Coaching Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coaching - Term Paper Example In simple terms, coaching is training or development that involves an individual (coach) supporting the learner (trainee) in achieving professional objectives. There many types of coaching like business, sports, and philosophy to other. A coaching philosophy is what one values and how he will approach his coaching roles. Coaching philosophy covers ones purpose as a coach and how he will approach player development and winning. Ones coaching philosophy is composed of the primary objectives and at times beliefs and the principles that one adhere to achieve his goals (Program, 2010, p. 45). One’s coaching philosophy will guide him on how to behave as a coach and how to interact with his or her athlete, footballers among other examples. Coaching philosophy has to touch on who one is and who one wants to be in future. In many occasions, it is based on one’s experience, knowledge, opinions, and beliefs. All excellent philosophies irrespective of their length describe and explain the purpose of coaching, the views, and the principle that the coach will use to achieve his goal. (Association A. F., 2012, p. 130) Some of the elements of the coaching philosophies are discussed below. Motivation vs. Inspiration: Inspiration is the shortest- lived character or behavior. In many occasions when a challenge requires a force and application over time, inspiration may help to start us off, but motivation provides the perseverance required. (Barbour, 2011, p. 335) On the other hand, motivation is based on the intrinsic need of people, for example, how vital is the outcome for the performer. As far as the footballer has made up his mind as to the desirability of this result for him then his coach can help him to achieve his goal. When a footballers or athletes depend on the coach for his so called motivation, then the coach will be in trouble. It is because coaches need highly motivated players to work within the field. Plan, prepare

IT in Architectural Competition Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

IT in Architectural Competition - Article Example IT can be used only as a tool and nothing more in the context of architectural competitions. One is not suggesting that sophisticated computers and software programmes can replace the invaluable experience, intuition, and feel of experienced professionals. Professional experience when combined with the amazing computing power and versatile graphic imagery that IT enables, can bring the process of evaluation to a higher level. Qualitative aspects of the architectural parameters pose tough challenges and to the best of my knowledge, there are no programmes that can fully replace human judgment. Competition works are evaluated from aesthetic and functional angles, such as spatial composition, cityscape values, and sensation. Judges are using words like spatial cognition, texture vividness, light, shadow, sensation, habitability, and pleasantness. The element of personal feelings as an aspect of the quality of a work is evident from these descriptions. IT enables enhancement of a judge’s feel for a work and hence it is reasonable to propose that IT be used as a tool for the judicial process and as a return medium for a competition. Objectivity aspects of presentations are important and discussed separately. On the other hand, quantitative aspects, by definition, are quantifiable and IT can be a good tool here too. Buildings can be evaluated in terms of codes, energy performance, sustainability etc. Once mandatory codes have been met, evaluating for sustainability essentially looks at a building holistically in terms of energy and resource use. These aspects are quantifiable easily and objectivity of judgment is retained while evaluating them. A judgment is supposed to be based on the information made available. However, it has been the experience for a very long time that the information provided to facilitate judgment lacks objectivity and this has resulted in restrictions being imposed on some kind of information.

