Ecosystems at Risk

The negative nature and rate of change that is occurring within the Great Barrier Reef(GBR) is largely due to human induced activity. Coral reefs are vulnerable to the slightest of human impacts and the frequency in which we are doing so has dramatically increased over the years, increasing it to a global scale. Climate change along with pollution, overfishing and tourism are affecting the vulnerable ecosystems existence. Climate change is affecting the globe at an increasing intensity.The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing many changes that it is unable to adapt to such as a rise in the average water temperature. The unnatural change physiologically stresses the corals and upset the critical balance that maintains their symbiotic relationship with algae that inhibits it. When this process occurs the corals lose their colour becoming bleached, the recognized biological effects reduce the calcification rates, weakening the skeletons and eventually eroding coral communities.Polar ice c aps are also melting due to global climate change, having serious impacts on the nature and life span of coral reefs. As the levels slowly rise, fresh water inlets will be contaminated with salt water affecting the biodiversity of terrestrial vegetation in these fragile environments. Humans impact the GBR is through numerous paths of pollution, all of which can cause serious damage. Although not directly, deforestation has many long-term impacts, as well as sedimentation, fertilizers and pesticides, runoff and plastic build up. 2% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by land-based pollution; both chemical and nutrient based e. g. fertilizers, herbicides, human derived sewage and pesticides. 80% of the GBR’s adjacent land is farmland that supports agricultural production. The chemicals used to maintain the farmland pose long term damage to the ecosystem due to their high levels of phosphorus and nitrates. This runoff affect occurs when the farmer uses too much of t he product to maintain his land, or it is lost to ground water.Sediments that flow out from rivers with large amounts of eroded material carry with it many of the pollutants stated previously from farms that border the reef at risk. Tourism is vital to help people recognize and promote the value of protecting the Great Barrier Reef, but at the same time has certain elements involved with it, that are slowly taking toll on the environment, which will if not looked at closer, or eliminated all together destroy it for generations to come.Tourism is listed a s a major management issue to the GBR, because of the large amount of tourists and its value to the economy. The impacts range from low to high priority, and often trigger large infrastructure developments on islans and coastal communities, leading to further problems involving runoff and other pollutants mentioned earlier. Also associated with tourism, is the souvenir, ornamental and aquarium trade that severely affects the livelih ood of the GBR.People taking home a small piece of the reef cause significantly widespread damage to the ecosystem and its biodiversity. For the Great Barrier Reef to be enjoyed for generations to come, protections laws need to be set, understood and most of all abided by. The nature and rate of change is fast increasing the decline of one of Australia’s most beautiful ecosystems that should be enjoyed without disturbances. The fragile ecosystem is able to adapt to natural fluctuations and subtle changes in the ecosystem, but human activity is fast destroying it. Ecosystems at Risk The negative nature and rate of change that is occurring within the Great Barrier Reef(GBR) is largely due to human induced activity. Coral reefs are vulnerable to the slightest of human impacts and the frequency in which we are doing so has dramatically increased over the years, increasing it to a global scale. Climate change along with pollution, overfishing and tourism are affecting the vulnerable ecosystems existence. Climate change is affecting the globe at an increasing intensity.The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing many changes that it is unable to adapt to such as a rise in the average water temperature. The unnatural change physiologically stresses the corals and upset the critical balance that maintains their symbiotic relationship with algae that inhibits it. When this process occurs the corals lose their colour becoming bleached, the recognized biological effects reduce the calcification rates, weakening the skeletons and eventually eroding coral communities.Polar ice c aps are also melting due to global climate change, having serious impacts on the nature and life span of coral reefs. As the levels slowly rise, fresh water inlets will be contaminated with salt water affecting the biodiversity of terrestrial vegetation in these fragile environments. Humans impact the GBR is through numerous paths of pollution, all of which can cause serious damage. Although not directly, deforestation has many long-term impacts, as well as sedimentation, fertilizers and pesticides, runoff and plastic build up. 2% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by land-based pollution; both chemical and nutrient based e. g. fertilizers, herbicides, human derived sewage and pesticides. 80% of the GBR’s adjacent land is farmland that supports agricultural production. The chemicals used to maintain the farmland pose long term damage to the ecosystem due to their high levels of phosphorus and nitrates. This runoff affect occurs when the farmer uses too much of t he product to maintain his land, or it is lost to ground water.Sediments that flow out from rivers with large amounts of eroded material carry with it many of the pollutants stated previously from farms that border the reef at risk. Tourism is vital to help people recognize and promote the value of protecting the Great Barrier Reef, but at the same time has certain elements involved with it, that are slowly taking toll on the environment, which will if not looked at closer, or eliminated all together destroy it for generations to come.Tourism is listed a s a major management issue to the GBR, because of the large amount of tourists and its value to the economy. The impacts range from low to high priority, and often trigger large infrastructure developments on islans and coastal communities, leading to further problems involving runoff and other pollutants mentioned earlier. Also associated with tourism, is the souvenir, ornamental and aquarium trade that severely affects the livelih ood of the GBR.People taking home a small piece of the reef cause significantly widespread damage to the ecosystem and its biodiversity. For the Great Barrier Reef to be enjoyed for generations to come, protections laws need to be set, understood and most of all abided by. The nature and rate of change is fast increasing the decline of one of Australia’s most beautiful ecosystems that should be enjoyed without disturbances. The fragile ecosystem is able to adapt to natural fluctuations and subtle changes in the ecosystem, but human activity is fast destroying it.

Addressing International Legal and Ethical Issues Simulation Essay

1. Cad-Mex has a moral obligation to its publics to act as a responsible citizen. Corporate social responsibility demands that the company looks into the welfare of the communities in which it operates. At the same time the stakeholders of Cad-Mex demand that the company be managed prudently and generate a return on their investments. A price reduction in the face of an epidemic appears to be the best course of action that the company takes. By insisting that local companies can make generic versions of the drug, the government is in further breach of the contract signed by both parties. Suing the government for its actions may lead to expensive litigation costs and cancelling of the contract. Agreeing to work with the government under the new rules will endear the authorities to the company and improve chances of future business. In both cases the ethical issues weigh heavily in the decision making process as the company does not want to lose the investments already made and at the same time it wants to avoid further losses. See more: Defining research problem and setting objectives Essay 2. After agreeing to report for work on some Sundays during the year, one of the managers turned around and claimed that his faith could not allow him to. He insisted that he must attend church and was entitled to one day off per week. His decision was bound to cause dissension as other manages had sacrificed their Sundays to work for the company; most of them were also regular church goers. In trying to settle the matter amicably it is important the core values of the company should be observed. The company wants to be recognized as a fair employer that appreciates the vital role that cultural diversity plays in the workplace but at the same time needs employees to honor their agreements and give their best efforts to the successful implementation of the company’s goals. Teamwork is a crucial aspect in work situations and because one manager has reversed his decision to work without considering the backlash it may precipitate, it will be in the company’s best interests to relieve him of his duties. The raison d’Ã ªtre will be his failure to be part of the team and not his religious obligations to go to church.

Films of Alfred Hitchcock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Films of Alfred Hitchcock - Essay Example In this paper, the focus lies on a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho where a theme comprising of violence, sex and phallic proxy will be discussed. This horror movie, which has won several awards, has continued to be listed among the best-produced films especially because of encompassing several themes. The story focuses on a secretary, Marion Crane, who together with the boyfriend has financial issues. The duo’s marriage plans are adversely affected by the huge debts they have to pay. When Crane meets Sam, the boyfriend, for lunch the latter tells the fiancà ©e that all the money they would get will have to pay the fast-accruing debt. Upon finishing the lunch, Crane goes back to the workplace where the boss instructs the secretary to deposit some $40,000 to the bank paid by a client for a service. Interestingly, Crane seeks permission to take the afternoon off, but plans to run away with the cash (Smith, p11). As noted with the other movies, there is hardly a film with a single theme; many have more than even two, and Psycho is no exception. Even though it has a number of these, this paper, as already indicated will primarily focus on sexuality, violence and phallic of proxy. When Crane decides to vanish with her employer’s money, the boss unfortunately, sees her. Consequently, this causes her to be nervous, and makes wrong decisions in the process. After overcoming the seemingly opposition fronted by a police officer who finds her asleep, Crane continues to a motel called Bates motel, belonging to a Mr. Norman Bates(Smith, p14). Up to that point, one can see several themes including that of symbolic economy. First, when Crane decided to steal the money, the financial pressure she was experiencing catalyzed the decision. It is not always that horror movies are used in relation to money-related issues, and especially in matter of debts. Yet, movies have a way of affecting people in a number of positive

The Price of Doing Good - 12 Criteria Assignment - 1

The Price of Doing Good - 12 Criteria - Assignment Example Survival of business: Business ethics are mandatory for the survival of business. The businessmen who do not follow it will have short-term success, but they will fail in the long run. This is because they can cheat a consumer only once. After that, the consumer will not buy goods from that businessman. He will also tell others not to buy from that businessman. So this will defame his image and provoke a negative publicity. This will result in failure of the business. Therefore, if the businessmen do not follow ethical rules, he will fail in the  market. So, it is always better to follow appropriate code of conduct to survive in the market. Safeguarding consumers rights: The consumer has many rights such as right to health and safety, right to be informed, right to choose, right to be heard, right to redress, etc. But many businessmen do not respect and protect these rights. Business ethics are must to safeguard these rights of the consumers. Protecting employees and shareholders: Business ethics are required to protect the interest of employees, shareholders, competitors, dealers, suppliers, etc. It protects them from exploitation through unfair trade practices. Develops good relations: Business ethics are important to develop good and friendly relations between business and society. This will result in a regular supply of good quality goods and services at low prices to the society. It will also result in profits for the businesses thereby resulting in growth of economy. Creates good image: Business ethics create a good image for the business and businessmen. If the businessmen follow all ethical rules, then they will be fully accepted and not criticized by the society. The society will always support those businessmen who follow this necessary code of conduct. Smooth functioning: If the business follows all the business ethics, then the employees, shareholders, consumers, dealers and suppliers will all be happy. So they will give full cooperation to the business. This will result in smooth functioning of the business. So, the business will grow, expand and diversify easily and quickly. It will have more sales and more profits.

