Beowulf Research Paper Example

Beowulf Paper The great epic sonnet Beowulf is firmly fixated on a topic of dedication. Given that the memorable setting and milieu of the epic, it is reasonable why this specific nature of human undertakings was given the focal point of the audience. The creator depicts a courageous picture of the hero, who valiantly battles foes so as to spare his lord Hrothgar and his country’s subjects. When the Anglo-Saxon territories were in lasting overflowing and fighting, this showcase of dedication and steadfastness to one’s ace is even more magnificent. For instance, the fifth century to eleventh century A.D. at the point when this epic sonnet was set, alluded to by students of history as the Early English time frame, was of much verifiable noteworthiness as far as its pertinence to the uniqueness and energy of the Anglo-Saxon social advancement during the resulting hundreds of years. In this specific situation, the investigation of Beowulf and the related ideas of reliability and chivalry is very basic in understanding the English social legacy. The accompanying entries will investigate this topic further. Notwithstanding this remarkable display of valor on part of Beowulf, the sonnet is likewise a story of the fundamental sets of accepted rules and dependability in the crude Anglo-Saxon society of the time. While an elevated expectation of decent presence is normal from the Kings and Nobles, it is just a couple of men of outstanding mental fortitude who in reality satisfy those beliefs. Beowulf is clear one of the chosen few, as is made apparent from his valiant overcoming of Grendel, just as his brave battle with the mythical serpent. Beowulf is likewise depicted as having other better characteristics, for example, circumspection and liberality. We will compose a custom paper test on Beowulf explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom paper test on Beowulf explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom paper test on Beowulf explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer Beowulf shows unquestioning devotion not exclusively to Hrothgar, yet in addition to his King Hygelac. In an announcement of the rich Anglo-Saxon social convention, Beowulf is demonstrated to be devoted to the normal people and residents too. The creator attempts to depict the encapsulation of an Anglo-Saxon warrior as Beowulf. The other part of the Anglo-Saxon culture that is delivered in the epic is a manner toward deterministic and fatalistic flows of thought among the common society of the time. This is show even more plainly in the fights that Beowulf compensation against his enemies. The exemplary case of this appears as Beowulf’s battles with Grendel and afterward the winged serpent later in time. At the hour of composing this epic sonnet, the characteristics that were comprehended to characterize the chivalrous in man were boldness, mental fortitude and unflinching faithfulness. A legend is somebody who is deserving of his status in the public arena, somebody whom the residents turn upward to and attempt to imitate. It is putting it mildly to state that the character of Beowulf embodied all the previously mentioned chivalrous characteristics. For example, his dauntless demonstration because of a danger to Hrothgar, just as his battle with the compelling beast Grendel are too generally excellent instances of the Anglo-Saxon brave epitome that Beowulf was. In a comparable vein, the sonnet additionally gives a brief look at the characteristics expected of a perfect ruler. It attempts to depict a highminded lord as somebody whose activities are grounded on morals and a feeling of equity. As much as the focal character Beowulf himself, the King is additionally a prime case of the valorous Anglo-Saxon custom. His activities and choices depend on this solid good establishment, along these lines setting a model for his reliable warriors and regular subjects the same. Additionally, Beowulf himself leads his undertakings deserving of his king’s high good principles. Through this praiseworthy lead, Beowulf and his lord prevail upon the trust and profound respect of the individuals under their order. Presentation: The tussle for matchless quality among England and France returns to antiquated history. After a few bombed endeavors in earlier hundreds of years, the Normans at last crushed the English in the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066, subsequently changing the course of the island’s history fundamentally. Not exclusively did the Normans assume control over the political rules yet additionally affected significant changes to the social and etymological legacy of the individuals of England. This article will endeavor to show how the Norman Conquest of England left an enduring effect on people in the future of English in the social, political, artistic and social domains. Promptly following the Norman Conquest, the strict conventionality of England confronted a genuine danger to their material belongings, as the new rulers requested raid of chapel treasures, inconvenience of reformatory gelds and expenses, presented new orders of knight administration, and lay magnates’ seizure of the domains having a place with .

Coke vs PepsiPepsi and Coke’s Uncivil Wars Essay Example for Free

Coke versus PepsiPepsi and Coke’s Uncivil Wars Essay Part 9 in Competition Demystified: Uncivil Cola Wars: Coke and Pepsi Confront the Prisoner’s Dilemma What are the wellsprings of upper hands in the soft drink industry? First we should see industry structure. The cola organizations purchase crude materials of sugar, sugars and flavorings from numerous providers then they transform the wares into a marked item which comprises of syrup/concentrated joined with water and jugs. The organizations are joined at the hip with their bottlers/merchants who at that point offer to numerous retail outlets. Selling cumbersome and overwhelming refreshments fits territorial economies of scale favorable circumstances. The soft drink organizations can't work effectively except if their bottlers and merchants are productive and content whether organization possessed or diversified. The presence of hindrances to passage shows that the officeholders appreciate upper hands that potential participants can't coordinate. In the soda world, the wellsprings of these focal points are anything but difficult to recognize. To begin with, on the interest side, there is the sort of client steadfastness that arrange officials, lager brewers and vehicle producers just dream about. Individuals who drink soft drinks drink them as often as possible (propensity arrangement), and they relish a steadiness of experience that keeps them requesting a similar brand, regardless of the conditions. Both Coke and Pepsi display the nearness of boundaries to passage and serious advantageâ€stable *ROE can be affected by whether bottlers’ resources are off or on the asset report Second, there are enormous economies of scale in the soft drink business both at the concentrate creator and bottler levels. Growing new items and promoting existing ones are fixed costs, inconsequential to the quantity of cases sold. Similarly significant, the dissemination of pop to the customer profits by territorial scale economies. The more clients there are in a given district, the more prudent the dissemination. A bottler of Coke, offering the item to 40% to half of the soft drink consumers in the market region, will have lower costs than somebody selling Dr. Pepper to 5% to 56% of the consumers. During the â€Å"statesmen† period of Pepsi and Coke, what activities did every one of the organizations take? For what reason did they help raise productivity? Note the dependability of piece of the pie and ROE. ROE plunged in 1980 and 1982 as Pepsi and Coke pursued a value war. However, pieces of the overall industry didn't change because of the cost warâ€both organizations were more awful off. Pepsi picked up piece of the pie in the late 1970s versus Coke. Coke was moderate and awkward to react. Value wars between two elephants in an industry with obstructions to section will in general level a great deal of grass and satisfy clients. They barely ever bring about a dead elephant. In any case, there are better and more regrettable methods of starting a value challenge. Coke picked the most noticeably terrible. Coke decided to bring down focus costs on those locales where a lot of the cola advertise was high (80%) and Pepsi’s low (20 percent). This strategy guaranteed that for each dollar of income Pepsi surrendered, Coke would give up four dollars. Coke fortunately grew New Coke which permitted it to assault Pepsi in its prevailing markets in an exact wayâ€minimizing harm to Coke’s profitsâ€and power a ceasefire in the value wars. They made noticeable moves to flag the opposite side that they planned to coordinate. Coca-Cola started the new period with a significant corporate rearrangement. In the wake of purchasing up a large number of the bottlers and redesigning the bottler arrange, it spun off 51% of the organization possessed bottlers to investors in another substance, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and it stacked up on obligation for this partnership. With such a great amount of obligation to support, Coca-Cola Enterprises needed to focus on the unmistakable necessities of income as opposed to the delusion of increasing incredible hunks of piece of the overall industry from Pepsi. PepsiCo reacted by dropping the Pepsi Challenge, mitigating its forceful promoting and accordingly flagging that it acknowledged the ceasefire. Net revenues improved. Working overall revenues went from 10% to 20% for Coca-Cola. Pepsi gain was less emotional yet in addition generous. The two organizations concentrated on ROE as opposed to piece of the pie and deals development. The desire to develop, to pound contenders and drive them bankrupt, or possibly diminish their piece of the pie by a significant sum, had been a consistent wellspring of terrible showing for organizations that do have upper hands and an establishment, yet are not content with it.