Sources of finance available to a business

Sources of finance available to a business There are many types of business entity defined in the legal systems of various countries. These include sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, corporations, cooperatives and other specialized types of organization. Sole traders: A sole trader is also known as a sole proprietorship its a type of business entity that is.owned and run by one individual and in which there is no legal distinction. between the owner and the business. Partnership: A legal contract entered into by two or more persons in which each agrees to furnish a part of the capital and labor for a business enterprise, and by which each. shares a fixed proportion of profits and losses Companies or corporations are distinct artificial persons. created in order to separate legal responsibility for the affairs of a business from the personal affairs. of the individuals who own or operate the business. That are traded on an. official stock market. It is the most common form of legal organization for really. large business, for the very good reason that they have access to very substantial funds. for expansion. The protection that comes from being a company is therefore substantial. Small firms can gain this protection when the owner.create a private limited company. If Mr. Javed start business by his own in a form of sole trader ship so the survival will be a bit difficult because the opportunities of businesses are very less so there will be barrier of entries to the market. He also dont know about the rules and regulations of the country and the tax formats so sole trader ship will give him a bit tough time. Internal sources of finance: is the name. for a firm using its profits as a source of capital for new investment, rather than distributing them to firms owners or other investors and. obtaining capital elsewh Hire purchase and leasing: is the legal term for a contract, in this persons usually agree to pay for goods in parts or a percentage at a time. Medium term bank loans: This will have the same advantages. and disadvantages as long term loans. Asset sales: As firms grow they build up assets. These assets could be in the. form of property, machinery, equipment, other companies or even logos. In some cases it may be appropriate for a business to sell off some. of these assets to finance other projects. Q.1 Scenario 1: Mr. Javed has recently come back from US and wants to invest in Pakistan. Javed wants to invest Rs. 5 million personally for a viable business project. He has mentioned his intentions to some of his friends who would also like to invest with him, but he is not sure about adding any further partners to his business. Though there are many advantages of having partners but I want this project to be my baby and dont want to have hassling relationships. P1: Identify the various forms of business. There are many types of business entity defined in the legal systems of various countries. These include sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, corporations, cooperatives and other specialized types of organization. Sole traders: A sole trader is also known as a sole proprietorship its a type of business entity that is.owned and run by one individual and in which there is no legal distinction. between the owner and the business. The sole proprietor is an unincorporated business with one owner.  who pays personal income tax on profits from the business. With little government regulation, they are the. simplest business to set up or take apart, making  them popular among individual self..contractors or business owners. Partnership: A legal contract entered into by two or more persons in which each agrees to furnish a part of the capital and labor for a business enterprise, and by which each. shares a fixed proportion of profits and losses. A partnership is an arrangement where entities and/or individuals. agree to start a business to achieve their mutual goals. Its relation between two or more persons. who have agreed to share the profits and losses according to their ratio of business run. by all or any one of them acting for all. All agreed conditions of partners. are written in PARTNERSHIP DEED. Companies or Corporations: Companies or corporations are distinct artificial persons. created in order to separate legal responsibility for the affairs of a business from the personal affairs. of the individuals who own or operate the business. The business debts are not owners. responsibility, they belong to the company, which is regarded as a separate person in its own right. The. companies acts distinguish between: Public limited company: That are traded on an. official stock market. It is the most common form of legal organization for really. large business, for the very good reason that they have access to very substantial funds. for expansion. The standard legal  designation of a company which has offered shares to the general public. and  has limited liability. A Public Limited Companys stock can be acquired by anyone and holders are only limited. to potentially lose the amount paid for the shares. Private limited companies: The protection that comes from being a company is therefore substantial. Small firms can gain this protection when the owner.create a private limited company. The word limited tells us that the. business has this legal form. Usually the shares will be owned by the original sole trader, relatives, friends and employees. Cooperatives: Cooperative is a business organization owned and operated. by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. A cooperative may also be defined as a. business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or. by the people who work there. Cooperative enterprises are the focus of study in the field of cooperative economics. P2: Assess the implications of the different forms of business. Sole trader: Advantages: Choose. hours of work Make your.own decisions All the profit made. is your own Claim expenses and certain. costs against tax The business can be based on. the interests or skills of the owner Disadvantages: No sickness. pay. No set holiday. pay The time consuming. accounting is done in your own free time If the owner dies. there is no one to control his business Job security. is not a fact Partnership: Advantages: You can pool resources, expertise, and strengths. There are limited startup costs. There are few formalities You have a shared financial commitment. Capital is contributed by partners Losses are shared by partners(if written in partnership deed) Decision making is. easy because there is someone to give advice about the business Disadvantages: Partners may have. different visions or goals for the business. There may be unequal commitment in terms of time and finances. There may also be. personal disputes. Partners are personally liable for business debts and liabilities. Profits are. distributed among the partners Usually decision making takes time Conflicts can raise among. the partners about the decisions Private limited companies: Advantages: Shareholders have. limited liability Separate legal. personality Continuity in the event. of the death of a shareholder Original owner is still. often able to retain control Able to raise capital. from sale of shares to family, friends and employees Greater status than. an unincorporated business. Disadvantages: Legal formalities. involved in establishing the business Capital cannot be raised by sale. of shares to the general public Quite difficult for. shareholders to sell shares Public limited companies: Advantages: Limited liability Separate legal identity Continuity Ease of buying and selling of shares for shareholders Access of substantial capital sources due to the ability to issue a prospectus to the public and to offer shares for sale Disadvantages: Legal formalities in formation Cost of business consultants. and financial advisers when creating such a company Share prices. subject to fluctuation Risk of takeover due to the availability. of the shares on the Stock Exchange Directors influenced. by short term objectives of major investors P3 and M1: Select an appropriate form of a business. Justify your selected form a business in light of the proposed case and its implications. As Mr. Javed has come to me for suggestion so I will advise him the best and more feasible business in the current situation and in the future. Mr. Javed wants the project to be his baby and wants more profits and more feasible in current market of Pakistan and he recently came back from US so he dont know much about Pakistans market and the people of Pakistan. As his some of friends also want to be his partners in the business so he could take some capital and expertise from his friends to startup the business. His investment of 5million is also a bit less because the inflation rate in Pakistan is high and the currency is lower than many countries, so doing business by adding partners to his business will bring more investments so he can go further. The risk is going to be less because in case of loose the loose is going to be divided between the partners. His friends know the market and current situation of the country better than him so they can give better advises about the busin ess and can make business more successful, as the current activities can affect the businesses very badly and Mr. Javed dont know much about it so his partners can also help him in the survival of the business by their expertise. If Mr. Javed start business by his own in a form of sole trader ship so the survival will be a bit difficult because the opportunities of businesses are very less so there will be barrier of entries to the market. He also dont know about the rules and regulations of the country and the tax formats so sole trader ship will give him a bit tough time. Q.2 Scenario 2: Biz Training is a private limited company formed ten years ago by a group of five ex-lecturers. The five are the main shareholders but there is also a shareholder who was a local businessperson who initially approached two of the five to run a training course for her company. P1 and P2: identify the sources of finance available to a business. Assess the implications of the different sources. Businesses are able to raise finance from a wide range of sources. Some of are: Internal sources of finance: is the name. for a firm using its profits as a source of capital for new investment, rather than distributing them to firms owners or other investors and. obtaining capital elsewhere. It is to be contrasted with external financing .which consists of new money from outside of the firm brought in for investment. Internal financing is. generally thought to be less expensive for the firm than external financing because the firm does not have to incur transaction costs to obtain it, nor does it have to pay the taxes associated. with paying dividends. Many economists debate whether the availability of internal financing is an important determinant. of firm investment or not. A related controversy is whether the fact that internal financing is. empirically correlated with investment implies firms are credit constrained and therefore depend. on internal financing for investment. Profits retained in the business: The accumulated net income retained. for reinvestment in a business, rather than being paid out in dividends to stockholders. Sale of assets: Established companies often find that they have. assets that are no longer fully employed. These could be sold to raise cash. Reductions in working capital: When businesses increase stock levels or sell goods. on credit to customers they use a source of finance. When companies reduce these assets by reducing. their working capital, capital is released, which acts as a source of finance for other uses. External sources of finance: Short term sources: There are three main sources of short term external finance: Bank Overdrafts: Bank overdraft: An overdraft occurs when some. one withdraws from a bank account and they exceed the available balance. In this situation a person is said to be overdrawn. If there is a prior agreement with the account. provider for an overdraft protection plan, and the amount overdrawn is within this authorized overdraft limit, then interest is. normally charged at the agreed rate. Advantages An overdraft is flexible. you only borrow what you need at the time which may make it cheaper than a loan. You only pay for the funds. you use. Its quick to. arrange. There is not normally a charge for paying. off the overdraft earlier than expected. Disadvantages It has to be rearranged regularly. It can be called in. by the lender at any time. Overdrafts may be secured against business assets. the lender can take control of these if you dont repay the overdraft. Trade credit: Trade credit is an arrangement between businesses to buy goods or services on account, that is, without making immediate cash payment. The supplier typically. provides the customer with an agreement to bill them later, stipulating a fixed number of days or other date by which the customer should pay. It can be. viewed as an essential element of capitalization in an operating business because it can reduce the required capital investment required to operate the business if it is managed properly Advantages You can buy the stock and pay later. when you have sold the stock and made enough money to pay them back Eases the cash flow as you can pay after 28-30 days Disadvantages If you do not pay them back on time you can build up a bad credit history Only companies with good credit history. can be accepted the trade credit grant Debt factoring: When a business sells goods on credit it creates a debtor. The longer the time allowed to this debtor to pay up, the more finance the business. has to find to carry on trading. One option, if it is commercially unwise to insist on cash payments, is to sell these debts to a debt factor. In this way immediate cash is obtained, but not for the full amount of the debt. This is because the debt factoring companys profits are made by. discounting the debts and not paying their full value. When full payment is received from the original customer, the debt factor makes a profit. Smaller firms who sell goods on hire purchase. often sell the debt to credit loans firms, so that the credit agreement is never with the firm but. with the specialist provider. Sources of medium term finance: there are two main sources of medium term external finance: Hire purchase and leasing: is the legal term for a contract, in this persons usually agree to pay for goods in parts or a percentage at a time. In cases where a buyer cannot afford to pay the asked price for an item of property as a lump sum but can afford to pay a percentage as a deposit, a hire-purchase contract allows the buyer to hire the goods for a monthly rent. When a sum equal to the original full price plus interest has been paid in equal installments, the buyer may then exercise an option to buy the goods at a predetermined price (usually a nominal sum) or return the goods to the owner. Medium term bank loans: This will have the same advantages. and disadvantages as long term loans. Long term finance: Long term loans from banks: Bank loans: As with short term finance, banks are an important source of longer term finance. Banks may lend sums over long periods of time . possibly up to 25 years or even more in some cases. The loans have. a rate of interest attached to them. A mortgage is a loan specifically for the purchase of property. Some businesses. might buy property through a mortgage. In many cases, mortgages are used as. a security for a loan. This tends. to occur with smaller businesses. Advanatages: You can borrow. large amounts. Disadvantage: You can pay back with interest Debentures: Debentures are generally freely transferable by the debenture holder. Debenture holders have no rights to vote in. the companys general meetings of shareholders. Debenture holder charges a specific percentage of interest. rate from the company as they are investing in the company. Advanatages: You can borrow large amounts. Disadvantage: You can pay back with interest Debentures: A company wishing to raise funds will issue. or sell these to interested investors. The company agrees to pay a fixed rate of interest each year for the life of the debenture (which is often 25 years). The buyers may resell to other. investors if they do not wish to wait until maturity before getting their original investment back. Debentures are often secured. on a particular asset, which means that the investors have. the right, if the company ceases trading, to sell that particular asset to gain repayment. When this is part of the agreement, the debentures. are known as mortgage debentures. Asset sales: As firms grow they build up assets. These assets could be in the. form of property, machinery, equipment, other companies or even logos. In some cases it may be appropriate for a business to sell off some. of these assets to finance other projects. Advantage You get the money back straight away. Disadvantage In the long run, it is more expensive to lease the. piece of machinery or building. Retained profit: its the remaining profits. after deducting taxes, owners profits and dividends to shareholders. It can be kept. for other business uses or expansions. Advantage: No interest will have to be paid Disadvantage: Not available for start up business P3 and M1: Select appropriate sources of finance for a business project. Justify your source of finance in light of the proposed business and its implications. Before selecting a source of finance for the firm we must know which finance is going to be used in biz training. Biz training is about to buy a online learning system which they will use for a long period of time. As Biz Training is a private limited company they can not sell their shares in the stock exchange to generate funds to buy the online system so Biz Training is going to lease for buying the system as it is an fixed asset. By leasing they will not have to collect large amount such as for an asset like system A which is 120,000 pounds by this way their cash will not be disturbed and will not put Burdon on the business. By leasing they would get the system and would start using it they will get to know how profitable the system is and if the online learning system is profitable they will buy the asset after the leasing period and if it is not giving the firm desired profits then the system will be returned or they can sell it after the lease time has finished. The best part o f leasing is that all the maintenance cost of the system would be on the leasing company. In this case using other sources such as bank loan or hire purchase would not be a good decision. Taking a bank loan is not easy banks investigate a lot in the companies accounts and will need to be convinced that they will receive their loan back and will charge a lot of interest an will mortgage some of the property or any other assets and if the system is not earning profit and they cant give loan bank so the bank ill sell there property or the asset they have mortgaged so in bank loan the risk is high and in hire purchase Biz training will own the asset. By leasing will be get a clear picture of what decisions need to be taken in the future as they will know if the system they leased will be profitable or not and decide to buy it or let go of it so its better to lease the system and there is going to be less risk in the business. D1.Some firm finance its seasonal (temporary) working capital with long term funds. Explain the impact of these decisions on the profitability and risk of these firms. Bibliography: BBP learning Media Business Environment(2007) AS level Business studies (peter stimpson) I G C S E business studies (Karen Borrington, peter stimpson)

Copyright and the Internet Essay -- Copyright, Internet,

Copyright came about in the fifteenth century in Britain, sometime after the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. â€Å"The printing press represented a supreme threat to the clergy’s monopoly on idea dissemination; moveable type was the fifteenth century version of Napster† (Copyright Website). Copyright laws were instated to protect authors of various intellectual properties, (literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural) and give credit to the proper author. Over the years copyright laws have changed dramatically, because of the development of the internet. Before the internet in order to be caught plagiarizing someone would have to read through all sorts of literary works, to know exactly where the information came from. These days a person can just type what they are looking for into search engine sites like â€Å"Google† and fine exactly what they were looking for. With information accessed with such ease it makes it almost effortl ess to plagiarize (the act of stealing others ideas, and passing them off as your own), other peoples work without the author having any idea. "The Internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since its inception. The Internet is awash in information, a lot of it with varying degrees of copyright protection. Copyrighted works on the Net include news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, pictures, Usenet messages and even email. In fact, the frightening reality is that almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright law. That can pose problems for the hapless surfer† (Copyright Website). The electronic environment does not change the ways we consider ownership, it does however change the ways in which we use and distribute intellectual propert... ...ze. However the internet is also good in the sense that it can be used for advertisement and giving previews to different types of intellectual property. Internet copyright laws will always be different than regular copyright laws, because they must always be changing in order to keep up with the always changing technology. If you are placing any type of intellectual property on the internet you should register your work so that it is under more strict usage laws and so that you have say in how your work is used. No one wants to put hours of hard work into a creative work only to have someone else take these ideas and pass them off as their own work, this is the main and most important reason for copyright. Without copyright laws you might say the world would be quite a bit more chaotic. Work Cited Copyright Website http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

Group Exercise on “The Landlady”

