Economics Review Essay

1. Portray a portion of the exchange offs looked by every one of the accompanying: 1. a family concluding whether to purchase another vehicle 2. an individual from Congress choosing the amount to spend on national parks 3. an organization president concluding whether to open another processing plant 4. an educator choosing the amount to plan for class 5. an ongoing college alumni concluding whether to go to graduate school 2. You are attempting to conclude whether to get away. The greater part of the expenses of the get-away (airfare, lodging, and renounced compensation) are estimated in dollars, yet the advantages of the get-away are mental. How might you contrast the advantages with the expenses? 3. You were intending to spend Saturday working at your low maintenance work, however a companion requests that you go skiing. What is the genuine expense of going skiing? Presently assume you had been intending to go through the day learning at the library. What is the expense of going skiing for this situation? Clarify. 4. You win $100 in a ball pool. You have a decision between going through the cash now or taking care of it for a year in a financial balance that pays 5 percent premium. What is the open door cost of spending the $100 now? 5. The organization that you oversee has put $5 million in building up another item, yet the improvement isn't exactly wrapped up. At an ongoing gathering, your sales reps report that the presentation of contending items has decreased the normal deals of your new item to $3 million. In the event that it would cost $1 million to complete turn of events and make the item, would it be a good idea for you to feel free to do as such? What is the most that you should pay to finish advancement? 6. The Social Security framework gives pay to individuals over age 65. On the off chance that a beneficiary of Social Security chooses to work and acquire some pay, the sum the person in question gets in Social Security benefits is commonly diminish 6. How does the arrangement of Social Security influence people’s motivating force to spare while working? 7. How does the decrease in benefits related with higher income influence people’s motivation to work past age 65? 7. A 1996 bill chan ging the bureaucratic government’s antipoverty programs constrained numerous government assistance beneficiaries to just two years of advantages. 8. How does this change influence the motivating forces for working? 9. By what means may this change speak to an exchange off among fairness and productivity? 8. Your flat mate is a superior cook than you are, yet you can clean more rapidly than your flat mate can. On the off chance that your flat mate did all the cooking and you did all the cleaning, would your errands take you pretty much time than if you partitioned each assignment equitably? Give a comparative case of how specialization and exchange can make two nations both happier. 9. Clarify whether every one of the accompanying government exercises is inspired by a worry about correspondence or a worry about effectiveness. On account of proficiency, talk about the sort of market disappointment include 10. managing digital TV costs 11. furnishing some needy individuals with vouchers that can be utilized to purchase food 12. denying smoking in broad daylight places 13. separating Standard Oil (which once possessed 90 percent of all petroleum processing plants) into a few littler organizations 14. forcing higher individual personal duty rates on individuals with higher wages 15. organizing laws against driving while inebriated 10. Talk about every one of the accompanying articulations from the points of view of correspondence and productivity. 16. â€Å"Everyone in the public arena ought to be ensured the best medicinal services possible.† 17. â€Å"When laborers are laid off, they ought to have the option to gather joblessness benefits until they locate another job.† 11. In what ways is your way of life not the same as that of your folks or grandparents when they were your age? Why have these progressions happened? 12. Assume Americans choose to spare a greater amount of their salaries. In the even t that banks loan this additional sparing to organizations, which utilize the assets to manufacture new processing plants, by what method may this lead to quicker development in efficiency? Who do you guess profits by the higher profitability? Is society getting a free lunch? 13. In 2010, President Barack Obama and Congress authorized a medicinal services change bill in the United States. Two objectives of the bill were to give more Americans medical coverage (by means of sponsorships for lower-pay family units financed by charges on higher-pay families) and to lessen the expense of human services (by means of different changes in how medicinal services is given). 18. How do these objectives identify with equity and productivity? 19. By what means may social insurance change increment profitability in the United States? 2 0. In what manner may medicinal services change decline profitability in the United States? 14. During the Revolutionary War, the American states couldn't raise enough duty income to completely finance the war exertion; to compensate for any shortfall, the provinces chose to print more cash. Printing cash to cover consumptions is now and then alluded to as a â€Å"inflation tax.† Who do you believe is being â€Å"taxed† when more cash is printed? Why? 15. Envision that you are a policymaker attempting to conclude whether to diminish the pace of swelling. To settle on an insightful choice, what might you have to think about expansion, joblessness, and the exchange off between them? 16. A policymaker is concluding how to back the development of another air terminal. He can either pay for it by expanding citizens’ charges or by printing more cash. What are a portion of the short-run and since quite a while ago run results of every choice? Section 2 1. Draw a roundabout stream outline. Distinguish the pieces of the model that compare to the progression of merchandise and enterprises and the progression of dollars for every one of the accompanying exercises. 1. Selena pays a vendor $1 for a quart of milk. 2. Stuart gains $4.50 every hour working at a fastfood eatery. 3. Shanna burns through $30 to get a hair style. 4. Sally gains $10,000 from her 10 percent responsibility for Industrial. 2. Envision a general public that produces military merchandise and buyer products, which we’ll call â€Å"guns† and â€Å"butter.† 5. Draw a creation prospects outskirts for firearms and margarine. Utilizing the idea of chance expense, clarify why it in all likelihood has a bowed-out shape. 6. Show a point that is unthinkable for the economy to accomplish. Show a point that is possible however wasteful. 7. Envision that the general public has two ideological groups, called the Hawks (who need a solid military) and the Doves (who need a littler military). Show a point on your creation prospects wilderness that the Hawks may pick and a point the Doves may pick. 8. Envision that a forceful neighboring nation decreases the size of its military. Accordingly, both the Hawks and the Doves decrease their ideal creation of weapons by a similar sum. Which gathering would get the greater â€Å"peace dividend,† estimated by the expansion in spread creation? Clarify. 3. The primary rule of financial matters examined in Chapter 1 is that individuals face exchange offs. Utilize a creation prospects outskirts to show society’s exchange off between two â€Å"goods†Ã¢â‚¬a clean condition and the amount of mechanical yield. What do you assume decides the shape and position of the wilderness? Show what befalls the boondocks if engineers build up another method of creating power that transmits less poisons. 4. An economy comprises of three specialists: Larry, Moe, and Curly. Every work ten hours per day and can deliver two administrations: cutting yards and washing vehicles. In 60 minutes, Larry can either cut one grass or wash one vehicle; Moe can either cut one garden or wash two vehicles; and Curly can either cut two yards or wash one vehicle. 9. Compute the amount of each assistance is delivered under the accompanying conditions, which we name A, B, C, and D: * †¢ All three invest all their energy cutting gardens. (A) * †¢ All three invest all their energy washing vehicles. (B) * †¢ All three invest a large portion of their energy in every action. (C) * †¢ Larry invests a large portion of his energy in every movement, while Moe just washes vehicles and Curly just cuts yards. (D) 10. Diagram the creation prospects boondocks for this economy. Utilizing your responses to section (a), recognize focuses A, B, C, and D on your chart. 11. Clarify why the creation prospects boondocks has the shape it does. 12. Are any of the allotments determined to some degree (a) wasteful? Clarify. 5. Order the accompanying points as identifying with microeconomics or macroeconomics. 13. a family’s choice about how much salary to spare 14. the impact of government guidelines on auto discharges 15. the effect of higher national saving money on financial development 16. a firm’s choice about what number of laborers to enlist 17. the connection between the swelling rate and changes in the amount of cash 6. Characterize every one of the accompanying articulations as positive or standardizing. Clarify. 18. Society faces a short-run exchange off among expansion and joblessness. 19. A decrease in the pace of cash development will diminish the pace of swelling. 20. The Federal Reserve ought to decrease the pace of cash development. 21. Society should require government assistance beneficiaries to search for employments. 22. Lower charge rates support more work and additionally sparing. 7. On the off chance that you were president, OK be increasingly keen on your monetary advisers’ positive perspectives or their regulating sees? Why?

