, Toffees, Fudges, Caramels, Hard Boiled Candy and Enrobed Chocolates. These products are available in attractive packaging and premium Gift Boxes making them ideal for gifting as well as for own consumption. Most of the packaging in the Gift Pack segment has been carefully selected to ensure its enduring utility, thereby giving our valued customers an added benefit. The confectionery is produced by experienced personnel under stringent quality control and hygiene standards. State-of-the-art manufacturing facilities ensure products of international quality. The company in its relentless pursuit of quality obtained HACCP Certification in April, 2004. The Company, through its uncompromising stand on quality and competitive pricing, has successfully penetrated countries all over the Gulf, the African continent, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, USA and the UK. The principal business processes involved are Procurement of raw materials and consumables. Production and Quality control. Distribution and marketing. Inventory Management. Pricing and cost control. Feedback from consumers and redressal systems. Publicity and promotional activities. Recruitment and HR. Finance Administration. Corporate communications and public relations. Legal and secretarial matters. Investor relations. Maintenance of equipment and other assets. Capital expenditure for equipment and other purposes. IT systems and telecommunications. Transportation and Logistics. Today, manufacturing sector companies like chocolate manufacturing operates in increasingly complex, competitive and global markets. The ability to manage risks across geographies, products, assets, customer segments and functional departments is of paramount importance. The inability to manage these risks can cause irreparable damages. Chocolate company will always face the likelihood of being impacted by uncertain or adverse future events. These uncertainties will have an impact on a companys ability to generate capital and shareholders returns. The company Board expects that management will not only look at where the company may be exposed to risk, but also how these risks can be managed to influence favorable business outcomes. RISK AND RISK MANAGEMENT Risk Management Methodology followed by the chocolate company The risk management methodology at the chocolate company encompass the scope of risks to be managed, the process/systems and procedures to manage risk and the roles and responsibilities of individuals involved in risk management. The framework is comprehensive enough to capture all risks that the company is exposed to and have flexibility to accommodate any change in business activities. The chocolate companys effective risk management methodology includes Risk Policy framework. Identification of risks. Measurement and Impact Assessment. Management of the risks. Monitoring Reporting and Control. A. Risk Policy Framework The following fundamental principles should be considered by the company to develop and implement a proactive risk management program and help them to identify any potential areas of concern: Acceptance of a risk management framework: A formal risk management framework is needed at this company, to guide the integration of risk management into the companys day to day operations. Corporate governance and risk: At this company,corporate governance is the prime responsibility of the Board of Directors and the General Manager. It combines legal duties with responsibilities to improve and monitor the performance of the company. Establish the risk response strategy: Following the agreement on the risk assessment rankings in all functional departments, management action will need to be taken to reduce the risk levels where they have been deemed unacceptably high or alternatively remove constraints where they are preventing the business from pursuing opportunities. Assigning responsibility for risk management change process: It is important for the company to ensure that the daily operation of the business supports this strategy and that the staff understands the proposed changes. Re-sourcing: Risk management is the responsibility of all levels of management. Communication and training: Implementing a communication and training program is important to introduce the concept of risk management. Monitoring of risk management process: To ensure that risk responses gaps are filled and that the risk responses continue to operate effectively and remain appropriate in light of changing conditions. B. Identification of Various Risks of The Company While drafting this Risk management Policy, the primary risk exposures at the company X that are identified is provided below, which are inclusive but not exhaustive and it will be the responsibility of the Risk Management Committee to review these on a periodic basis. I. Market Risks It is the risk that the value of the company will be adversely affected by movements in market rates or prices, foreign exchange rates, national global fluctuations, credit spreads and/or commodity prices resulting in a loss to earnings and capital. The market risks identified at this chocolate company are as follows Government Policy risks Product Risks Environmental risks Volatility of export orders Price Competition in the local export market Currency fluctuation for export orders II. Operational Risks The operational risks identified at chocolate company are as follows Fire Allied Risks Machinery breakdown/ obsolescence Volatility of Raw material Packing material prices Quality/ Ageing risks of Raw material/ Packing material Delivery risk of Suppliers Loss of data information- IT security Manpower Availability risks Accidents Inventory carrying risk III. Reputation Risks These are risks arising from negative public opinion resulting from failures of process, strategy or corporate governance. The Reputation risks identified at this company are as follows Contamination-hygiene