In the exposition stage of the plot, the author reveals all the pertinent details of the story. This story however does not reveal everything about the landlady until the climax of the story. 1. What clues did the author give the reader regarding the sinister plan of the landlady that was about to unfold? Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself. But both animals were stuffed. He was in the act of stepping back and turning away from the window when all at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said.BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST. Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it, and reach ing for the bell. He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once —it must have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell button—the door swung open and a woman was standing there.She has a room ready for him before he comes in. She had put a warm water bottle in the bed before he came, and the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in. â€Å"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast. † There were no other hats or coats in the hall. There were no umbrellas, no walking sticks—nothing. There were only two other entries above his on the page, One was a Christopher Mulholland from Cardiff. The other was Gregory W. Temple from Bristol. And the last entry was two years old.She wants him to sign the book, so that she won’t forget his name, and then she can always check the book. She does it with Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple. 2. At what point do you begin to become suspicious that the boarding house is not quite normal? †¢When he goes in a kind of hypnosis and goes to ring the bell †¢The landlady answers the door right away. †¢It is very cheap, but no one there. 3. Where is the climax in the story? Its when he realizes there only have been two others visitors besides him, and he notices a suspecting smell and taste in the tea (gets poisoned) potassium cyonide 4.Why does the author write the story in this way? How can you relate his plot’s structure to the theme that he is trying to communicate with you? I think that the reason for this is, that troughout the story there are hints troughout the story that says that this is not a good place – the sign outside – how quickly she opens the door – few visitors – the smell of both her and the tea – her habit of stuffing her pets – etc. This is how he shows that when you are seventeen you still are naive and do not always see the big picture, even if there are hints on the way. THEME ANALYSIS What is the main theme of the story?Why is the author telling you a story of a landlady who inadvertently is also a serial killer? The main theme is â€Å"Naive†. The young man thinks at first that this is the perfect place and is naivly comfortable and does not have any suspission, although there are some hints throughout the story. He doesn’t realise the true character of this â€Å"nice† landlady until it’s too late, and he has been poisoned. I think that the author is telling the story in this way to show that there still is a lot to learn at the age of seventeen, and you are still not ready to make accurate decisions and really not always able to see the big picture.INTERPRETATION What is your reaction to the author’s view on life and/or human behavior? †¢Should people be careful of strangers? The author is trying to tell us that things aren’t always as they seem to be, they can seem harmless on the outside, but on the inside they can do the most unimaginable things, as we read in this story the nice landlady kills and stuffs her victims. This is why we think that the author is trying to show us that you should be careful of strangers, because they aren’t always as nice as they seem to be.†¢Is it better to live in a small town than a big city? We think that the main difference between living in a small town and a big town is, that in a small town it is hard to hide things from your neighbours, and that’s why they are more likely to notice if something is not as it should be, whereas in a big city, people take less notice to other people. They mostly keep matter to themselves and only see the other people on the surface. That is why we think that it is better to live in a small town, if you want to live safe. Group Exercise on â€Å"The Landlady† PLOT ANALYSISIn the exposition stage of the plot, the author reveals all the pertinent details of the story. This story however does not reveal everything about the landlady until the climax of the story. 1.What clues did the author give the reader regarding the sinister plan of the landlady that was about to unfold? Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself. But both animals were stuffed. He was in the act of stepping back and turning away from the window when all at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said.BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST.Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it , and reaching for the bell. He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once —it must have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell button—the door swung open and a woman was standing there. She has a room ready for him before he comes in. She had put a warm water bottle in the bed before he came, and the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in. â€Å"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast.†There were no other hats or coats in the hall. There were no umbrellas, no walking sticks—nothing. There were only two other entries above his on the page, One was a Christopher Mulholland from Cardiff. The other was Gregory W. Temple from Bristol. And the last entry was two years old. She wants him to sign the book, so that she won’t forget his name, and then she can always check the book. She does it with Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Tem ple.2.At what point do you begin to become suspicious that the boarding house is not quite normal? †¢When he goes in a kind of hypnosis and goes to ring the bell†¢The landlady answers the door right away.†¢It is very cheap, but no one there. 3.Where is the climax in the story?Its when he realizes there only have been two others visitors besides him, and he notices a suspecting smell and taste in the tea (gets poisoned) potassium cyonide 4.Why does the author write the story in this way? How can you relate his plot’s structure to the theme that he is trying to communicate with you?I think that the reason for this is, that troughout the story there are hints troughout the story that says that this is not a good place – the sign outside – how quickly she opens the door – few visitors – the smell of both her and the tea – her habit of stuffing her pets – etc. This is how he shows that when you are seventeen you still are na ive and do not always see the big picture, even if there are hints on the way.THEME ANALYSISWhat is the main theme of the story? Why is the author telling you a story of a landlady who inadvertently is also a serial killer? The main theme is â€Å"Naive†. The young man thinks at first that this is the perfect place and is naivly comfortable and does not have any suspission, although there are some hints throughout the story. He doesn’t realise the true character of this â€Å"nice† landlady until it’s too late, and he has been poisoned. I think that the author is telling the story in this way to show that there still is a lot to learn at the age of seventeen, and you are still not ready to make accurate decisions and really not always able to see the big picture.INTERPRETATIONWhat is your reaction to the author’s view on life and/or human behavior? †¢Should people be careful of strangers?The author is trying to tell us that things aren’ t always as they seem to be, they can seem harmless on the outside, but on the inside they can do the most unimaginable things, as we read in this story the nice landlady kills and stuffs her victims. This is why we think that the author is trying to show us that you should be careful of strangers, because they aren’t always as nice as they seem to be.†¢Is it better to live in a small town than a  big city?We think that the main difference between living in a small town and a big town is, that in a small town it is hard to hide things from your neighbours, and that’s why they are more likely to notice if something is not as it should be, whereas in a big city, people take less notice to other people. They mostly keep matter to themselves and only see the other people on the surface. That is why we think that it is better to live in a small town, if you want to live safe.