Charles Dickens Essays - Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Charles Dickens Essays - Charles Dickens, David Copperfield Charles Dickens Something about Charles Dickens and his capacity to take his peruser to staggering spots with his innovative forces permits him the respect of being the most mainstream English writer of the nineteenth century. Dickens has excited his perusers for a long time with his practical tales about genuine individuals constrained into genuine circumstances. Charles Dickens has the capacity to recount to his accounts from individual encounters. He calibrated his capacity to tell his own story through the duration of another character or cast of characters. Conceived on the night of February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens was the second offspring of his guardians, John and Elizabeth Dickens.. Despite the fact that he was a single kid, Dickens was perceptive and well-intentioned . Thinking back on this time of his life, Dickens thought of it as the brilliant age (Carey 6). In the primary novel that he composed, The Pickwick Papers, Dickens attempts to bring back past occasions as he recollects that them with their beautiful nature. Gary Carey accepts that this novel shows the joy of honesty what's more, the energetic soul of the young during the hour of Dickens' energetic days (7). Surpassed by money related troubles, the Dickens family had to move into a ratty suburb of Camden Town. This move more likely than not indicated the family how great they had it back in Chatham. There Dickens was expelled from school and compelled to work debasing modest occupations with an end goal to enable his battling father to put food on the table. Dickens was given something to do in a darkening processing plant among many harsh and coldblooded representatives, most likely the most exceedingly terrible activity around. Soon after Dickens began working in the production line his father was pushed into prison for inability to pay his obligations, just to be discharged three months afterward. This timeframe influenced Dickens extraordinarily as he went into a time of misery. He felt relinquished and pulverized by this abhorrent exciting ride of life he was on. From this timeframe come huge numbers of the significant topics of his increasingly well known books. Maybe the generally mainstream of these books is David Copperfield. In this novel Dickens portrays a youthful man who experiences childhood in a fundamentally the same as route to that of his own (Allen 28). Dickens' compassion for the exploited, his interest with detainment facilities and cash, the craving to vindicate his saints' status as respectable men, and the possibility of London as a wonderful, vivacious, and rather compromising condition all mirror the encounters he had during his time all alone. On his own at twelve years old, Dickens learned numerous fundamental abilities which moreover created in him a driving desire and a limitless vitality that moved into each thing that he did (28). It would be a slip-up to consider Charles Dickens as an uneducated man since he had minimal conventional tutoring. Dickens did what everybody ought to do, gain from life. His whole composing vocation was a proceeding with procedure of improvement and experimentation. Numerous of his topics continue rehashing themselves all through his pieces and those subjects most unquestionably originate from his initial life. From his initial Pickwick Papers to his one of his last pieces The Mystery of Edwin Drood Dickens never stopped to build up his composing capacities what's more, ability, building up himself as the major and essential Victorian author (Bloom 189). The excursion from childhood into masculinity is an earth shattering one, and certainly something that lastingly affects one's individual. Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield portrays the excursion into masculinity by recounting to a story like his own life through the life of David Copperfield. There isn't one underlining topic in this novel there are many. The excursion is one that alongside David's is aching for what is lost previously and the mortification he feels from being a vagrant. Dickens has composed an astounding novel portraying the difficulties of growing up and the advantages of having a harsh youth. Through the harsh encounters that he had, Dickens had the option to think back on his initial life also, compose world-well known tales about them. Calvin Brown feel that these encounters too helped shape the man the Dickens became, as do all encounters in

Underage Drinking And The Stakeholders Facilitating It - 1375 Words

Underage Drinking And The Stakeholders Facilitating It (Term Paper Sample) Content: UNDERAGE DRINKINGEMMANUELNAIROBI, KENYA.INTRODUCTIONUnderage drinking is the illegal teenage consumption of alcohol. This issue has turned out to be the largest social issue. Many teenagers have taken drinking as a routine simply because they are not aware of the problems that may be associated with underage drinking. The significance of this topic is to create awareness on teenagers and other stakeholders including parents on the risks associated with underage drinking. Alcohol distorts a positive life and ruins it completely. Some of the risks associated with alcohol includes; In the United States, alcohol is the most abused drug among youths according to the Centre for Disease Control.The problem is taking to its roots, and rapidly growing to a serious and injurious level not only within the United States but also globally. Drinking has resulted to a number of issues which are disastrous to both the individual and society in particular. Statistics from Centre for D isease Control reveals that more than 4300 deaths annually occurs as a result of excessive alcohol consumption by youths (CDC, 2013). Drinking also has a great impact on road safety. Drinking while driving or drinking and driving accounts for a large percentage of fatal accidents. To a large extent the age of youths affected ranges from 12-20 years of age. Many youths takes drinking as a way of socializing and fun since its widely used in parties and many other related events. Some takes it as a way of rebelling from their strict parents and guardians.We therefore need to solve this problem of underage drinking so as to avoid perishing of our youths through deaths and also solving this problem will alleviate the pain parents and guardians are undergoing through rebel from their sons/daughters. If we ignore this issue, we will forbid the solution of other issues. For instance, if the issue remains unsolved, many deaths will be witnessed and a high immorality rate is likely to be expe rienced which will give our police officers and teachers hard time in dealing. Parents will also face a psychological trauma since high rebel levels will be experienced from their children and this will have a health effect on them and therefore doctors will have a hard time in researching a variety of appropriate ways to fix the problem.Underage drinking became a problem between 1970 and 1975 as a result of Vietnam war and the baby-boom period whereby almost whereby the adulthood age was lowered from 21 years to 18 years by almost every state. Lowering of the adult age was directly proportional to the drinking age and hence youths from as low as 18 years started consuming alcohol since law permitted them to do so. The reason behind age lowering, was purposely a way of obtaining more young men as manpower during the Vietnam war and therefore it was hard for one to convince the young youths of age 18 that they were still young and that they should not take alcohol and yet they took place in war.In 1984, drinking in United States was almost out of control, a woman by the name Candy Lightner who was the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving(MADD), publicized studies to curb the problem. This created the anti-youth, anti-alcohol legislation which grew more serious and the minimum legal drinking age act of 1984 was brought into existence. This law was a threat to the government and the drinking age was to be raised to 21 years within two years of its passing, and hence strict laws against drunk drivers was going to be set. Its however frustrating that since that period, The country had not experienced a drop in drinking age upto date since it has become federally regulated by the constitution. From this, we can easily predict that the law is not working, however we should try our best and bring back the drinking age to 21years. The stakeholders to be discussed in this topic includes; Police officers, parents, doctors, students, professors and teachers.BODYStake holders are involved in underage drinking either directly or indirectly. For instance students are directly involved in this issue unlike police officers, parents, doctors and teachers who may be involved both directly or indirectly. Teens/students for example may drink due to peer pressure and some external influences such as adolescence stage which may create some psychological imaginations arising from body feeling. This states tempts them and creates an assumption of feeling good when they are drunk. This however may ruin their careers in schools and institutions since the level of their concentrations drops and even they end up missing some important academic activities. This to a large extent affects their performance in schools and the end result is poor grades. Drinking in teens may pose a short term effects such as impaired judgement, nausea and slurred speech short term effect. Long term effects includes effects which does not express themselves at the onset of drinking, t hey take a good while for their expression to be noted. Youths view drinking as a something they do socially not considering the risks which will later accompany them.Parents also has a role to play in this, they serve as the role model to their children (teens in this case). If parents are drunk, there children are likely to emulate that behavior and they will live to know that drinking is just a normal issue.Therefore parents to a large extent affects their childrens behaviors. Professor Jose Irles of the department of Medicine at the university of Granada postulated that a genetic predisposition to alcohol is likely to occur, that is, continuous drinking from parents will create a sort of inheritance by the offspring. Parents are indirectly affected by their children behaviors in that, they are liable to any misconduct as a result of underage drinking and therefore many parents tends to turn against the underage drinking since they are most affected.Statistics in 2010 from the Ce ntre of Disease Control indicated that atleast 189,000 emergency rooms were occupied by teens of age 21 years and below as a result of minor and major injuries associated with alcoholism. Doctors have to struggle in coming up with ways of curbing the problems and ensuring that the youths conditions are regained mainly associated with the long term and short term effects. Doctors also advices the youths on the effects of alcohol after treatment and at times gives out necessary precautions to observe. They suffer long working hours so as to protect the lives of youths and hence they are to a larger extent against underage drinking.Teachers and professors plays a crucial role in guiding and counselling students, as well as revealing to them the effects of alcohol. In schools, drinking may lower the performance of students. It may also result to behavioral changes such as indulgence in sexual activities which may lead so STIs and other sexually related diseases. Teachers also plays a ro le in ensuring that students found drinking are punished and even sent out of schools.This creates a state of self awareness by students and gives them a room of self control. Sometimes its easy for a teacher to note a strange behavior in students, and when this is spotted, he/she is at the position of helping that student.Policer officers plays a major role in dealing with wreckless drivers as well as abnormal behaviors from youths which are likely to arise as a result of alcohol. They use breathalyzers to identify the level of alcohol concentration in the blood of the suspects. The police officers also gives out an arrest order incase youths or any other person breaks law. Street i...