Product expiry/Shelf life Corporate Governance IV. Credit Risks Non receipt of receivables or delay in receipts is the credit risks attributable to the company. These may be identified as Payment risk from customers-local Payment risk from Customers- export Security from customers Advance to Suppliers V. Liquidity Risks The possibility is that the company will be unable to fund present and future financial obligations. These may be identified as Cash flow working capital management CAPEX decisions Cost overruns VI. Strategic Risks Risk those are arising from adverse business decisions or the improper implementation of such decisions. These may be identified as follows Business Plan forecasts. Attrition of key people. C. Risk Prioritizing and Impact Assessment Risk Prioritizing To adequately capture institutions risk exposure, risk measurement should represent aggregate exposure of the company to both risk type and business line and encompass short run as well as long run impact on it. To the maximum possible extent the company should establish systems / models that quantify their risk profile. However, in some risk categories, quantification is quite difficult and complex. Wherever it is not possible to quantify risks, qualitative measures should be adopted to capture those risks. The company should utilize a Risk Matrix to evaluate the level of risks which are identified in the Company. The Risk Matrix is formed by assessing the probability of the risk, the severity of the risk, and the quality of control that exists specific to those risks. Scoring is attributed for each the three parameters namely probability, severity and Internal control. The aggregate score is computed and ranking of the risks is ascertained. The probability of the impact occurring is arranged ranging from low to high. Scores assigned as 4 for High, 2 for medium and 1 for low. Severity of the Risk is assessed as High, Medium and low based on the experience and normal prudence. Scores assigned as 4 for High, 2 for medium and 1 for low. Quality of Internal control is also similarly categorized as high, medium and low. The scores assigned in the reverse order since the better the existing control the lower is the impact and vice-versa. So scores here can be assigned as 4 for Low, 2 for Medium and 1 for High. Aggregate Score was thereafter computed after adding the individual scores for each parameter. Companys Risk Matrix using the above method is shown in Annexure I ii. Impact Assessment The company being a medium scale manufacturing unit should focus on the manageable risks like Operational risks, Liquidity risks and Strategic risks. Market risks, Credit risks and Reputation risks though an integral part of risk management may not need detailed impact assessment at this stage unless the probability of such factors seem to be out of proportions in time to come. Impact assessment of the Operational risks, liquidity risks and strategic risks at the company termed herein as Manageable risks, can be assessed as follows Risk associated with any event has two components, loss severity and loss probability. Loss, in itself consists of expected and unexpected components. The unexpected loss component could be severe or catastrophic. Usually, expected losses are adjusted for in pricing or in reserve allocation. Unexpected losses require capital allocation. Given that operational risk, liquidity and strategic risk events are most often subject to internal control, any manageable risk system that passively measures these risks would clearly be inadequate. Once risk factors are identified as likely causes of the Risk losses, mitigating steps need to be initiated. While quantification would indicate risk magnitude and capital charges, it may not by itself suggest mitigating steps. This makes it advisable for the company to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to manageable Risk. The broad steps involved here would be: determine the types of operational losses that could occur identify the causal risk factors estimate the size and likelihood of losses Mitigate associated risks Qualitative Approaches Qualitative approaches involve Audits, Self-assessments Expert / collective judgment. Critical Self-Assessment: (CSA): This is one of the common qualitative bottom-up approaches where line managers of the company can critically analyze their business processes given specific scenarios to identify potential risks and gaps in their risk management processes. Tools like questionnaires, checklists and workshops are used to help the managers analyze the risk profile of their business units. The key idea behind this method is that businesses managers of this company are in the best position identify and manage the Operational Risks pertaining to their business units. Risk Audit Employing the services of external (or internal) auditors to review the business processes of a business unit is another approach. This process not only helps identify risks but also helps put in place the oversight organization for the manageable risks. Key Risk Indicators (KRI) Using the KRI approach the company can blend the qualitative and quantitative aspects of Operational Risk management. Factors that have predictive value and that can be easily measured with minimum time lag can serve as risk indicators. Some risk indicators inherently carry risk related information, for instance, indicators like sales volumes, order size, etc. Others are indirect indicators, for instance, production budgets, production lifecycle, performance appraisal etc. Key indicators are identified from several potential factors and are tracked over time. The predictive capabilities of the indicators are tested through regression analysis on historical loss data and indicator measurements. Based on such analysis, the set of indicators of the company being tracked can be modified suitably. Over time, as the model gets refined, the set of indicators