A Report On The Strategic Change Issues Facing British

Ancient philosophers always said that the only room that never gets full is the room for change and growth to better levels. Change brings a sound of celebration and relief. In the business sector any change is always geared to the increase in profit. Any business venture has one driving force: creation of wealth and economic growth. This is the reason for existence of businesses like: banking, hotels, airlines, schools, hospitals among others. Operation management is the day to day decisions and ventures that are undertaken to run the company. This can help give a projection into the future 5, 10 or so years.One thing that is very basic is that the world is changing, and an effective business should also help to bring this very necessary difference. â€Å"One of the key roles of a serious manager and entrepreneur is to solve problems decision making is another major role of this officer. † These were the confession of Carleton (2005). Decisions pertaining various departments in a company are made by key management staff in every firm: The key drivers for change that are most likely to impact on the future of business and management are: Stiff and ever increasing competition from key rival firms.One must always be the best in the market place in order to remain advantaged. This will call for several reforms towards improvement, and such challenges will be dealt with as they come. Some decisions to be made, take time and energy. However, the knee-jerk response is to jump straight to the most obvious solution: training and coaching to develop individuals' leadership skills and potential. This conveniently bypasses the problem-diagnosis stage. It also overlooks the disconnect between what happens at individual and organizational levels. Managerial and human resource aspects have always put pressure on firms.Such pressure is sure argent of change. A global trend is another driving factor towards change. Any new standards set up must be adhered to if one need s to e in the market. The main aim is to develop an appreciation to the role of management in the process change in the firms of interest. Management of such a change can never be an individual affair. It explores the forces driving organizational change and offers a contextual understanding of change management principles. Do you do it alone as a manager? Do you involve others? Do you let others make the decisions?Management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools, and resources of change that provides organizations with a key process to achieve their business strategy. Change Management is a critical part of any project that leads, manages and enables people to accept new processes, technologies, systems structures and values. Changes are inevitable in any firm or sector. Of great interest is change management in British Airline Company. Many such firms as this exist. This calls for real outstanding leadership in the market place. BRITISH AIRWAYS This is an airline with it’s headquarters in London.Europe has increased sharply over the past decade as the introduction of new airlines has helped push prices down significantly. This airline has routes both within and without the great United Kingdom sky. This airline is the world's second largest international airline, with a passenger carrying capacity of more than 27 million passengers from one country to another. Also, as one of the world’s longest established airlines, it has always been regarded as an industry-leader. British Airways’ worldwide route network covers more than 216 destinations in 94 countries (including franchises, subsidiaries and one world partners).British Airways is one of the founding partners of the one world alliance, which took off in February 1999. Fellow members now include American Airlines, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Finnie, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas and Swiss. The original predecessor airline, called Aircraft Transport and Travel, l aunched the world's first daily scheduled international air service, British Airways traces its origins back to August 1919. At the moment the airline has an amazing fleet of 312 aircraft; including 100 wide bodied long haul aircraft (57 Boeing 747-400s and 43 Boeing 777s).The current world has gone into corporate alliances, with mergers and acquisitions being the common norm of doing business. For this reason, British Airways has one-on-one relationships with a number of airlines. It owns a 17 per cent stake in Qantas and 9 per cent in Iberia. It also fully owns subsidiaries such as British Airways CitiExpress. Members of British Airways’ franchise family include British Mediterranean Airways, GB Airways, Comair, Loganair and Regional Air. Some of the main components of British Airway’s business strategy include investing in its people and products, and continuing to build a competitive cost base.These objectives, along with other strategic goals and values, have been delivered through a program called â€Å"The BA Way,† which was launched in 2004. This was in response to the people wanting real clarity about where company is positioning itself in the marketplace. The leading entrepreneur once observed that major firms often started as either government or public properties. This however is never the case with British Airways. This company is owned entirely by private investors, with more than a quarter of a million shareholders. British airways just like any business have its own problems.The problems always arise in the process of moving to greater heights. As executive assistant to the director of British airways, change issues facing the organization in the next 5 five years are amazing. The major problems are as below: MANAGERIAL The BA Way has five factors for success: be the best U. K. -based network, understand the customers better than the competition, be a powerful brand that people know and trust, foster a competitive cost base and work together as one team. For a progressive development of a business, proper leadership is bedrock to build on.Managerialism, especially in the public and quasi-market sectors, has provided a key development in how organizations are managed, co-coordinated and controlled, and is suggestive of new relationships and a reordering of organizations and management. In the March issue of Fast Company magazine, a fascinating article titled â€Å"What is the Biggest Change Facing Business in the Next 10 Years? † Avram Miler, the CEO of Avram Miller enterprise explained that â€Å"The cornerstone for this millennium is the end of time and space. Most organizations today are run the same way as early-20th-century businesses.Everyone goes to his car, drives to work, has certain hours, and has a certain job. It's all built on the factory model. Moving forward, it really isn't going to be important where you are in order to do your job. Ideas are being worked on 24 hours a day. Nob ody seems surprised anymore if I wake up in the middle of the night and start IM-ing someone in Europe, because the fact is, they don't even know where I am. And it doesn't matter. ’’ He continues to say that â€Å"Fewer and fewer people will want to be employees of corporations, because corporations don't have anything to offer.Corporations don't provide security and provide fewer and fewer benefits. People may find new ways to sell their skills. † This illustrates that many people often get employed in companies, but the never have any intentions of staying for long periods. Tim Brown President and CEO, Ideo, Palo Alto, humorously says â€Å"people are ever on the move to greener pastures. † This is one major problem in management. Employees, some of whom hold very key positions in the company always transfer to the so called green pastures.The human resources manager of British airways observed that many of their staff has often moved to start their ow n ventures. These range from local to international ventures. The best way to manage this problem is to create laws governing employment. Its true that a person performs best only after getting good orientation on an environment. Consistency is another key to excellence. To avoid loosing employees, a minimum duration should be put, such that no employee can leave before finishing some specific time duration. This will help the airline to retain workers for some good time and hence foster consistency.The major hindrance to this implementation is some weakness in management. Friends to departmental heads are always favored and the axe rarely falls on them. This however can be managed by prosecution of any corrupt staff. Another managerial problem often realized in British Airways is lack of commitment in some of the employees. They often take long to finish any assignment given to them, and when asked to give an explanation, this is a ticket to being their enemies. This vice in a comp any leads into loss of money, because people are paid their allowance while they don’t perform their duties.Many researches argue that training and development programs increase the organizations performance and effectiveness. This can help increase the work output because more experience is injected to the generally trained staff. Toward a better understanding of the effects of training and development in the workplace, this research points out the importance of training and development the workforce, determines the major types of training and development programs, discusses the relationship between training and the overall organizational performance, and offers some guidelines for HR managers to design effective training and development programs.Signing of performance contracts has helped to alleviate this vice. This helps to ascertain that an employee indeed deserves to get his salary. Burnes (2004) in his book arrives at a style which enables healthy competition within a firm, resulting into increase of production. He says â€Å"the ability of an enterprise to compete within the prevailing settings relies on two qualities: †¢ The capacity of the firm to identify and understand the competitive forces in play and how they change over time linked together.†¢ The competence of a business to mobilize and manage the resources necessary for the chosen competitive response through time. British Airways have implemented this, and many staff has always been awarded for showing commitment and excellent performance. GLOBALISATION Another method British Airways’ learning division has used to promote organizational values is through owning its Future program, which every employee across the enterprise—from in-flight crews to customer service staff—must go through at some point.This is delivered by the internal senior management teams. It’s about helping people understand the business direction, the environment that they are operating in and the way they are positioning themselves in the business. By understanding that, people will understand the actions the team is taking in driving the business forward (British Airways, 2005) Some of the changes that British Airways has in the next five years include: †¢ BA to increase services between New York JFK and Gatwick, but at the same time drop its link to the US city from Manchester Airport.†¢ BA to enhance the passenger experience at the new London Heathrow Terminal 5 with the installation of art works in its premium lounges. Companies move towards forming alliances, both local and at international level. The environment in which most organizations operate today is continuously changing, and the rate of change is increasing. Almost most organizations are now involving in tremendous increase in international business and foreign assignments. British Airways is not left behind. At the moment, the company has offices in all capital cities in the worl d.At the same time, serious advertisements are on the run. To enhance collisions, BA purchased the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport in 1992 and renamed it Deutsche BA. By the time it was sold in June 2003, DBA was operating 16 Boeing 737s and was the second-largest German domestic carrier, after Lufthansa. Globalization is a disposition towards international interaction and co-operation. This comes with the general growth of a knowledge based economy. Impacting on the financing structure of organizations and employment practices.The ability of an enterprise to compete within the prevailing settings majorly relies on two qualities: the capacity of the firm to identify and understand the competitive forces in play and how they change over time, linked to †¢ the competence of a business to mobilize and manage the resources necessary for the chosen competitive response through time. . The environment in which most organizations operate today is continuously changin g, and the rate of change is increasing. Almost most organizations are now involving in tremendous increase in international business and foreign assignments.BA aims at increasing the number of passengers greatly. New infrastructure is required for this. Heathrow Terminal 5 was built exclusively for the use of British Airways at a cost of ? 4. 3 billion and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008. It opened to passengers on 27 March 2008. more air crafts are also to be purchased come 2013. for instance, On 27 September 2007, BA announced their biggest order since 1998 by ordering 36 new long haul aircraft. The company ordered 12 A380s with options on a further 7, and 24 Boeing 787s with options on a further 18. TECHNOLOGYTechnological factors are information technology/the internet, new production processes computerization of processes and changes in transport technology (Human Resource Management Journal, 2008). There are also internal triggers for change which inc lude: new chief executive, unionization or de-unionization, structural a change, re-design of factory or office layout, re-design of jobs, new IT equipment or software introduced, cuts in overtime working and redundancies (Epmbook, 2007). As research continues in the energy sector, Bio fuel may be used by BA planes. This is an improvement towards good environment creation.Indeed this is amazing. Currently the test of planes is going on, on their response to bio fuel. The above forces are for easier information transfer, facilitates global structures, requires new competencies and expectations, facilitates telecommuting; new employment relationships, more emphasis on knowledge management, quick competition through globalization, more educated workforce etc (McShane and Travaglione, 2003). Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with, and involvement of, the people affected by the changes and BA has mastered this art.Chan ge must be realistic, achievable and measurable. These aspects are especially relevant to managing personal change. Before starting organizational change, ask yourself: What do we want to achieve with this change, why, and how will we know that the change has been achieved? Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it? How much of this change can be achieve without? These aspects also relate strongly to the management of personal as well as organizational change (Business balls, 2006). If you think that you need to make a change quickly, probe the reasons – is the urgency real?Will the effects of agreeing a more sensible time-frame really be more disastrous than presiding over a disastrous change? Quick change prevents proper consultation and involvement, which leads to difficulties that take time to resolve, (Burns & Stalker, 1994). BA does not sell change to people as a way of accelerating ‘agreement' and implementation. ‘Selling' change to peop le is not a sustainable strategy for success, unless your aim is to be bitten on the bum at some time in the future when you least expect it. Change can be unsettling, so the manager logically needs to be a settling influence.BA has gone through extreme lengths to ensure that they study the market. They are keen on the use face-to-face communications to handle sensitive aspects of customer relations and encourage managers to communicate face-to-face with their people. They discourage the use of email and written notices as they are extremely weak at conveying and developing understanding. At all times involve and agree support from people within system (system = environment, processes, culture, relationships, behaviors, etc. , whether personal or organisational). †¢ In depth understanding of the organisation’s position at all times.†¢ In depth understanding of the direction of the organisation. †¢ Open and clear communication channels. SPECIFIC CHANGES THAT BRI TISH AIRWAYS HAS ENCOUNTERED From a humble background BA has expanded to the giant it is by now. This never occurred in one day, neither was it a very smooth transition. Given time, all have a potential to expand to the highest levels. One of the greatest changes that occurred in BA was mergers and acquisition. During the 1990s BA became the world's most profitable airline under the slogan â€Å"The World's Favorite Airline†. The management then saw the need to expand.A merger is the business transaction that takes pace between two firms. One firm acts as a buyer, while the other company is bought. Mergers take place to help cub extreme competition and also to widen the market scope. In 1992 BA purchased the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport and renamed it Deutsche BA. This widened the market space into Germany. By the time it was sold in June 2003, DBA was operating 16 Boeing 737s and was the second-largest German domestic carrier, after Lufthansa. The lesson learnt is that mergers bring expansion and growth.In the year 1995, BA formed British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, to operate between London and Taipei. Owing to political sensitivities, British Asia Airways not only had a different name, but also had a different livery, with the Union Jack tailfin being replaced by Chinese characters. Many airlines followed the same practice, e. g. , Qantas flew to Taiwan as â€Å"Australia Asia Airways† and KLM's Taiwan operations became â€Å"KLM Asia†. British Asia Airways ceased operation in 2001 when the airline suspended flights to Taiwan due to low yield. A change brings with it many resettlements.Some include employment of new staff to handle the expansion. This was the case in the two mergers in Germany and Taiwan. Other changes are indeed not pleasing. An example is the laying off of staff incase of closure. Proper marketing must be done. This is to keep the much esteemed customers aware of the companyâ€℠¢s developments. The road to success is never a smooth one. Any push to the positive is always met by opposing currents. Some of pitfalls to change into a new market include competition. The main competitors of British Airways are bmi and virgin Atlantic. These offer great rivalry.However BA has managed this through its strategies to make sure that clients are satisfied by the service delivery. Capital is another challenge to expansion. Some expansion ventures require much money. This is money to buy planes and to do office set up, with an aim of getting back the profit. Many a times the company has gone through looses especially when they were forced to pull back. Withdrawal is not very pleasant but it is the best option especially when things are not working. This was the case in Taiwan. The world population is large and ever-growing. This has and will provide market for flight industry.The best way to venture is to do market surveys. Once the costumer’s desires are known, follow up can be made to come up with a product to satisfy the need. It pays a lot to be the market leader in terms of innovations. This will give an advantage over other companies. CONCLUSION It takes commitment and vision to be on the top. BA has one dream, which is to be on top in the flight industry. In the next five years, the company shall have diversified its services in terms of quality and quantity expansion. REFERENCES 1. British Airways(2005): The Wings of Learning.Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 19th April 2008 from http://www. clomedia. com/content/templates/clo_article. asp 2. Buchanan, D & Boddy, D. (1992). The Expertise of the Change Agent. Hemel Hempstead. US: Prentice Hall. 3. Burns & Stalker, (1994). The Management of Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. Businessballs (2006). Change management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. businessballs. com/changemanagement. htm 5. 5. Change Management (2008). A Thirst fo r Change Leadership. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www.change-management. com/tutorial-change-leadership-mod4. htm 6. DCUBS (1996). Total Quality Management and Organisational Change. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. dcu. ie/dcubs/research_papers/no15. htm 7. Epmbook (2007). Organisational Change Management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. epmbook. com/orgchange. htm 8. Harvard Business Review journal. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. learnoutloud. com/Catalog/Business/Leadership-and-Management/Change-Management/820 9.Harvard Business Review journal (1995). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article. jsp 10. Human Resource Management Journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. blackwellpublishing. com/journal. asp1 11. M cShane S. and Travaglione T. (2003). Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. Australia: McGraw-Hill. 12. Organisation Studies journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. mbs. ac. uk/research/organisationstudies/cms5/call-papers/talk-power. aspx 13.Personnel Today Journal of Applied Human Capital Management (2007). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. personneltoday. com/blogs/hcglobal-human-capital-management/2007/04/journal-of-applied-human-capit. html 14. Pettigrew, A and Whipp, R (1991) Managing Change for competitive success. U. K: Blackwell. 15. Strategy + Business (2004). 10 Principles of Change Management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. strategy-business. com/ 16. 15. The Economist journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. sciencedirect. com/