Fix Common Runtime Errors in Java With Careful Debugging

Consider the following segment of Java code, stored in a file called JollyMessage.java: // A jolly message is written to the screen! class Jollymessage {   Ã‚  Ã‚  public static void main(String[] args) {   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  //Write the message to the terminal window   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  System.out.println(Ho Ho Ho!);   Ã‚  Ã‚  } } At program execution, this code will produce a runtime error message. In other words, a mistake has been made somewhere, but the error won’t be identified when the program is compiled, only when it is run. Debugging In the example above, notice that the class is called â€Å"Jollymessage† whereas the filename is called JollyMessage.java. Java is case sensitive. The compiler won’t complain because technically there is nothing wrong with the code. It will create a class file that matches the class name exactly (i.e., Jollymessage.class). When you run the program called JollyMessage, youll receive an error message because there is no file called JollyMessage.class. The error you receive when you run a program with the wrong name is: Exception in thread â€Å"main† java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: JollyMessage (wrong name: JollyMessage).. Common Runtime-Error Solutions If your program compiles successfully but fails at execution, review your code for common mistakes: Mismatched single and double quotesMissing quotes for stringsIncorrect comparison operators (e.g., not using double equal signs to indicate assignment)Referencing objects that dont exist, or dont exist using the capitalization supplied in the codeReferencing an object that has no properties Working within integrated development environments like Eclipse can help you avoid typo-style errors. To debug productionalized  Java programs, run your Web browsers debugger—you should see a hexadecimal error message that can assist in isolating the specific cause of the problem. In some situations, the problem may lie not in your code, but in your Java Virtual Machine. If the JVM is choking, it may kick out a runtime error despite the lack of a deficiency in the programs codebase. A browser debugger message will help isolate code-caused from JVM-caused errors.

The War Of The United States - 1489 Words

The armies of the United States of America varied greatly from the beginning of America s independence in 1775 to the end of the War of 1812 in 1815. Different presidents holding office during this period brought different political views towards managing the army. These views affected the size and capability of the army in war and peace, with varying effectiveness. Effective in this case refers to the ability of the army to perform tasks given to them by the government. Opinions differing from the actions performed by the government provide insight into alternative ideas for the military, which had varying degrees of viability. During the dawn of the United States of America, Congress led the nation in its affairs. The members†¦show more content†¦Congress could not supply the large army that Nationalists wanted; they could only keep 80 soldiers who were sent to guard West Point. With Indians and British outposts in the frontier, Congress created the 1st American Regiment: 700 militiamen that served in periods of two years. They proved to be very ineffective at managing the border and did not make surveyors feel safe in the frontier. Due to a lack of financial support from taxation, Congress also could not provide payment to soldiers released from duty. This angered many veterans. The ineptitude of Congress resulted in the Newburgh Conspiracy and the Pennsylvania mutiny of 1783, during which veterans demanded Congress pay them for their service. Congress could not call on the army to protect them and they could not pay the veterans, so they were forced to flee Philadelphia to escape a mob of angry veterans. The final push that resulted in Congress to create an efficient standing army was Shay s Rebellion, which lasted from 1786 to 1787. Farmers, heavily burdened by taxes and debts, were led by Daniel Shays, a former officer under George Washington, to raid an American armory at Springfield, Massachusetts. With American army stationed at West Point, the armory was guarded by a mere padlock. Congress was forced to rally a militia to end the riots.