Airline industry Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Airline industry - Coursework Example During off season the supply of air travel exceeds its demand. The airline industry has many positive effects over the economy. Airlines provide a fast and safe transportation method that allows humans to travel long distances in short periods of time. This method of transportation is perfectly suited to serve the needs of tourist. The tourism revenues of countries depend on the ability of airlines to bring tourist into their country. There are millions tourist coming into the United States every year. These tourists help the economy by spending money in the consumer markets. Another way the airline industry helps the economy is by carrying merchandise from one location to another. The international trade system depends on the airline industry to transport goods between countries. The airline industry also positively impacts the economy by generating thousands of jobs. The billions of dollars generated in revenues by the industry pay income taxes to local governments. The labor marke t for the airline industry is composed of different positions including pilots, stewardess, maintenance crew, security crew, engineers, ticket sales representatives, and management. The most important position in the airline industry is the pilots.

Knowledge of Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Knowledge of Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example This understanding enables them to not only make sense of the behaviour they witness in their workforce, but also to predict it before hand and sometimes even influencing it to reflect the desired level. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that organizational behaviour teaches one how to control human behaviour in an organization. However, it may be unreasonable to label this practice as exploitative, since the control is limited to an organizational setting, and the results are aimed to improving organizational performance, rather than exploitative practice of this knowledge. Organizational behaviour teaches a manager how to analyze and handle several different dimensions of an organization. One of the relatively well-known areas of expertise is the substantial and extensive knowledge of motivation that organizational behaviour has to offer. It offers dozens of theories on motivation, each tailored to specific situations as well as different findings in this area. These range from the classic theories such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory to the more controversial, contemporary theories such as Theory X and Y (Thompson and McHugh, 2002, pp. 10-48). Each of these motivational theories offers a unique insight into an employee’s mind, helping one understand what drives these employees to put effort into their work and then teaching one how to use these teachings to influence employees to exhibit desired behaviour. On the surface, it may seem like a euphemism for ‘manipulation techniques’ that teach a manager how to exploit a person’s predictability and use it to their organization’s advantage. However, the intentions behind organizational behaviour practices should be kept in sight before drawing such evaluations. Discussion Considering an organization with a de-motivated workforce may help one understand the ethical validation of this discipline. Such an organization would have paid employees who have each been designat ed specific tasks, each of which contribute to the organization’s performance and success. This is common amongst organizations that combine technology, creativity, and innovation in their operations. If the employees of such an organization lack motivation, their performance levels will be low, and predictably below the needed levels (Rashid, 2003, pp. 30-55). This would lead to failure of the organization, which could have several detrimental results, which could lead to employees losing their jobs and putting them at as much loss the organization. Thus, teaching a manager to remedy such a problem in a manner, which is beneficial for both the employee and the organization, is not exploitative. Furthermore, these theories do not try to manipulate an employee psychologically on a subconscious level. They do not aim to take advantage of the employee without realizing it, but rather offer this motivation at a conscious level, the influence of which is visible to the employees t hemselves. Other than Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning theory, most of the motivational theories operate on a conscious level and depend on the employees consciously reacting to the situation they are presented with (Huczynski and Buchanan, pp. 5-25). For example, bonus schemes are one of the most commonly used motivational techniques in a workplace. They offer the employee monetary and other similar forms of extra compensation for efficient and

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Analysis Research Paper

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Analysis - Research Paper Example It is a requirement under the US stock exchange regulation to comply with SOX, hence Arch Reinsurance being a publicly held company needs to follow the act. The IT manager for Arch Reinsurance considers automation to be a successful approach towards compliance of SOX. The company hires limited staff and resources and to cover it up, proper internal controls are to be managed by the company by automating control procedures at the company. Like many other companies, Arch Reinsurance Ltd have also spent a hefty amount on SOX related compliance proposal. According to the IT manager of Arch Reinsurance Ltd, it would have been really difficult for the company to sustain SOX compliance if automation was not followed, for him; the vital area of concern was to control access to financial systems and other applications. This is done by keeping a proper log and change management system, proper record is kept of every log-in, log-out and every possible activity done by the staff in the system. P roper security is also kept to ensure that only authorized personnel get to log in to the system. A review is done by the manager and his staff of daily reports produced by the data center monitoring tools. These reports are later presented to SOX auditors during compliance testing. Like every company, Complying with SOX has been expensive and time consuming at Arch Reinsurance Ltd. Though the staff is limited in number, the control procedures followed at the company decreases its vulnerability to internal control failures. The procedures followed are quiet extensive as the IT manager has abundant knowledge of company data center operations. The main theme is to strengthen the internal control systems by automating the procedures and activities at Arch Reinsurance Ltd. While conducting an audit, the auditor should identify the control procedures to avoid any material

Observation Of Child Behaviors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Observation Of Child Behaviors - Essay Example Egocentrism was chosen as the relevant behavioral observation as it is a predominant characteristic of the preoperational stage of child development. Examining this aspect of youth behavior is important as children in the preoperational stage begin to learn important social lessons from peer reference groups that assist in healthy adult socialization. As the logic centers begin to form in the brain, children will establish the initial foundations of considering the perspectives and beliefs of others in their rationalization processes. During play, two children illustrated behaviors that supported egocentrism. One child, which the parent indicated was four years old, began to argue with another child in the sandbox about their methodology of play. The two children were burying action figures, using pretend play activities to essentially illustrate the perils of warfare. The child wanted the figures to remain buried, however, the other child continued to dig them up and pretend the figures could fly. The child chastised the other who unburied the figures, leading to a refusal to play together further. The main argument was that flying was wrong and that the action figure belonged in the sand in order to win the war. The child who demanded flight did not seem to care about the pressure being applied to keep the toy in the sand and told the chastising child that he was â€Å"stupid† and carried forward with his flight activities despite the protests and attempted lessons about the appropriate game play.

Marijuana Should Be Illegalized Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marijuana Should Be Illegalized - Essay Example Marijuana also has many other names such as ganja, pot, weed, and grass among others, as many people refer to it differently. Marijuana is derived from the leaves or stems of the plant Cannabis sativa that contains 400 other chemicals some of which are unique to the plant only. The main chemical composition in the drug and one that has the most diverse effects is the chemical delta-9-tetrahydro-cannabinol or THC. This chemical is rapidly absorbed in the blood stream and enters the brain cells in a matter of minutes. The use of marijuana and the effects vary from user to user depending on the method of intake, but the most common mode of intake by most users who use it is through smoking of the dried leaves, stems or the seeds. It may also be ground and taken with other food substances such as tea or sprinkled with other food additives. The THC once absorbed in the blood has some short term and long-term effects to the user depending on the number of joints smoked. The chemical can st ay in the blood streams and brain for time ranging from 10 minutes to 8-10 hours, and affect users differently also as they differ in levels of drug handling capabilities. Small amounts of the plant enhance the user’s perception of the world and heighten the appreciation of music, foods and increases brain functions. Long terms effects reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the blood and increases the levels of carbon monoxide in the brain cells that leads to alteration of the brain functions of the users. This reduced oxygen reduces the thinking ability of the user, causes drowsiness and restlessness. The user may also suffer from hallucinations and the extended sense that he/she owns the world or they are beyond the others. The THC in the blood enters the heart vessels and reduces the amount of oxygen that enters the heart to be pumped to other parts of the body. This in the long run over works the heart as it tries to pump more blood throughout the body to meet the oxyg en deficit. The heart increases the heartbeats to pump more blood making heart muscles to weaken, thus, the user may die of heart failure or heart attack as he/she continues to use marijuana in their blood stream. Since the user gets a heightened sense of surroundings, he/she becomes what is termed as ‘high’ and may become a nuisance to the others in the community. Cannabis may also make the user to be irritated by others in society and may turn aggressive as they try to assert their position. Addicted users if denied marijuana become moody, stressed, restless and angry at everything and everyone and may turn violent to others in the society. There is the increased need for society to assist in campaigns against drug abuse and to curb the use of marijuana by other members of society. First, there is the need for community involvement in nationwide campaigns and awareness programmes against the use of these drug. The community can carry out education awareness to mostly the youth and adolescents who are mainly influenced by peer pressure to use drugs. Community organizations can carry out programmes and developmental schemes to keep young adults and children busy when at home during holidays and when unemployed. Community youth recreation centers could be developed in most states across the country where the youth can receive education on drugs, also have fun, and constructively