Conflicting forces and their results

Conflicting forces and their results Like the British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote "No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing is to have a man's mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time." Such conflict by two compelling desires, obligations and influences can be seen in Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie. Tom Wingfield faces a conflict between the desire to live one's own life and the responsibility for one's family. This conflict within the character of Tom Wingfield therefore illuminates the meaning of the work as whole and the overall flow of the play.From the start the reader is informed of the surroundings and most important the style of narration which we are about to see. Tom Wingfield which presents himself as the narrator of the play informs the reader that what they about to see is a work of memory and therefore is not realistic.English: "Laurence Sterne," watercolour, painted b...Tom along with his fa mily was abandoned by his father many years ago and now Tom supports the family with his wages. However an inevitable tension between the family members seems obvious and Amanda, Tom's mother treats him as a child, controlling his every decision and actions "Honey, don't push with your fingers." Amanda which lives in a world of fantasy retelling her youth stories of "gentleman callers" she tells of the time she received "seventeen gentleman callers." While is apparent that Amanda loves her children it is inevitable to stop the conflict building up inside Tom.The beginning of scene II quotes "Laura, Haven't You Ever Liked Some Boy" with it's capitalization of every word is clear to spot it's importance. Laura's which is crippled takes care of her glass menagerie a symbol of her weakness and frailty, she...

Total drag and its variation with altitude Essay Example

Total drag and its variation with altitude Essay Example Total drag and its variation with altitude Paper Total drag and its variation with altitude Paper The equation for total drag is: D = CD x S x ? rV2 (Preston, R) where, CD is the coefficient of drag. It must be subdivided into two parts, the Cdi (Coefficient of induced drag) and CDp (Coefficient of parasite drag. ). Therefore it can be written as: D = (Cdi + Cdp) x S x ? rV2 (Preston, R) The airplanes total drag determines the amount of thrust required at a given airspeed. Thrust must equal drag in steady flight. Lift and drag vary directly with the density of the air. As air density increases, lift and drag increase and as air density decreases, lift and drag decrease. Thus, both lift and drag will decrease at higher altitudes. Fig 1 shows the total drag curve which represents drag against velocity of the object. The fuel-flow versus velocity graph for an air graph is derived from this graph, and generally looks as shown in Fig 2 From the above drag it is seen that the total drag is minimum at a certain velocity. This occurs when the parasitic drag is equal to the induced drag. Below this speed induced drag dominates, and above this speed parasite drag dominates. Design engineers are interested in minimizing the total drag. Unfortunately many factors may conflict. For example, longer wing span reduces induced drag, but the larger frontal area usually means a higher coefficient of parasite drag. Conversely, a high wing loading (i. e. a small wing) with a small aspect ratio produces the lowest possible parasite drag but unfortunately is the produces for a lot of induced drag. In recent time it is seen that jet airliners have longer wings, to reduce induced drag, and then fly at higher altitudes to reduce the parasite drag. This causes no improvement in aerodynamic efficiency, but the higher altitudes do result in more efficient engine operation. (Preston, R) Angle of Attack (AOA), is the angle between the wing and the relative wind. Everything else being costant, an increase in AOA results in an increase in lift. This increase continues until the stall AOA is reached then the trend reverses itself and an increase in AOA results in decreased lift. The pilot uses the elevators to change the angle of attack until the wings produce the lift necessary for the desired maneuver. Besides AOA other factors also contribute to the production of lift, like relative wind velocity and air density i. e. temperature and altitude. Changing the size or shape of the wing (lowering the flaps) will also change the production of lift. Airspeed is absolutely necessary to produce lift. If there is no airflow past the wing, no air can be diverted downward. At low airspeed, the wing must fly at a high AOA to divert enough air downward to produce adequate lift. As airspeed increases, the wing can fly at lower AOAs to produce the needed lift. This is why airplanes flying relatively slow must be nose high (like an airliner just before landing or just as it takes off) but at high airspeeds fly with the fuselage fairly level. The key is that the wings dont have to divert fast moving air down nearly as much as they do to slow moving air. Air density also contributes to the wings ability to produce lift. This is manifested primarily in an increase in altitude, which decreases air density. As the density decreases, the wing must push a greater volume of air downward by flying faster or push it down harder by increasing the angle of attack. This is why aircraft that fly very high must either go very fast e. g. Mach 3, or must have a very large wing for its weight. This is why the large passenger airplanes cruise at higher altitude to reduce drag, and hence save on the furl costs. (â€Å"Aircraft for Amateurs†, 1999) Small sized aircrafts have lower than normal Reynolds number. The drag coefficient attributable to skin friction is hence higher for the small aircraft. For this reason, the maximum lift-drag ratios characteristic of business jet aircraft tend to be lower than those of the large transports. Hence, the smaller flights can fly at relatively lower altitudes. References Books John A. Roberson Clayton T. Crowe, 1997, Engineering fluid Mechanics, 6th ed. , John Weily Sons Inc., ISBN 0-471-14735-4. Clement Klienstreuer, 1997, Engineering Fluid Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-49670-5 Websites â€Å"Aircraft for Amateurs†, 11th Jan. 1999 fas. org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/intro. htm Benson, T. , â€Å"The Beginner’s guide to Aeronautics†. , 14th March 2006 grc. nasa. gov/WWW/K-12/////airplane/ Johnston, D. , â€Å"Drag†, centennialofflight. gov/essay/Theories_of_Flight/drag/TH4. htm â€Å"Parasitic Drag†, http://adg. stanford. edu/aa241/drag/parasitedrag. html Preston, R. , â€Å"Total Drag† and â€Å"Flight Controls†, http://selair. selkirk. bc. ca/aerodynamics1/

alturism Essay Example For Students

alturism Essay Altruism is used in discussions of ethics as an alternative to ethical egoism: the belief that people ought to be selfish. Altruism leads us to find a middle ground between being purely self interested and devoting our entire lives to the group. We learn that its not preferable to be too self interested, but can be harmful to devote all your energy to other people. A little too much self interest can be as harmful as too much virtuousness towards others. As an ethical egotist, what you might learn from altruism is; there are certain situations where it could pay not to be self interested. A good example would be several people stuck on a deserted island. If everyone left destined for their separate survival, surly only a few would live very long. If the people banded together, shared the work and supplies, surely most or all would survive longer.This shows that there are situations you can handle better when you chose to be in a group, then on your own. In conclusion I think any person should carefully consider before deciding to act in their own interest or act for a group that they are part in. People should try and think of what might be more beneficial for them in the long term as well as immediately. If the worst is true; and humans are purely selfish beings, what people should do is substitute a little altruistic philosophy in their thinking. This would help incorporate every self interested person into a group that functions better than any people could individually. It would probably help expand the available choices for people who feel they cannot make a decision. I think it can also lead the world in a more tolerant direction.

Aerodynamics and Propulsion Principles Coursework - 2

Aerodynamics and Propulsion Principles - Coursework Example An example of using this technique is Bell X – I which is the first airplane to break the sound barrier. The achievement of this amazing feat, considered impossible until then, is attributed largely to its ‘super thin wings’ (Bell X-I). The supercritical airfoils differ from the conventional airfoils such that they have comparatively flat at the top. Their unique design limits the rise of drag forces even after the critical Mach number is reached. Such airfoils have successfully been utilized in TACT aircraft program run by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (Cury). The figure shows the above-mentioned control surfaces and the functions they perform. All the control surfaces work on the principle of creating drag for the incoming wind thereby changing the direction of the wind. Due to this change in velocity, a momentum change occurs which causes a force to act on the control surface and the desired movement of the aircraft is achieved this way. The ailerons tilt the aircraft around the longitudinal axis. They are always installed in pairs. The opposite motion of the two ailerons creates a couple which acts on the longitudinal axis to cause the desired motion. Anderson defines static stability in these words â€Å"If the forces and moments on a body caused by a disturbance tend initially to return the body towards its equilibrium position, the body is statically stable†. Hence a statically stable plane will be that aircraft which can maintain a continuous balanced flight with a constant angle of attack. In case of a wind gust causing the angle of attack to increase, the resultant center of pressure (the point where resultant lift force acts) will shift forwards from the center of gravity of the aircraft and a resultant moment will act that will restore the initial position of the aircraft.