Understanding Cultures People with Hofstede Dimensions

Understanding Cultures People with Hofstede Dimensions INTRODUCTION TO HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONSThe original model of Hofstede was the outcome of factor analysis done on a global survey of the value system of employees at IBM between the years 1967 and 1973. This theory was one of the initial ones which could quantify cultural differences.The original theory that Hofstede proposed talked of four dimensions, namely power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism and masculinity vs. femininity. After conducting independent studies in Hong Kong, Hofstede included a fifth dimension, known as long-term vs. short-term orientation, to describe value aspects that were not a part of his original theory. Again in 2010, Hofstede devised another dimension, the sixth one, indulgence vs. self-restraint, in an edition of ‘Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind’, co-authored by Michael Minkov.Hofstede’s work serves as the base for other researches in cross-cultural psychology, inviting a number of researchers to study different aspects of international business and communication. These dimensions founded by Hofstede illustrate the deeply embedded values of diverse cultures. These values impact not only how people with different cultural backgrounds behave, but also the manner in which they will potentially behave when placed in a work-associated context.This is a brief overview of the six cultural dimensions:Power Distance: This dimension explains the extent to which members who are less powerful in a society accept and also expect that the distribution of power takes place unequally.Uncertainty Avoidance: It is a dimension that describes the extent to which people in society are not at ease with ambiguity and uncertainty.Individualism vs. Collectivism: The focus of this dimension is on the question regarding whether people have a preference for being left alone to look after themselves or want to remain in a closely knitted network.Masculinity vs. Femininity: Masculinity implies a soci ety’s preference for assertiveness, heroism, achievement and material reward for attaining success. On the contrary, femininity represents a preference for modesty, cooperation, quality of life and caring for the weak.Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation: Long-term orientation describes the inclination of a society toward searching for virtue. Short-term orientation pertains to those societies that are strongly inclined toward the establishment of the absolute truth.Indulgence vs. Restraint: This revolves around the degree to which societies can exercise control over their impulses and desires.THE SIX HOFSTEDE DIMENSIONS UNDERSTANDING COUNTRIES, CULTURE AND PEOPLEAccording to Geert Hofstede, culture is the mind’s collective programming that differentiates between one category of people and members of one group from another. The term ‘category’ might imply nations, religions, ethnicities, regions across or within nations, genders, organizations, or occupations.#1: Power Dist ancePower distance stands for inequality that is defined not from above, but from below. It is, in fact, the extent to which organizations and societies accept power differentials.Societies with large power distance are characterized by the following features:Autocracy in leadership;Authority that is centralized;Paternalistic ways of management;A number of hierarchy levels;The acceptance of the privileges that come with power;A lot of supervisory staff;An expectation of power differences and inequality.Societies that have small power distance possess the following features:Participative or consultative style of management;Decision-making responsibility and authority decentralized;Flat structure of organizations;Supervisory staff small in proportion;Questioning the authority and lack of acceptance;An inclination toward egalitarianism;Consciousness of rights.#2: Uncertainty AvoidanceUncertainty avoidance is the extent to which the members belonging to a society are capable of coping w ith future uncertainty without going through stress.Weak uncertainty avoidance comes with the following features:Undertaking risk;Flexibility;Tolerance toward differing opinions and behaviors.Strong uncertainty avoidance is represented by the following aspects:Tendency to avoid risk;Organizations that have a number of standardized procedures, written rules, and clearly delineated structures;Strong requirement for consensus;Respect for authority;Requirement for predictability highlighting the significance of planning;Minimal or no tolerance for deviants;Promotions depending upon age or seniority.#3: Individualism vs. CollectivismIndividualism set against its opposite collectivism defines the extent to which individuals are inclined toward remaining in groups.Individualistic cultures are characterized by:Fostering contractual relationships that revolve around the fundamentals of exchange. These cultures engage in the calculation of profit and loss prior to engagement in a behavior.Con centration on self or at the most very near and dear ones, and concern with behavioral relationships as well as own goals, interests, and needs.Emphasis on personal enjoyment, fun, and pleasure, over duties and social norms. They are a part of a number of in-groups which hardly have any influence on their lives.Self-sufficiency and value independence, and placement of self-interest over collective interest. Confrontation is accepted as an attribute.Stress on horizontal relationships (such as the relationship between spouse and spouse) rather than vertical relationships (such as the relationship between parent and child).The notion that they hold unique beliefs.Collectivistic cultures are characterized by:Behavior as per social norms that are established for maintenance of social harmony among in-group members;Considering the wider collective with regards to implications of their actions;Sharing of resources and readiness to give up personal interest keeping in mind the collective in terest;Favoring some in-groups (such as friends and family);Being a part of a few in-groups that have an influence on their lives. Rather than being individualistic, they have an increased inclination towards conformity;Increased concern regarding in-group members. They show hostility or indifference toward out-group members;Emphasis on harmony and hierarchy within group;Regulation of behavior with the help of group norms.#4: Masculinity vs. FemininityMasculinity and femininity revolve around the emotional role distribution between genders, which is again a prime issue in a number of societies.Masculine cultures possess the following characteristics:Clearly distinct gender roles;Benevolence has little or no significance;Men are expected to be tough and assertive with a concentration on material achievements;Much value is associated with mastery of people, nature, job, and the like;Sense of humor, intelligence, affection, personality are considered preferred characteristic traits of a boyfriend by the women;Understanding, wealth, and health are considered desirable characteristic traits of a husband by the women.Feminine cultures possess the following characteristics:Overlapping of social gender roles;Men, as well as women, are expected to be tender, modest, with focus on the quality of life;Emphasis on the non-materialistic angles of success;The preferred traits in boyfriends and husbands are the same.#5: Long-Term vs. Short-Term OrientationThis is based on the Confucian dynamism. According to the teachings of Confucius, the following aspects of life are evident:Unequal relationships existing between people ensure the stability of society.Every social organization has its prototype in the family.Virtuous behavior involves treatment meted out to others in a similar manner as one prefers to be treated oneself.So far as tasks in life are concerned, virtue comprises acquiring skills, working hard, education, being wise in spending as well as showing perseverance a nd patience.Long-term orientation (high Confucian values) reflects the following:A futuristic, dynamic mentality;Emphasis on a relationship order depending on status, and observance of this order;Emphasis on persistence and perseverance;Stress on possessing a sense of shame;Stress on thrift;Positive association with economic growth;Inclination toward interrelatedness represented in sensitivity toward social contacts.Short-term orientation (low Confucian values) is characterized by the following:Orientation toward past and present;Focus on respect for tradition;A comparatively static, more conventional mentality;Emphasis on saving face;Emphasis on personal steadiness;Focus on stability;Emphasis on reciprocation of gifts, favors, and greetings;Negative association with economic growth.#6: Indulgence vs. RestraintThe dimension of indulgence vs. restraint focuses on happiness. A society that practices indulgence makes room for the comparatively free gratification of natural and basic hu man drives pertaining to indulging in fun and enjoying life. The quality of restraint describes a society that holds back need gratification and tries to control it through stringent social norms.International Comparison of Culture on the Basis of Hofstede’s DimensionsWith respect to national scores on a scale of 1 to 120 (1 representing the lowest and 120 representing the highest), the following international comparison has been made between cultures:Arab, African, Asian and Latin countries have a higher score with regards to power distance index while Germanic and Anglo countries possess a lower score. For instance, Guatemala has a score of 95 while Israel scores 13 with a very low power distance, whereas the United States stands somewhere in between with a score of 40.So far as the individualism index is concerned, a substantial gap exists between Eastern and less developed countries on one hand and Western and developed countries on the other. While Europe and North America ar e highly individualistic, Latin America, Africa, and Asia score very low on the individualism index with strong collectivist values.Highest uncertainty avoidance scores are possessed by Latin American countries, Japan as well as Eastern and Southern Europe. The score is lower for Chinese, Nordic, and Anglo culture countries. For instance, Germany has a higher uncertainty avoidance index with a score of 65, compared to Sweden, which scores only 29.Nordic countries exhibit low masculinity, with Sweden and Norway scoring 5 and 8 respectively. Again, Anglo countries, Japan, and European countries such as Switzerland, Austria and Hungary have high masculinity scores.Long-term orientation is high in East Asia, moderate in Western as well as Eastern Europe and low in Latin America and Africa.Nordic Europe, Anglo countries, certain regions of Africa and Latin America have high indulgence scores, while Eastern Europe and East Asia exhibit more restraint.CASE STUDY OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES EXP ERIENCED AT A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN GHANADeveloping countries often lack native engineers, so foreign engineers are often deployed for sanitation and water systems in rural communities. This is necessary to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target for accessing sanitation facilities and clean water. However, often there is a failure to manage the project effectively due to existing cultural differences between local communities and foreign engineers. This case study of one such project in Eastern Ghana, supervised by a British engineer and project manager, explores some of the critical issues that can arise in a cross-cultural project. Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions have been considered here, namely, masculinity vs. femininity, power distance index, uncertainty avoidance index and individualism vs. collectivism.Issues experienced: The engineer expected the community to express their opinions regarding the sanitation and water project, including the procedure of the project, the design or any other facet that the community wanted to discuss. However, it was seen that apart from the elders and the chief, the community’s ordinary members had certain inhibitions regarding expressing their opinions.It was also noticed during the project that if individuals ever voiced their opinions, they preferred not to express opinions that conflicted with what others had expressed. For instance, on a particular occasion, the engineer asked the opinions of two women in a family. After the first shared her opinion, the second woman, who was younger, was asked to share hers, but she refused to do so. Instead, she said that her mother (the other woman), had already spoken.In another case, the engineer approached a woman, who had some problems in walking, for her opinion. In the village, she happened to be the only lady with this problem, so her opinion was sought in order to customize the design for water collection and sanitation systems accord ingly. However, this lady was reluctant to voice any opinion regarding this, as she felt that her own well-being was not so much significant considering the entire group. However, when the other women of the community were asked, one suggested a flat design so that the lady with the walking problem could collect her water easily.At the start of the project, the engineer could more or less comfortably organize the work schedule and ensure good progress. Many members of the community lent helping hands. However, when the project was drawing to an end, the chief showed a temporary loss of interest due to two reasons. First, his mother had died and he was arranging for the funeral. Second, he had an affair with a girl in a neighboring village and was more inclined to meet her than perform his duties.When the community members started returning to work, they seemed lethargic, and the engineer found it very difficult to complete the project within the stipulated deadline.Explanation of th e issues based on Hofstede dimensions:The community is from a culture that exhibits high power distance index, wherein subordinates are accustomed to abide by what their seniors tell them to do rather than following more democratic ways. On the contrary, the engineer came from a culture where the power distance index is low, with flatter power structures, wherein the authority and subordinates worked on more or less equal terms.The community is more collectively oriented, whereas the engineer belonged to a culture that is more individualistic. Therefore, the community gave preference to the group’s opinion instead of personal opinion. Therefore, when the lady with the walking problem was asked to voice her opinion, she was reluctant to express her personal opinion, as the majority of the community members did not possess her problem.Since low uncertainty avoidance and high power distance existed within the community, the members were more inclined toward organizing themselves as a n extended family, with the chief being the grandfather of that family. The main authority lies with the chief, who should decide on the best course of action.In contrast, the engineer’s culture was one with low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance. Hence, when the project was drawing to an end, the engineer wanted to gather in the other members of the community although the chief lacked interest. But since the chief was not there, the members expressed disinterest, which the engineer interpreted as lethargy.THE URGENCY OF MANAGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AS PART OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTManagers across the globe are increasingly facing the challenges thrown by the global interdependence of markets, and the human resources department in organizations is not an exception. When a common culture prevails, personnel management is not difficult since everybody has a common conception of right, wrong and accepted behavior. However, when team members come from different cultural backgrounds or the backgrounds of the manager and the team differ, it might lead to grave misunderstandings. Below is an analysis of how culture prevails across some of the major aspects of HR management.Recruiting The definition of a good candidate differs according to cultures. Those who express strong opinions, are outspoken and self-confident, are considered good candidates in individualistic masculine societies. Again in collectivist feminine societies, modest and ‘well connected’ candidates are good ones. Considering this, positioning as an employer in the USA (high on masculinity) is quite different from doing so in Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands (low on masculinity).Target Setting In Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and other low power distance cultures, targets are negotiated, while in high power distance cultures such as Italy, France, and Belgium, targets are set by senior managers.Training In high power distance societies, there is instructor -centric learning, while in low power distance societies, it is more learner-centric and interactive.Appraisal Most of the appraisal procedures are established in the USA or the UK, which are countries with high individualism and low power distance. Hence, as per these countries, the right way of performance enhancement is direct, frank feedback. However, this does not take into consideration that in countries with high power distance and collectivistic cultures, direct feedback is regarded as disrespectful and disgraceful.This cycle of recruitment, target setting, training and appraisal can be successfully used to manage people if it is culturally adapted. Relevant research and preparation is required for this.CONCLUSION The theory of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions constitutes a framework revolving around cross-cultural communication, which was devised by Geert Hofstede. The dimensions collectively portray the impact of the culture ingrained in society on the values of the members of that society. They also describe the relationship between these values and behavior, with the help of a structure based on factor analysis. In other words, this theory studies significant aspects of culture and provides them a rating on a comparison scale.So far as international business is concerned, the dimensions of culture form an important facet. Knowledge of the manner in which different features of a business are viewed in different cultures, can help a manager in understanding and sailing successfully across the international business market. In this article, we discuss the topic of Hofstede cultural dimensions by exploring 1) an introduction; 2) the six cultural dimensions of Hofstede framework, and using those dimensions to better understand cultures and people based on 3) a case study of cultural differences; 4) the urgency of managing cultural difference as part of human resources management; and 5) conclusion.INTRODUCTION TO HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONSThe original model of Hofstede was the outcome of factor analysis done on a global survey of the value system of employees at IBM between the years 1967 and 1973. This theory was one of the initial ones which could quantify cultural differences.The original theory that Hofstede proposed talked of four dimensions, namely power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism and masculinity vs. femininity. After conducting independent studies in Hong Kong, Hofstede included a fifth dimension, known as long-term vs. short-term orientation, to describe value aspects that were not a part of his original theory. Again in 2010, Hofstede devised another dimension, the sixth one, indulgence vs. self-restraint, in an edition of ‘Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind’, co-authored by Michael Minkov.Hofstede’s work serves as the base for other researches in cross-cultural psychology, inviting a number of researchers to study different aspects of international business and communication. These dimensions founded by Hofstede illustrate the deeply embedded values of diverse cultures. These values impact not only how people with different cultural backgrounds behave, but also the manner in which they will potentially behave when placed in a work-associated context.This is a brief overview of the six cultural dimensions:Power Distance: This dimension explains the extent to which members who are less powerful in a society accept and also expect that the distribution of power takes place unequally.Uncertainty Avoidance: It is a dimension that describes the extent to which people in society are not at ease with ambiguity and uncertainty.Individualism vs. Collectivism: The focus of this dimension is on the question regarding whether people have a preference for being left alone to look after themselves or want to remain in a closely knitted network.Masculinity vs. Femininity: Masculinity implies a society’s preference for assertiveness, heroism, achievement and material reward for attaining success. On the contrary, femininity represents a preference for modesty, cooperation, quality of life and caring for the weak.Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation: Long-term orientation describes the inclination of a society toward searching for virtue. Short-term orientation pertains to those societies that are strongly inclined toward the establishment of the absolute truth.Indulgence vs. Restraint: This revolves around the degree to which societies can exercise control over their impulses and desires.THE SIX HOFSTED E DIMENSIONS UNDERSTANDING COUNTRIES, CULTURE AND PEOPLEAccording to Geert Hofstede, culture is the mind’s collective programming that differentiates between one category of people and members of one group from another. The term ‘category’ might imply nations, religions, ethnicities, regions across or within nations, genders, organizations, or occupations.#1: Power DistancePower distance stands for inequality that is defined not from above, but from below. It is, in fact, the extent to which organizations and societies accept power differentials.Societies with large power distance are characterized by the following features:Autocracy in leadership;Authority that is centralized;Paternalistic ways of management;A number of hierarchy levels;The acceptance of the privileges that come with power;A lot of supervisory staff;An expectation of power differences and inequality.Societies that have small power distance possess the following features:Participative or consultative style of management;Decision-making responsibility and authority decentralized;Flat structure of organizations;Supervisory staff small in proportion;Questioning the authority and lack of acceptance;An inclination toward egalitarianism;Consciousness of rights.#2: Uncertainty AvoidanceUncertainty avoidance is the extent to which the members belonging to a society are capable of coping with future uncertainty without going through stress.Weak uncertainty avoidance comes with the following features:Undertaking risk;Flexibility;Tolerance toward differing opinions and behaviors.Strong uncertainty avoidance is represented by the following aspects:Tendency to avoid risk;Organizations that have a number of standardized procedures, written rules, and clearly delineated structures;Strong requirement for consensus;Respect for authority;Requirement for predictability highlighting the significance of planning;Minimal or no tolerance for deviants;Promotions depending upon age or seniority.#3: Individualis m vs. CollectivismIndividualism set against its opposite collectivism defines the extent to which individuals are inclined toward remaining in groups.Individualistic cultures are characterized by:Fostering contractual relationships that revolve around the fundamentals of exchange. These cultures engage in the calculation of profit and loss prior to engagement in a behavior.Concentration on self or at the most very near and dear ones, and concern with behavioral relationships as well as own goals, interests, and needs.Emphasis on personal enjoyment, fun, and pleasure, over duties and social norms. They are a part of a number of in-groups which hardly have any influence on their lives.Self-sufficiency and value independence, and placement of self-interest over collective interest. Confrontation is accepted as an attribute.Stress on horizontal relationships (such as the relationship between spouse and spouse) rather than vertical relationships (such as the relationship between parent a nd child).The notion that they hold unique beliefs.Collectivistic cultures are characterized by:Behavior as per social norms that are established for maintenance of social harmony among in-group members;Considering the wider collective with regards to implications of their actions;Sharing of resources and readiness to give up personal interest keeping in mind the collective interest;Favoring some in-groups (such as friends and family);Being a part of a few in-groups that have an influence on their lives. Rather than being individualistic, they have an increased inclination towards conformity;Increased concern regarding in-group members. They show hostility or indifference toward out-group members;Emphasis on harmony and hierarchy within group;Regulation of behavior with the help of group norms.#4: Masculinity vs. FemininityMasculinity and femininity revolve around the emotional role distribution between genders, which is again a prime issue in a number of societies.Masculine culture s possess the following characteristics:Clearly distinct gender roles;Benevolence has little or no significance;Men are expected to be tough and assertive with a concentration on material achievements;Much value is associated with mastery of people, nature, job, and the like;Sense of humor, intelligence, affection, personality are considered preferred characteristic traits of a boyfriend by the women;Understanding, wealth, and health are considered desirable characteristic traits of a husband by the women.Feminine cultures possess the following characteristics:Overlapping of social gender roles;Men, as well as women, are expected to be tender, modest, with focus on the quality of life;Emphasis on the non-materialistic angles of success;The preferred traits in boyfriends and husbands are the same.#5: Long-Term vs. Short-Term OrientationThis is based on the Confucian dynamism. According to the teachings of Confucius, the following aspects of life are evident:Unequal relationships exis ting between people ensure the stability of society.Every social organization has its prototype in the family.Virtuous behavior involves treatment meted out to others in a similar manner as one prefers to be treated oneself.So far as tasks in life are concerned, virtue comprises acquiring skills, working hard, education, being wise in spending as well as showing perseverance and patience.Long-term orientation (high Confucian values) reflects the following:A futuristic, dynamic mentality;Emphasis on a relationship order depending on status, and observance of this order;Emphasis on persistence and perseverance;Stress on possessing a sense of shame;Stress on thrift;Positive association with economic growth;Inclination toward interrelatedness represented in sensitivity toward social contacts.Short-term orientation (low Confucian values) is characterized by the following:Orientation toward past and present;Focus on respect for tradition;A comparatively static, more conventional mentality ;Emphasis on saving face;Emphasis on personal steadiness;Focus on stability;Emphasis on reciprocation of gifts, favors, and greetings;Negative association with economic growth.#6: Indulgence vs. RestraintThe dimension of indulgence vs. restraint focuses on happiness. A society that practices indulgence makes room for the comparatively free gratification of natural and basic human drives pertaining to indulging in fun and enjoying life. The quality of restraint describes a society that holds back need gratification and tries to control it through stringent social norms.International Comparison of Culture on the Basis of Hofstede’s DimensionsWith respect to national scores on a scale of 1 to 120 (1 representing the lowest and 120 representing the highest), the following international comparison has been made between cultures:Arab, African, Asian and Latin countries have a higher score with regards to power distance index while Germanic and Anglo countries possess a lower score. For instance, Guatemala has a score of 95 while Israel scores 13 with a very low power distance, whereas the United States stands somewhere in between with a score of 40.So far as the individualism index is concerned, a substantial gap exists between Eastern and less developed countries on one hand and Western and developed countries on the other. While Europe and North America are highly individualistic, Latin America, Africa, and Asia score very low on the individualism index with strong collectivist values.Highest uncertainty avoidance scores are possessed by Latin American countries, Japan as well as Eastern and Southern Europe. The score is lower for Chinese, Nordic, and Anglo culture countries. For instance, Germany has a higher uncertainty avoidance index with a score of 65, compared to Sweden, which scores only 29.Nordic countries exhibit low masculinity, with Sweden and Norway scoring 5 and 8 respectively. Again, Anglo countries, Japan, and European countries such as Switzerlan d, Austria and Hungary have high masculinity scores.Long-term orientation is high in East Asia, moderate in Western as well as Eastern Europe and low in Latin America and Africa.Nordic Europe, Anglo countries, certain regions of Africa and Latin America have high indulgence scores, while Eastern Europe and East Asia exhibit more restraint.CASE STUDY OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES EXPERIENCED AT A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN GHANADeveloping countries often lack native engineers, so foreign engineers are often deployed for sanitation and water systems in rural communities. This is necessary to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target for accessing sanitation facilities and clean water. However, often there is a failure to manage the project effectively due to existing cultural differences between local communities and foreign engineers. This case study of one such project in Eastern Ghana, supervised by a British engineer and project manager, explores some of the critic al issues that can arise in a cross-cultural project. Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions have been considered here, namely, masculinity vs. femininity, power distance index, uncertainty avoidance index and individualism vs. collectivism.Issues experienced: The engineer expected the community to express their opinions regarding the sanitation and water project, including the procedure of the project, the design or any other facet that the community wanted to discuss. However, it was seen that apart from the elders and the chief, the community’s ordinary members had certain inhibitions regarding expressing their opinions.It was also noticed during the project that if individuals ever voiced their opinions, they preferred not to express opinions that conflicted with what others had expressed. For instance, on a particular occasion, the engineer asked the opinions of two women in a family. After the first shared her opinion, the second woman, who was younger, was asked to share her s, but she refused to do so. Instead, she said that her mother (the other woman), had already spoken.In another case, the engineer approached a woman, who had some problems in walking, for her opinion. In the village, she happened to be the only lady with this problem, so her opinion was sought in order to customize the design for water collection and sanitation systems accordingly. However, this lady was reluctant to voice any opinion regarding this, as she felt that her own well-being was not so much significant considering the entire group. However, when the other women of the community were asked, one suggested a flat design so that the lady with the walking problem could collect her water easily.At the start of the project, the engineer could more or less comfortably organize the work schedule and ensure good progress. Many members of the community lent helping hands. However, when the project was drawing to an end, the chief showed a temporary loss of interest due to two reaso ns. First, his mother had died and he was arranging for the funeral. Second, he had an affair with a girl in a neighboring village and was more inclined to meet her than perform his duties.When the community members started returning to work, they seemed lethargic, and the engineer found it very difficult to complete the project within the stipulated deadline.Explanation of the issues based on Hofstede dimensions:The community is from a culture that exhibits high power distance index, wherein subordinates are accustomed to abide by what their seniors tell them to do rather than following more democratic ways. On the contrary, the engineer came from a culture where the power distance index is low, with flatter power structures, wherein the authority and subordinates worked on more or less equal terms.The community is more collectively oriented, whereas the engineer belonged to a culture that is more individualistic. Therefore, the community gave preference to the group’s opinion in stead of personal opinion. Therefore, when the lady with the walking problem was asked to voice her opinion, she was reluctant to express her personal opinion, as the majority of the community members did not possess her problem.Since low uncertainty avoidance and high power distance existed within the community, the members were more inclined toward organizing themselves as an extended family, with the chief being the grandfather of that family. The main authority lies with the chief, who should decide on the best course of action.In contrast, the engineer’s culture was one with low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance. Hence, when the project was drawing to an end, the engineer wanted to gather in the other members of the community although the chief lacked interest. But since the chief was not there, the members expressed disinterest, which the engineer interpreted as lethargy.THE URGENCY OF MANAGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AS PART OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTManagers acr oss the globe are increasingly facing the challenges thrown by the global interdependence of markets, and the human resources department in organizations is not an exception. When a common culture prevails, personnel management is not difficult since everybody has a common conception of right, wrong and accepted behavior. However, when team members come from different cultural backgrounds or the backgrounds of the manager and the team differ, it might lead to grave misunderstandings. Below is an analysis of how culture prevails across some of the major aspects of HR management.Recruiting The definition of a good candidate differs according to cultures. Those who express strong opinions, are outspoken and self-confident, are considered good candidates in individualistic masculine societies. Again in collectivist feminine societies, modest and ‘well connected’ candidates are good ones. Considering this, positioning as an employer in the USA (high on masculinity) is quite differen t from doing so in Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands (low on masculinity).Target Setting In Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and other low power distance cultures, targets are negotiated, while in high power distance cultures such as Italy, France, and Belgium, targets are set by senior managers.Training In high power distance societies, there is instructor-centric learning, while in low power distance societies, it is more learner-centric and interactive.Appraisal Most of the appraisal procedures are established in the USA or the UK, which are countries with high individualism and low power distance. Hence, as per these countries, the right way of performance enhancement is direct, frank feedback. However, this does not take into consideration that in countries with high power distance and collectivistic cultures, direct feedback is regarded as disrespectful and disgraceful.This cycle of recruitment, target setting, training and appraisal can be successfully us ed to manage people if it is culturally adapted. Relevant research and preparation is required for this.CONCLUSIONCultural differences do impact businesses occurring in cross-cultural contexts. A lot of problems arise in matters of participation, communication and other relational areas. However, if business leaders or even the staff understands issues with respect to Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions, these problems can be analyzed through a different perspective, and necessary steps to address these problems can be taken.