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods Essay Example for Free

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods Essay There are different research methods that have been guided by different philosophy of science that were developed by philosopher, researcher and sociologist at their time of era. The well-known research methods are quantitative research methods. Quantitative are numerical methods associated with deductive approaches. Quantitative research methods are usually guided by the principles of positivism as it takes on objective reality and accepts single reality. Quantitative methods are usually used to measure size, observe numerical change over time, audience segmentation, testing hypothesis, and, quantifying attitudes, behaviors and opinions. The main importance of quantitative research is on deductive reasoning which tends to move from the general to the specific. The validity of conclusions is shown to be dependent on one or more premises being valid. For example, All students who study MBA in Kathmandu University works in a bank. Seema studies in MBA in Kathmandu University. Based on the premises, we can say that Seema works in a bank. Premises used in deductive reasoning are important because faulty premises can lead to wrong conclusions. Another popular method is qualitative method, which are usually associated with inductive approaches. Qualitative research methods are used on subjective matter, as in-depth study to explore subject matter. Qualitative research methods are guided by philosophies as post-positivism, critical theory, and constructivism. Qualitative research methods offer different kinds of ways to investigate on research problems as interview methods, focused group discussions,case studies and many others to understand the certain circumstances or culture in the society. The approach adopted by qualitative researchers tends to be inductive which means that they develop a theory or look for a pattern of meaning on the basis of the data that they have collected. This involves a move from the specific to the general and is sometimes called a bottom-up approach. However, most research projects also involve a certain degree of deductive reasoning (Trochim, 2005). Quantitative Research is more about collecting numerical data to study about certain phenomena. For example, what percentage of Nepalese student who go to US for foreign degree complete graduate course in United States? Other examples may be what percentage of Nepalese students who are studying in TU have negative attitude towards TU administrations. One usually has to use quantitative research when one wants answer in numbers. However, one has to study about complex situations and go with in-depth studies then qualitative methods should be used. For example, researcher wants to know how people view politics in Nepal? Similarly, a researcher wants to do ethnographic study of the culture of Tharus of Nepal and lives with Tharu for some years, immerse himself/herself in that environment to discover the meanings, convention of behavior, and ways of thinking important in tharu cultures. Similarly, even though the selection of research methods are based upon the problem selected, resource available, the skills of researcher and audience of the research, both the methodologies are also used together in a research which is known as mixed methods. â€Å"Mixed methods often combine nomothetic and idiographic approaches in an attempt to serve the dual purposes of generalization and in-depth understanding—to gain an overview of social regularities from a larger sample while understanding the other through detailed study of a smaller sample. Full integration of these approaches is difficult, hence the predominance of component studies†(Pat Bazeley, 2004) References (Bazeley, 2004) Social Research Methods. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2012, from www.socialresearchmethods. net: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/positivism (2005). In W. M. Trochium, Research Methods (2nd ed.).