The Impacts of Fast Foods on Obesity and Weight of College Students Assignment

The Impacts of Fast Foods on Obesity and Weight of College Students - Assignment Example These types of foods have been strongly criticized particularly due to issues of health. Many studies have, in fact, attributed the high level of overweight and obesity to these foods. This paper intends to look into the impact of fast foods on obesity and overweight because these are health concerns that have originated very many diseases nowadays. Obesity is a medical condition whereby the body of an individual contains very high level of body fats to a level of occasioning adverse health impacts. When the body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 kg/m2, a person is said to be suffering from obesity. Such a person is highly susceptible to diseases such as type II diabetes, heart diseases, osteoarthritis and certain types of cancers, among many others (Haslam and James, 2005). The fast spread of fast foods in restaurants has generated a lot of debate especially regarding the impact of such foods on the health of people. In fact, many nutritionists and health professionals have cautioned their clients against overconsumption of such foods as they claim their health risk can be massive (Abdollah, 2007; Mcbride, 2008; Mair et al. 2005). However, it is notable that the evidence that links fast food to obesity and gain in weight is not very convincing. Most of those who claim that it fast foods is responsible for obesity have conducted their research on very small samples hence narrowing the validity of their generalization. A recent study by Rosenheck (2008), on the relationship between fast foods and obesity, it was found that the results from observational studies have not been able to establish a link between obesity and fast foods. A couple of recent studies have paid attention to fast foods restaurant as possible contribute avenues of gaining weight (Philipson and Posner, 2008). Anderson and Matsa (2009) concentrate on the connection between obesity and feeding habits, whereby the related the presence of many restaurants around the highway in a  rural area and the eating habits. However, they found no credible link between obesity and restaurants.  Ã‚  

Things which are Important in Our Lives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Things which are Important in Our Lives - Essay Example The ways that things make our lives more comfortable are countless. From the moment we wake up until we sleep, things are there make our lives easier. We sleep on a thing called the bed and wakes up with the alarm of another thing called alarm clock. Our breakfast would not have been prepared if not the convenience of cooking things in the kitchen. When we prepare ourselves either for school or work, things are again present for us. We dress in clothes appropriate for us and go to school or work in another form of thing which is a car. Even our place of work school is filled with things. In school, computers make studying easier especially the internet. Our daily lives are basically filled with things to make it convenient for us. Things also enable us to do a lot of things which otherwise would have been difficult to do without those things. I can concretely cite the example of a computer and internet without which studying and doing research would have been very difficult. If I have to do a term paper, I will have to physically go to the library and scour through the catalogs before finding the books and magazine that I need for research. After finding those materials that I need, I have to borrow them physically or copy the text if I am not allowed to bring the books at home. I would have to laboriously go all through them which will take a lot of time and effort. And even writing the report would require a great deal of effort because I have to manually type them. The thing called computer and internet releases me from those burdens and allow me to study better. I can scour through books and journals and other articles right in the comfort of my home. This is faster and more convenient. The information I c an find using the computer and the internet in minutes may take me hours if I will do it physically in the library.  

Freedom in Modern Art Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Freedom in Modern Art - Research Paper Example The paper "Freedom in Modern Art" concerns the freedom in a modern art context. Today, art has been exhibited and expressed in surprisingly varied media greatly influenced by the global modernization. Art is no longer defined with strict rules in terms of aesthetic value and medium used. Anyone has liberty to explore what is inside of them and express them in ways for arts sake. The cultural backgrounds influencing the inner system of the creators’ hands are expressed in the messages and media of their output. The freedom in every artist lets him explore the vastness of his creativity into varied concepts of supreme work using multitudes of possible media. This sense of freedom in the modern art has opened the gates for other kinds of materials to be used as medium in expressing art. Every man is an artist. Indeed, that has been very true this time. The intrinsic creative capacity of every human being is now exploding into manifestos that make viewers stand in wondering awe. P lus, the trend of digital modern day technology has been embedded in the realm of art. The digital age conquering the world has now come. It is a reality that is visible not only on the modern day gadgets and machineries but also in the art demesne. Art has turned into a real dynamic symbiotic system where artist’s magnum opuses are more interactive. There are voices that are heard in their silent protests and there are images depicted in shadows. Messages of their works cants with piercing sonata echoed with the various reactions., critics, appreciations and applause from those who perceive. There are various art shows, galleries and exhibits that take their audience aback with all the surprising media used by modern artists. Art exhibited are incorporated with high technology concepts, medium as well as some radical messages. A lot of artists join such exhibition in showing their masterpieces portraying art for arts sake idea. Art has indeed evolved from prehistoric dynasti es where aesthetic value is the optimum criteria to judge a piece of work to an era where art works are expressed regardless of how they look in the human eye. There are even extreme works exposing radical movements created in skewed forms with messages hidden in graphics. Medium used has varied from oil based paints into lights and lasers. Canvasses containing them expounds from traditional easel-sized paints into walls, screens, and even a whole room. Who would have thought that art can consume such space? The vastness of possible resources to paint the many artists’ graffiti has sloped into infinity. Every now and then, a new thing happens. Every now and then, a new material coming from nature has been staged into stardom as they are exposed gradually. One of the most remarkable modern day artists that explored an extraordinary media in expressing art is Daniel Rozin. He expressed a different kind of art with the use of unreflective surfaces to act as mirror. His famous wo rk, The Wooden Mirror has spectacularly amazed audiences from all over the world. He skillfully combined 830 pieces of wooden block hooked up with motors adjoined with built in cameras. This was built in the year 1999 where physical art is collaborated with digital technology. The other materials included to complete the whole piece includes servo motors, cameras for video, computer and of course the wooden frames. The natural resource from nature which is wood has been used to portray images through the web of intricate body part construction reflecting an abstract perception of digital pixels. The camera picks up movement from an object in front of the masterpiece thereby producing a shadowed reflection as the output. Anyone

The European Colonialism in 16th century to mid 20th Research Paper

The European Colonialism in 16th century to mid 20th - Research Paper Example As the discussion outlines by the mid-19th century, the powerful British Empire dropped mercantilism as well as trade restrictions followed by the introduction of free trade with very few restrictions and tariffs. African countries were the major victims of colonization. The main aim of the colonial rule was to exploit the colony’s economy and repatriate them to their home countries making the colony depend on them. This study highli9ghts that colonialism can be defined as the policy and practice of a power to extend and take control over weaker people specifically during the process of European settlement along with political control over the rest of the world. Osterhammel defined colonialism as the essence and the existence of colonies, which were governed in a different form from other territories with a relationship existing between the indigenous majority and a minority of foreign intruders. The colonial rulers implemented the fundamental decisions that affected the lives of the colonies. There are two forms of colonialism; settler colonialism involves immigration on a large scale mainly inspired by religion, politics or economic reasons and exploitation colonialism that involves few colonialists that focus on accessing resources such as labor and materials for export. Colonialism has a long history starting with the African empires in the pre-colonial error in Egypt, Phoenix,, Greece and R oman where colonies were built in antiquity. The word "colony" comes from the Latin colonies that mean "a place for agriculture". The Vietnamese created military colonies south of their original territory between the 11th and 18th century absorbing the territory. The modern colonialism started with the age of Discovery where Portugal and Spain had discovered new links across the oceans and established trading posts.  

Things which are Important in Our Lives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Things which are Important in Our Lives - Essay Example The ways that things make our lives more comfortable are countless. From the moment we wake up until we sleep, things are there make our lives easier. We sleep on a thing called the bed and wakes up with the alarm of another thing called alarm clock. Our breakfast would not have been prepared if not the convenience of cooking things in the kitchen. When we prepare ourselves either for school or work, things are again present for us. We dress in clothes appropriate for us and go to school or work in another form of thing which is a car. Even our place of work school is filled with things. In school, computers make studying easier especially the internet. Our daily lives are basically filled with things to make it convenient for us. Things also enable us to do a lot of things which otherwise would have been difficult to do without those things. I can concretely cite the example of a computer and internet without which studying and doing research would have been very difficult. If I have to do a term paper, I will have to physically go to the library and scour through the catalogs before finding the books and magazine that I need for research. After finding those materials that I need, I have to borrow them physically or copy the text if I am not allowed to bring the books at home. I would have to laboriously go all through them which will take a lot of time and effort. And even writing the report would require a great deal of effort because I have to manually type them. The thing called computer and internet releases me from those burdens and allow me to study better. I can scour through books and journals and other articles right in the comfort of my home. This is faster and more convenient. The information I c an find using the computer and the internet in minutes may take me hours if I will do it physically in the library.  

The European Colonialism in 16th century to mid 20th Research Paper

The European Colonialism in 16th century to mid 20th - Research Paper Example As the discussion outlines by the mid-19th century, the powerful British Empire dropped mercantilism as well as trade restrictions followed by the introduction of free trade with very few restrictions and tariffs. African countries were the major victims of colonization. The main aim of the colonial rule was to exploit the colony’s economy and repatriate them to their home countries making the colony depend on them. This study highli9ghts that colonialism can be defined as the policy and practice of a power to extend and take control over weaker people specifically during the process of European settlement along with political control over the rest of the world. Osterhammel defined colonialism as the essence and the existence of colonies, which were governed in a different form from other territories with a relationship existing between the indigenous majority and a minority of foreign intruders. The colonial rulers implemented the fundamental decisions that affected the lives of the colonies. There are two forms of colonialism; settler colonialism involves immigration on a large scale mainly inspired by religion, politics or economic reasons and exploitation colonialism that involves few colonialists that focus on accessing resources such as labor and materials for export. Colonialism has a long history starting with the African empires in the pre-colonial error in Egypt, Phoenix,, Greece and R oman where colonies were built in antiquity. The word "colony" comes from the Latin colonies that mean "a place for agriculture". The Vietnamese created military colonies south of their original territory between the 11th and 18th century absorbing the territory. The modern colonialism started with the age of Discovery where Portugal and Spain had discovered new links across the oceans and established trading posts.  