The Cage By Ruth Minsky Sender - 1125 Words

It has been days. I stumble, foot over foot to the crack of sunlight that beams into the car. I feel the train rock back and forth, side to side as we tumble over the tracks to a â€Å"better life.† A better life. More bread. They care about us. I hear the screech as the cars stop as we are all tossed forward. â€Å"Welcome to Auschwitz, Jews.† I hear a man scream be strong. I hear the crack of a whip and gun shots. I know they lied. The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender is based on her experiences during World War Two in the Holocaust. Riva and her family lived in Poland before the war, but once it became occupied during the war, they along with thousands of other jewish families were moved into the ghetto where hunger became part of their everyday lives. Once they arrived they were torn away from their loved ones, and sent to concentration camps where the horrors progressed at a very rapid rate. This book is about the emotional and physical battles Riva and her family endured during the war. They may have killed us physically, but we will remain strong mentally. Names are taken from the Jews and replaced with numbers when they enter the camp. This act is an attempt to steal the Jews’ identities; however, they fight against this act of dehumanization. The Nazi’s hoped to kill them mentally by doing this. My arm burns. I look up into the blue eyes of a Nazi guard as he burns the number into my skin. I smell burning flesh and want to barf. All around me irons are being heated up. â€Å"YouShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis of Riva from The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender839 Words   |  4 Pages1. Riva was truly a â€Å"smart owl† she found different ways to keep her and her brothers alive, and out of harm’s way. For instance, she managed to get herself off the Nazi deportation record that was made every week. Riva did this by making friends with the work manager who was forced to make the deportation list. Riva realized that if she kept on worrying about what is going to happen in the future it would be depressing; ins tead she thought about when she was going to be reunited with her familyRead MoreHow Hitler Became Chancellor Of Germany1164 Words   |  5 Pagesand 1945. Through an excerpt from Ruth Minsky Sender’s memoir, The Cage, the cruel and harsh treatment that was received by the Jews from the Nazis was horrific. More than one hundred concentration camps were established by the Nazis during WWII (â€Å"Germany: Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship.†). They were starved, beaten, and exposed to all kinds of filth and disease (Bigelow and Slovey). Camp survivor Ruth Minsky Sender named her moving wartime memoir The Cage because of the Nazi’s practice ofRead MoreThe Right And Life Of Abortion1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe Right to Life â€Å"As long as there is life, there is hope† reads The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender. Abortion is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as â€Å"the deliberate termination of a pregnancy and is most often preformed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.† Beginning early on in history, abortions were viable solutions for immigrants, as their pregnancy rates were higher than the natives of an area or region. As timed passed, laws on abortion began to create a war on the separation of Church

Sat Essay Prompts for Dummies

Sat Essay Prompts for Dummies A number of them were in Hindi. Writing prompts can likewise be utilised to help students get prepared for the standardized tests. The Ultimate Sat Essay Prompts Trick The very first thing you ought to take note of is that the prompt tells you exactly what sort of elements you should focus on to observe the way the author builds their argument. You can get in touch with your writer through our support department should you need to specify some vital points to produce your work more customized. The questions are paraphrased for simplicity, but they supply you with a concept of the way the themes are recycled every year. Select a distinctive topic that others may not think of, and whatever you select, make sure that you know a lot about it! Our aim is to supply you with a professionally written essay on the subject you require. Write your essay by means of a practice prompt, then evaluate your piece working with the rubric to find a notion of h ow you'd have scored. If you've already completed other pieces of the SAT test and just an essay is left, check the very best essay prompts for you to demonstrate how great your capacity to express ideas is! If you're authentic, nobody can write the very same essay as you! Write an essay to convince your principal your idea is one that ought to be adopted. You'll ideally need to compose a few practice essays before you sit for the actual thing. Put simply, everything would be dependent on verifiable fact an expository essay. All the information that you want to compose your essay will be contained in the passage or in notes about it. Opt for a prompt at random from above, or select a topic which you think will be hard that you detach from (because you are going to want to write about the subject, as opposed to the argument) set timer to 50 minutes and compose the essay. You obtain a preview of your essay and ask to produce corrections if necessary. As soon as your registration is finished, be certain to print out your Admission Ticket, since you'll need it to the day of your test. Two or three students laughed nervously. Colleges are not solely looking at grades, but they're also thinking about the curriculum the student takes. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about a coming deadline. Somebody manages health. Prompt can continue to keep your one-stop resource for the university. The Chronicles of Sat Essay Prompts Just take a second to consider why exactly you have to include supporting evidence in your SAT essay. The essay is a significant portion of the college application process, made only more so by the growing number of students applying to college in the USA each year. The SAT Essay demonstrates how well you recognize the passage and utilize it as the foundation for a well-written, thought-out discussion. All SAT essays have precisely the same structure you should stick with. Understanding writing prompts is not really that simple. The Analytical Writing section of the GRE is made up of two writing topics. Writing and essay prompts are a wonderful learning tool that will help you concentrate on a specific subject or topic and practice writing on such topic utilizing appropriate sentence structure and development. All our writers pass a considerable procedure to look at their abilities. Every writer we employ has written a good deal of special papers associated with your subject. You may feel as if you want to begin writing as fast as possible, but be sure you fully grasp the author's argument thoroughly before beginning. The author isn't literally saying that thoughts need more time to get to the hearer.

A Modest Proposal Cannibalism Free Essays

I feel that Jonathan Swift’s piece of work could be used and interpreted different with each and all audiences alike. There is a whole bunch of information to interpret. How Swift, looks at children not as individuals, but as animals used to be sold to the rich as food. We will write a custom essay sample on A Modest Proposal: Cannibalism or any similar topic only for you Order Now Swift’s work is very dark in this piece, with regard to selling of children for food. And with regards to Ireland’s economic advancements actually depend on it. He urges all other people to think that children could be sold in different styles and makes mention of how they could be prepared as a fine food dish. Swift’s states, â€Å"A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragoust. † Now normally if I can’t pronounce it I don’t use it or order it to eat, but these last two ways of preparing the children as food sounds as if a dish the rich would order. To me it sounds like Swift has rather expensive taste for lavish habits and tendencies. I think we can almost compare life in Ireland back then to today. All though there aren’t people selling their children to have the rich feast on their bones, or do I think it will come to that but it is close to our nation’s economic struggle. Our economy wouldn’t allow the selling of children of children to feed the rich. I do believe Ireland was in a lot worse shape than we currently are. They had no renewable resources such as fruits and vegetables to fall back on the way we do. They also didn’t have the amount of import and export trade that we have on our side. Swift constantly throughout his story states that selling the children to the rich is the only solution to the countries hard economic times. He even talks that all the families should consider fattening up the smaller children. Also Swift also makes mention of overpopulation and well makes a suggested solution to this crisis. He proclaims that children at the age of one can be sold to meat markets, thus helping the crisis of over population and in turn saving the parents of the children the cost of raising and providing for that child. Parents, who participated in this crazy idea, would pull the nation out of its current economic struggle. And that’s not all he then talks about how parents who helped out with his proposal how it would affect home life. Husbands would grow to respect wives better. What? I don’t know at all how this could possibly be something that could have a positive impact on a family what so ever. I think that Swift tries to persuade his readers that this is the only option for Ireland and its survival, in a dog eat dog world. He then starts stating statistics, he mentions of 120,000 some Irish children born in a year, that 20,000 should be kept for breeding and the continuance of the Irish legacy. And what’s even better is that a quarter of these choosing few, are to be males, are you serious 5,000 boys and the rest girls. This brings a question to my mind, what was the deciding factor that kept the child to be raised or sold. What tops the cake once more is that he says one boy for a total of four girls. I believe this contradicts his husband respecting the whole wife thing early in the paper. Swift goes on later to explain the idea of cannibalism should not stop at children, but instead its countries enemies, or even political figures. The idea of a nation such as Ireland cannibalizing its own population and natural resources sickens me. I would bat an eye at the thought of eating my son, or selling him off to the butcher to be slaughtered and sold. Swift goes on in this story to talk of common practices and courtesies. He talks that if Irish poor are to be married, and have a family, the family should refrain from domestic violence in and throughout the family, and love and cherish family. I serious think that this guy had dual personalities, he so many different stories to each situation. Possibly he was bi-polar or maybe he used some opium or something of that nature. I don’t think Swift had financial problems what so ever. Swift goes on in his work and states that he admits that this will drastically reduce the Irish population, but other nations should not practice this idea in their cultures. He considers it a â€Å"healthy patriotism†, and goes on to say that the children that are to be butchered should stay domestically and not be exported. This would keep other nations from wanting to overtake the Irish population and decimate the whole society and Irish culture. In Jonathan Swift’s work you can tell he is rather upset with Ireland’s politicians and the wealthy. You can also see that he is upset at the general population of the poor. He is angry at the poor population because they have made no plans or have no intentions to get out of the downward spiral their country is in. I wonder if he wrote this piece as a way of making the general population consider in participating in cannibalization, as an act to blow the whistle in a sense to make the politicians act on the current situation at hand in their times. How to cite A Modest Proposal: Cannibalism, Essay examples