Integrating Annotated Bibliography

Question: Discuss about the Integrating Annotated Bibliography. Answer: Introduction This article is elaborating about the utilization of Swarm robots in the field of rescue and searching operations. In addition to this, this article is the utilization of swarm robots is explained in this article by reviewing twelve articles about use of swarm robots in rescue operations. These reviews are providing an effective scenario to understand its utility. In addition to this, in one of part of this assignment the some descriptions about similarity report of this assignment is also elaborated. Ad Hoc Communication in Teams of Mobile Robots Using ZigBee Technology This article is written by four authors specialized in robotics and this article is elaborating about the Ad Hoc Communication in Teams of Mobile Robots Using ZigBee Technology (Fernandes et al., 2015). The mobile robots are being developed and manufactured in the institute of system robotics in order to utilize these robots in the domain of system and robotics. This journal is mainly explaining about the implementation process of hoc wireless functionalities within the robots in order use the robots in the field of rescue and investigation purposes. The authors are mainly focusing on the XBee original equipment Manufacturer Radio Frequency with the help of the standard Arduino commands within the field of rescue and searching operations. These functionalities introduce the feature that helps the users in identifying the protocols and other important characteristics that helps the robots in finding some creature or some things. The authors of this article are concentrating on the rec eived signal strength and other important features of the system that helps the user in getting the desired things to be found. Advanced swarm robots addressing innovative tasks such as assembly, search, rescue, mapping, communication, aerial and other original applications This article is written by one associate editor about the Advanced swarm robots addressing innovative tasks such as assembly, search, rescue, mapping, communication, aerial and other original applications (Bloss, 2014). The authors are focusing on the possible searches for using the robots rescuing the creatures or things within geographical domain of the robot. In addition to this, the purpose of the author is to focus on various worldwide projects that help to develop and apply innovative swarm type robots for the challenging applications. The author of this article is concentrating on the manufacturing of swarm robots that helps in searching the physical structure around the geographical domain of the system related to the robot. Practical implementations of these robots are very important to be considered in this article, not only the manufacturings of robots are elaborated in this article but also the uses of system are also being elaborated in this article. In comparison with o ther system architecture, the cost structures for these technological advancements are also elaborated in this article. Algorithm for Movement of Swarm Robots This article is focusing on the Algorithmic movement of the robots for utilizing the robot for search and rescue operations within contemporary system architecture of robotics. the authors has been stated in this article that higher level of operational excellence is achieved with the help of robots (Rakesh, 2012). The robots give effective and accurate outputs in comparison with the manual operations. This article is elaborating about the swarm intelligence principles that help the robots in collaborating with other autonomous or non- autonomous creature in the technical domains. This article is mainly focusing on the use of artificial intelligence for the use of swarm robots in finding things or any other physical obstacle. The use of swarm intelligence is helpful for finding the optimized path. A chain of multiple robots needs to be managed for with the help of common path identification. This paper is elaborating about the nest robot that uses proposed methods for searching any o bstacles. Faulty robot rescue by multi-robot cooperation This paper is elaborating about the multi agent behavior of the robots in the domain of immediate responses for the finding some obstacle or physical structure within the geographical domain considered in case of any robot (Eoh et al., 2013). In addition to this fact, the authors of this paper are elaborating about the sound signal that helps in identifying the faulty robots among a group of robots. In contrast with this fact, the authors of this paper is stated that the for the rescue mission of any faulty robot, the sound localization techniques should have to be first prepared and then the sound source is estimated, which is coming from the faulty robot. In addition to this, a faulty robot cannot be found with the help of a single robot in the geographical domain of any group of robot. This can only be possible with the help of a set of robots within their working domain. The interactive communication is one of the most effective elements that helps the robot in finding the faulty robot. The global positioning is taken into consideration in case of finding the faulty robot. Finding the optimal location and allocation of relay robots for building a rapid end-to-end wireless communication This article is elaborating about the searching of optimal positioning of swarm robots for making an optimal wireless communication network (Mina et al., 2016). The authors of this article are focusing on the fundamental principle of end-to-end wireless communication that is formed with the help of relay condition that helps to make interaction between the network domains. In addition to this, according to the author, the formulation of end to end communication problems identified for the consumers are identified and then the issues involved within this case is identified. According to the authors, the antenna and robots internal and operational functionalities are very important to be considered in this case of finding other physical obstacles in between the path of them. This journal is concentrating on the constraints that are involved into the propagation of radio signals as well as which are infeasible with respect to the location of the robots. The authors are elaborating about the optimization technique that helps the robots in conducting several simulations for finding the exact way of interactions between the robots. Integrating Arduino-Based Educational Mobile Robots in ROS This article is elaborating about the Integrating Arduino-Based Educational Mobile Robots in ROS (Araujo et al., 2015). In addition to this, the authors of this journal are elaborating about the complete integration process of educational mobile robotic platform build around an Arduino controller board. This Arduino board is capable of providing the support to the Robot Operating System in order to find the some obstacles in between the path of robot. The hardware abstraction and intuitive model is included in to the system architecture of the robot functionalities in order to grab the position changes of the system architecture. The authors mainly focused on the multi robot surveillance or swarm robotics. The robot is enabled with the help of several tools and data analysis capabilities for making it intractable. Merging the fields of swarm robotics and new media: Perceiving swarm robotics as new media This article is elaborating about the Merging the fields of swarm robotics and new media: Perceiving swarm robotics as new media (Ivanova et al., 2017). The authors of this journal are elaborating the evidences from the swarm robotics. These evidences are considered as the swarm robotics elements. In addition to this, the new proposal The Language of New Media is elaborated in this article. The article is mainly recognized for the in depth comparison of the characteristics between the two types of robots. The media installations are combined in this article in order to make an effective comparison. The comparison in between these two aspects includes the new way of inventing the swarm robotics within the system architecture of new media. PSO-Based Robot Path Planning for Multisurvivor Rescue in Limited Survival Time This article is elaborating about PSO-Based Robot Path Planning for Multisurvivor Rescue in Limited Survival Time. The swarm robotics is used in these segments for making the system for finding some particular obstacle (Geng et al., 2014). In addition to this, the authors of this article are concerned with the urgent and dangerous segments or circumstances. The robot is made with this concern that it will be capable of sensing the circumstance and that will be helpful in rescuing some particular thing or person with optimal way possible. The authors have elaborated in this article that at first the discrete optimization of path selection according to the destination of the robot is done. The obstacle in the path of robot is concerned with their high probability constraint. These constraints play a great role in finding the most easy path for the robot. Radial and Sigmoid Basis Function Neural Networks in Wireless Sensor Routing Topology Control in Underground Mine Rescue Operation Based on Particle Swarm Optimization This article is focusing on the sigmoid based functions that are incorporating creative and controlling topology for underground rescue operations significant for the wireless network sensing technology that specifies the root or path for the swarm robots (Ansong et al., 2013). The sigmoid functions are utilized for sensing the sequences of the obstacles are coming in front of the swarm robots. This aspect makes the robot more sensitive. The authors of this article is elaborating about the mathematical calculations based on sigmoid functions, radial functions that helps the robot in choosing their way of movement. Search and Rescue using Swarm Robots This article is elaborating about the rescue and searching operations involved within robot operations. In addition to this, the author of this article is concerned about the mobile robot applications in the domain of searching and rescuing obstacles (Rahmani, 2013). The author of this article is concerned about the semi-autonomous exploration of space as well as the underwater exploration. In addition to this, the authors have stated that mobile robots are also used for rescuing the people and things in natural disasters occurred. These are the most specific and important functional operation of mobile robots that highlights the use of robots. Training platform for rescue robot operation and pair operations of multi-robots This article is focusing on the Training platform for rescue robot operation and pair operations of multi-robots (Shimizua Takahashib, 2013). In addition to this, the significant research of the authors of the article has been highlighted two perspectives related to robotics; working of robots with the help of workers and multi robot operations. All of these aspects are important to the rescue and searching operations with respect to swarm robots. The platform based unifies system and robot simulations are main concerns for the robotics or robot operations. Rescue operations sometimes involve multiple robots at a time that should be managed with the help of signified approaches. Vision-Controlled Micro Flying Robots This article is focusing on the vision controlled micro flying robots. The author of this article is focusing on the concept of flying robots (Scaramuzza et al., 2014). These robots are used for various purposes for rescue operations and other functional requirements in searching finding operations. In comparison with other technical advancement in the robotics this type of evolution is not cost effective enough as there are various technologies that are supporting this evolution; all of these involves a huge amount of cost within the development of the system architecture. There are some bold and colored text is getting highlighted in the self check report. Most of these colored and bold texts are the journal name. Yes there are bold and colored texts in my plagiarism report that has more than three words those are copied from original source. Most of these are highlighted for the name of the journal name and some of them are in the body of the assignment. No there are no direct statement those took more than 10% of the essay except the journal names. There are no colored and bold texts in my assignment except the journal name. There are no short strings that are similar and showing my bad paraphrasing skills in the assignment, except the journal names. Yes I have synthesized all information from the original source and these are combined with my own comments within it. Conclusion This report is providing a detailed description about the rescue operations with the help of swarm robots. This aspect has been elaborated in this report by reviewing twelve articles. In addition to this, the similarity report is also taken into consideration in this report. In the task two some questions are answered in order to judge the similarity report. References Ansong, M., Yao, H., Huang4, J. (2013). Radial and Sigmoid Basis Function Neural Networks in Wireless Sensor Routing Topology Control in Underground Mine Rescue Operation Based on Particle Swarm Optimization. Araujo, A., Portugal, D., Couceiro, M., Rocha, R. (2015). Integrating Arduino-Based Educational Mobile Robots in ROS, 281-298. Bloss, R. (2014). Advanced swarm robots addressing innovative tasks such as assembly, search, rescue, mapping, communication, aerial and other original applications.Emerald,41(5), 408-412. Eoh, G., Choi, J., Lee, B. (2013). Faulty robot rescue by multi-robot cooperation,31, 1239-1249. Fernandes, A., Couceiro, M., Portugal, D., Santos, J., Rocha, R. (2015). Ad Hoc Communication in Teams of Mobile Robots Using ZigBee Technology. Geng, N., Gong, D., Zhang, Y. (2014). PSO-Based Robot Path Planning for Multisurvivor Rescue in Limited Survival Time.Mathematical Problems In Engineering. Ivanova, M., Couceiro, M., Martins, F. (2017). Merging the fields of swarm robotics and new media: Perceiving swarm robotics as new media. (2014.Maejo International Journal Of Science And Technology,8(2), 143-180. Mina, B., Kima, Y., Leea, S., Jungb, J., Matsona, E. (2016). Finding the optimal location and allocation of relay robots for building a rapid end-to-end wireless communication.Elsevier,39, 23-44. Rahmani, M. (2013). Search and Rescue using Swarm Robots. Rakesh, S. (2012). Algorithm for Movement of Swarm Robots.International Journal Of Computer Applications,46(2), 975-8887. Scaramuzza, D., Achtelik, M., Doitsidis, L., Fraundorfer, F., Kosmatopoulos, E., Martinelli, A. et al. (2014). Vision-Controlled Micro Flying Robots. Shimizua, M. Takahashib, T. (2013). Training platform for rescue robot operation and pair operations of multi-robots,27(5), 385-391.