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis â€Å"Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness.† SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE This issue of Human Resource Management Review considers the past, present, and future of HRM theory and research, exploring how these issues have considerable potential to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The compilation includes suchthemes as identifying the shortfalls of the science of HRM; predicting, understanding, and influencing the behavior of individuals in organizations; and the status of research on compensation in organizations. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non-substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed. HR-firm performance linkage examines the impact of an overall set of HR practices on firm performance. This perspective advanced the literature from examining the effect of a single HR practice on performance, to examining a set of practices that work together synergistically. Another perspective explains the positive findings between HRM and firm performance by emphasizing the role HR plays in implementing strategies. To effectively implement a particular strategy, HR practices must â€Å"fit† with the strategic goals of the firm. The two studies indicate that HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. It is important to examine the more intermediate linkages between HR reputation and firm reputation and performance. It would also be interesting to examine negative HR reputation signals, and their impact on the reputation of the organization. Employees are likely to recommend an organization for employment when that organization is fully committed to work-family policies. As human capital continues to gain credence as a critical resource, organizations have viewed their HR departments as holding the key to unlocking this important resource. Thus, the power of HR has increased over the past several years, and should continue to grow. In light of the foregoing review and evaluation, and the strengths and limitations of prior work on HR reputation and effectiveness the authors have proposed some directions for theory and research in this area that they believe could result in useful and productive streams of work. â€Å"Effectiveness Index† can be one of the tools to identify firms with very progressive or reputable HR functions. Also, the need to determine what might be the underlying dimensions of HR reputation, and, if multi-dimensional, are all dimensions equally important for effectiveness, or are they differentially weighted? Firms bring about this publicity by taking non-conforming actions and proactively seeking to manage impressions to facilitate their own celebrity to the degree that celebrity increases access to critical resources such as human capital, capital markets, and raw materials, celebrity status for the firm increases a firms competitive advantage. Many firms such as Johnson Johnson, Starbucks, and Hewlett-Packard, frequently hit these lists year after year and are on several lists each year. Many of these firms are known for their ability to â€Å"partner† with the HR function to facilitate strategy execution, administrative efficiency, employee commitment, and innovation. At such an early stage in the evolution of this area of scientific inquiry, it is not clear that HR reputation necessarily has only linear relationships with outcomes; such relationships could be non-linear in form. Perhaps there is an optimal level of reputation for the HR sub-unit, and that a ‘more is always better is not accurate. AUOTHERS CONTRIBUTION IN THIS ARTICLE The author has given a brief and precise history on the evolution of Human Resource Management as an important part of any organization from a record keeping employee towards a strategy building. As the number of personal policies continued to increase during the 19th century the importance of human resources management grew as well. Author have noted down that Competitive advantages, such as organizational culture, employee morale, and worker loyalty, fostered by HRM practices, are more difficult to imitate than manufacturing processes or cost management strategies. CRITICAL REVIEW What is interesting about this information? This article revolves around the evolution of Human Resource Management as the integral part of any organization to run smoothly. From the clerical job of just an employee record keeper to a strategic human asset manager this article has evaluated status of theory and research on HR reputation and effectiveness, and recommends directions for future work. The article starts of by looking at the beginning the change chain in the HR function progression. Born from the industrial relations movement, personnel management was first examined in 1920 by Tead and Metcalf. And During the industrial revolution, utilizing the scientific management of work (e.g., Taylor, 1895), companies began to quantify â€Å"†¦ the most efficient method for performing each work task, piece-rate systems of compensation to maximize employee work effort, and the selection and training of employees based on a thorough investigation of their talents and skills† Starting from the first look at HR function more seriously in 1920 it has moved from the century focusing on the years which hold importance towards the shaping of HR functions as we see them today. In 1925 Craig Charter adding to the chain proved that personnel management 1) became autonomous from the line managers and foremen, 2) turned an interest to psychology, 3)said a firm must be focused on leaders ability to â€Å"†¦effectively deal with employees and earn their loyalty and support† As in 1926 Lewisohn noted, the inherent labor problems that exist between workers and organizations were not a matter of capitalistic dialectic incompatibility, but, rather, incongruence between â€Å"†¦the organizational and administrative practices of management.† Thus, the core of a good organizational-employee relationship is recognizing and capitalizing on the mutual interests of maximum satisfaction and financial return (Filene, 1919). More work was done by Follett and Tead in 1929 and further by Kaufman in 1993 which said â€Å"To obtain cooperation, trust, loyalty, and hard work among employees, firms must attempt to simultaneously fulfill the goals of the worker and the organization† As the number of personal policies continued to increase, so did the importance of human resources management (HRM). As HRM grew, even more laws and regulations were passed in the 1950s and 1960s that promoted equal and fair treatment for all able workers (Russ, Galang, Ferris, 1998). However, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s, when U.S.-based companies realized that their technological processes were no longer a source of sustained competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1994), that HRM was viewed as impacting on organizational performance. As explained by Barney (1991), in his resource-based view of the firm, in order to remain profitable in the long run, organizations must have a sustainable competitive advantage. As organizations placed more emphasis on the human factor, the field of human resource management was formed from a result of various scientific fields of inquiry such as industrial relations and psychology (Dulebohn et al., 1995). In the last 15 years, HRM has further justified its strategic importance, increasingly being viewed as a key resource organizations possess (Pfeffer, 1997), and an essential link in firms strategies (e.g., Arthur, 1994; Huselid, 1995). As human resources are managed appropriately by matching unique internal processes with environmental opportunities and needs, HRM has the potential to be a source of competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. In turn, HRM has been held more accountable to contributing meaningfully to firm performance. Because human resource management is now seen as an important factor in organizational performance and effectiveness, the power and, as a result, the reputation of HR also has increased. How does the author(s) support the hypothesis? Reputation of the firm in the market is based on the Human Resource as an asset to the firm. By quoting; The study of reputation in the organizational sciences largely has been focused on reputation at the corporate level. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed (Barney, 1991; Kothaa, Rajgopala, Rindova, 2001). Work done by Reed DeFillippi, 1990; Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Huselid 1995; Delaney and Huselid, 1996; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Boxall in 2003; Lawler Mohrman in the year 2003;; Colbert 2004;; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff 2004 showed that personal reputation is a collectively agreed upon perception by others, and that reputation exists in a vacuum of imperfect information. When an audience is attempting to gather information regarding an individual (or organization), reputation is relied on to â€Å"fill in the blanks.† This is similar to corporate reputation theory in that personal reputation is based upon social norms, as opposed to market norms. Established upon the notion that reputation is related to social norms, current research suggests that to successfully acquire a reputation, an individual or organization must â€Å"stand out† from others in the field. Rindova, Pollock and Hayward (2006) reflected these beliefs in a recent piece dev oted to celebrity firms, acknowledging the relationship between reputation and celebrity. Suggesting that reputation reflects a predictive measure, they argued that both celebrity and reputation are based on others perception of some entity. Similarly the department level reputation depends on the production of the department individuals respectively and collectively different departments form the reputation of the organization as a whole. This view is supported by work done in 2005 by Roberts. Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Logically, the same process should apply to departments. If an HR department has a strong, powerful leader, the members of the department should feel an increase in power (Cialdini et al., 1976). Consistent support has been found for the HRM firm performance link in the literature, and with the continued development of theory, a richer understanding of how this relationship occurs can both advance the literature and facilitate improvement in practice. The theoretical underpinnings of the literature examining the relationship between HRM and firm performance have developed from; o Examining specific sets of HR practices. o Examining a match between HR practices and strategy o Examining the role of HRM in building and maintaining organizational resources and capabilities that contribute directly to a firms competitive advantage. The linkage between HRM and performance has be identified by the authors on the work done by Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Perry-Smith and Blum 2000; Boxall, 2003; Lawler Mohrman, 2003;, Ranft Lord, 2000, 2002; Collins Clark, 2003; Colbert, 2004; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff, 2004; Hatch and Dyer, 2004 HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. Although only one of the signals from the study affected share price, there may be other advantages of HR reputation at the firm level that are just as important, such as performance, labor costs, and employee turnover. This theory is based on the work done by Wright, Ferris, Hiller and Kroll in 1995; Hannon Milkovich in 1996 and Koys in 1997. What is the main aim of the article? The aim of the article is to provide a base line from the work done throughout the 19th century on the importance of the Human Resource Management as an integral part of the success of any firm. And to provide the readers with information from so many writers from 1920 to 2006 in the history of HR functions enabling the reader to suggest even more on the basis of research work done by them working in their environment any where in the world as human psychology is ever changing. Is the article timely? In the era of fast growing technology and change in almost every firm around the globe the need to develop and consider human resource as an integral part of any organizations success is the key as we read in so many journals and magazines such as â€Å"Times† and â€Å"Business Recorder† the stories of better human resource management success stories of successful companies, it does show that the importance of HR in any firm can not be ignored any more. This article was published in the year 2007 which is to me some what late because of the already changing trends in organization management. So I would have liked the article to be published before the beginning of this century as the boom in technology and industrial revolution has forced companies to review their HR policies and still there are many countries and firms around the world which lack the awareness of the importance of HR as an important mix in the success of their company. Is the methodology appropriate? Any weaknesses? The authors supported their perspective by using quotations and the research work done by over 20 people; from different research papers, articles, books and publications from the year 1920 to 2006. As they moved along the history starting from 1920 little indication of any work between 1930 and 1990 is given. Which I believe has left a big gap in the research work. Although some indication has been given that not much work was done between theses years to promote the importance of HR. Suggestions for future theory and research remains incomplete as many of the ideas merely seem to be repeated of what they have explained in the previous sections. For example: Just as celebrity status for a CEO or a firm has been shown to increase the breadth and volume of resources available to these actors, the popularity and celebrity of HR practices in an organization may increase the resources allocated to the HR function in those organizations. As resources increase, the power and influence of the HR function increase (Pfeffer, 1997). Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). First paragraph quotation is taken from the work done by (Pfeffer, 1997) comes in the article in the first part. And the second written in the conclusion part from (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Both implying the same idea, supporting the conclusion by a repeating quote can affect the strength of the conc lusion itself. How does the article contribute to the field? Does it make an original contribution to the field? Human resource management has evolved into a strategic business partner linking organization goals to the internal and external customers of the company. This article contributes to the field of Human Resource Management vitally as organizations today are shifting and transforming into a global business and fostering local businesses. The importance to align the strategic goals with the HR efforts remains vital to the success. How does the article relate to the course? The course entitled management organizational policy is the study of how organizational strategies are made to run the processes and to make the firm as competitive as possible. This article throws light on Human Resource managements importance and how it thrived and evolved over the years. The most important asset in any firm today is considered to be the Human Resource and managing it properly is the key to success. Diagnosing Human Resource Management Practices: Increasingly, teamwork is seen as one of the main building blocks of successful organizations and much time, effort and resources are being invested in developing and managing cohesive teams (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994) The potential benefits of these investments are numerous and diverse. Perhaps the greatest is the achievement of organizational synergy where the output of the whole team becomes greater than the sum of the individual contributors and in so doing boosts the productivity and creativity of their units and functions. In addition, teamwork can benefit the company and its members in the following ways (Wilson, 1994): For many organizations, decentralization and delegation have been central features of their new management philosophy. Current thinking leads to the removal of as many levels as possible in an attempt to rid the organization of bureaucracy. This is expected to provide faster communication both up and down the organization with less chance of distortion. Another benefit of de layering is that individuals and groups can be more autonomous and responsive to customer needs (Wilson, 1994). Within the general policy guidelines of the organization, employees at the customer interface are empowered to make decisions that previously would have to be referred to higher levels. Finally, another application of the framework presented in this paper would be to investigate the relative influence of so-called best practices on different organizational outcomes. Many of the HRM practices identified in the recent literature seem like fads because they often are implemented without much understanding of the underlying principles of human behavior as well as a tendency to do whatever is popular at the moment, regardless of whether it makes sense in the specific setting or organization (Pfeffer, 1994). It is this trendiness that makes the task of measuring and demonstrating the effective contribution of HR policies and practices of organizations so difficult. Yet, for many line managers, it is the ability to show that HR adds value, not the rhetoric, that forms the basis of policy making and which gives HR its place on company boards. If the HR policies and practices are misaligned, or no attempt is made to provide line managers with a framework to assess practices on an ongoing basis, the credibility and influence of the HR function will suffer. The framework put forward in this article may help to avoid these mistakes. Linkage between Production and Effective HRM: The aspect of this model presenting the greatest practical difficulty is in specifying and measuring employee productivity. A couple of factors complicate this task. The one receiving the most attention in the past has been the problem of measuring productivity, and the more fundamental problem concerning the definition of productivity. At the simplest level, productivity can be defined in terms of quantity of output. Quality is also an important aspect of productivity, but it is the quantity definition of productivity that has received the most attention. The practical difficulty is that many measures of productivity (both quantity and particularly quality) are subjective measures, and thus not very amenable to simulation. Blue collar and routine clerical occupations are the ones most amenable to simulations at present, due to the relative simplicity involved in defining and measuring productivity. Due to the difficulty in determining acceptable objective performance measures, many organizations and studies rely upon subjective measures of productivity, but Bommer et al. [13] conclude that the measures are not interchangeable due to the low published correlations between objective and subjective performance measures. In practical terms, this means that the performance measures used by most organizations are useless for the purpose of simulation studies. The model just illustrated and discussed makes it clear just how complex the human resource aspects of production can be, yet complexity is not a sufficient reason to warrant inclusion in models of production systems. It is only important to include human resources in production system models if biased or deficient conclusions would result from ignoring human resources. The discussion will thus turn to some examples that will highlight the importance of considering carefully the human resource implications of policy decisions. Finally, a brief example of an informal test of the model is discussed. In the example, a post hoc evaluation of an actual example is performed, with simulation results that are consistent with the actual outcome. Leaders influence on organizational effectiveness: Most effects of human capital on firm performance are mediated by efficiency and innovative adaptation. Employees with strong skills and motivation are likely to be more productive, because they will do the work faster and smarter. Research shows that talented employees can improve efficiency and process reliability (e.g., Hatch Dyer, 2004; Ichniowski Shaw, 1999). Talented employees can also improve adaptation by helping to develop innovative products and services, by marketing them effectively, and by providing excellent customer service (Baer Frese, 2003; Pfeffer, 1998; Vermeulen, Jong, OShaughnessy, 2005). Because efficiency and adaptation mediate the effects of human resources and relations on firm performance, the importance of human resources and relations increases when talented, dedicated employees are needed to achieve optimal levels for these other two performance determinants. Human resources are more important when operations are labor intensive, the work is complex and difficult to learn, successful performance requires a high level of skill and experience, and it is difficult to recruit and train competent replacements for people who leave. Examples of organizations likely to have such conditions include hospitals, consulting firms, law firms, advertising agencies, research universities, and companies that rely on advanced manufacturing technology (Snell Dean, 1992). Human resources and relations are very important when the competitive strategy requires unique experts or celebrities to attract and retain customers (Grant, 1996; Pennings et al., 1998). If unusually talented employees are dissatisfied, they can often find jobs in competing companies or start their own company. Voluntary turnover of key employees can be important not only for the loss of unique skills, but also for the loss of their special external relationships with clients, suppliers, strategic partners, and others (Dess Shaw, 2001; Leana Van Buren, 1999; Pennings et al., 1998). Examples of organizations with high dependence on uniquely talented members include professional sports teams, advertising agencies, talent agencies, consulting companies, and investment banking firms. Human relations and resources are less important when much of the work can be done by unskilled workers, there are many people who are able and willing to do simple repetitive work for low wages and benefits, and there are few labor laws or other limitations on how employees are treated (as in many third-world countries). Likewise, human resources and relations are less important when an organization needs few employees except for the headquarters staff (e.g., a chemicals company with highly automated processes, an internet services company, or a â€Å"virtual organization† for which nearly all functions are outsourced). Leaders can improve the performance of an organization by influencing the performance determinants. One form of influence is the use of specific leadership behaviors in interactions with subordinates, peers, and outsiders. A second form of influence involves decisions about management programs and systems, and organizational structure. A third form of influence involves decisions about the competitive strategy for the organization. The three forms of influence must be used together in a consistent way for effective strategic leadership. The Changing Role of HR Managers in Europe: European HR management appears to be a field in transition; external forces such as increasing demands for quality improvement, privatization and completion of the Single European Market are important influences affecting the nature and scope of HRM across European countries. Competitive pressures have added to the challenges created by the changes in the occupational and demographic make-up of the workforce. What are the implications of these developments for the HR function across Europe? It is interesting to note that HR and non-HR managers attached a different degree of importance to the various skill and knowledge areas. In particular, HR managers rated organizational change skills, general business management, and knowledge of general Personnel HR techniques significantly higher in importance than non- HR managers. In contrast, non-HR managers attached more importance to consultation skills, improving employee motivation, and working in teams. These differences were most pronounced in the manufacturing sector. In fact, analysis of sector scores showed that respondents from manufacturing companies consistently rated the need for skills to improve employee motivation, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication higher than those employed in the service and public sectors. These growing demands put the HR manager in a difficult position. If (as the EAPM findings indicated) HR managers are often perceived as too administrative and traditional, line managers may hesitate to allow them to rotate out of the narrow confines of their function into areas where they can gain broader business experience. In addition, what remains unclear is what will happen to the potential role overload and growing expectations on someone in the role of a hardworking HR manager who cannot do all that is required. The senior HR executive in a Swiss company put it candidly: ‘It scares me to think that I might be expected to go out and run a business after twenty years in HR. Im afraid Id fail. HRM Practices in small firms: According to the RBV, human resources (as distinct from human resource activities) are viewed as a potential source of sustained competitive advantage because value, rareness, inimitability and non substitutability is derived from the inherent heterogeneity, ambiguity and complexity of these resources and the conditions under which they are deployed (Wright et al., 1994). Value derives from the unique contribution of skills, knowledge, and cognitive abilities (for example) to achieving firm goals. Research shows that training is an important HRM issue for many small firms, but formal training is less likely to be provided in these firms (Storey, 2004). Storey and Westhead (1997) provide two explanations for this. First, training is less likely to occur in small firms because of ‘ignorance of the benefit it can bring and second because the cost is too high for small firms (Storey, 2004; Storey Westhead, 1997). Importance of Corporate image and reputation: From the perspective of marketing, the impact of corporate image and reputation on consumer behavior is well recognized in spite of the lack of empirical evidence. Numerous authors assert that a good corporate image or reputation helps to increase the firms sales and its market share (Shapiro, 1982), and to establish and maintain a loyal relationship with customers (Andreassen and Lindestad, 1998; Robertson, 1993; Yoon et al., 1993). How is corporate image related to corporate reputation? A review of the past research in the field shows little empirical results except for some general statements. For example, Porter (1985) suggests that a good reputation may help a pioneer rebuilding an innovative image in the industry, while Franklin (1984) proposes that corporate reputation is a global and final outcome of the process of building a corporate image. Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Throughout the 1980s there were a number of variations along this theme of strategic fit (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1988). One of the clearest expositions and developments of this theme was given by Schuler and Jackson (1987). In their model, HRM is seen as a menu of strategic choices to be made by HR executives intended to promote the most effective role behaviors that are consistent with the organization strategy and are aligned with each other. The models starting points are the generic competitive strategies outlined by Porter (1980) i.e. quality enhancement, innovation and cost leadership or reduction. For example, Kravetz (1988) conducted a survey of 150 Forbes 500 companies to examine the relationship between Human Resource Progressiveness (HRP) and a variety of financial measures drawn from Standard Poors Compustat Services, such as five-year growth in sales, five-year growth in profits, and P-E ratio for the latest twelve months. HRP was measured by asking the vice presidents of human resources of each company in the survey to complete a fifty-one item questionnaire on human resource policies and practices in the areas of communication, management style, career development, performance management, working hours and employee participation. Finally, it is clear the contribution of even highly skilled and motivated employees will be limited if jobs are programmed or structured in such a way that employees do not get the opportunity to use their skills and abilities to improve their performance. Consequently, HRM practices can also create competitive advantage through provision of organizational structures, leadership and work conditions that encourage initiative and creativity among employees and allow them to find ways to improve how their jobs are performed. Delegation, cross-functional teamwork and participative management are examples of such conditions. FINAL CONCLUSION With the increasing demands of todays business environment, company executives are placing more pressure on the human resource function to perform better, smarter, faster, and cheaper, while providing more value added services. Now, in addition to supporting workforce requirements and general business initiatives, the activities of HR are increasingly focused on managing the broader human capital capabilities required to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage (e.g., succession planning, leadership development, performance management, cultural transformation).In order to accommodate this shift in focus, HR needs to rapidly align their priorities and resources to provide the wider range of expertise necessary. References: How leaders influence organizational effectiveness Gary Yukl Management Department, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA. The Leadership Quarterly 19 (2008) 708-722 Hatch, W. N., Dyer, H. J. (2004). Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 1155−1178. Ichniowski, C., Shaw, K. (1999). The effect of human resource management systems on economic performance: an international comparison of U.S. and Japanese plants. . Management Science, 45(5), 704−721. Baer, M., Frese, M. (2003). Innovation is not enough: climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations, and firm performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 45−68. Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation. Boston: Harvard Business School. Vermeulen, A. M. P., Jong, D. P. J. J., O, Shaughnessy, K. C. (2005). Identifying key determinants for new produ