can provide early warning signals for operational losses. D. Management of the risks Managing Market Risks: The chocolate company may be exposed to Market Risk in variety of ways as described earlier such as environmental issues, export orders, future contracts, Price competition, customer profile and marine transportation risks. Besides, market risk may also arise from activities categorized as off-balance sheet item. Government Policy Risks: Change in government policies, tax rates, introduction of new tax regimes, reduction or abolition of incentives etc carry risk to any entity in terms of its costing and pricing. In the short and medium term the company does not perceive any major risk in this segment, however the management has to be aware of any forthcoming changes that the government might envisage. Should there be any drastic change in Government policies that would affect its profitability especially in case of exports; the Company has contingency plans for producing at an alternative location outside Oman. Product Risks: Since the product is that of food item the company has to be 100% careful to maintain the product quality, product specification, pack sizes, contents in each pack etc. Producing lesser or poor quality products and not as per specification is a risk which company X needs to constantly be aware off. To mitigate such risks the company X should develop a well defined production policy develop a well defined Quality control and checks policy develop a well defined storage and Distribution policy Environmental risks: The company does not use and generate hazardous substances in its manufacturing operations. Hence the chances that the company may in future are subject to liabilities relating to the investigation and clean-up of contaminated areas is negligible. However the company should have a laid down policy of disposal of waste at pre-designed disposal points mainly for the rejected, expired and damaged items of raw materials, finished products and packing materials. Volatility of export orders: Some customers and sectors served by the company are directly dependent on general economic development, competition and frequent fluctuations in demand for their products. The prices for these products are, in part, dependent on the prevailing relationship between supply and demand. Possible price fluctuations are therefore apt to have a direct influence on each customers working capital management decisions, with subsequent influence on the customers Order Intake. This may lead to volatility in the development of Order Intake of the company. The company has a policy of geographically diversifying its customer base, as also expanding the customer base in each export market, so that transfer to less volatile locations can be made in short notice. Price Competition in the local export market: The Company does business in very competitive local and export markets. In spite of the competition the company has a 70% market share in the local market and its export business is expanding.Both these local and export markets in which it competes are highly fragmented, with a few large, international manufacturers competing against each other and against a high number of smaller, local companies. Sometimes new entrants or existing players suddenly lower their prices to get rid of the companys products. This has, in some cases, adversely impacted sales margins realized by certain of companys products. To mitigate this risk the company has taken the following steps: Maintaining complete information of its Competitors with respect to their latest technological developments, market strategies, new investments, management changes etc. Has developed emergency alternative plans to introduce different product ranges with minimal structural changes with similar or lower prices. Currency fluctuation for export orders:The Company exports its products to a large number of countries like Canada, USA, Australia, African countries, and the Middle East. Almost all export orders of the company are fixed in US dollars. Since Omani Rail is pegged with US Dollars, the fluctuation of the currencies in would have negligible impact on the export realizations at company X. Company X has a policy of booking export orders in terms of US dollars to avoid the risk of currency fluctuations. Managing Operational Risks: Being a chocolate manufacturing company, it deals with the retail market. The most important risks are those of Operational risks. Operational risk is associated with human error, system failures and inadequate procedures and controls. It is the risk of loss arising from the potential that inadequate information system; technology failures, breaches in internal controls, fraud, unforeseen catastrophes, or other operational problems may result in unexpected losses or reputation problems. Fire Allied risks: These are general risks applicable to almost all establishments. This includes Material damage to the companys property due to Fire lightning, Earthquake, Third party impact, Accidental damage, explosion, riot strike, storm tempest, burst pipes, Own Vehicle impact, malicious damage, and theft. The company should take necessary steps in mitigating such risks by taking â€Å"Property All Risks Insurance Policy† â€Å"Loss of profit insurance cover† Machinery breakdown/ obsolescence: This risk identified is a major risk element as the company has been established two decades earlier by using imported refurbished Plant and machinery. Though most of the machinery is in running condition as of now the chances of spare part obsolescence is quite high in a majority of such machines. The physical status and the possible mitigation for major machinery can be shown in ANNEXTURE II Volatility of Raw Material/ Packing Material prices: The Company faces a medium level risk in its Raw material Packing material prices. The main raw materials at are Sugar, Glucose, Milk Powder, vegetable