The White Umbrella free essay sample

The narrator of The White Umbrella, a girl who seems to not like the way her family goes about things. She seems like she has not found herself yet. She does not like her mom having to work. She wants to fit in with all the other people her age instead of just showing herself. She thinks that she needs extra things like the other kids to let her self show. After showing her insecurity, something happens for her to realize that she does not need extra things in life for her to show herself. She then realizes just how important of a role her mom plays in her life. In the story The White Umbrella, the narrator, a young girl Chinese girl that goes to school with Americans, and has seemed that she has not completely found herself yet. Her mother and father both work. She shows her embarrassment of her mother working. We will write a custom essay sample on The White Umbrella or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page After school, her sister and her take piano lessons at Miss Crossman’s house. While she sat and waited on her turn she spotted the white umbrella. She thought that she needed to hold it to fit in with others. Her mother has told her that they can not afford extra things for them to have. She wants to have things like others instead of just showing herself and accepting that she can not have all the extra things like other kids. When her turn came to play the piano she tries’s her best to try and impress Miss Crossman. The narrator shows her insecurity by not accepted Miss Crossman’s ride, instead of walking in the rain. After piano lessons they waited outside in the rain. She offered them to come inside and she refused to do it. Mona, the narrator’s sister finally decides to go inside. Miss Crossman goes outside and talks to the narrator. The narrator lies to Miss Crossman and tells her that her family drives a Convertible, and that her mother, a concert pianist, will come to pick them up anytime. Miss Crossman gives the white umbrella to her. She tells Miss Crossman that she wishes that she would have been her mother. The narrator begins to feel guilty, and that the Umbrella shows her disobedience towards her mother. After their mom finally shows up, she hides the umbrella underneath her clothing so that her mother does not see. They get into a car wreck on the way home. She sees that her mom’s eyes are closed. She begins to think her mother may have died. She decides to scream. Then she sees that her mom just closed her eyes because things have frustrated her. When her mother gets out the car to talk to the other people in the accident, she throws the umbrella down the sewer. This shows that you should never show ungratefulness for what you have. It does not matter about what you need to fit in with the people around you. It only matters what you need to live well. The white Umbrella, an informal story, it gives a life lesson. It can also entertain anyone who wants to read it. The narrator now knows how important her mother’s role has on her life. Hopefully she will show herself for now on instead of trying to carry on like others around her.

The Most LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges in The Country

The Most LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges in The Country SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In general, colleges are consistently becoming more LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) friendly. Young people are more accepting of different sexual orientations and gender identities, and those attitudes are reflected at a growing number of US colleges. However, there are still many college campuses that have reputations for not being inclusive or safe for members of the LGBTQ community. If it's important to you to be at a school with a vibrant LGBTQ community, you should consider looking at specifically LGBTQ-friendly schools. In this article, I'll do the following: Define an LGBTQ-friendly school Explain why you should consider an LGBTQ-friendly college Provide lists of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities Give advice for how to use those lists and do effective research to determine if a school is LGBTQ-friendly What Is an LGBT-Friendly College? An LGBT-friendly college makes its LGBTQ students feel safe, accepted, and comfortable on campus. It offers plentiful resources to provide support and counsel for LGBTQ students. Furthermore, the students at LGBTQ-friendly colleges are accepting and supportive of members of the LGBTQ community. LGBTQ students feel at ease expressing themselves around non-LGBTQ students, and the student body treats LGBTQ students with tolerance and respect. If you're looking for specific orientations like gay friendly colleges, generally colleges that I say are LGBTQ-friendly are gay friendly as well. Why Should You Consider an LGBTQ-Friendly College? If You're an LGBTQ Student If you go to an LGBTQ-friendly college as an LGBTQ student, you'll be in a more accepting, supportive environment. Being in an inclusive place can have a positive impact on your quality of life and academic performance while you're in college. Also, you'll be around more LGBTQ students who are out. LGBTQ students at LGBTQ-unfriendly colleges often don't feel comfortable coming out and expressing their sexual or gender identities. Perhaps most importantly, at an LGBTQ-friendly college you'll have more support services, organizations, and programs designed to help you as an LGBTQ student. You'll be able to befriend other LGBTQ students in LGBTQ student groups and get mentorship and counseling from an LGBTQ resource center. Many LGBTQ-friendly colleges even have orientation programs specifically for LGBTQ students to help them get acclimated to college life. If You're Not an LGBTQ Student If you support LGBTQ rights, you're more likely to be around like-minded people at an LGBTQ-friendly college. Generally, people tend to be happier if they're in a community with others who share their political and social views. For many college students, equality for and acceptance of LGBTQ people are important social issues. Even if you're not an active ally of the LGBTQ community, you can benefit from attending an LGBTQ-friendly college. Ideally, the college experience should broaden your horizons and expose you to diverse people and communities. At an LGBTQ-friendly college, you're more likely to learn about LGBTQ issues and befriend LGBTQ students. Lists of LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges I'm providing you with two lists of LGBTQ-friendly colleges from two different sources. Both have clearly defined criteria for their rankings, and they're reputable sources. The first list from Campus Prideis more reflective of the available resources for LGBTQ students. The second list from Princeton Review is more reflective of on-campus attitudes and treatment of members of the LGBTQ community. The only school that made both lists is Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Campus Pride Campus Pride is a non-profitdedicated to creating safer, more inclusive LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The top 25 LGBTQ-friendly colleges are based on scores from the Campus Pride Index. The Campus Pride Index includes more than 50 self-assessment questions sent to colleges that correspond to 8 different LGBTQ-friendly factors: LGBTQ Policy Inclusion LGBTQ Support and Institutional Commitment LGBTQ Academic Life LGBTQ Housing LGBTQ Campus Safety LGBTQ Counseling and Health LGBTQ Recruitment and Retention Efforts The List The top 25 LGBTQ-friendly colleges are listed in alphabetical order. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) Elon University (Elon, NC) Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN) Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY) Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ) Penn State University (State College, PA) Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) Rutgers-New Brunswick (New Brunswick, NJ) San Diego State University (San Diego, CA) Southern Oregon University (Ashland, OR) The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) Tufts University (Medford, MA) University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO) University of Louisville (Louisville, KY) University of Maine at Machias (Machias, ME) University of Maryland-College Park (College Park, MD) University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Amherst, MA) University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN) University of Oregon (Eugene, OR) University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) University of Vermont (Burlington, VT) University of Washington (Seattle, WA) University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Green Bay, WI) Williams College (Williamstown, MA) Cornell is LGBTQ-friendly. Princeton Review The Princeton Review rankings of the most LGBTQ-friendly colleges are based on students' answers to the survey question "Do students, faculty, and administrators at your college treat all persons equally regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identity/expression?" The List Schools are ranked from 1-20 with #1 being the most LGBTQ-friendly school. However, there don't seem to be any major differences between the environments at #1 and #20. 1. Emerson College (Boston, MA) 2. Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC) 3. Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY) 4. Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, PA) 5. Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH) 6. Yale University (New Haven, CT) 7. Stanford University (Stanford, CA) 8. College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME) 9. Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA) 10. University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI) 11. Smith College (Northampton, MA) 12. New College of Florida (Sarasota, FL) 13. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (Needham, MA) 14. Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) 15. Pitzer College (Claremont, CA) 16. Brandeis University (Waltham, MA) 17. Prescott College (Prescott, AZ) 18. Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA) 19. Mills College (Oakland, CA) 20. Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) How Should You Use These Lists? If you want to go to an LGBTQ-friendly college, you should research the schools that interest you on the Campus Pride or Princeton Review list to determine if you want to apply to them. Keep in mind that some of these colleges have a specific focus. Mills, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Wellesley are women's colleges. Also, Emerson is devoted to the study of communication and performing arts. Besides the school being LGBTQ-friendly, think of other factors that are important to you in a college including cost, size, selectivity, location, and the majors offered. Look at the school's website, and use guidebooks, college finders, search websites, and other ranking lists to help you in the college selection process. If possible, consult with teachers, counselors, parents, current students, and alumni. Research colleges to find the right one for you! What Should You Do if a School You're Considering Didn't Make the Cut? Just because a school didn't make either list doesn't necessarily mean that it's LGBTQ-unfriendly. If there's a school you're interested in, you can look up its score on the Campus Pride Index. The Campus Pride Index scores schools from 1-5 stars. Schools that get a 5-star rating are the most LGBTQ-friendly. However, many schools don't take part in the Campus Pride Index, including Stanford, which ranks as the #7 most LGBTQ-friendly school in the Princeton Review rankings. Contact a representative from the LGBTQ resource center or student group to get more information about the atmosphere on campus. Usually, you can find those contacts on college websites. If there isn't an LGBTQ resource center or student group, it's probably not an LGBTQ-friendly school. Also, you can consult other sources that evaluate how LGBTQ-friendly a college is. On Niche, you can search for a specific college. Under "diversity" for each school's guide, there is a category called "gay pride" that describes the atmosphere for LGBTQ students on campus. Similarly, on the College View finder, you can search for schools that are LGBTQ-friendly. Additionally, if you look at a specific college's profile, you can see whether the school has gay and lesbian organizations. Finally, The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life is a good resource. This book from the Princeton Review doesn't identify LGBTQ-friendly colleges, but it does offer advice from students and administrators at more than 70 of the nation's top colleges about how to excel on campus as an LGBTQ student. What's Next? Because financial concerns often influence the college selection process, check out this list of colleges that meet 100% of students' financial need. Also, learn more about the 28 best liberal arts colleges in the country, many of which are LGBTQ-friendly. Finally, to make sure you get into the college of your dreams, read this post on the important college application deadlines you can't miss. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