Computers And The Disabled :: essays research papers

Computers and The Disabled The computer age has changed many things for many people, but for the disabled the computer has ultimately changed their entire life. Not only has it made life exceedingly easier for all disabled age groups, it has also made them able to be more employable in the work force. Previously unemployable people can now gain the self esteem from fully supporting themselves. Computers have given them the advantages of motion were it had not previously existed. Disabled children now have the advantage to grow up knowing that they can one day be a competent adult, that won't have to rely on someone else for their every need. Windows 95 has made many interesting developments toward making life easier for the nearly blind and for the deaf, including on screen text to synthesize speech or Braille, and adaptive hardware that transforms a computers audible cues into a visual format. Computers have given the limited back their freedom to be an active part of the human race. According to the Americans with Disabilities Acts, any office that has a staff of more than fifteen people now has to provide adaptive hardware and software on their computers, so that workers with disabilities can accomplish many tasks independently. Before this Act was passed the disabled were normally passed over for jobs because of their handicap, now however employers can be assured that people with disabilities can work in the work place just like people without disabilities. The self esteem disabled individuals have gained from the experience to work and be self supporting, is immeasurable. Computerized wheelchairs have given disabled people a whole new perception on life. It has given them the mobility to go just about anywhere they want to go. It has given them the ability to explore an unknown world, and progress intellectually as well as spiritually. Computerized vans allow many disabled people to drive, by having onboard computerized lifts to place the disabled in the driver's seat. Movement sensitive hardware, as well as computerized shifting devices allows the disable to control the van with very little physical movement. Children with disabilities now have access to many computerized devices that enable them to move freely in their home as well as outside. The battery operated bigfoot truck, much like the ones that we buy for our own children to play on have been adapted and computerized for children with special needs. These trucks have been designed for even some of the most limited children to operate with ease. With the newest technology these children can now go to public schools with their peers, and have an active social life. Computers And The Disabled :: essays research papers Computers and The Disabled The computer age has changed many things for many people, but for the disabled the computer has ultimately changed their entire life. Not only has it made life exceedingly easier for all disabled age groups, it has also made them able to be more employable in the work force. Previously unemployable people can now gain the self esteem from fully supporting themselves. Computers have given them the advantages of motion were it had not previously existed. Disabled children now have the advantage to grow up knowing that they can one day be a competent adult, that won't have to rely on someone else for their every need. Windows 95 has made many interesting developments toward making life easier for the nearly blind and for the deaf, including on screen text to synthesize speech or Braille, and adaptive hardware that transforms a computers audible cues into a visual format. Computers have given the limited back their freedom to be an active part of the human race. According to the Americans with Disabilities Acts, any office that has a staff of more than fifteen people now has to provide adaptive hardware and software on their computers, so that workers with disabilities can accomplish many tasks independently. Before this Act was passed the disabled were normally passed over for jobs because of their handicap, now however employers can be assured that people with disabilities can work in the work place just like people without disabilities. The self esteem disabled individuals have gained from the experience to work and be self supporting, is immeasurable. Computerized wheelchairs have given disabled people a whole new perception on life. It has given them the mobility to go just about anywhere they want to go. It has given them the ability to explore an unknown world, and progress intellectually as well as spiritually. Computerized vans allow many disabled people to drive, by having onboard computerized lifts to place the disabled in the driver's seat. Movement sensitive hardware, as well as computerized shifting devices allows the disable to control the van with very little physical movement. Children with disabilities now have access to many computerized devices that enable them to move freely in their home as well as outside. The battery operated bigfoot truck, much like the ones that we buy for our own children to play on have been adapted and computerized for children with special needs. These trucks have been designed for even some of the most limited children to operate with ease. With the newest technology these children can now go to public schools with their peers, and have an active social life.