fat, coconut, coco whey powders. The packing material required is Wrappers, Bags, Gift boxes, Gift Tins and cartoons. Other than a few packing materials almost all of the raw materials and packing materials are imported as shown below Quality risk Raw material Packing material: This is a medium sized risk and the company should take reasonable care to mitigate such risks. Since the majority of the raw materials and packing materials are imported by the company, the purchase committee should implementing a stringent policy of Should have a multiple suppliers from the same country or region. Should have proper Quality checks for each Consignment while receiving delivery. Should have a stringent penalty clause on variation of specifications in the agreements with suppliers. Delivery risk of Suppliers: This is major risk element at the company because of the fact that in most cases purchases are imported and made through Letter of Credits. Non Delivery or delayed delivery in such purchases may affect the performance of the company. The company is implementing proper penalty clauses in the purchase agreement for delayed and/ or non-delivery of the ordered items. Transporting risks: In case of local sales, the company transports the products mostly through its own personnel. The company therefore, takes a general Transit Insurance policy covering accidents and theft. Inventory carrying risk: Inventory Carrying risks are of three types: Storage risk Overstocking under stocking risk Expiry risk Storage risk The storage policies currently are The company can keeps the entire inventory in closed warehouses. Over-stocking Under-stocking: The company can maintain a good optimized production planning system in correlation with its sales plan so that it can have a optimum stocking policy. The current production plan is quite satisfactory and hence the risk is low to medium. But the company is mostly dependent on Export market, the volatility of export orders may lead to overstocking or under-stocking of inventory. Expiry risks: This risk is low to medium. Expiry risks of inventory can be mitigated by proper planning of Sales, Purchase, Production and Distribution. The Storekeeper needs to maintain up-to-date records. A system is being implemented to provide on-line information about the stock position i.e. the quantity in stock, Re-order period, Ordering level and the Expiry dates of each of the Raw material, packing material and finished stocks to the Sales, Production and Purchase department so that immediate action can be taken by the respective departments. Manpower Availability risks: There is a shortage of skilled manpower in Oman. This is however met with the expatriate staff employed mainly from the sub-continent. The company therefore faces a medium risk in terms of availability of skilled manpower. The company can met unskilled manpower availability with the local Omani population and also from expatriate staff. The gap of skilled labor availability is likely to increase and therefore the costs also increase. To mitigate such risks, the company can develop long term strategy to invest in higher capacity production machines so that the requirement of manpower is kept low. Accidents: The Company can face a chance of accidents at the factory, however the accident risks at the company is low, as it does not deal with hazardous material and the production processes are not complex. However the company may face risks from mechanical or electrical installations which cant be entirely ruled out. So the company needs to take the following steps: By providing ELCB (Electric Leakage Circuit Breakers) in all electrical circuits and ACBs for the main transformers By providing Hot masks to the manpower Having a good machinery breakdown policy Constant monitoring of the gas line leakages The company needs have a Manpower Accidents and Injury Policy to cover the possibility of injury or death of manpower within the factory premises. Managing Reputation Risks Reputation of the company may also get hamper in various situations some of which are Contamination-hygiene: Being in the Food sector the company should take utmost precaution to avoid any sort of contamination in its products which will reach to the general mass. The company should take precaution for the quality of the raw material and packing material that is required for the entire production process and the stocking procedure. The company can follow the following policy: Stringent Quality control checks of Raw materials and packing materials Stringent Quality checks of the entire production process Maintaining Hygiene standards of the Government of Oman both in production and stocking. Sample testing at each stage Have a third Party damage policy insurance coverage owing to contamination Product expiry/Shelf life risks: This is again a very vital risk to the company as it is in the Food sector. The Government of Oman is very stringent in its laws to avoid expired products to be sold to the general public. So the company should take utmost care to avoid this risk by providing a stringent Distribution policy of its finished products Checks and controls before distribution of products. Monitoring distributed products on a daily basis Attributing Responsibility to a Senior Personnel for the management Corporate Governance: Corporate Governance Policies and Procedures manual are already in place at the company. Hence the risk associated with it is low. The management has to ensure proper compliance of the policies already undertaken to avoid any risk of reputation arising out of non-compliance of corporate governance. Managing Credit Risks: Credibility Risk of Customers: The Company should develop a credit policy based on regions, volume and credibility ranking of the parties. Export: The Company exports to a wide range of countries. The contacts of customers are mainly through visits and through mail. It is initially very difficult