American football positions Essay Example for Free (#2)

American football positions Essay Football, it is not just a sport or some game. It is my whole life. Every year I have one goal and that is to make it to football season. Playing in each of those games gives a special feeling that no one can get enough of. Winter, Spring, and Summer do not even compare to what Fall is like, not only is it one of the most beautiful times of the year but the most intense, most exciting sport seasons to anyone with a pulse. I prepare for it all year long, doing different sorts of exercises such as running, lifting, jumping rope, and anything that I could think of to help me be the best athlete I could possibly be. No matter how hard someone could prepare for football there is only one thing that will truly make someone the best they could ever be and that my friend is heart. If they do not have heart they will not make it anywhere, not only in football but in life. With heart and dedication there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. Some days I just dream about playing football on the next level. The thrill of just suiting up in that jersey means the world to me. Playing underneath those blinding lights, that lights up the whole field like the sun. There are so many different ways to win games but there are a basic few that will definitely do the trick. Some offense will really put points up on the board to show how good the team is. A whole lot of defense will win the game; it will stop the other team from putting the points up. One of my favorite quotes â€Å"Offense sells tickets; Defense wins championships†Ã¢â‚¬â€œCoach Paul â€Å"Bear† Bryant Jr. There is always Special Teams too without it there would be no kickoffs, no field goals, and without it the game would not be complete. Morgan 2 The Offense, I would not say it was my favorite thing but I play it to help put points up on the board. There are so many different positions on the offense and over a million different plays and formations. There is the offensive line, which is one of the most rough and intense places I have ever been. There is punching, kicking, and anything to show superiority, if I did not know any better I would think I was fist fighting somewhere in those trenches. There is the running backs and the quarterbacks. They get all of the glory because they are the ones who score the touchdowns. The running backs and the linemen work together to score, one wrong move by one of the linemen and our running back gets tackled. The linemen block the defensive players to stop them from tackling our running back, if we succeed we score. The Defense, my all-time favorite thing, this is where they separate the boys and the men. I love going out and just smashing some people’s helmets in. There are a so many different positions like defensive tackles, cornerbacks, safeties, and my favorite line-backers. No matter where the plan is going there will be someone there to stop them. Like that quote said defense wins championships and that is 100% true without defense it just be a track meet. This is just me but I would rather sack a quarterback than score a touchdown, but some people they are not like that. The one thing that wins and loses games is the special teams. The field goal is one of the most important things in some cases this can win the game. I have seen it send teams into the winner circle and I have seen it send teams down loser lane. There is also kickoffs where every time the team scores they kick it off to the other team. There is a punt when the team does not succeed to make a first down in the four downs they are giving. Morgan 3 All of these things can make or break the team but, the one team that can do each and everything better than the other team will be victorious. If they do not play the best they can always look forward to next week. American football positions. (2017, Jun 01).

My Preferred Learning Style Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Preferred Learning Style - Personal Statement Example Learning styles are more concerned with one’s preferred learning style rather than what learners learn. A student shows consistency in learning style by reacting to and employing stimuli in relation to learning. Keefe (1979) defines learning styles as the â€Å"composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives interacts with, and responds to the learning environment† (as cited in NW Link, 2011). Stewart and Felicetti (1992) define learning styles as those â€Å"educational conditions under which a student is most likely to learn,† thus, stressing on the role of preferred learning styles (as cited in NW Link, 2011). According to the principles of the Dunn and Dunn learning styles system, students always prefer to learn in their learning style and perform better. From the teaching point of view, if teachers follow students’ processing styles out of the global-analytical continuum or any of their preferred styles from kinesthetic, tactile, auditory, and visual, the learning process can be made faster among students (Dybvig and Church, 2010). Generally, it is noticed that students cannot learn faster because they are not taught in their preferred and distinct learning style. Ideally, students need to inculcate the various leaning methods so that learning does not become an arduous task for them by depending solely on their preferred learning style only, although they may excel in talent and intelligence possessing above average sharpness in comprehending the learning process (Dybvig and Church, 2010). Students need to strengthen various learning ways where they are not competent enough.  

