Economics Questionnaire Essay Example

Economics Questionnaire Paper 1. A legal maximum on the price at which a good can be sold is called a? Price ceiling. 2. Which of the following is likely to have the most price elastic demand? Breakfast cereal, corn flakes 3. A reduction in a countrys barriers to trade? Benefits some citizens of the importing country but does not benefit the domestic producers In the Importing country. 4. The amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to purchase Is quantity demanded. We will write a custom essay sample on Economics Questionnaire specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Economics Questionnaire specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Economics Questionnaire specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer 5. Suppose a market In which demand Is more elastic than supply. The incidence of a tax will? Fall more heavily on sellers than buyers. Suppose there Is a frost that destroys much of the strawberry crop and the price of blueberries, a substitute for strawberries, Increases. 6. What would we expect to happen In the market for strawberries? The price of strawberries Increases and the direction of the change In the equilibrium quantity of strawberries cannot be determined from the Information given. 7. Which of the following changes will not shift the demand for Ice cream to the right? A decrease In the price of Ice cream 8. If price elasticity of demand Is greater than one? Demand Is elastic. 9. If Tom Brady can ran $20,000 filming a commercial in the time it takes him to mow his lawn, he gains from trade? As long as he pays less than $20,000 for someone to mow his lawn 10. Suppose the income elasticity for good X is 0. 8. Good X? Has inelastic demand, is an inferior good 10. Sue can produce 4 dozen cookies or 2 dozen cupcakes in one hour. David can produce 6 dozen cookies or 4 dozen cupcakes in one hour. 11. Sees opportunity cost of 1 dozen cookies is? 2 dozen cupcakes and Davits opportunity cost of 1 dozen cookies is 1. 5 dozen cupcakes, 2 dozen cupcakes and Davits opportunity cost of 1 dozen cookies is 2/3 dozen cupcakes. 12. The market for agricultural products has experienced advances in technology but has relatively inelastic demand. The combination of these two effects is an increase in supply, a large reduction in equilibrium price, a small increase in the equilibrium quantity, and a decrease in total revenue paid to farmers as a group. 13. Without government intervention, prices of products are not capable of changing to avoid shortages or surpluses? FALSE 14. When supply is relatively elastic? The supply curve is relatively flat. 15. Sue can produce 4 dozen cookies or 2 dozen cupcakes in one hour. David can produce 6 dozen cookies or 4 dozen cupcakes in one hour. Sees opportunity cost of 1 dozen cookies is? Higher than Davits opportunity cost of 1 dozen cookies so Sue has a comparative advantage in the production of cookies. 16. Trade can make everyone better off because? Specialization based on comparative advantage Increases total production. 17. Trade can make everyone better off? All of the choices are correct. 18. Free markets are preferred to markets with binding price ceilings or floors because free markets are Impersonal and ration goods with prices? TRUE 19. The relative tax Incidence of a tax Is determined by the government? FALSE 20. Binding rent controls create large shortages of apartments In the short run, but small shortages In the long run due to the elasticity of demand and supply.? FALSE 21 . When consumers have more time to adjust to a price change, price elasticity of demand tends to be? More elastic. 22. Suppose the price of gold, an Input Into the production of Jewelry, decreases. The effect on the market for jewelry is? Decrease in quantity supplied. 23. An the market for sport utility vehicles is are? All of the choices are correct. 24. In a perfectly competitive market? All of the choices are correct. 25. Sue can produce 4 dozen cookies or 2 dozen cupcakes in one hour. David can produce 6 dozen cookies or 4 dozen cupcakes in one hour. Davits opportunity cost of 1 dozen cupcakes is? 2/3 dozen cookies while Sees opportunity cost of 1 dozen cupcakes is 1/2 dozen cookies so David should specialize in the production of cupcakes 2/3 dozen cookies while Sees opportunity cost of 1 dozen cupcakes is 1/2 dozen cookies so Sue should specialize in the production of cupcakes. 26. If price elasticity of demand is less than one? Increasing the price of the product will increase total revenue. 27. Sue can produce 4 dozen cookies or 2 dozen cupcakes in one hour. David can produce 6 dozen cookies or 4 dozen cupcakes in one hour. A producer that requires fewer resources to produce a good is said to have? A comparative advantage, a straight line production possibilities frontier 28. A tax levied on buyers has the same effect on the price the buyer pays as an equal magnitude tax levied on sellers. TRUE 29. A price floor set below the market equilibrium price? Is a non-binding price floor. 30. One producer can have the comparative advantage in both products, but cannot have the absolute advantage in both products? FALSE 31 . When the minimum wage is set above the equilibrium wage it is a binding price floor that results in a surplus of labor 32. A decrease in quantity supplied is shown as a movement from? Point B to point A 33. Imports are goods? Produced abroad and sold domestically 34. Goods with a positive cross price elasticity are? Substitutes. 35. An increase in supply is shown as a movement from? Point A to point B, point B to point A 36. A market with only one seller is called a monopoly market. TRUE 37. If the government were to impose a tax on cigarettes, the tax incidence will likely fall more heavily on the? Ensure because supply is more elastic than demand. 38. A price ceiling set below the market equilibrium price? All of the choices are correct. 39. The responsiveness of the quantity demanded of a product to a change in the price of a product is called? Elasticity 40. Suppose when the price of gasoline is $3. 50 per gallon, a local gas station sells 300 gallons per day. When the price of gasoline is $3. 85 per gallon, the same gas station sells 31 5 gallons per day. Using the midpoint formula, the absolute value of the price elasticity of demand for gasoline is approximately?