Puritanism In The Scarlet Letter Essays - English-language Films

Puritanism In The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the aspects of relationships, religion, community, discipline and punishment in the puritan community of 17th century Boston. Relationships between men and women were very constrained and that is what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of everyone in the community. Religion seemed to govern over all, people would look up to reverends and the community believed that fate was their destiny. Public discipline and punishment were used to discourage everyone else from committing the same crime or sin as the offending criminal did. The community was to follow the beliefs of god and to do their duties the best they could, yet were there to criticize and punish all who disobeyed the religion or laws. In 17th century Boston every thing was very strict and everyone was expected to follow the laws, which makes Hester's sin such an excellent example of the beliefs of that time period. The first scaffold scene is very important because the scene sums up the beliefs of the general public at that time, and gives a prospective of what Hester Prynne must deal with. In the beginning of chapter two the scene is described as it could have betokened nothing short of the anticipated execution of some noted culprit,(47) showing that the whole town was there for a ruthless public punishment. The crowd was not there for an execution though, but there for a public punishment of Hester Prynne who had committed adultery. A townsman describes Hester's punishment to a stranger as, they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom.(58) This scene shows the weight of values and morals upon society in the 17th century and how public punishment was not only used as punishment but as a way to discourage others from committing the same crime. The community was key in this punishment because it helped alienate Hester and further her pain. The punishment brings forth Hester's underlying pain, [Hester] sent forth a cry she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real.(55) This pain only breaks surface once, yet throughout the whole story Hester must deal with the shame and emotional pain of the scarlet letter. The stranger sums it up best with the quotation, Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone. Since religion was such a key part of their lives, anyone who did disobey their god was looked down upon. What made religion ironic in this story was how everyone looked up to a reverend that had committed the same sin as someone they looked down upon severely. Dimmesdale says, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I, must stand together! But daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!(134) The reverend knows his sin and wants be punished with Hester and Pearl, yet not until what he calls judgement day. In the 17th century, Puritans believed that there was a stern God who had decreed in advance the fate of each person for all time. Therefore, there was not much people felt they could do to become a better person in God's eyes but do his biding with their jobs. To increase their chances of getting to go to heaven the townspeople would often get one step closer to God by getting close to a religious leader, which was bad for Arthur Dimmesdale who was probably farther away from God than everyone else because of his sin. Relationships were looked upon as something sacred and a woman should be loyal to her husband. Once married it was considered a horrible offense if you were un-loyal to your spouse. They have not been bold to put force the extremity of our righteous law against her. The penalty therefor is death.(58) A townsman explains that the penalty is death for her crime (showing the harshness of the 17th century), yet that the other party in the affair must have played a strong role in tempting her, so they just sentenced her to the letter on her chest and three hours on the scaffold. The stranger shows how most people reacted when only seeing one of the

Video Content Analysis Essays

Video Content Analysis Essays Video Content Analysis Essay Video Content Analysis Essay Video Content Analysis, what is it and why would I want it? White Paper by Nick Hewitson November 2005. What is Video Content Analysis? There are a number of terms used in different industries and markets to describe Video Content Analysis: Analytics Behavior Recognition Content Analysis Concept Coding Intelligent Video Object Tracking Smart CCTV They all however describe the real time use of computer vision in a security environment to monitor the CCTV camera feeds and assist the guard in his or her decision making process. The UK is the country with the most CCTV cameras deployed, with over 4 million in se. Its claimed that if you walk through London you will be watched over 300 times, however this is clearly a misconception. While it is probably true that you will be in the field of view of a CCTV camera over 300 times during your walk through London it is certainly not true that you are observed that many times for number of reasons. Firstly CCTV control rooms have fewer monitors than there are cameras, in many cases a number of cameras are sequentially displayed on a single monitor. If for example five cameras are fed into a single monitor which then you obviously have nly a 20% chance of being viewed while in any individual cameras field of vi ew. Secondly the staff in the control room are often expected to deal with other issues as well as monitoring the CCTV. They will be responsible for issuing keys, badges and permits to both staff and visitors; they are also responsible for monitoring the access control and fire alarm systems, controlling radio communications with both their own foot patrols and possibly the local Police. In addition they will need to be away from their desks for breaks to visit the restrooms etc. During this time they are ot monitoring the CCTV images. Finally the design of CCTV control rooms expects the guard to watch a large number of monitors. According to ASS International, a human can effectively watch 9-12 cameras for only 15 minutes. Security guard shifts are often 12 hours long so 1 1 hours and 45 minutes are ineffective monitoring. CCTV Today in November 2005 estimated that the probability of an event being recognised and acted upon if it was clearly in the view of a CCTV camera was less than 1 in 1000. CCTV has historically been a forensic tool not a real time crime prevention system. The principal of Video Content analysis is to use computers to monitor all of the cameras all of the time and when something unusual happens to alert the security guard to it. For example in a retail shopping centre a person running is unusual. The system can detect that a persons running but is unable to differentiate between a benign event, a teenage girl running over to greet her boyfriend, or a criminal event where someone is running out of a shop with an armload of Jeans. However if the running event is drawn to the security guards attention he is able to make that ubjective decision easily and respond appropriately. Why would I want to use Intelligent Video? The following scenario is taken from a real test of a behavioural recognition system monitoring access to parked aircraft in the USA. It shows what the advantages of computer vision over human monitoring can be. There are 8 cameras monitoring a road that passes through a tunnel, above which is an area where commercial aircraft are parked. The system was tasked with looking for cars that stopped under the bridge and people climbing up the slope towards the aircraft. Over 1 month the system reported almost 300 events where vehicles were seen stopping. 298 of these were originally classified as false alarms caused by normal traffic flow problems. One event was due to a fender bender accident and one to a breakdown. There were no attempts to approach the parked aircraft. At first evaluation, it would seem that the value of the system was negligible, all it had produced were 298 false alarms out of 300 events. Previously the cameras were monitored by a guard on conventional CCTV monitors and no events at all had been reported in the month before. It was found that the 300 events would take the guard on average less than 30 seconds each to determine the risk. So instead of employing staff 24 / 7 for 30 days to monitor the tunnel only two and a half hours man hours were required over the whole 30 day period. In addition, in the previous month the guard reported no events, given that each of the 300 events reported by the system actually took place in the test month. It is probable that a similar number actually took place previously when the guard was supposed to be watching and he didnt notice them. It is therefore highly likely that if someone had stopped a car briefly to allow a passenger to get out and approach the aircraft, the event would have been missed, while the Intelligent Video system would have caught it. The Smart CCTV system had therefore raised the effectiveness of the monitoring from zero to 100% while reducing the operating costs from 720 man hours to 2. 5 man hours of labour. When the security manager looked at the cost effectiveness on this basis, he had no hesitation in purchasing a system. Key issues to determine before looking at Video Content Analysis. What are your operational requirements? As seen above, if it is to have a minimum number of false alarms then the human operator will be more effective, he failed to report any of the traffic events under the bridge, in fact he didnt report anything at all, so his false alarm rate was zero. What percentage of the cameras is best monitored by computer vision, and what percentage is better monitored by a human operator? In general, today computers do better on the cameras where nothing much happens (and therefore guards get bored) and people do better in busy scenarios where occlusion between people akes it hard for the software. A good example is an embassy that has a back alley where no one ever goes. This is covered by a CCTV camera and this was the only camera out of about 50 that was implemented at the beginning. The embassy realised that no one paid attention to this camera because nothing ever happened but if someone was in the alley they really needed to know about it fast. In the majority of applications today, only a percentage of the total number of the cameras are monitored by video content analysis, some are only recorded and some are monitored full time by the security staff. You need to determine what is the specific risk and the most appropriate method of monitoring for each point. Do the risks and scenarios change during the course of 24 hours? Can you build upgradeability into your plans? In many cases the number of cameras monitored by the software increases as experience of the benefits is gained. Video Content analysis is a tool that allows you to improve your operational effectiveness. It is not the all seeing Big Brother monitoring all activity. It helps you spot the needle in the haystack; CCTV provides huge amounts of mostly irrelevant data. Video Content Analysis extracts information from that data. It reduces your costs, manual monitoring is inconsistent and expensive. It reduces your risk by moving away from the limited human attention span of less than twenty minutes, and screening all of the video streams in parallel. It allows you to move from a forensic mindset of finding out what happened after the event has taken place towards real time analysis and decision making. You do still need to employ professional security staff to make the decisions on the information presented to them in a sensible manner. -End-