Impact of social media on management of information systems Research Paper

Impact of social media on management of information systems - Research Paper Example Social media has a great impact on management of information system because it allows easy gathering of knowledge and gives a connection between image, text and video. Social media is practically changing the way we communicate and it has transformed the information technology of business within and outside the company boundaries. Social media has been integral to finance and human resource management and for the understanding of consumer preferences, peer to peer marketing and demand prediction. The management of information system is an important function in an organization as it collect and process many data relevant to a business. Management of information system has achieved great height due to many social media like face book, Twitter and Linked In. The business management and consumer and suppliers have become more interactive and responsive. Social media is an interactive platform and allow input and output of data along with smooth communication. Social media has a large role to play in management of information sytem. Social media is the interaction on a virtual platform where people create, share or exchange information. The different social media like Face book, Twitter and Linked In have been the best informative sites since technology has ever created. As per (Daniel) â€Å"Media is an instrument on communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social instrument of communication†. Now social media has specific importance in every sphere of life especially in the business world. Since globalization, social media has become more and more significant as it is medium through which people in various countries communicate and share information. Social media is of so much importance because of its reach, quality, frequency usability and performance. Social Medias can be internet forums, social network sites, blogs, and content communities. The most famous social media like Face book, Twitter, You Tube and Linked In has

James Stills River of Earth: A Neglected American Masterpiece Essay

James Still's River of Earth: A Neglected American Masterpiece    James Still's River of Earth is a novel about life in Appalachia just before the Depression. Furthermore it is a novel about the struggles of the mountain people since the settlement of their region. However great it may be at depicting Appalachia's mountain people and culture, though, Still's novel has remained mostly invisible compared to other novels of the period which depict poor white southern life, such as John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Erskine Caldwell's God's Little Acre (Olson 87). As scholar Ted Olson notes, there are several reasons for this neglect. First of all, Still's novel has been labeled as "regional" and therefore not as "universal" in its concerns and subject matters. And in 1940 when it was first published the American people were running low on desire to plod through more regional novels; even Faulkner was hardly read at this time (Olsen 92). In addition, we were at a period as a nation when people were coming off a decade of extreme poverty and did not want to hear or read about more poverty. Still, in many ways it is hard to explain the longterm success of Grapes of Wrath and the longterm fadeout of River of Earth. To begin, Steinbeck's novel, which tells the story of the plight of a poor white family in Oklahoma during the Depression, is no less "regional" than Still's chronicle of poor white life in eastern Kentucky . Yet somehow Grapes of Wrath escaped the "regional" stereotype and went on to become an American classic. Ironically, though, when the two novels were released, Still's grabbed more critical acclaim (Olsen 89). Though Grapes of Wrath did earn some rave reviews and was called the "great American book" by... ...people anywhere. And refreshingly, Still's characters do not spend all their time trying to "rise above" their poverty. Instead they love their mountain world and take pleasure in the small but important things in life like a simple meal or a good laugh. They are not weighed down by the glittery world or overindulgent trappings of Jay Gatsby. Maybe that's the real reason most Americans couldn't handle the book then and now. Instead of presenting them with the excesses of a gilded age, it told them about a people content to enjoy a great spiritual wealth even if their economic conditions were supposed to make them "poor." Works Cited Cadle, Dean. "Man on Troublesome." The Yale Review 57 (December 1967): 236-255. Olsen, Ted. "`This Mighty River of Earth': Reclaiming James Still's American Masterpiece." Journal of Appalachian Studies 1.1 (Fall 1995): 87-98.