Communism Essay -- Communism Essays

Communism is the belief that everyone in a society should be equal and share their wealth. It is an outgrowth of socialism and Anabaptism (Laski 45). It became a firmly rooted term after the Russian Revolution of 1917. According to the words of Karl Marx, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" 1. These theories were spread by Karl Marx. He believed that what a person made of himself reflected his effort (McLellan 1). He also believed that communism, or the state of equality was ones "final stage in life" (Leone 1). Communism basically started in 1847, with the formation of the London Communist League. This was an international association of worker, whose sole purpose was to write a "theoretical and practical program which would serve as the basis for uniting the working classes of Europe" (Leone 1). The London Communist League asked Marx for help in drafting a document to represent their standings. He composed the "Communist Manifesto" or "The Manifesto of the Communist Party" (Leone 1). The Russian Revolution helped foster communism. The Russian Revolution started with the with the assassination of Rasputin. In March of 1917, the Duma declares a prvisional government, including czars. During this period, there were also massive strikes by the workers. It was furthered by the abdication of Czar Nicholas. The Russian Revolution itself occured throughout 1917, with the start of the March Revolution. In April of 1917, Lenin return from exil in Switerland and denounced the established provisional government. The next general step was the gaining of the seats in the Petograd Soviet Parliment by the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks picked Lenin to then head the government, just several days after the November Revolution. During this revolution the peasants storm the palace, taking total control of the government. At this point, the power was given to Lenin. Almost immediatly he issued the New Economic Plan, which instituted the one party system or communism. They basicaly supported the basic communist theories of Karl Marx, as interpreted by Lenin. He installed many of his beliefs and helped reorganize the people, and essentially emmancipatte the working class. He also is credited with the creation of the S... .... The economic state of China made it much more profitable for a peasant to work for the warlord that form the land (Shanor 95). Because of the poor conditions, small Communist groups began to form in China's cities. At first, they were allies with Sun Yat-Sen and his Nationalists. But the good feelings between the two parties deteriorated quickly after Chiang Kai-Shek, Sun's successor, ordered the Shanghai Massacre of the Communists. Chiang spent the following years alternating between negotiating with and fighting against the Communists. The situation became so drastic that the Communists eventually fled during the Long March of 1934-35 (Shanor 95). The United States, who was very Anti-Communist after WWII, supported Chiang Kai-Shek. Over a period of four years, the US gave $2.5 billion to support the Nationalist cause. Despite their efforts, the Communists eventually overthrew the Nationalist government, forcing Chiang and followers to flee to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communists, proclaimed the country as the People's Republic of China (Shanor 96). 1 Industrial Workers of the World www.iww.org

Our Town :: essays research papers

Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, is an American classic, expressing with warmth and humor the eternal truths of human existence. It is a heartening, compassionate glimpse of that time before the Great Wars; before our innocence was lost forever. From the time of its first performances in 1938, it has continued to be regarded as one of the best representations of life in America and of the richness of our theatre world. For decades it has remained a landmark of theatrical craftsmanship and a loving picture of American life. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Our Town depicts pathos set against a background of centuries of time, social history, and religious ideas. As the Stage Manager (who functions as a Greek chorus in the drama) says: "This is the way we were in our growing-up and in our marrying and in our doctoring and in our living and in our dying." Our Town is set in 1901 in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, where the Gibbses and the Webbs are neighbors. During their childhood George Gibbs and Emily Webb are playmates and their lives are inextricably woven together as neighbors' lives are likely to be. But as they grow older they pass into a state of romantic (and embarrassing) interest in one another. George proposes to Emily in the drug store over an ice cream soda, and they are married with all the good folks of Grover's Corners in attendance. But George and Emily's happiness is short-lived. Emily dies in childbirth and is buried in the town's cemetery on a rainy, dreary day. There she is reunited with those friends and neighbors who have died before her, and who help her acclimate herself to her new existence. In one of the most vital scenes in modern theatre, the peace and quiet of death, which can never be understood by the living, is portrayed. Our Town is not just about Emily and George and, indeed, is not just about a small town in northern New England a hundred years ago. Our Town is a play about what we (and Thornton Wilder) thought America and Americans were. As we are about to take a head-long leap into the next century we are forced, not only to look ahead to what we might become, but to turn and look back at what allowed us to arrive at this threshold of the new millennium.