What to Know About Visual Basic

What to Know About Visual Basic In 2008 Microsoft stopped support for VB and declared it a Legacy software. Feel free to read this article written before that time. It provides good background for the current .NET software still in use today. Its a computer programming system developed and owned by Microsoft. Visual Basic was originally created to make it easier to write programs for the Windows computer operating system. The basis of Visual Basic is an earlier programming language called BASIC that was invented by Dartmouth College professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz. Visual Basic is often referred to using just the initials, VB. Visual Basic is easily the most widely used computer programming system in the history of software. Is Visual Basic Just a Programming Language? Its more. Visual Basic was one of the first systems that made it practical to write programs for the Windows operating system. This was possible because VB included software tools to automatically create the detailed programming required by Windows. These software tools not only create Windows programs, but they also take full advantage of the graphical way that Windows works by letting programmers draw their systems with a mouse on the computer. This is why its called Visual Basic. Visual Basic also provides a unique and complete software architecture. Architecture is the way computer programs, such as Windows and VB programs, work together. One of the major reasons why Visual Basic has been so successful is that it includes everything that is necessary to write programs for Windows. Is there more than one version of Visual Basic? Yes. Since 1991 when it was first introduced by Microsoft, there have been nine versions of Visual Basic up to VB.NET 2005, the current version. The first six versions were all called Visual Basic. In 2002, Microsoft introduced Visual Basic .NET 1.0, a completely redesigned and rewritten version that was a key part of a much larger computer architecture. The first six versions were all backward compatible. That means that later versions of VB could handle programs written with an earlier version. Because the .NET architecture was such a radical change, earlier versions of Visual Basic have to be rewritten before they can be used with .NET. Many programmers still prefer Visual Basic 6.0 and a few use even earlier versions. Will Microsoft stop supporting Visual Basic 6 and earlier versions? This depends on what you mean by support but many programmers would say they already have. The next version of the Windows operating system, Windows Vista, will still run Visual Basic 6 programs and future versions of Windows might run them too. On the other hand, Microsoft now charges big fees for any help for VB 6 software problems and soon they wont provide it at all. Microsoft doesnt sell VB 6 anymore so its difficult to find. Its clear that Microsoft is doing everything they can to discourage the continued use of Visual Basic 6 and encourage the adoption of Visual Basic .NET. Many programmers believe that Microsoft was wrong to abandon Visual Basic 6 because their customers have put so much investment into it over more than ten years. As a result, Microsoft has earned a lot of ill will from some VB 6 programmers and some have moved to other languages rather than move to VB.NET. This might be a mistake. Is Visual Basic .NET really an improvement? Absolutely yes! All of .NET is truly revolutionary and gives programmers a much more capable, efficient and flexible way to write computer software. Visual Basic .NET is a key part of this revolution. At the same time, Visual Basic .NET is clearly more difficult to learn and use. The vastly improved capability does come at a fairly high cost of technical complexity. Microsoft helps to make up for this increased technical difficulty by providing even more software tools in .NET to help programmers. Most programmers agree that VB.NET is such a huge leap forward that its worth it. Isnt Visual Basic only for lower skilled programmers and simple systems? This was something that programmers using programming languages like C, C, and Java used to say before Visual Basic .NET. Back then, there was some truth to the charge, although on the other side of the argument was the fact that excellent programs could be written faster and cheaper with Visual Basic than with any of those languages. VB.NET is the equal of any programming technology anywhere. In fact, the resulting program using the .NET version of the C programming language, called C#.NET, is virtually identical with the same program written in VB.NET. The only real difference today is programmer preference. Is Visual Basic object-oriented? VB.NET certainly is. One of the big changes introduced by .NET was complete object-oriented architecture. Visual Basic 6 was mostly object-oriented but lacked a few features such as inheritance. The subject of object-oriented software is a big topic by itself and is beyond the scope of this article. What is the Visual Basic runtime and do we still need it? One of the big innovations introduced by Visual Basic was a way to split a program into two parts. One part is written by the programmer and does everything that makes that program unique, such as adding two specific values. The other part does all of the processing that any program might need such as the programming to add any values. The second part is called the runtime in Visual Basic 6 and earlier and is part of the Visual Basic system. The runtime is actually a specific program and each version of Visual Basic has a corresponding version of the runtime. In VB 6, the runtime is called MSVBVM60. (Several other files are also normally needed for a complete VB 6 runtime environment.) In .NET, the same concept is still used in a very general way, but its not called a runtime anymore (its part of the .NET Framework) and it does a lot more. What is the Visual Basic .NET Framework? Like the old Visual Basic runtimes, the Microsoft .NET Framework is combined with specific .NET programs written in Visual Basic .NET or any other .NET language to provide a complete system. The Framework is much more than a runtime, however. The .NET Framework is the basis of the entire .NET software architecture. One major part is a huge library of programming code called the Framework Class Library (FCL). The .NET Framework is separate from VB.NET and can be downloaded free of charge from Microsoft. The Framework is an included part of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. What is Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and how does it fit in? VBA is a version of Visual Basic 6.0 that is used as an internal programming language in many other systems such as Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel. (Earlier versions of Visual Basic were used with earlier versions of Office.) Many other companies in addition to Microsoft have used VBA to add programming ability to their own systems. VBA makes it possible for another system, like Excel, to run a program internally and provide what is essentially a custom version of Excel for a particular purpose. For example, a program could be written in VBA that will make Excel create an accounting balance sheet using a series of accounting entries in a spreadsheet at the click of a button. VBA is the only version of VB 6 that is still sold and supported by Microsoft and only as an internal component of Office programs. Microsoft is developing a completely .NET capability (called VSTO, Visual Studio Tools for Office) but VBA continues to be used. How much does Visual Basic cost? Although Visual Basic 6 could be purchased by itself, Visual Basic .NET is only sold as part of what Microsoft calls Visual Studio .NET. Visual Studio .NET also includes the other Microsoft supported .NET languages, C#.NET, J#.NET and C.NET. Visual Studio comes in a variety of versions with different capabilities that go well beyond just the ability to write programs. In October 2006, Microsofts posted list prices for Visual Studio .NET ranged from $800 to $2,800 although various discounts are often available. Fortunately, Microsoft also provides a completely free version of Visual Basic called Visual Basic .NET 2005 Express Edition (VBE). This version of VB.NET is separate from the other languages and is also completely compatible with the more expensive versions. This version of VB.NET is very capable and doesnt feel at all like free software. Although some features of the more expensive versions arent included, most programmers wont notice anything missing. The system can be used for production quality programming and isnt crippled in any way like some free software. You can read more about VBE and download a copy at Microsofts web site.

Defining toughness in college hoops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Defining toughness in college hoops - Essay Example It is evident from the study that Jay Bilas, the author of the article â€Å"Defining toughness in college hoops† clarified that his original perception of toughness was â€Å"physical and based on how much punishment I could dish out and how much I could take†. Therefore, by using explicit description of what toughness was not necessarily what it obviously means, the author started establishing his arguments using narration, description, and comparison. For example, the guidelines expounded on setting a good screen, the author defined what it takes for basketball players to manifest the necessary actions in terms of â€Å"improving the chances for a teammate to get open†¦and greatly improving your chances of getting open. A good screen can force the defense to make a mistake†. In contrast, setting a bad screen was not effectively described. The only explanation provided was that â€Å"a lazy or bad screen is a waste of everyone's time and energy†. Th e definition is lacking and insufficient to clearly differentiate disparity with an effective strategy. In addition, as readers get to evaluate the guidelines, it was apparent that the author did not provide an effective structure or logical format of presentation. In this regard, there is failure to use logical reasoning. The guidelines, though effective in the entirety, could have been presented in a more logical structure that categorizes the topics in sub-headings. For example, the author explained â€Å"set a good screen† and another topic as â€Å"don’t get screened†. These topics could actually be lumped together under ‘techniques for effective screening’. ... Another example is the author’s discussion on: â€Å"jump to the ball† (Bilas 2) and â€Å"play the ball, see your man† (Bilas 3); which could again be discussed in one sub-heading that could be entitled ‘tough ways of handling the ball’. The guidelines were apparently written in no particular order and could have been presented depending on the ideas that came to the author’s mind. It could be rationalized though that since the author knew that the article was specifically written with basketball enthusiasts, particularly players, as the audience of his discourse, the style, format or structure would not be examined and critiqued to diminish the veracity of the contents. However, considering that the author was duly established as a renowned basketball analyst, his credibility in providing the information was rightfully validated. Further, as indicated from the discourse, his personal experiences playing â€Å"in the ACC, for USA Basketball, in NBA training camps, and as a professional basketball player in Europe† (Bilas 1) has proven that he was acquired vast authority in to relay competency in the topic. The ability to conform to ethos due to his reputable background made his contentions and arguments valid. Finally, the article’s ability to more the audience through eliciting emotional appeal could be viewed as effective. The main support to validate the author’s success was his narrative discourse attesting that when he initially wrote a short blog on the topic, the response was â€Å"overwhelming. Dozens of college basketball coaches called to tell me that they had put the article up in the locker room, put it in each player's locker, or had gone over it in detail with

Managing Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Managing Information Technology - Essay Example Certainly, chargebacks are not for all time the outcome of somewhat IS service provider did or did not perform sometimes mistakes are made by issuer of card, buyers and credit card holders (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2009), (Visa., 2011) and (Conde, 2011). Moreover, a chargeback takes place after a consumer contacts their credit-card provider to challenge a charge that emerges on their credit card testimonial. Additionally, the chargebacks can take place due to several causes for instance an illegal agent has performed an acquisition the consumer’s credit card. In addition, there could be some concerns of chargeback wherein a buyer is not pleased with the strength of the IS services. There is another aspect in which consumer has been indicted numerous times intended for the similar order of purchase. In other scenarios a chargeback can take place when the purchaser is displeased by an acquirement and has not been capable to resolve the issue with the trader. Ot her cases may involve when the purchaser has not obtained the purchased products as they were promised by the IS service provider (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2009) and (Google, 2011).