to assess the credibility of the customers abroad. The risk element is therefore medium and high. The company should mitigate this risk in the following manner: The company should back up the export orders by Letter of Credit from the parties. In case L/C mode is not practicable, the company can ask for advance payments or Security deposit, or post dated cheques which will cover the entire order taken prior to effecting delivery of the goods. The company currently did not enter into any distribution agreement with any export party and deals with parties on a case to case basis The Company can set up a network of distributors for handling exports sales as far as practicable. The company can also set up more than one distributor; in each region/country, so that price advantage can be achieved through minimal risk. The company should select distributors with proven track record, and the distributorship agreement should be through a internationally binding legal contract. Local: Local sales are affected by the company mainly to retail customers like supermarkets and hypermarkets, small shops and to two distributors in the interior. The company should take the following steps: Sale to all hypermarkets and supermarkets where the volumes are above a certain limit are, as far as possible, affected by means of an annual contract with all modalities and terms and conditions clearly laid out. For single shop outlets, the company may face the risk of shop closing down and non-payment or delayed payment. To counter this company should maintain small stocks with such shops and should have a regular but frequent collection system. In case of distributors the company should have legally binding distribution agreements. Limit setting: An important element of credit risk management is to establish exposure limits for each single customer and distributors. The compan

Creatures On My Mind :: essays research papers

â€Å"Creatures on My Mind† In the short story, â€Å"Creatures on My Mind,† by Ursula Le Guin, there were many different symbols throughout the story. The author talks about a beetle, a sparrow, and a gull to get the reader to understand what she is trying to say.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The character first starts out talking about a experience she had while sitting on her porch. While sitting their she recognized a beetle lying on it’s back twitching and suffering. She thought about ending the beetles life but couldn’t put herself through it. I think the that the beetle represents how human interaction should be looked at. Human interaction should be looked at what’s on the inside not what’s on the surface, and to take feelings into consideration. When the character doesn’t end the life of the beetle he reveals that she respects all living things, even things she can’t stand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second experience that the character stumbles upon is a sparrow trapped in a cage. The character finds someone with a key to open the cage and successfully lets the sparrow go. This experience shows us that we will go out of our way to help a helpless, hurting creature, but the way we go about doing it isn’t always the right way. We can relate this experience to how we help the homeless. The way I can relate the sparrow to the homeless is we help the homeless like the sparrow, but we aren’t always happy when we do it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third and last experience that is talked about in the story is how the character finds a gull with a broken along side the water. All the character thinks about is if a dog come by and saw the gull sitting there helpless with a broken wing.

Compare and Contrast the Revolutions

During the frame of the Romantic Period, there were many revolutions through 1798-1832. First the Americans, then the French, and ending with the English. All three of these historical events had a huge effect on one another by one ending, and the next one beginning. Follow the differences between the three. Starting off with the American Revolution (1776-1783). The British started to build up their empire. Next the started with the revolt of the thirteen American colonies. In the American war of Independence, Britain won, leaving the country with huge war debts and with out the American Revenue (keeps the British wealthy). Next, the French Revolution and the era of Napoleon (1798-1815). July 1798, a violent political upheavals and radical change in the French National government took into play. This happened because, an angry crowd of Frenchmen stormed the Bastille, in able to protect the oppressive policies of the French monarchy. British liberals looked to revolutionary France for new models of political freedom, but how British points its fingers to the French to justify their repressive policies. Finally, the Industrial Revolution in England. This was in the time frame that they started inventions of machines to do work at home. In the 19th century England began moving from a traditional rural, agricultural society to a more modern, urban, and industrialized states. Abundant of landless people became to have no choice but to move to crowded cities, and work in squalid, dangerous factories for low pay. The a lot in common in some certain categories. They had times where there was horrible labor jobs for low pay. Next, they divided the wealth where each job you were paid less. As you worked during the revolution it was a bad environment because of all the combat that was going on. Last it would end even worst because the country would lose a lot of money and have meager economic problems. They also had various differences on many levels. The way they had a revolutions were totally different situations. Also their time fames were divided it didn’t happen all at once. It wasn’t the same countries over and over. Different people were involved and it took place at multiple places.