Cooperative Learning Is About Learning In Groups Education Essay

1. Group members depend on each other for endurance of the squad or to make the set mark. That is members are reciprocally responsible for sharing a common set of rule. The success and failure of the group depends on the each member of the group. 2. Face-to-face interaction- Promoting success of group members by praising, promoting, back uping, or helping each other. 3. Individual accountability- Each group member is held accountable for his or her work. Individual answerability helps to avoid members from â€Å" thumbing † on other group members ‘ achievements. 4. Social skills- Cooperative acquisition groups set the phase for pupils to larn societal accomplishments. These accomplishments help to construct stronger cooperation among group members. Leadership, decision-making, trust-building, and communicating are different accomplishments that are developed in concerted acquisition. 5. Group processing- Group processing is an appraisal of how groups are working to accomplish their ends or undertakings. By reexamining group behaviour the pupils and the instructor acquire a opportunity to discourse particular demands or jobs within the group. Groups acquire a opportunity to show their feelings about good and unhelpful facets of the group larning procedure in order to rectify unwanted behavior and observe successful results in the group work. Concerted acquisition is about pupils developing their cognition and interacting with others. Researchs on larning suggest that an effectual manner of acquisition is when pupils look for information themselves and construct on such information. Knowledge can be tested and developed to a big extent by so making ( Ray, 2008 ) . Other academicians are besides of the impression that effectual acquisition can be achieved chiefly by interaction with people. During group larning pupils interact and learn from each other to accomplish their set end and construct a positive relationship. This manner of larning brings about increased academic success by pupils and besides improves their human dealingss. Harmonizing to Foyle and Lyman ( 1988 ) , for a concerted acquisition as a instruction scheme to be successful, the instructor should come out with the best technique to be used and the subject to be taught while seting pupils into groups with ideal size in a well organised schoolroom where there will be free interaction by pupils and besides assesses the methods to guarantee smooth running by the squad. Again the instructor explains the purpose and outlook of the acquisition and makes it clip edge. Group advancement is besides monitored by the instructor and offer aid suitably to hard undertakings if required. Besides group work is assessed with accent on single pupil ‘s learning constructs or public presentation and Markss awarded for their accomplishments or success. Teachers every bit good as scholars do bask a batch of benefits from concerted larning. Many of these benefits arise from the intrinsic motivational strengths of Cooperative Learning and the extent to which Cooperative Learning Fosters pupil involvement, behavioral and attitudinal alteration, and chances for success. As Keller ( 1983 ) demonstrates â€Å" this set of results consequences from the successful incorporation of motivational issues into direction. † Johnson & A ; Johnson ( 1989 ) in their survey found out that â€Å" a primary benefit of Cooperative Learning is that it enhances pupils ‘ ego regard which in bend motivates pupils to take part in the acquisition procedure. † Slavin ( 1987 ) is of the sentiment that â€Å" concerted attempts among pupils result in a higher grade of achievement by all participants. † Again harmonizing to Kagan ( 1986 ) , â€Å" Students help each other and in making so construct a supportive community which raises the public presentation degree of each member. † This brings approximately motive every bit good as increased ego regard in all pupils as noted by Webb ( 1982 ) . Johnson and Johnson ( 1990 ) once more noted that â€Å" cooperation enhances pupil satisfaction with the larning experience by actively affecting pupils in planing and finishing category processs and class content. † Besides Turnure and Zigler ( 1958 ) assert that â€Å" effectual squads or groups assume ownership of a procedure and its consequences when persons are encouraged to work together toward a common end, frequently defined by the group which is particularly helpful for persons who have a history or failure. † Harmonizing to Kessler et Al. ( 1985 ) , â€Å" concerted acquisition reduces schoolroom anxiousness created by new and unfamiliar state of affairss faced by pupils. † In a traditional schoolroom when a instructor calls upon a pupil, he/she becomes the focal point of attending of the full category. Any errors or wrong replies become capable to scrutiny by the whole category. Slavin and Karweit ( 1981 ) are of a contrasting position that â€Å" when pupils work in a group, the focal point of attending is diffused among the group. In add-on, the group produces a merchandise which its members can reexamine prior to showing it to the whole category, therefore decreasing chances that errors will happen at all. When a error is made, it becomes a learning tool alternatively of a public unfavorable judgment of an single pupil † . Featherstone ( 1986 ) noted that â€Å" Students show more assurance and show high degree of enthusiasm, wonder and engagement in being taught through concerted acquisition undertakings. Besides pupils are empowered to hold the sense of being successful at each phase of their instruction. † What makes it even more singular is that in concerted acquisition squads, low accomplishing pupils who have low degrees of public presentation and accomplishments have the chance to do parts to a group and therefore experience success. Nor is it all for pupils enjoy other benefits such as increasing their cognition and apprehension of thoughts by sharing and explicating them to others. Students working with spouses ask each other for aid and better their attitude towards work. Methodology The survey focuses on concerted acquisition as a instruction schemes used by instructors and its consequence on students ‘ acquisition. It will follow a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The primary research of the survey will be in the signifier of questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative research will be used because it allows the topic being studied to give much ‘richer ‘ replies to inquiries put to them by the research worker, and may give valuable penetrations which might hold been missed by any other method. It besides provides valuable information to certain research inquiries in its ain right. It besides helps to analyze things in their natural scene, trying to do sense of, or construe the significances people bring to them. Van Maneen ( 1983 ) defines qualitative method as an array of interpretative techniques method which seek to depict, decode, translate and otherwise come to footings with the significance, non the frequence, of certain more or less of course happening phenomena in the societal universe. The chief ground for sing qualitative interviews is to be able to understand and clear up all uncertainty and guarantee that the responses from staff are decently understood. Face-to-face interviews besides allow more ‘depth ‘ probe although it could besides take a long period of clip to set up and carry on ( www.marketresearcher.com ) . Burgess ( 1982 ) describes face-to-face interviews as the agencies and chance for the research worker to examine profoundly to bring out new hints, open up new dimensions of a job and to procure vivid, accurate inclusive histories that are based on personal experience. The strength of a quantitative method is that it produces quantifiable dependable informations that are normally generalised to some larger population. It focuses on Numberss and frequences instead than on significance and experience. It besides provides information which is easy to analyze statistically. Questionnaire study was chosen as the best quantitative tool for this survey. Sampling Procedure A sample is defined as a subset or some portion of a larger population ( Westen, 1996 ) . A population in this context can be classified as a group of people who portion or hold a common set of features and who can handily be used for the intent of this work. A sample size of 30 will be selected for this survey. This will consist 15 instructors, 5 caputs of section and 10 pupils. The principle for this sampling method is to bring forth the needed information for analysis and avoid the complexness of informations, biased and subjective sample choice. The inclusion of the caputs of sections and pupils in the survey is to supplement, balance and bring forth an nonsubjective information of the existent state of affairs. Data Collection Source Data will be obtained through questionnaires given to instructors and pupils. Few instructors and caputs of section will be interviewed to obtain information which will non be covered in the questionnaire. The survey will trust chiefly on primary informations as the chief beginning for analysis. The cardinal point here is that the informations collected is alone and until published, no 1 can hold entree to it. This will be gathered fundamentally through the usage of self-administered questionnaires, interviews of instructors, caputs of section and pupils. A dairy will be kept to enter relevant information. Questionnaires A questionnaire may be defined as a group or sequence of inquiries designed to arouse information on a topic or a group of topics from an source ( Casley and Lury, 1987 ) . The inquiries will be a upper limit of 12 to enable instructors, caputs of section and pupils complete within a short period of clip. Close ended inquiries will chiefly be used because they are easy and quicker to reply. Interviews The entire figure of interviewees will be 10 being 2 caputs of sections and 8 instructors. They will be given the chance to discourse their positions on concerted acquisition, its effects on acquisition and the benefits. The interview will last for approximately 10 to 15 proceedingss. The undermentioned countries will organize the topic of the interview inquiries: The importance of concerted acquisition. Using concerted acquisition in schools The benefits of concerted acquisition The impact of concerted acquisition on pupils larning. One of the advantages of questioning as a signifier of informations aggregation is that it enables the interviewer to examine and inquire follow up inquiries based on the response ( s ) of the interviewee. Second, there is the possibility of the interviewer being able to do intending out of non-verbal communicating medium such as facial looks and gestures made by the interviewee in the class of the interview. It besides eliminates the impersonal component of the questionnaire attack and allows for good resonance and personal interaction between the interviewer and the respondent. The interviews conducted will be used to complement the informations collected from the questionnaires. Data Handling and analysis Datas collected through procedures such as questionnaires and interviews are described as natural ( informations ) and can merely be utile when it is transformed into the needed information for which they were gathered, collected, analysed and reported. This is so checked for the necessary accommodations for skips, discernability and consistence and subjected to computing machine aided analysis. This research adopted a combination of descriptive, analytical, comparative and per centums derived from quantitative analysis. Descriptive statistics and analytical methods will be used to show detect tendencies and facts, utilizing tabular arraies and per centums. The public presentation of students thought utilizing concerted acquisition as a instruction scheme will be assessed and illations drawn from them. LIMITATION OF STUDY The survey will be limited to my 2nd instruction pattern school with more accent on the instructors, caputs of section and pupils. Another restriction could be the chosen sample size, which might non be a just representation of the entire population of staff in that school. Again some staff might non be willing to portion information, while other staff might non be able to finish the questionnaire or acquire the clip to be interviewed because of the nature of their work. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Teachers are faced with a figure of issues that concern guaranting that pupils achieve their outmost best in footings of accomplishment and higher-level logical thinking. Concerted acquisition is considered to be among the most of import instruction schemes because of its effectivity. The popularity and broad spread usage of concerted acquisition is its footing on a theory validated by a great trade of research. Decisions would be made based on the findings which will be analysed in consistence with the reviewed literature. Decisions would besides be drawn based on the findings and analysis made as to how feedback from the instructors and students questionnaires can be transformed into actionable day-to-day tool for set uping the best instruction schemes that will convey approximately effectual acquisition on the portion of the pupils. Thereafter recommendations would be made sing the restraints of this survey for policy shapers and for future research work in this country. It is expected that the survey when completed successfully will hold a great impact on the professional development of instructors in footings of their instruction schemes and its consequence on students larning. It is besides expected that the result of this survey will function to edify instructors in their professionalism in fiting their instruction schemes to the acquisition manners of students for the maximal benefit . By and large it is expected that the undermentioned decisions can be drawn with mention to the reviewed literature. Students from different cultural background construct their assurance and do steady advancement when they work in a squad through the aid they get from their equals. Cooperative acquisition methods are used as a scheme of come oning pupils ‘ accomplishment to a greater degree and to assist keep a consistent growing in a planetary universe. Teachers who are keen on working with pupils from different cultural background usage this scheme to back up them to stand out academically. Concerted acquisition technique raises pupils ‘ attainment to a high criterion so far as they are designed to reflect the civilization and linguistic communication of the pupils Concerted acquisition promotes mastery while inactive credence of information from an outside expert frequently promotes a sense of weakness and trust upon others to achieve constructs. In a typical schoolroom stressing instruction, there is small clip for contemplation and treatment of pupils ‘ mistakes or misconceptions. With the Cooperative acquisition pupils are continuously discoursing, debating and clear uping their apprehension of the constructs. Students spend more clip working on a undertaking in concerted acquisition than when working separately. Most surveies have found that concerted acquisition pupils spend more clip on undertaking than control pupils ( Slavin, 1995 ) . Spending tonss of clip on a undertaking increases pupils motive and gives them assurance in themselves. Good assurance additions self-esteem. There is a relationship between self-pride and motive. Students who have positive self-prides are easy motivated in category. Concerted acquisition enables pupils to believe and ground good. As a consequence of this, pupils are able to maintain any information learnt for a long clip than pupils who work on their ain ( Johnson and Johnson 1986 ) . Thus the shared learning experience gives pupils an chance to prosecute in treatment, take duty for their ain acquisition ( Totten et al. , 1991 ) and as a consequence, go critical minds. Cooperative acquisition has an added advantage of assisting pupil non merely to interact academically but besides socially whereby they are extremely motivated and encouraged to work together as a group. The concerted acquisition as a instruction scheme has been found to be successful and effectual with older pupils in every bit much as with younger. Through concerted larning a kid in his or her early phases of larning develops a good and unquestioning attitudes for their couples, instructors and every bit good as school attending with increased involvement in school which leads to tonss of academic successes. It besides provides the platform where pupils in the group get and portion thoughts by larning each other ‘s job resolution accomplishments through the usage of different linguistic communications.

A hero that I most admire by Zanis

Despite all these hardships, my mom still managed to get an education, start a family and accomplish something that would change the course of my life, forever. She worked and worked and worked, and, eventually, she saved up enough money to fly me over to Ireland to have a better childhood and lifestyle than she had, I admire that woman because she went above and beyond to make sure that her child would receive a better education, a better life and a secure future where we don't have to worry about where our next meal is owing from.Secondly, I admire her because of her strength. She's been through hell and back, and, amazingly, she's still here, standing tall. About eight years ago, my mom and dad were divorced. When I heard the news, I was so little, I broke down and cried. My father was my world, my everything, and to know that I could lose him at any given moment scared the life out of me. Just the other day, I asked my mom why she never cried. She responded, â€Å"Are you kiddin g me†, I would cry all the time. I would cry when you kids were off at school. I would even cry myself to sleep sometimes.I Just wouldn't cry In front of you kids or your step-father, because I knew that I had to keep a straight face. I had to be the rock that kept the family grounded. She was the rock then, and she's still the rock now. Lastly, I admire her because she's as quick as a whip and she's more Independent than anyone I know. She's a clever one I tell you. It seems Like whenever anyone In my family comes down with an Illness, she has the cure. If you are living under my mom's roof there's absolutely no deed for missing days off school because of some Illness.Just give her fifteen minutes to mix up a homemade remedy and you're cured. On top of that, my mom Is also very clever. If the check engine light lights up, my mom can take care of It. When the time to file taxes comes around, she's got It. A lot of people look up to celebrates Like Kim Sardinian or Jeremy Line. Now don't get me wrong, those celebrates are great and all. But, I don't admire them the same way that I admire my mom. She's an Incredible human being whoso hardworking, strong, clever and Independent. I admire her courage and her resilience.She Inspires me and my slings to be better people and to give life own very best shot. A hero that I most admire by Azans By Pakistani sometimes. I Just wouldn't cry in front of you kids or your step-father, because I knew as quick as a whip and she's more independent than anyone I know. She's a clever one I tell you. It seems like whenever anyone in my family comes down with an illness, she has the cure. If you are living under my mom's roof there's absolutely no need for missing days off school because of some illness.Just give her fifteen minutes to mix up a homemade remedy and you're cured. On top of that, my mom is also very clever. If the check engine light lights up, my mom can take care of it. When the time to file taxes comes around, she's got it. A lot of people look up to celebrities like Kim Sardinian or Jeremy Line. Now don't get me wrong, those celebrities are incredible human being who's hardworking, strong, clever and independent. I admire her courage and her resilience. She inspires me and my siblings to be better people