Purpose And Definition Of OEE Engineering Essay

Purpose And Definition Of OEE Engineering Essay 2.1 Introduction These days, in this demanding world, the total elimination of waste is for the survival of the organization. The waste caused due to the failure or shutdown of facilities that has been built with enormous investment, and also waste such as defective products ought to be completely eliminated. In a manufacturing sector, companys facilities have to be functioning efficiently in order to gain desirable productivity, inventory cost, delivery as well as quality. In this context, the motive of OEE analysis and measurement is to reduce the equipment losses to zero and has been recognized as a necessity for many organizations. According to Bamber et al. (1999) [5], the role of teamwork, small group activities and the participation of all employees is crucial to accomplish equipment improvement aims. Hence, OEE is use as metrics to determine the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) activities. On the other hand, it can also be said that OEE shows a consistency approach to measure the effectiven ess of TPM as well as other programs by providing an overall structure for measuring production efficiency. As explained by (Dal et al., 2000) [6], the role of OEE goes far beyong not only monitoring and controlling, but also takes into consideration of process improvement initiatives/programs, provides a systematic method for establishing production targets, prevents the sub-optimization of individual machines or product lines, as well as incorporates practical management tools and techniques. This ensures the attainment of a balanced view of process availability, quality and performance. Another statement made by Lesshammar and Patrik (1999) [7], in their case studies, have presented how OEE is being used in industry and as well have reported that this metric forms a useful part of an overall system of measurement. In other words, it provides a useful method to measure the effectiveness of manufacturing operations from a single piece of equipment to the whole manufacturing plant of several manufacturing plants in a group. In doing so, OEE not only provides a complete scenario of where productive manufacturing time and money is being lost, but at the same time uncovers the true , hidden capability of the industry. Thus, it becomes the key manufacturing decision support tool for constant improvement programmes [8]. Apart from that, OEE is an established method of measuring followed by optimizing the efficiency of a machines performance or that of a whole industry plant. The effectiveness of a plants production highly depends on the effectiveness with which it makes use of equipment, materials, man and methods as explained by Suzuki (1999) [9]. Besides, OEE can have a significant impact on the productivity of a manufacturing unit. Therefore, through OEE manufacturers may systematically direct their business towards attainment of continuous improvement operating margins, optimized competitive position and maximized utilization of capital. Some of the more prominent firms have benefited from OEE as a measurement gauge for implementing improvement activities that increases company profits and costs. . 2.2 History of OEE OEE is an essential metric and basic methodology for manufacturers practicing a Lean manufacturing strategy that is zero waste in their value streams. This metric element follows the well-founded principle: If you cant measure it, you cant manage it [10]. Some advocates are fond of the view If youre not taking score, youre only practicing [10]. In 1972, the Japanese Plant Maintenance Institute (JPMI) developed a theory called Total Productive Maintenance [11]. The preliminary aim of TPM was to eradicate the six big losses and subsequently the eight wastes. It was first implemented and developed in Toyotas automotive plants, soon after evolving into world renowned Toyota Production System. An organizational culture was formed by Toyota that focused on the systematic identification and elimination of all waste from their production process where the technical / human contributions to production are maximized. Reengineering and organizational change is used to maximize yield, minimize cost and time-compress the supply chain by fully excluding non-value added activities and not right first time events. The OEE gauge came forward from the Japanese production focused, equipment management framework of TPM [10]. OEE is the key measure of the tangible benefits accessible from TPM by Seiichi Nakajima, the founder of Total Productive Maintenance who initially used OEE to depict a fundamental measure for tracking production performance. He (Seiichi Nakajima) challenged the complacent view of effectiveness by focusing not merely on keeping equipment running smoothly, but on creating a sense of joint responsibility between maintenance workers and operators to optimize the Overall Equipment Performance. OEE symbolized in the first of the original pillars of TPM. Guided all TPM activities and measured the results of these loss focused activities. Therefore, the use of OEE had evolved into the current focused improvement pillar, one of eight TPM pillars. During the mid 1990s, coordinated by SEMATECH the semiconductor wafer fabrication industry has adopted to improve the productivity of the fabrication [11]. Since then, manufacturers in other industries throughout the world have embraced OEE ways to improve their asset utilization. 2.3 The purpose of OEE The OEE metric can be applied at a number of different levels within a manufacturing environment. First, OEE can be used as a benchmark for measuring the initial performance of a manufacturing industry as a whole. Thereby, the initial OEE measure can be compared with future OEE values, hence quantifying the level of enhancement made. Subsequently, an OEE value calculated for one manufacturing line can as well be used to compare line performance across the industry, thus highlighting any poor line performance. If the machines processes work individually, an OEE measure can discover which machine performance is worst, and therefore indicate where to focus TPM resources ( Nakajima 1988) [5]. Dal et al. (2000) [6] declared that by utilizing largely existing performance data, such as preventive maintenance, absenteeism, accidents, material utilization, conformance to schedule, labor recovery, set-up and changeover data, etc., the OEE measure may possibly provide topical information for daily decision making. Due to this, the OEE measurement method within a industry becomes the elementary measure of TPM activities, as well as a basis of improvements for the TPM process. 2.4 Definition of OEE In the era of globalization today, manufacturers are forced to look for creative ways to maximize additional investment due to the continuous pressure of global competition which results in lower margin. In this state, OEE has becoming a hot topic. In its most basic form, OEE offers a straightforward ways to keep track of manufacturing performance as well as to measure the total equipment performance- the degree to which the asset is doing what it is supposed to do. However, the true power of OEE as a dedicated application lies in the ability to use it as a change-enabler, or tool for continuous improvement and lean manufacturing programs [8]. There are various methodologies to gauge manufacturing efficiency. Generally most companies will have a number of measures already in place. Nevertheless, many now disagree that none of these approaches are as comprehensive or far reaching as the OEE achievement, since OEE provides a way to measure the effectiveness of manufacturing operations from single piece of equipment to the manufacturing plant in entirety, or several manufacturing plants in a group. as a result, OEE can be well thought-out as a central KPI (key performance indicator). It drives an organization to examine all aspects of asset performance in order to ensure gaining the maximum benefits from a piece of equipment that is already bought and paid for [12]. Thus, it is obvious that OEE acts as an approach for monitoring and managing the lifecycle of manufacturing assets. On the other hand, OEE can be expressed as a commonly accepted set of metrics that bring clear focus to the key success drivers for manufacturing enterprises [13]. In other words, it measures both efficiency (doing things right) and effectiveness (doing the right things) with the equipments. These measurement comprises of three fundamental elements where each one is expressed as a percentage and accounting for a different kind of waste in the manufacturing process. Thus, it is understood that OEE is a function of the three factors. The three factors mentioned below are briefed as: Availability or uptime (downtime: planned and unplanned, tool change, tool service, job change etc.) A measure of the time the plant was in fact available for production compared to the manufacturing requirements. Any losses in this area would attribute to major breakdowns or extended set up time [14]. Performance efficiency (actual vs. design capacity) The rate that concrete units are produced compared to the designed output. Losses in this area would attribute to slow speed running, minor stoppages or adjustments [14]. Rate of quality output (Defects and rework) A measure of good quality, saleable product, minus any waste. Losses in this element would attribute to damage rejects or products needing rework [14]. Measuring OEE can be done simply by capturing the five basic pieces of information as stated below: Planned Production Time the planned amount of time in which production is planned for a specific line. Down Time specify as the amount of time the process is not running during the planned production time (interrupts to production). Ideal Cycle Time represent as the theoretical minimum of time needed to produce a single piece of product. Total Pieces denote as the total number of pieces produced during the planned production time. Good Pieces signify as the total number of pieces produced that meet quality standards. Figure 2.1 The Overall Equipment Effectiveness flow chart 2.5 Objectives of OEE Overall Equipment Effectiveness records and data informations are used to categorize a single asset (machine or equipment) and/or single stream process related losses in order to improve total asset reliability and performance. Besides, the information is useful and essential as it helps to identify and categorize major losses or reasons for poor performance. OEE offers the basis for setting enhancement priorities as well as for the root of measurement and analysis. In addition, the percentage determined is used to track and trend for improvement, or decline, in equipment effectiveness over a period of time. Hidden or untapped capacity in a manufacturing process can be pointed out through these percentages and lead to balance flow. On top of that, OEE can be used to develop and enhance collaboration between asset operations, maintenance, purchasing, and equipment engineering to jointly identify and reduce (or eliminate) the 2 major causes of poop performance since maintenance alone cannot improve OEE. 2.6 The use of OEE The root why companies uses OEE is to avoid making inappropriate purchases, and help them focus on improving the performance of machinery and also plant equipment they already own. Companies should also start with the area that will provide the greatest return on asset because OEE is able to find the greatest areas of improvement. These OEE formula with the major factors involves will show how improvements in quality, changeovers, machine reliability improvements, working through breaks and more. In business world today, when many manufacturers strive towards world class productivity in their facility, this simple method will perform an excellent benchmarking tool [15]. Besides, the simple derived OEE percentage makes a great motivational system as it is easy to understand and this single number is displayed where all facility personnel can view it. By giving employees such as operators and workers an easy way to see how they are doing in overall equipment utilization, production speed, and quality, in return they will strive for a higher number instead. 2.7 Defining Six Big Losses One of the major goals of TPM and OEE programs is to reduce and/or eliminate what are named as the Six Big Losses, the most common causes of efficiency loss in manufacturing sectors. This was put forwarded by Nakajima in 1989 [16]. There are basically 3 categories of OEE loss which include: Down Time Loss, Speed Loss and Quality Loss. Each of these types has been divided into two sub-losses. They are known or called the Six Big Losses. Basically, OEE is generally measured in terms of these six losses as showed below. They are categorized as stated below: Breakdown Losses Setup and Adjustments Losses Small Stops Losses (Idling and Minor Stop Losses) Reduced Speed Losses Startup Rejects (reduced yield losses) Production Rejects (quality defects and re-work) Categorizing these data makes addressing the Six Big Losses much easier, and a key goal should be fast and efficient data collection, with data put to used throughout the day in the real time. 2.2 Addressing the Six Big Losses Measurement is essential to establish appropriate metrics. It is important necessity of continuous improvement processes. As stated by Nakajima (1988), an efficient way of analyzing the efficiency of a single machine or an integrated manufacturing process is through OEE measurement [17]. It is a function of availability, performance rate, and quality rate. In fact, the three dimensions are measures in terms of equipment losses. Following this, Nakajima (1988) defined these losses into six major categories as follows [17]: 2.7.1.1 Availability Losses Based on the mechanism principle, a machine most likely is available 24/7/365. However, this comes from an ideal perspective, from which one can measure true machine availability. There are few genuine factors that affect on availability, some of which are planned, and some unplanned. For planned downtime, it takes into account of holidays, scheduled maintenance and vacation. While for unplanned downtime, it includes equipment failures and setup and adjustments. It is possible to factor in the planned downtime; however it is the losses due to unplanned downtime that can negatively affects machine availability. Breakdowns Breakdown Losses are classified as by far the biggest of the Six Big Losses. These losses are significant due to the fact of its sudden, dramatic failure in which the equipment stops completely [18]. In the view of the fact that there is no production therefore this unexpected breakdown are undoubtedly elements of losses. The breakdown can cause all equipment functions to be terminated even though the source lies in a single specific function. Nevertheless, deterioration related to problem and losses are also regard as break down losses. It is important to improve OEE by eliminating unplanned downtime. But if the process is down, other OEE factors cannot be dealt with. Therefore, it is not merely important to know how much downtime your process is experiencing (and when) at the same time to be able to attribute the lost time to the specific reason or cause for the loss [19]. Setup and Adjustments Whenever the production of one product stops and the equipment is adjusted to meet the requirements of another product, this is where setup and adjustment take place. The loss of time due to this delay is known as setup and adjustments Basically, setup and adjustments period of time is normally measured as the time between the last good parts produced before setup to the first consistent good parts produced after setup. In order to constantly produce parts that meet the quality standards, it should generally include substantial adjustment and/or warm-up time. Various innovative ways have been used by companies to reduce setup time. These comprises assembling changeover carts with all tools and supplies necessary for the changeover in one place, pinned or marked settings so that coarse adjustments are no longer necessary, and use of prefabricated setup measures [20]. 