Certificado para demostrar ciudadanía estadounidense

Certificado para demostrar ciudadanà ­a estadounidense El certificado de ciudadanà ­a estadounidense es un documento emitido por el gobierno de Estados Unidos que sirve para acreditar que una persona tiene la nacionalidad estadounidense. Su nombre en inglà ©s es Certificate of Citizenship. Certificado de ciudadanà ­a estadounidense El certificado de ciudadanà ­a es un documento que se puede utilizar para acreditar la nacionalidad de EE.UU. en los siguientes casos:Estadounidenses nacidos en otro paà ­s que adquieren la nacionalidad a travà ©s de padre/madre en momento de nacimientoNià ±os extranjeros adoptados por estadounidensesMenores de 18 aà ±os nacidos fuera de EE.UU. que se convierten en ciudadanos de forma derivada cuando uno de los padres se naturaliza y se cumplen todos los requisitos.Casos especiales para muchachos menores de 18 aà ±os a fecha de 27 de febrero de 2001 y se encontraban en EE.UU. como residentes permanentes.En todos los dems casos no incluidos en los tres anteriores los ciudadanos estadounidenses pueden acreditar su condicià ³n por medio de otros documentos.  ¿Quià ©nes pueden solicitar el Certificado de ciudadanà ­a? Pueden solicitar este certificacià ³n las personas que recaen en una de las categorà ­as siguientes: En primer lugar, las personas que nacen en otro paà ­s y son ciudadanos americanos a travà ©s de padre o madre desde el momento de su nacimiento. Cabe destacar que la ley actual contempla requisitos diferentes si el progenitor americano es el padre o la madre o si son solteros o casados. La ley actual aplica a las personas nacidas despuà ©s del 17 de noviembre de 1986. Para las nacidas con anterioridad a esa fecha debern comprobar la ley que se aplicaba en el momento de su nacimiento. En segundo lugar, los nacidos fuera de Estados Unidos y que adquieren la ciudadanà ­a de forma derivada por sus padres en algà ºn momento despuà ©s de su nacimiento y antes de cumplir los 18 aà ±os de edad. Hay que tener en cuenta que si el que se  naturaliza es el padre,  los hijos han de ser legà ­timos o ser legitimados antes de que los menores cumplan los 16 aà ±os y adems tienen que vivir con el padre que los legitima. Adems, es requisito imprescindible que los menores tengan su propia tarjeta de residencia permanente y residan habitualmente en EE.UU. con el padre o la madre que se naturaliza. En otras palabras, si el menor de 18 aà ±os reside fuera de los EE.UU. o, residiendo en el paà ­s, no tiene su propia green card, no adquiere de forma automtica la nacionalidad estadounidense cuando su padre o madre se naturaliza. Tampoco la adquiere si no convive con el progenitor que se naturaliza. En tercer lugar, los  adoptados por un ciudadano estadounidense. Los nacidos fuera de Estados Unidos que son adoptados por un ciudadano  y que entran al paà ­s como un IR-3 adquieren automticamente la ciudadanà ­a. En el caso de que la adopcià ³n no fuera final, deber esperar a que à ©sta se produzca. Estas personas tambià ©n pueden acreditar su nueva nacionalidad con este certificado. Y en cuarto lugar, los casos especiales de los extranjeros que eran menores de 18 aà ±os antes del 27 de febrero de 2001 y que vivà ­an en Estados Unidos como residentes permanentes legales pueden tambià ©n solicitar un certificado de ciudadanà ­a si: Antes de esa fecha ambos padres se naturalizarono en el caso de viudedad lo hizo el padre sobrevivienteo en los casos de separacià ³n o divorcio o semejantes solo uno de los padres tenà ­a la guardia y custodia sobre el menor y à ©ste es el progenitor que se naturalizà ³. Los ciudadanos estadounidenses no incluidos en los casos anteriormente expuestos pueden acreditar su nacionalidad mediante otros documentos como, por ejemplo, el pasaporte de EE.UU., el certificado de nacimiento o el de naturalizacià ³n, el Reporte Consular de Nacimiento en el Exterior, etc. Trmites para pedir el certificado de ciudadanà ­a Como regla general y salvo la excepcià ³n que se especifica en este artà ­culo ms abajo, debe llenarse la  planilla a rellenar es la N-600  para solicitar el certificado de ciudadanà ­a. Es importante resaltar que se puede completar esta planilla en cualquier momento, incluso despuà ©s de cumplir los 18 aà ±os.   Lo importante es que los requisitos se cumplà ­an todos antes de cumplir esos aà ±os. Si se solicita el certificado de ciudadanà ­a para un menor, puede hacerlo a su nombre el padre o madre o guardin legal que tenga la guardia y custodia legal y fà ­sica del nià ±o o nià ±a. No pueden rellenar la planilla N-600 las personas que se encuentren en una de las siguientes situaciones: los hijastros de ciudadanos americanos, para los que sà ­ se puede solicitar una tarjeta de residencia.Tampoco pueden solicitar este certificado los hijos no reconocidos como legà ­timos por su padre ciudadano antes de cumplir los 16 aà ±os de edad.  