Explain Externalities and Public Gods

With the aid of examples explain the terms: i) Externality ii) Public Good Externality Externalities, or transaction  spillovers, arise when a third party who is not involved in the consumption of a product incur certain costs and benefits that are not compensated for by the generators of those externalities. They exist due to the price system’s (The Invisible Hand) inability to deal with products that have no market or price, such as clean air, peace, quiet, pollution and more. In a broader sense, externalities involve interdependence of utility due to the fact that one person’s action will affect the welfare of another.Externalities can be classified into two types: positive externalities and negative externalities. Positive externalities exist when an externality-generating activity raises the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities. These economic activities provide incidental benefits to others for whom they aren’t specifical ly intended. Negative externalities exist when an externality-generating activity decreases the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities.These economic activities impose a cost onto others for whom they aren’t specifically intended. The undesirable effects on the allocation of resources by an externality can be explained by using the concept of Marginal Social Cost (MSC). In Economics, the MSC is defined as the sum of Marginal Private Cost (MPC), the marginal cost caused by an activity that is compensated for by the generators, and Marginal External Cost, which is the share of external effects borne by the rest. When a firm’s activities generate negative externalities, its MSC is greater than its MPC.In equilibrium, the Marginal Private Benefit (MPB) will be equal to the firm’s MPC, and hence the MPB < MSC. Hence, the final output for the consumer yields less to the society than what it costs to society. Thus, it can be deduced that production is inefficient and that these externalities can be reduced if the production of that particular product is reduced. For example, the construction of roads to facilitate the transport of goods for a factory that produces staplers will benefit residents in that area because they now have greater road accessibility.This is said to be the positive externality arising from this economic activity. On the flip side, this same factory that instigated the construction of roads may discharge a toxic amount of by-products such as soot and toxins into the air and rivers, hence greatly reducing the quality of air and water in that area. This is because factory owners wish to maximize profits and hence will only take into account their MPC and ignore the wider social costs of their activities – MSC will be greater than MPC.In conclusion, it can be said that when positive externalities exist, the MSB > MPB, and when negative externalities exist, the MSC > MPC. Public Good In eco nomic theory, a good is a tangible or intangible item that gives utility to people when consumed. Goods can be classified into free and economic goods. The former entails no opportunity cost to the consumer, meaning that no one is made worse off by the consumption of a free good. Examples are desert sand, air and seawater. An economic good, on the other hand, entails an opportunity cost.This is because some other good has to be forgone in order to produce an economic good. The root of this opportunity cost is scarcity – a situation in which unlimited human wants exceed the lack of resources that we have in order to meet that demand. Economic goods can then be further subdivided into two: public and private goods. Public goods are collectively consumed and the market may simply not supply them. Examples of public goods are such as defense of the country (a police force and army), a fire brigade, street lighting, or lighthouses. The market system does not work well in this area .One of the jobs of government, both central and local, is to supply public goods or services that are needed but otherwise would not be made available by the market. Some goods are â€Å"semi-public goods†, â€Å"quasi public goods† or â€Å"collective consumption goods†, for instance roads. These are often supplied by the state, but in principle they can be privately supplied, and sometimes are. Examples include the British Toll Roads in the Nineteenth Century or the peage motorways in France today; when you use them, you pay. In some countries, such as Thailand, the fire brigade falls in this area.People insure with a private fire brigade and call them when the house is burning. If you are not insured and you still call them, the market swings into action and they negotiate a rate on the spot for putting out the fire – given the urgency of the event, the demand by the burning house owner is highly inelastic and the price can be very high. There are two key characteristics of a public good. Firstly, public goods are non-excludable, meaning that the producer is unable to separate the non-paying consumers from the paying consumers that are benefitting from the good.As a result, the payer will eventually refuse to pay for the good too. Consequently, markets will refuse to produce public goods and this will result in a market failure. For example, if an entrepreneur stages a fireworks show, people can watch the show from their windows or backyards. Because the entrepreneur cannot charge a fee for consumption, the fireworks show may go unproduced, even if demand for the show is strong. To illustrate the public good’s inability to exclude, here’s an example: In the provision of national defense, if one citizen of defended, so are the rest of the citizens. Secondly, public goods are non-exhaustible.This means that the use of the good by one person does not reduce the amount available to others. Hence, rivalry does not exist in the consumption of this product and another consumer will incur no opportunity cost. For example, the exchange of  MP3  music files on the Internet. The use of these files by any one person does not restrict the use by anyone else and there is little effective control over the exchange of these music files and photo files. In a nutshell, public goods are economic goods that are non-excludable and non-exhaustible, and can be subdivided into public goods and â€Å"semi† public goods. Explain Externalities and Public Gods With the aid of examples explain the terms: i) Externality ii) Public Good Externality Externalities, or transaction  spillovers, arise when a third party who is not involved in the consumption of a product incur certain costs and benefits that are not compensated for by the generators of those externalities. They exist due to the price system’s (The Invisible Hand) inability to deal with products that have no market or price, such as clean air, peace, quiet, pollution and more. In a broader sense, externalities involve interdependence of utility due to the fact that one person’s action will affect the welfare of another.Externalities can be classified into two types: positive externalities and negative externalities. Positive externalities exist when an externality-generating activity raises the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities. These economic activities provide incidental benefits to others for whom they aren’t specifical ly intended. Negative externalities exist when an externality-generating activity decreases the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities.These economic activities impose a cost onto others for whom they aren’t specifically intended. The undesirable effects on the allocation of resources by an externality can be explained by using the concept of Marginal Social Cost (MSC). In Economics, the MSC is defined as the sum of Marginal Private Cost (MPC), the marginal cost caused by an activity that is compensated for by the generators, and Marginal External Cost, which is the share of external effects borne by the rest. When a firm’s activities generate negative externalities, its MSC is greater than its MPC.In equilibrium, the Marginal Private Benefit (MPB) will be equal to the firm’s MPC, and hence the MPB < MSC. Hence, the final output for the consumer yields less to the society than what it costs to society. Thus, it can be deduced that production is inefficient and that these externalities can be reduced if the production of that particular product is reduced. For example, the construction of roads to facilitate the transport of goods for a factory that produces staplers will benefit residents in that area because they now have greater road accessibility.This is said to be the positive externality arising from this economic activity. On the flip side, this same factory that instigated the construction of roads may discharge a toxic amount of by-products such as soot and toxins into the air and rivers, hence greatly reducing the quality of air and water in that area. This is because factory owners wish to maximize profits and hence will only take into account their MPC and ignore the wider social costs of their activities – MSC will be greater than MPC.In conclusion, it can be said that when positive externalities exist, the MSB > MPB, and when negative externalities exist, the MSC > MPC. Public Good In eco nomic theory, a good is a tangible or intangible item that gives utility to people when consumed. Goods can be classified into free and economic goods. The former entails no opportunity cost to the consumer, meaning that no one is made worse off by the consumption of a free good. Examples are desert sand, air and seawater. An economic good, on the other hand, entails an opportunity cost.This is because some other good has to be forgone in order to produce an economic good. The root of this opportunity cost is scarcity – a situation in which unlimited human wants exceed the lack of resources that we have in order to meet that demand. Economic goods can then be further subdivided into two: public and private goods. Public goods are collectively consumed and the market may simply not supply them. Examples of public goods are such as defense of the country (a police force and army), a fire brigade, street lighting, or lighthouses. The market system does not work well in this area .One of the jobs of government, both central and local, is to supply public goods or services that are needed but otherwise would not be made available by the market. Some goods are â€Å"semi-public goods†, â€Å"quasi public goods† or â€Å"collective consumption goods†, for instance roads. These are often supplied by the state, but in principle they can be privately supplied, and sometimes are. Examples include the British Toll Roads in the Nineteenth Century or the peage motorways in France today; when you use them, you pay. In some countries, such as Thailand, the fire brigade falls in this area.People insure with a private fire brigade and call them when the house is burning. If you are not insured and you still call them, the market swings into action and they negotiate a rate on the spot for putting out the fire – given the urgency of the event, the demand by the burning house owner is highly inelastic and the price can be very high. There are two key characteristics of a public good. Firstly, public goods are non-excludable, meaning that the producer is unable to separate the non-paying consumers from the paying consumers that are benefitting from the good.As a result, the payer will eventually refuse to pay for the good too. Consequently, markets will refuse to produce public goods and this will result in a market failure. For example, if an entrepreneur stages a fireworks show, people can watch the show from their windows or backyards. Because the entrepreneur cannot charge a fee for consumption, the fireworks show may go unproduced, even if demand for the show is strong. To illustrate the public good’s inability to exclude, here’s an example: In the provision of national defense, if one citizen of defended, so are the rest of the citizens. Secondly, public goods are non-exhaustible.This means that the use of the good by one person does not reduce the amount available to others. Hence, rivalry does not exist in the consumption of this product and another consumer will incur no opportunity cost. For example, the exchange of  MP3  music files on the Internet. The use of these files by any one person does not restrict the use by anyone else and there is little effective control over the exchange of these music files and photo files. In a nutshell, public goods are economic goods that are non-excludable and non-exhaustible, and can be subdivided into public goods and â€Å"semi† public goods.