2.7.1.2 Performance Losses Machine performance referred to as the net production time during which products are produced. The more the machine produces, the greater the OEE metric. However, speed losses and small stops will inhibit the overall performance of machine. If such losses is not recognized and addressed, the machine performance cannot be fully optimized. Reduced Speed Reduced Speed can be classified as one of the most difficult of the Six Big Losses to monitor and record. This is due to the reason that there is a significant difference between the theoretical maximum speed and what people think the maximum speed is. In most cases, in order to prevent other losses such as quality rejects and breakdowns, the production speed needs to be optimized. Losses due to reduce speed are therefore, often ignored or underestimated [21]. It happens when the equipment runs slower than its optimal or maximum speed. Apart from that, reduced speed is the difference between designed speed and the actual operating speed [21]. There are various reasons where equipment may be running at less than its designed speed, for instance non-standard or difficult raw materials, history or past problems, mechanical problems, or fear of overloading the equipment. This loss of speed is actually converted into time during the OEE calculation. Small Stops We can also assume small stops as one of the most difficult of the Six Big Losses to monitor and record. Whenever a machine shows short interruptions and does not have a constant speed, this will not result in a smooth flow of production. Minor stoppages and the subsequent loss of speed can be the cause from products blocking sensors or products getting stuck in the conveyor belts. The machines effectiveness will be diminished drastically if these hitches occur frequently [21]. The occurrence of these losses happens whenever equipment stops for a short time as the result of a temporary problem. As an example, a work-piece is jammed in a chuck or when a sensor activates and shut down the machines, this will definitely result in a minor stoppage. As soon as someone removes the jammed work-piece or resets the sensor instantly, it operates normally again. These losses also include idling losses that occur when equipment continues to run without producing. Thus, since idling and minor stoppages interrupt jobs, therefore they can also be categorized as breakdowns. Despite that, the two are fundamentally different in that a minor stoppage and the duration are usually less than 10 minutes. 2.7.1.3 Quality Losses A scrap is when the final product is not saleable, and the entire process has been wasted on product that will never make it to the customer. Thus, it is very essential to take into account the quality of the product while evaluating OEE. Availability and speed often has been the main focus, and quality is left behind. The key to keep in mind is that without a good product, the rest of the operation is a white elephant. Generally, quality losses are generated during startup while the machine is ramping up, during adjustment, or during normal production, as rejected/unwanted product due to process instabilities. Startup Rejects Products that do not meet the quality standards are called scraps, even if they can be sold as sub-spec. A specific type of quality loss is the startup losses where these losses occur due to when: Starting up of the machine: the production is not stable as soon as the machine starts and the first products do not meet the quality standards. The process of the machine at the end of a production run is no longer stable and the products no longer to be able to meet the specifications require. Quantities of products are no longer counted as part of the production order and consequently are considered as loss. These are usually hidden losses, which are often considered to be unavoidable. The scale of these losses can be surprisingly large [21]. Certain adjustments and warm-up time is required for several equipments to obtain optimum output. Losses that happen in the early stages of production during machine setup to stabilization of product quality are called the startup losses. The losses differ with degree of stability of processing condition, operators technical skill, maintenance level on equipment, and many more. Production rejects A product that does not meet the quality specifications/standards for the first time, but can be reprocessed into good products is known as rework products. Reworking products is not a disadvantage as the product can be sold to fit other demand needs. However, the product was not right first time and is therefore a quality loss just like scrap [21]. Production rejects are classified as quality losses that are not caused by startup. These losses arise only when products produced are not conforming to the specifications. Parts that require rework of any kind should be considered reject and this happens during steady state production. Example of the Downtime loss, Speed loss, and Quality loss is depicted in the following page. The Six Big Losses with three categories are shown in figure below. The following table shows how this Six Big Losses are categorized with examples given. Figure 2.3: Classification of Six Big Losses. The table below lists the Six Big Losses, and show how they are relate to the OEE Loss categories. A typical major loss, the categories of OEE as well as examples of events is shown as follow: OEE Loss Category   Six Big Loss Category   Event Examples   Down Time Loss   Breakdowns   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Tooling Failures à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Unplanned Maintenance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ General Breakdowns à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Equipment Failure   Setup and Adjustments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Setup/Changeover à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Material Shortages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Operator Shortages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Major Adjustments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Warm-Up Time Speed Loss   Idling and Minor stops   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Obstructed Product Flow à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Component Jams à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Misfeeds à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sensor Blocked à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Delivery Blocked à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cleaning/Checking   Reduced Speed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rough Running à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Under Nameplate Capacity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Under Design Capacity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Equipment Wear à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Operator Inefficiency Quality Loss   Start-up Losses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Scrap à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rework à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-Process Damage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-Process Expiration à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Incorrect Assembly   Defect Losses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Scrap à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rework à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-Process Damage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-Process Expiration à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Incorrect Assembly Table 2.1 : The Six Big Losses in OEE 2.8 OEE factors As explained in previous subsequent chapter, the OEE calculation is based on the three OEE factors. This comprises of Availability, Quality and Performance. They are as well referring as Effectiveness Factors. Here is how each of these factors is calculated. Availability The Availability part of OEE represents the percentage of scheduled time that the equipment is available to function [18]. This Availability element is a measurement of the uptime that is designed to exclude the effects of performance, quality, and scheduled downtime events. Since Availability takes into account of Downtime loss, the formula is calculated as: 20 Availability = Operation time Planned Production time Where, Operation time = Planned production time Unscheduled Downtime Production time = Planned production time Scheduled Downtime Downtime losses zero indicates the availability is 100%, where the gross operating time equals the available time for production. i.e. Operation time equals Planned Production time. Therefore, it can be said that 100% Availability means the process has been running without any recorded stops. Performance Performance can be denoted as the ratio between Net Operating Time and Operating Time. Since Performance takes into account of speed loss, the formula is calculated as: 22 Performance = Net Operating Time Operating Time The Performance portion of OEE corresponds to the speed at which the machine runs as a percentage of its designed speed. This Performance element is a measurement of speed that is designed to exclude the effects of availability and quality [18]. Performance does not penalize for rejects, which imply even if the work is rejected or rework, it will still be included in the planned and actual hours accordingly. Since Performance takes into account Speed Loss, the formula is calculated as: Performance = Ideal Cycle Time Operating Time / Total Pieces 23 Where, Ideal Cycle Time = the minimum cycle time that the process can be expected to achieve in optimal circumstances. It is at times called, Theoretical Cycle Time, Nameplate Capacity or Design Cycle Time. Since Run Rate is the reciprocal of Cycle Time, Performance can also be calculated as: Performance = Total Pieces / Operating Time Ideal Run Rate 24 Performance is limited at 100%, to make sure that if an error is made in specifying the Ideal Cycle Time of Ideal Run Rate, the effect on OEE will be limited. Therefore, it can be said that 100% Performance means the process has been consistently running at its theoretical maximum speed. Quality Rate The Quality portion of the OEE signifies the good units produced as a percentage of the total units produced [18]. The Quality metric is a measurement of process yield that is designed to exclude the effects of availability and performance. Quality is the ratio of Fully Productive Time to Net Operating Time. Quality = Fully Productive Time / Net Operating Time 25 Quality = Good Pieces / Total Pieces Since Quality takes into account of Quality Loss, the formula is calculated as: 26 (Total no of units of processed products- No of units of no good products)/(total no of units of processed products). Thus, it can be said that 100% Quality means there is no rework or reject pieces. Therefore, since OEE takes into account all three OEE factors, the formula is calculated as: 27 OEE = Availability x Performance x Quality Therefore OEE is the product of its effectiveness factors; Availability, Performance and Quality. The study of each of these effectiveness factors will improve the Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Below diagrams shows the three major elements of OEE together with formula calculated . Figure 2.4à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Shows the formula on how to calculate OEE Figure 2.5à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Shows the OEE Factors Loss OEE Factor Planned Shutdown Not included in OEE calculation Down Time Loss Availability is the ratio of Operating Time to Planned Production Time (Operating Time is Planned Production Time less Down Time Loss). Calculated as the ratio of Operating Time to Planed Production Time. 100% Availability means the process has been running without any recorded stops. Speed Loss Performance is the ratio of Net Operating Time to Operating Time (Net Operating Time is Operating Time less Speed Loss). Calculated as the ratio of Ideal Cycle Time to Actual Cycle Time, or alternately the ratio of Actual Run Rate to Ideal Run Rate. 100% Performance means the process has been consistently running at its theoretical maximum speed. Table 2.1 indicates the 3 main factors of OEE Quality Loss Quality is the ratio of Fully Productive Time to Net Operating Time (Fully Productive Time is Net Operating Time less Quality Loss). Calculated as the ratio of Good Pieces to Total Pieces. 100% Quality means there have been no reject or rework pieces. 2.9 OEE Components of Plant Operating Time 2.9.1 Components of Plant Operating Time In order to establish an accurate measurement, OEE analysis begins with Plant Operating Time. Basically, this Plant Operating Time implies as the amount of time the facility is open and available for equipment process. It can also be refer as the maximum amount of time and is a constant. One day consists of 24 hours of 60 minutes. While, for one week, it consists of 7 days of 24 hours. Whereas, in one year consists of 52 weeks. At times, Plant Operating Time is also referred to as Theoretical Production Time. It consists of different losses like speed and quality loss as well as fully productive time 2.9.1 Plant Production Time Once a category of called Planned Shut Down is subtracted from Plant Operating Time, the remaining available time is called Planned Production Time. The Planned Shut Down shall include any events that should be excluded from efficiency analysis since there was no intension of running production [22]. For example, tea breaks, lunch breaks, scheduled maintenance or periods where there is nothing to produce. Nevertheless, Planned Production Time is also known as Available Production Time. OEE initiates with Planned Production Time and analyze efficiency as well as productivity losses that occur, with the aim of eliminating or reducing these losses. OEE starts with Plant Operating Time and end up with Fully Productive Time, screening the source of productive loss that occur in between. 2.9.1.1 Operating Time From Planned Production Time, the downtime loss is subtracted to gain Operating Time. The downtime losses inclusive of any events that stop planned production for an appreciable length of time (normally several minute-long enough to log as a traceable event) [22]. Examples of these include material shortages, equipment failures, and changeover time. Since it is also includes as type of downtime, the changeover time is included in OEE analysis. Even though it may not be possible to reduce 9 changeover times, however, it can be reduced in most cases. The remaining available time is called Operating Time and also known as Gross Operating Time [22]. 2.9.1.2 Net Operating Time From the Operating Time, the speed loss is deducted to obtain Net Operating Time. The speed losses take account of any factors that cause the process to operate less than the maximum possible speed while running. Examples of these include machine wear, substandard materials, miss-feeds, and operator inefficiency. 2.9.1.3 Fully Productive Time As for Net Operating Time, the Quality Loss is subtracted and the remaining available time is called the Fully Productive Time. These quality losses accounts for produced pieces that do not meet quality standards, together with pieces that require rework. The goal here is to maximize Fully Productive Time w