Ni las personas que han llenado previamente este formulario y el USCIS ya se ha pronunciado. Asimismo tener en cuenta que en el caso de hijos de ciudadanos que residen habitualmente fuera de los Estados Unidos el formulario a llenar es el N-600K. Adems,tanto si corresponde el N-600 como el N-600K  debe incluirse una serie de documentacià ³n para acreditar la ciudadanà ­a y la causa por la que se adquirià ³. Verificar el listado de todos la papelerà ­a que es necesaria y prestar atencià ³n ya que los requisitos varà ­an segà ºn la causa por la que se alega que se es ciudadano. El arancel a pagar es de $1.170 y es gratis para miembro en activo o veteranos del Ejà ©rcito. Se puede pagar mediante money order o cheque pagadero al U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Nunca utilizar abreviaciones y se deben observar todas las reglas necesarias para completar las planillas de inmigracià ³n. Por à ºltimo, el formulario firmado y la documentacià ³n adjunta debe enviarse por correo ordinario a: USCISP.O.Box 20100Phoenix, AZ 85036 Sin embargo, si se utiliza el servicio de correo exprà ©s, la direccià ³n es la siguiente: USCISAttn: Form N-6001820 E. Skyharbor Circle SSuite 100Phoenix, AZ 85034 En la actualidad es posible llenar este formulario online en la pgina oficial de USCIS. Quà © hacer si el certificado de ciudadanà ­a se extravà ­a, se daà ±a o es robado En estos casos se puede solicitar uno de reemplazo. Para ello completar el formulario N-565 y enviarlo al USCIS con la documentacià ³n de apoyo y el pago de la cuota correspondiente. Tips sobre la ciudadanà ­a estadounidense La ciudadanà ­a americana brinda, sin duda, excelentes ventajas e incluso derechos ms importantes que ser simplemente residente permanente. Pero no olvidar que tambià ©n conlleva obligaciones, como por ejemplo el Servicio Selectivo para el caso de varones jà ³venes.   Por à ºltimo, aunque Estados Unidos admite las situaciones de doble nacionalidad, informarse sobre las causas que pueden dar lugar a que se pierda la ciudadanà ­a o que à ©sta pueda ser revocada. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.

Free Essays on Kent State

After a long period of fighting a defensive war in Vietnam, on April 29, 1970, President Richard Nixon launched a full scale attack in Cambodia, which greatly accelerated America's involvement in this conflict. The reaction from the American college student population was one that led into great controversy and heated debates. "Nixon said, ‘not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for ending the war in Vietnam, and winning the just peace we all desire" (May 4, 2).When Nixon announced his decision on the following day, many people were upset, and thousands of people protested. The end result of one particular protest was bloody, and a perfect example of what terrible shape our country was in during that period of time. Thoughtless mistakes such as the ones made on that day would have a snowball affect that lead into problems for all persons involved. On May 3, 1970, students of Kent State University rallied to protest Nixon's announcement. There was violent protesting all through the night. Windows were busted, cars were destroyed, and the ROTC building was burned to the ground(The Ethical Spectacle 1). When the firemen arrived, their hoses were taken by students and used against them. At that point, Governor James Rhodes called for the National Guard to come in and protect the campus( 1). "Rhodes, running on a ‘law and order' platform, attempted to use this opportunity to garner votes in the primary election, which was only two days away"(May 4, 7). The following day Kent State University was under the protection of the Ohio National Guard. Around noon on that day, students formed in protest. They were told to disperse, but refused. The first action of the National Guard was to release tear-gas grenades upon the masses of students. These grenades were marginally successful, and only caused a temporary retreat. The st udents then responded by throwing concrete rocks( Spectacle 1 ). Those wer... Free Essays on Kent State Free Essays on Kent State After a long period of fighting a defensive war in Vietnam, on April 29, 1970, President Richard Nixon launched a full scale attack in Cambodia, which greatly accelerated America's involvement in this conflict. The reaction from the American college student population was one that led into great controversy and heated debates. "Nixon said, ‘not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for ending the war in Vietnam, and winning the just peace we all desire" (May 4, 2).When Nixon announced his decision on the following day, many people were upset, and thousands of people protested. The end result of one particular protest was bloody, and a perfect example of what terrible shape our country was in during that period of time. Thoughtless mistakes such as the ones made on that day would have a snowball affect that lead into problems for all persons involved. On May 3, 1970, students of Kent State University rallied to protest Nixon's announcement. There was violent protesting all through the night. Windows