Environmental Engineer Essay Example for Free

Environmental Engineer Essay For an Environmental Engineer, it is very important to know the jurisdiction that one will be working in. Not only is thorough knowledge of the natural characteristics such as geological and meteorological aspects of the jurisdiction to scientifically cater to the unique environmental concerns of a certain area, but it is also essential that one also knowledge of the social and judicial aspects of the jurisdiction for easier cooperation with the citizens and more efficient applications of environmental impact assessments and mitigations or development of environmental policy and regulation, for example. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are unique in many aspects that concern Environmental Engineering practice. In general, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are already geared towards environmental safety, conservation, and regulation. For example, in the Northwest Territories, programs are already in place to ensure sustainability of forest use, regulation of wildlife protection and use, etc. In Nunavut, their Department of Environment actively apply what they call Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq, or environmental stewardship, to conserve their vast natural resources and promote sustainability, a principle that is based on the Inuit culture and must be respected by any Environmental Engineer who plans to practice in that territory. In fact, one must have good knowledge of that culture as the Inuit populace of Nunavut make up the majority of the demographic and thus their culture and belief system have a great influence on governmental policies, considering that the self-governing system of the Inuit is unique to Nunavut and issues such as land claims are a constant concern. Similarly, the agencies of the Northwest territories also make use of the traditional knowledge of the Inuit concerning the natural resources and the relationship between man and environment. As North American Indians comprise the majority of the population in the Northwest Territories, they appreciate the value of this knowledge and these are taken into consideration in the making of public policies which include environmental engineering law. To work in the Northwest Territories, one must be aware of programs such as the NWT Protected Areas Strategy, that utilizes a community-based process as it makes sure to respect Aboriginal rights to balance conservation and economic development. The programs already in place and the social set-up of the jurisdiction are only part of the concerns of an Environment Engineer, of course the physical aspects of the territories are also important. The weather is an important part of the culture of the Aboriginal people, not only are the weather extremes (such as the record-breaking Arctic heat in Nunavut) and the natural hazards serious concerns, climate change is also a much monitored phenomenon. The geological makeup and position of Nunavut and the Northwest territories make them very vulnerable to climate change effects, such as the possible melting of permafrost. In the Northwest Territories, their use of their abundant mineral resources have caused a great strain in the environment such as the giant earth scars left by diamond mines or the hazardous tailings pond spills, and the Environmental Engineer should not only be aware of these for future mining operations but could also work together with other agencies to alleviate these prior issues. Furthermore, the geology of Nunavut can span most of Earths history with great economic potential yet it is still very underdeveloped, and yet, they are actively advertising extreme sports tourism which could cause environmental as well as safety concerns. In all, there is a balance in the naturalistic Aboriginal-based society and community and the raw environment of this jurisdiction that gives the Environmental Engineer a unique practice.