Developing strategic thinking Essay

Introduction My research interest in strategic thinking started in 1993 when I interviewed 35 senior executives for a longitudinal study on the changes in strategic planning and strategic management in large organisations between 1982 and 1993. These senior executives were responsible for strategic planning, strategic management or corporate development in 35 of the 100 largest manufacturing companies in Australia. The interviews lasted between three and four hours and one of the questions I asked concerned the problems that they had experienced with their strategic planning or strategic management approach in the preceding five years. The main problem identified by the majority of senior executives was strategic thinking. Interestingly, strategic thinking was a problem regardless of whether the companies had a formalised strategic planning system or used a non-formalised approach. For example, one senior executive from a company with a formalised strategic planning system stated: Our senior exec utives tend to get carried away by details and lose their strategic perspective. Abstract Lack of strategic thinking by senior managers has been identified as a major shortcoming in organisations. Draws on concepts in management and psychology to present a framework that can be used to remedy this situation. Argues that strategic thinking needs to be addressed at two different, but interrelated levels: the individual level and the organisational level. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an  enduring competitive advantage. Europe, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States† (p. 242). The ability to think strategically, however, is crucial to remaining competitive in an increasingly turbulent and global environment. Considering that the average life expectancy of US Fortune 500 companies is only between 40 and 50 years (de Geus, 1997) and that only 49 percent of the 100 largest manufacturers in Australia in 1982 were still among the top 100 manufacturers in 1993 (Bonn and Christodoulou, 1996), the need for strategic thinking has never been greater. This paper presents a framework that can be used to increase strategic thinking in organisations. It argues that strategic thinking needs to be considered at two different, but inter-related levels. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an enduring source of competitive advantage. The debate on strategic thinking There is no agreement in the literature on what strategic thinking is. A number of authors have used the term interchangeably with other concepts such as strategic planning or strategic management. Wilson (1994) for example notes that: Similarly, a senior executive from a company without a formalised planning system reported: It is a major challenge to get our decision makers to think in strategic rather than operational terms. This lack of strategic thinking is not restricted to organisations in Australia. As research from the Institute of Directors in London has shown, 90 per cent of directors and vice-presidents â€Å"had no induction, inclusion or training to become a competent direction giver of their business† (Garratt, 1995a, p. 242). According to Garratt (1995a), this percentage â€Å"seems to hold good in The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft This continuing search for improvement has profoundly changed the character of strategic planning so that it is now more appropriate to refer to it as strategic management or strategic thinking (p. 14, italics in original). Other authors have focussed on strategic management processes and either stated explicitly that good strategic planning contributes to strategic thinking (Porter, 1987) or assumed implicitly that a well designed strategic management system facilitates strategic thinking within an organisation (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Viljoen, 1994). Mintzberg (1994) suggested a clear distinction between strategic thinking and  concepts such as strategic planning. He stated that â€Å"strategic planning is not strategic thinking† (p. 107) and argued that each term focuses on a different stage in the strategy development process. In his view, strategic planning focuses on analysis and deals with the articulation, elaboration and formalisation of existing strategies. Strategic thinking, on the other hand, emphasises synthesis, using intuition and creativity to create â€Å"an integrated perspective of the enterprise† (p. 108). He claimed that strategic planning is a process that should occur after strategic thinking. Garratt (1995b) argued along similar lines. He defined strategic thinking as a process by which senior executives â€Å"can rise above the daily managerial processes and crises† (p. 2) to gain a different perspective of the organisation and its changing environments. Heracleous (1998) made the distinction between strategic planning and strategic thinking by an analogy to single-loop learning and double-loop learning. In his view, the former is analogous to strategic planning, the later to strategic thinking. He claimed that single-loop learning involves thinking within existing assumptions and taking actions based on a fixed set of potential action alternatives. Double-loop learning, in contrast, challenges existing assumptions and  develops new and innovative solutions, leading to potentially more appropriate actions. Heracleous argued that like single-loop learning and double-loop l earning, strategic planning and strategic thinking are interrelated in a dialectical process and are equally important for effective strategic management. This article supports the view that strategic thinking and strategic planning are two different concepts and that strategic planning is a process, which takes place after strategic thinking. My analysis in the following sections demonstrates that strategic thinking manifests itself at two different levels: the individual level and the organisational level. This approach integrates the micro domain’s focus on individuals and groups with the macro domain’s focus on organisations and their context. In other words, it acknowledges the influence of individual characteristics and actions on the organisational context and vice versa, the influence of the organisational context on individual thinking and behaviour. As Chatman et al. (1986) have argued: When we look at individual behaviour in organizations, we are actually seeing two entities: the individual as himself and the individual as representative of this  collectivity . . . Thus the individual not only acts on behalf of the organization in the usual agency sense, but he also acts, more subtly `as the organization’ when he embodies the values, beliefs, and goals of the collectivity. Thus, understanding strategic thinking requires a dual-level approach that investigates the characteristics of an individual strategic thinker as well as the dynamics and processes that take place within the organisational context in which the individual operates. For instance, to obtain an accurate picture of the effects of differing leadership styles on strategic thinking, we can look at their impact on individual managers and on the way they influence the wider organisational climate, culture and structure. Strategic thinking at the individual level Strategic thinking at the individual level comprises three main elements: 1 a holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment; 2 creativity; and 3 a vision for the future of the organisation. Each of these  elements will be addressed in the following sections. A holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment A crucial element of strategic thinking is the ability to take a holistic perspective of the organisation and its environment. This requires an understanding of how different problems and issues are connected with each other, how they influence each other and what effect one solution in a particular area would have on other areas. As Kaufman (1991) has expressed it: Strategic thinking is characterized by a switch from seeing the organization as a splintered conglomerate of disassociated parts (and employees) competing for resources, to seeing and dealing with the corporation as a holistic system that integrates each part in relationship to the whole (p. 69). Taking a holistic approach requires the ability to distance oneself from day-to-day operational problems and to see how problems and issues are connected to the overall pattern that underlies particular details and events. Senge (1990) has called this approach â€Å"systems thinking†. He argued that: We must look beyond personalities and events. We must look into the underlying structures which shape individual actions  and create the conditions where types of events become likely (p. 43). Such an attention to the underlying structures of complex situations requires thinking in terms of processes rather than events to enable a reconciliation of apparent contradictions and the development of innovative solutions. Mastering complexity in organisations also requires managers to be familiar with the dynamics of organisational life. Stacey (1996) argued that managers need a thorough understanding of how organisations and managerial actions  change over time and of the feedback processes that lead to such changes. This includes being sensitive to the subtle interactions between the different parts of the organisation and understanding the structural causes of behaviour and their effects on other parts of the organisation. Finally, a holistic view requires recognition that organisations are components within large and complex systems, such as markets, industries and nations. Strategic thinkers need to understand how organisations are embedded within this wider context and h ow they are influenced by the dynamics, interconnection and interdependency of these systems. Strategy is about ideas and the development of novel solutions to create competitive advantage. Strategic thinkers must search for new approaches and envision better ways of doing things. A prerequisite for this is creativity, in particular the ability to question prevalent concepts and perceptions (de Bono, 1996) and to recombine or make connections between issues that may seem unconnected (Robinson and Stern, 1997). According to Amabile (1998), creative thinking refers to â€Å"how people approach problems and solutions  ± their capacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations† (p. 79, italics in original). This involves challenging the â€Å"tyranny of the given† (Kao, 1997, p. 47) by questioning prevailing beliefs or mental models in the organisation. Senge (1990) has described mental models as â€Å"deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action† (p. 8). He argues that such models are often tacit and beneath our level of awareness, yet they have a strong influence on organisational behaviour: . . . new insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting (p. 174). Thus, the ability to reflect on mental models and to challenge prevailing assumptions and core beliefs is crucial for the development of unique strategies and action programs. This requires strategic thinkers to understand their own behavioral patterns as well as existing concepts and perceptions within the organisation. Strategists should enjoy the challenge of thinking â€Å"out of the box† and of using imagination and creativity to explore whether there might be alternative ways of doing things. De Bono  (1996) has made this point very clear: Without creativity we are unable to make full use of the information and experience that is already available to us and is locked up in old structures, old patterns, old concepts, and old perceptions (p. 17). Creativity is a process that begins with the generation of ideas. As de Bono (1996) has noted . . . strategy is too often seen solely as a reduction process in which various possibilities are reduced to a sensible course of action (p. 72). Creativity Creative thinking is needed to imagine multiple possibilities and to search for alternatives to conventional approaches. The creative process also involves the selection and development of ideas. Good strategists are able to recognise the potential of a new idea at a very early stage. To visualise the value of an idea that has been put forward by people from different organisational levels might be even more important than the generation of original ideas by the strategist. As Robinson and Stern (1997) have observed: The larger the company, the more likely it is that the components of creative acts are already present somewhere in it, but the less likely it is that they will be brought together without some help (p. 15, italics in original). Finally, there is the need for translating the new idea into practice. Senior management must provide the resources that are needed to implement the idea. As Amabile (1998) has noted: . . . deciding how much time and money to give to a team or project is a sophisticated judgment call that can either support or kill creativity (p. 82) A vision for the future Strategic thinking should be driven by a strong sense of organisational  purpose and a vision of the desired future for the organisation. A genuine vision  ± as opposed to the popular â€Å"vision-statements†  ± conveys a sense of direction and provides the focus for all activities within the organisation. For Senge (1990), a genuine vision is â€Å"a calling rather than simply a good idea† (p. 142, italics in original). In his view, visions are â€Å"pictures or images people carry in their heads and hearts† (p. 206). They represent what one truly wants, based on fundamental intrinsic values and a sense of purpose that matters deeply to the people in the organisation. Evidence for the importance of a clear vision has been provided by Collins and Porras (1998). Their research showed that visionary companies outperformed nonvisionary companies significantly. One dollar invested in a general market stock fund on January 1, 1926 would have grown to 415 dollars by December 31, 1990, while the same dollar invested in a visionary company stock fund would have grown to 6,356 dollars, a difference of over 1500 percent. According to Collins and Porras (1998), the visionary companies did not attain this extraordinary long-term performance because they wrote one of the elegant vision or mission statements that have become popular in recent years. They pointed out that â€Å"Just because a company has a `vision statement’ (or something like it) in no way guarantees that it will become a visionary company!† (p. 201, italics in original). Instead, leaders in visionary companies place strong emphasis on building an organisation that has a deep understanding of its reason for existence and of its core values, those fundamental and enduring principles that guide and inspire people throughout the organisation and bind them together around a common identity. Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (1963), former IBM chief executive, made this point very clear: I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions (p. 5). consistent alignment (p. 229, italics in original). Developing a genuine vision and building it into the very fabric of the organisation must be a central element of the daily work of strategic thinkers. A vision that is shared throughout the organisation fosters commitment rather than compliance and creates a sense of commonality that permeates the whole organisation. It inspires people’s imagination and provides a focus that allows individuals to contribute in ways that make the most of their expertise and talents. Ultimately, as Collins and Porras have shown, a genuine vision helps to achieve superior performance in the longterm. Strategic thinking at the organisational level The organisational level provides the context in which individual strategic thinking can occur. Organisations need to create the structures, processes and systems that: 1 foster ongoing strategic dialogue among the top team; and 2 take advantage of the ingenuity and creativity of every individual employee.

Students Should Reduce Their Time On Social Networking Sites

Anh Ho Ms. Perales ENGWR 300 - 9AM 16 October, 2014 Students Should Reduce Their Time on Social Networking Sites What would people do if they could not access the Internet for one week? Needless to say, they would not do their jobs in a normal way because the Internet plays a big role in their daily lives. Today, human beings are living in the world of advanced technology. Many years ago, technology did not allow people to interact with others as it does today, so they had to go outside to meet their friends individually. Thanks to social networking sites, people can sit in front of their computers and Skype their friends for hours. In many ways, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have led to positive changes in the way people communicate and share information. However, students should reduce their time on social networking sites to one hour a day in order to avoid these sites’ negative effects, since these sites can ruin students’ abilities in school. Nowadays, people have a habit of checking the updat es on social networking sites every day, and this habit turns into an addiction. For most students, the most addicting parts of Facebook are uploading photos, posting status, and getting attention from other people. In the article â€Å"Self Disclosure Through Social Media Stimulates Brain Pleasure Centers†, Leslie Walker suggested that â€Å"sharing information about ourselves fires up the pleasure centers of our brains may shed light on the roots of social mediaShow MoreRelatedSocial Media And Its Effects On Society1359 Words   |  6 PagesPeople may say social media is good for you but is it really? Everyday, everywhere I always see people on social media calling people bad names, not being able to communicate face to face with each other. Social media, social media, social media†¦ oh what is has done to the world, so many students grades have dropped, criminals PROMOTE crimes. 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