were busted, cars were destroyed, and the ROTC building was burned to the ground(The Ethical Spectacle 1). When the firemen arrived, their hoses were taken by students and used against them. At that point, Governor James Rhodes called for the National Guard to come in and protect the campus( 1). "Rhodes, running on a ‘law and order' platform, attempted to use this opportunity to garner votes in the primary election, which was only two days away"(May 4, 7). The following day Kent State University was under the protection of the Ohio National Guard. Around noon on that day, students formed in protest. They were told to disperse, but refused. The first action of the National Guard was to release tear-gas grenades upon the masses of students. These grenades were marginally successful, and only caused a temporary retreat. The st udents then responded by throwing concrete rocks( Spectacle 1 ). Those wer...

Write a review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write a review - Essay Example At the same time, Titanic struck an iceberg in the ocean. Then, Rose’s fiancà © Cal Hockley discovered this romance and accuses Jack of theft of his gift to Rose. In condition of panic because of ship’s sinking, Rose and Jack were re-united and tried to survive together. But, in the cold Atlantic Ocean Jack sacrificed himself in order to save Rose. At the end, Rose is an old woman throwing Cal’s gift back to the ocean. So, this movie can be taken as a complex story that touches multiple sides of human life in genre of Romantic Drama. In this sophisticated context, in a given essay the play of main actors, plot twists and impressive ending are taken as criteria in evaluating this movie as one of the best among all Romantic Dramas. To start with, the main characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are involved in the appealing love-story that emerged for the first time during the cruise on the ship titled Titanic. Actually, the relation between the couple develop in such a passionate and emotional way that it is impossible not to believe them. In addition, the fact that he is a poor risky worker trying to gain attention from a wealthy lady is also important in making their love even more sensual. Thus, the tandem created by DiCaprio and Winslet is really loved by public even nowadays. Moreover, they still are one of the best couples on the screen. In this context, the way these two actors presented the story between Jack and Rose assisted their future careers in Hollywood. Therefore, the play of main actors is on the highest level in Titanic. Furthermore, plot in the movie is highly interesting and full of unexpected difficulties caused by water and people. On the one hand, after liner had crashed into an iceberg everyone left almost with no chance to survive. On another hand, numerous deaths caused by Titanic were driven by human factor. In this context, an additional character Cal who wanted to marry Rose is one of such people.

Corporate risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Corporate risk management - Essay Example It also aims at keeping exposure to an acceptable level in a cost-effective way. As the nature of risk is highly varying in nature depending upon the context and corporate environment, the case study of any important disaster and the risk management strategies followed before the happening of such incident may be of high relevance. This will certainly through a light on best alternate risk management measures which would have minimized the exposure to the risk. Keeping these points in view, Chernobyl disaster which devastated several millions of human lives has been selected for the case study. Attempt has been made to find out the causes and consequences of disaster, risk management measures taken and lessons learnt from this incident. One of the major objectives of the study is to remember the tragedy of Chernobyl and to make risk management plan in order to improve security of all nuclear power plants all over the world and this horror and pain are not to be repeated. The biggest disaster experienced in nuclear power plant situated in Chernobyl on 25th April, 1986 is named as Chernobyl disaster. It happened due to ill made technology and resulted in killing of several thousands of people. The Chernobyl power station is located near the Belarus-Ukraine border and four kilometres away from the town of Pripyat, which was built especially for the power station employees. At the time of the accident, 45 000 people were housed there. The accident took place in reactor no. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power during a test. The operating staff wanted to test whether the turbines could produce sufficient energy to keep the coolant pumps running in the event of a loss of power until the emergency diesel generator was activated. The safety systems were intentionally switched off to prevent the test run of the reactor being interrupted. For conducting the test, the reactor had to be powered down to