Social Cohesion And Quality Life

Social Cohesion And Quality Life In the last few decades, quality of life has replaced the idea of wealth as the dominant goal of societal development. In opposition to the individual-centered perspective of societal development, several other welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on the aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the quality and structure of the social relations within a society. Among those welfare concepts referring to characteristics of societies are, for example, „sustainabilityâ€Å", „social cohesionâ€Å", „social inclusionâ€Å" etc. Idea of the social cohesion of a society received great political attention at the national and supranational level. In regard to these developments, this paper attempts: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. Quality of life is a concept related to the individual welfare. Although social cohesion represents a societal quality, it affects the individual quality of life because the elements of social cohesion are perceived and experienced by the members of the society. Thus, the social cohesion of a society can be conceived as an aspect relevant to the individual life situation, and in this sence, it represents a part of the individual quality of life. Under this perspective a broad conceptualization of quality of life seems appropriate. Quality of life can be considered as the complex policy goal which includes social cohesion as one component. The very broad and multidimensional notion of quality of life enlarged the perspective of societal development by considering not only economic aspects but also social and ecological concerns. Several welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the qual ity and structure of the social relations within a society. One of these welfare concept is social cohesion. The goal of this paper is: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. 1. The concept of social cohesion The idea of social cohesion is difficult to express in a single definition. Émile Durkheim first coined the concept of social cohesion at the end of the nineteenth century. He considered social cohesion as an ordering feature of a society and defined it as the interdependence between the members of the society, shared loyalties and solidarity [14]. Aspects often mentioned in describing social cohesion are the strenght of social relations, shared values and communities of interpretation, feelings of a common identity and a sense of belonging to the same community, trust among societal members as well as the extent of inequality and disparities [26; 14). The simpler the division of labor in a society is, the stronger the bond between individuals and the social group will be. This bond is a result of mechanical solidarity, which arises from segmented similarities based on territory, traditions and group customs. The social division of labour that modernity brings with it erodes and weakens such bonds, as does the increased autonomy of individuals in modern society. In such a context, cohesion is part of the social solidarity that is required in order for the members of a society to remain bound to it with a force comparable to that of pre-modern, mechanical solidarity. This requires stronger, more numerous ties, and must even include bonds based on common ideas and feelings, leading to what Durkheim calls â€Å"organic solidarity†. As of today there is no single definition of social cohesion and it is still debated whether social cohesion is a cause or a consequence of other aspects of social, economic and political life. There is no clear definition of the concept probably because the very tradition of social citizenship that characterizes European societies assumes that social rights entail an intrinsic relationship between social inclusion and the provision of mechanisms to integrate individuals and give them a sense of full membership in society. According to this view, social cohesion implies a causal link between the mechanisms that provide integration and well-being, on the one hand, and a full individual sense of belonging to society, on the other. Inclusion and belonging, or equality and belonging, are the cornerstones of the idea of social cohesion in societies organized around the principles of the welfare state. The concept of social cohesion is often confused with other concepts, like social capital, social integration, or social inclusion. Social capital is closely related to social cohesion, and the two are very important concepts in policy and policy research circles. Social capital understood as a symbolic societal asset consisting of the ability to manage rules, networks and bonds of social trust which strengthen collective action, pave the way for reciprocity and progressively spread throughout society resembles cohesion, and can largely be described as a stock upon which social agents can draw to make society more cohesive. However, social capital is both a consequence and a producer of social cohesion. Whereas social cohesion emphasizes processes and outcomes, social capital emphasizes the notion of investments and assets that bring benefits, benefits that are not fully appropriated by the individuals making the investments. Social cohesion is often confused with social inclusion. Inclusion mechanisms include employment, educational systems, rights and policies designed to encourage equity, well-being and social protection. In that context, social cohesion may be understood in terms of both the effectiveness of instituted social inclusion mechanisms and the behaviours and value judgments of the members of society. Behaviours and value judgments include issues as diverse as trust in institutions, social capital, belonging and solidarity, acceptance of social rules and the willingness to participate in deliberative processes and collective endeavours. Another proximate notion is that of social integration, defined as the dynamic, multifactoral process whereby individuals share in a minimum standard of well-being consistent with the level of development achieved by a country. This restrictive definition views integration as the opposite of exclusion. In a broader sense, integration into society has also been defined as a common system of efforts and rewards, which levels the playing field in terms of opportunities and delivers rewards based on merit. The idea of social inclusion may be viewed as an expanded form of integration. Rather than emphasize a structure to which individuals must adapt in order to fit into the systemic equation, it also focuses on the need to adapt the system in such a way as to accommodate a diversity of actors and individuals. Inclusion requires not only an improvement in conditions of access to integration mechanisms, but also an effort to increase the self-determination of the actors involved. The idea of a social ethic also includes an essential aspect of social cohesion, emphasizing common values, agreement on a minimum set of rules and social norms, solidarity as an ethical and practical principle, and the assumption of reciprocity. These concepts are part of the â€Å"semantic universe† of social cohesion. Viewed in this light, the specific difference that sets social cohesion apart is the dialectical relationship between integration and inclusion, on the one hand, and social capital and social ethics, on the other. Consequently, there is a distinction between social inclusion and social cohesion, inasmuch as the latter includes the attitudes and behaviours of actors, without being limited to those factors. Social cohesion may thus be defined as the dialectic between instituted social inclusion and exclusion mechanisms and the responses, perceptions and attitudes of citizens towards the way these mechanisms operate. A definition of social cohesion by relating it to the concepts of social exclusion/exclusion and social capital has also been present. For example Dahrendorf et al. described a social cohesive society as a society preventing social exclusion: „Social cohesion comes in to describe a society which offers opportunities to all its members of a framework of accepted values and institutions. Such a society is, therefore, one of inclusion. People belong; they are not allowed to be excludedâ€Å" [4, str.vii]. Other scientist have emphasised that the social capital of a society is an essential foundation of its social cohesion [18; 17]. On the basis of review of the various approaches we could conclude that the concept of social cohesion incorporates mainly two societal goal dimensions which can be analytically distinguished: 1) The first dimension concerns the reduction of disparities, inequalities, and social exclusion. 2) The second dimension concerns the strengthening of social relations, interactions and ties. This dimension embraces all aspects which are generally also considered as the social capital of a society [6]. These two dimensions must be viewed as independent from each other to a certain degree. In principle, strong ties within a community can be accompanied by the tendency to discriminate and exclude those people who do not belong to that community [19]. This problem highlights the importance of considering both dimensions disparities/inequalities/social exclusion and social relations/ties/social capital in order to get a comprehensive picture of the social cohesion of a society. 3. Social exclusion Social exclusion represents concept with increasing popularity among scholars during last decade. The popularity of the concept was especially promoted through the growing interest in matters of social exclusion at the level of the European Union. The European Commission launched a series of research programmes in the framework of the European Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion and of the European Poverty Programmes. Research on social exclusion replaced, to some extent, older terms of poor living conditions, such as poverty or deprivation. Originally, the term was used in the context of debates on a new poverty and defined as a rupture of the relationship between individual and the society due to the failure of societal institutions to integrate individuals. Today, it is suggested that social exclusion should be conceptualised as the insufficiency of one or more of the following four systems [1, str. 258-259]: This approach focuses on relational issues, i.e. on the disruption of social ties between individual and the society. Unlike social cohesion, poverty is concerned with distributional issues, i.e. on the lack of resources at the disposal of individuals or househods [23; 12]. Thus poverty may be regarded as characteristic of indiviudals and households, whereas social exclusion may be conceived as a feature of societies and of the individuals relations to society. In contrast to this position are considerations that social exclusion can be regarded both as a property of societies and as an attribute of individuals. As an individual attribute it is defined as a low level of welfare (economic disadvantage) and the inability to participate in social life (sociopolitical disadvantage). This perspective equals social exclusion to a multidimensional notion of poverty which describes a state or an outcome of a process. As a societal characteristc the term social exclusion refers to the impairment of social cohesion caused by the way in which institutions regulate and thereby constrain access to goods, services, acitivities and resources which are generally associated with citizenship rights. This view focuses attention to the processes of social exclusion and its causes which are attributed to the failure of institutions [5]. The conclusion arising out of these considerations is the requirement to differentiate between the causes of disadvantageous living circumstances and the processes leading to them on the one side and the outcomes of those processes themselves, that is peoples living situation. The causes may be attributed to societal institutions and can then be described by the concept of social exclusion as a property of societies. The impact of social exclusion on people is observable in the form of poor living conditions. In this sense, social exclusion represents a characteristic of individual and corresponds to the concept of poverty in a multidimensional notion. 4. Social capital The counceptualization of social cohesion as it is proposed here considers social capital as representing a second main dimension which may be used to describe the social cohesion of a society. Social capital represents one of the most powerful and popular metaphors in current social science research. Broadly understood as referring to the community relations that affect personal interactions, social capital has been used to explain an immense range of phenomena, ranging from voting patterns to health to the economic success of countries [7]. Literally hundreds of papers have appeared throughout the social science literature arguing that social capital matters in understanding individual and group differences and further that successful public policy design needs to account for the effects of policy on social capital formation. In this paper we will give the primary focus to the role of social capital in stenghtening the social cohesion and further link with the quality of life. We often observe countries with similar endowments of natural, hysical, and human capital achieving very different levels of economic success. This paradox has led scholars to search for deeper and more meaningful explanations about what holds people and societies together in order to foster economic development. Over time, scholars have constructed various frameworks for understanding the social aspects of this phenomenon and what we currently refer to as â€Å"social capital†. Fueled by continuous empirical investigations, these frameworks have evolved quite rapidly in recent decades. Since Loury [16] introduced it into modern social science research and Colemans [3] seminal study placed it at the forefront of research in sociology, the term social capital has spread throughout the social sciences and has spawned a huge literature that runs across disciplines. James Coleman popularized the term as he sought to conceptualize the aspects of social structure that facilitate eco nomic transactions. His work is widely recognized as one of the most significant, as is Robert Putnams study of voluntary associations in Italy. Putnam [21] concluded that the high density of voluntary associations in the north was responsible for the regions economic success. Many others have also made significant strides in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the subject. However, despite the immense amount of research on it, however, the definition of social capital has remained elusive. There are various theoretical approaches and perspectives of social captial which use more or less narrow concept. But they all have in common that they regard social capital as a property of a social entity and not of an individual [10]. It is a relational concept, it presupposes a social relation and exists only as far as it is shared by other individuals. Therefore, it cannot be the private property of a single person, but heas a character of a public good [11; 19]. The social capital of a society includes the institutions, the relationships, the attitudes and values that govern interactions among people and contribute to economic and social development. Social capital, however, is not simply the sum of the institutions which underpin society, it is also the glue that holds them together. It includes the shared values and rules for social conduct expressed in personal relationships, trust and a common sense of civic responsibility, that makes society more than a collection of indi viduals. Without a degree of common identification with forms of governance, cultural norms and social rules, it is difficult to imagine a functioning society [25, str.1]. Social capital is not only considered to be an essential basis for the social cohesion of a society, but at the same time as a main component of the wealth of a nation and as an important determinant of economic growth, besides physical, human and environmental capital [13]. The view is empirically supported by results showing a relation between the social capital of a society and its economic well-being [21; 15; 24]. Furthermore, there are also investigations pointing to the improvement of other dimensions of welfare such as education, health, rates of crime, and the environment [3; 20]. 5. The interdependence of social cohesion and the quality of life The concepts of social cohesion and quality of life are interrelated [8; 9]. Althought social cohesion represents an attribute of a society, it ultimately rests on the behaviour, attitudes and evaluations of its members, too. Social cohesion is based on social capital which is also created by social relations and ties established, maintained and experienced by individuals. Thus, looking at the social cohesion of a society involves aspects which are part of the individual life situation and in this sense components of the individual quality of life. Secondly, elements of the social cohesion of a society may have direct impact on individual quality of life. Empirical examples are the above cited results on the influence of social capital on economic and other dimensions of welfare. At a conceptual level, the perspective of social exclusion as a process rooting in the malfunction of social institutitons and resulting in a deprived living situation of the individual is another example. Social cohesion can be conceived as a societal quality which is experienced by individuals in their daily lives, for example in the form of the perceived inequality or the social climate at the working place, at school or in the neighbourhood, and thus also refers to the individual quality of life. This perspective conciders elements of the social cohesion of a society to form an integral part of the quality of life of the individuals belonging to that society. Such a position, which is supported here, advocates a broad conceptualisation of quality of life encompassing not only individual characteristics of the life situation but also societal qualities. In this sense, quality of life represents the common policy goal with social cohesion as an important component to be addressed. 6. The measurement of social cohesion On the basis of the conclusion about two dimensions of social cohesion, measurement of social cohesion should include measures concerning: Concerning the first dimension measurement dimensions for the various aspects can be derived for nearly all domains. Regional disparities are taken into account for example with respect to access to transport, leisure and cultural facilitites, educational and health care institutions, employment opportunities or the state of the environment. Issues of equal opportunities/inequalities could be considered therough political participation and employment opportunities, generation of inequalities in social relations or unemployment risks; inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people in access to public transport or educational institutions; etc. The aspect of social exclusion can be operationalised in many domains, too. Manifestatios of social exclusion are ususally measured such as homelessness, social isolation, long-term unemployment, poverty or a lack of social protection. Concerning second goal dimension of social cohesion and that is strenghtening the social capital of a society, most of the aspects of this dimension refer to the life domain of „social and political participation and integrationâ€Å". This domain covers all general issues of social relations and engagement outside the own household community such as the availability of relatives and friends, frequency of contacts and support within those personal networks, membership in organisations, engagement in the public realm such as volunteering and political activities. The quality of societal institutions is a component of social capital which applies to several life domains since, for example, institutions of education, health care, social security or the legal system. 7. Possible contemporary threats to social cohesion There are numerous possible demographic, socio-economic and political trends and processes which have been associated with a general deterioration of social cohesion throughout the world. Over the past three decades, globalization in the form of processes of structural transformation has impacted severely, in many ways, on people throughout the world. The intensified linkage of local social conditions with activities and decisions within world financial, commodity and labor markets is increasingly apparent and in many places its consequences are devastating. Perhaps the most fundamental feature of structural transformation in industrial countries has been reducing the share of industry in the formation of GDP and consequently the massive decline in manufacturing employment. We have been witnesses to the massive relocation of capital, jobs and manufacturing to areas of the globe where labor is cheaper. Instead of a relatively stable work conditions, characterized by institutionalized wage agreements and strong trade unions, internal labor markets within large firms, and secure, tenured and full-time employment; new socio-economic patterns emerge: More and more, opportunities for work and flows of income became variable and unpredictable and stable conditions characterizing employment are replaced by growing insecurity. These kinds of changes add to a growing polarization not only between employed and unemployed, but between secure, highly skilled, well paid workers and the larger proportion of insecure, unskilled, low paid workers. In addition to that, the gender dimension is critical to this shift, since women are greatly over represented in the new flexible yet precarious sectors of casual, part-time and short-contract employment [2, str. 142]. The rise of neo-liberal political philosophy has driven many of the processes of political restructuring over the past two decades. A key aspect of the neo-liberal vision of society is bringing the market principle, along with notions of self-responsibility and individualism, to almost every sphere of politics, economics and society. Aspects of political change which have subsequently emerged, and impacted dramatically on social cohesion, include: Such policies and processes which have brought about â€Å"the new inequality† can be seen as fuelling a process of â€Å"inequalisation†. The consequences for social cohesion, however defined, are devastating. â€Å"Such a divergence of the life chances of large social groups†, Dahrendorf observes, â€Å"is incompatible with civil society† [4, str. 38]. The most socially stigmatised, spatially segregated and economically disadvantaged also become the most politically excluded. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, have also threatened a key socio-psychological source of social cohesion, the idea of â€Å"the nation†. The changes associated with globalization (here considered as processes involving the intensified linkage and increased scope, scale and speed of world-wide economic activity) are now so pervasive that national governments arguably no longer hold the keys to their own national larders. The flow and control of a variety of forms of investment, currency trading, commodity markets, and labor pools are increasingly determined by agents and forces above and beyond the reins of nation-state policy. For the nation-state, prerogatives and margins for maneuvers in economic policy are greatly reduced. Conclusions Social cohesion represents a concept which focuses on societal qualities such as the extent of inequality or the strength of social relations and ties within a society. In the terms described above, it is both a means and an end. As an end, it is an object of public policy, to the extent that policies attempt to ensure that all members of society feel themselves to be an active part of it, as both contributors to and beneficiaries of progress. In an age of profound, rapid changes resulting from globalization and the new paradigm of the information society, recreating and ensuring a sense of belonging and inclusion is an end in itself. Social cohesion is also a means, however, in more ways than one. Societies that boast higher levels of social cohesion provide a better institutional framework for economic growth and attract investment by offering an environment of trust and clearly defined rules. Moreover, long-term policies that seek to level the playing field require a social contra ct to lend them force and staying power, and such a contract must have the support of a wide range of actors willing to negotiate and reach broad agreements. In order to do so, they must feel themselves to be a part of the whole, and they must be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the community. The formation of the social covenants needed to support pro-equity and pro-inclusion policies is facilitated by a greater willingness to support democracy, become involved in issues of public interest, participate in deliberative processes and trust institutions, as well as a stronger sense of belonging to a community and solidarity with excluded and vulnerable groups. In this paper we have established two goal dimensios inherent in the concept of social cohesion: 1) the reduction of disprarities, inequalities and social exclusion and 2) the strenthtening of social relations, interacions and ties. Concerning the first dimension of social cohesion, examples of measurement dimensions within various life domains are regional disparities of the state of environment, equal opportunities of women and men in employment, inequalitites between social strate in the state of health, social exclusion from material goods measured by income poverty. As far as second dimension is concerned, it comprises all aspects which together constitute the social capital of a society. This includes the social relations available at the informal level of private networks and the more formal level of organisations, the activities and engagement within private networks as well as within public realms, the quality of social relations and the quality of societal instiutitons. The quality of societal institutions represents a component of social capital which applies to several life domains. Institutions of education, health care, working life, social security, social services, the political system and legal system. The perceived quality of these institutitons are measured by the level of trust, satisfaction with or approval of institutions. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, threaten to deteriorate a key sources of social cohesion in contemporary societies. It is therefore not surprising that idea of social cohesion receives great attention by social scientists as well as by politicians and gradually establish itself as one of the central societal goals at the national and the supranational level.