Role and Significance of Revol essays

Role and Significance of Revol essays The Russian Revolution was one of the great events of the twentieth century. The revolution of February 1917 brought Russia the first democratic regime. During the 1917 Russian revolution there were two distinct periods. These periods were known as the critical period from 1917-1921 and the consolidation period form 1922-1928. Leading up to and during these periods of the revolution, roles as leaders were extremely significant to the achievement and success of the implementation of revolutionary aims and ideas. The immediate cause of the February Revolution of 1917 was the collapse of the tsarist regime under the strain of World War I. The backward economic condition of the country, made it unable to sustain the war effort against Germany. The imperial government was ceased and political roles were implemented by two new groups, the Provisional Government formed by the provisional committee of the Duma and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The Provisional Government committee of the Duma announced that its role would be to handle restoration of order. The Provisional Government, except for the socialist Kerensky, was made up of liberal leaders. The chairman, Lvov, was a wealthy landowner and member of the Kadets, which favoured an immediate constitutional monarchy and ultimately a republic. The proclamation of the Provisional Government on 28th Feb 1917 was to overcome the old regime and to appoint ministers of public cabinet. Further there aims included the freeing of political, military and religious prisoners, freedom of speech religion and assembly; no class restrictions, constitute assembly; a citizen army (peoples militia) and the enforcing of the four tail suffrage. In dealing with the crucial social problems, the Provisional Government claimed that, being provisional, it could not make changes such as confiscating land and distributing it to the peasants. Failure to provide the cities with grain agg...

Arguments against abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arguments against abortion - Essay Example The controversy lies on when and whether abortion should be done and the extent to which it should be denied or encouraged. It is this debate that has caused other countries to legalize abortion, such as the US, while others, such as Brazil, still consider the procedure illegal (Naden, 2008). This paper argues against abortion, based on its conflict with religious and moral standards, and thus supports its illegalization. First, abortion involves taking human life away, hence tantamount to murder. With this argument, it would be critical to understand when life begins. Proponents of abortion argue that an embryo is not a human being. They argue that it is only until such an embryo acquires human characteristics that it shall be recognized as a human (Thomson, 2010). However, these proponents do not draw a clear line from which an embryo becomes human. Therefore, it would be more reasonable to consider an embryo as a full human or a person (Beckwith 1992). According to England (1996), the embryo starts developing immediately an oocyte is fertilized by a sperm, a process that results in the formation of a zygote. A zygote is a large diploid cell and is the beginning of human life. It means that life begins at conception and thus the humanness of an embryo immediately after fertilization. This pro-life argument has been in existence in the history of the world for a long time. For instance, Naden (2008) observes that the Bible refers to the unborn as a child. It therefore recognizes the fact that an embryo already qualifies as a human being. Therefore, life begins at conception. This means that at whatever stage of pregnancy, from the first day to the last day of the ninth month, whatever is borne in the womb is a human being. As such, aborting pregnancy at any stage amounts to murder, and thus immoral. Secondly, having observed that abortion is tantamount to murder, it is against religious principles to decide on the death of a person, in this case the embryo, as only God reserves the sole power to decide when one should die. In basic terms, abortion is killing. No one holds the right to decide on the death or even life of an innocent person. However, Thomson (2010) observes that in situations where the life of the woman is at risk of death, say due to a cardiac condition that could prevent carrying the pregnancy to term, then she has the right to abort. Both the mother and the fetus have the right to life. Carrying out an abortion amounts to killing the fetus while doing nothing does not mean killing the mother, but rather letting her die. Furthermore, killing the fetus would be killing an innocent life that does not aim at killing the mother. Choosing between letting one die and killing an innocent person, the former holds moral expectations. However, if the mother opts for an abortion, it would not be considered as immoral, but rather an act to save her life. The mother’s right of deciding what happens to and in her body outweighs the right of the fetus to life. Finally, there are a myriad of physiological and psychological risks associated with abortion making it impermissible. Abortion remains an elusive area of study for a majority of doctors. Even after the procedure was legalized in the US, a Columbia University Medical Center professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, observes that the situation has not changed significantly with large teaching hospitals and medical schools not treating abortion as an important training area (Naden, 2008). This means that the area lacks adequate qualified personnel to handle the procedure. This leaves the task to physicians at freestanding clinics, exposing the women

MIH514 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives - Mod 2 SLP Essay

MIH514 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives - Mod 2 SLP - Essay Example There may still be some extended family in the home but not as often since arriving in the US. If there are extended family living with a family unit, it is most often temporary as a family obligation until the others can get on their feet. (Shapiro, 2009). Many of the Indian people come to the US highly educated and become professionals while there are some who are not. They are unusual in the sense that they do not concentrate in singular neighborhoods so they seem less visible and most of them speak English. Their goals and priorities are much related to family. Assuring safe and well cared for families and homes , good health, an happiness is at the top of their list. Like previously mentioned, they are often well educated and are embarrassed if not able to hold a job. Disability is not spoken about and may actually be hidden away in the family system. Their children are of top priority and much of the developmental tasks that occur for them are childhood oriented. All children have some problems with enculturalization but the Asian Indian people are most concerned about it. They make a huge effort to retain cultural identity and still parent within a dissimilar culture (Inman, Howard & Beaumont, 2007). As previously noted, the elders in the family are treated with a great deal of respect. For example, they are never called by their first name. They serve as a resource to the parents of the family and to the children. There has been some change here as the nuclear family forms in the US and the extended family is more likely to disappear. In fact many of the elders are still in their home country though they are likely supported in some way by the family here in the US. (Merrill & Palmer, 2007) Though many of the Indian people who have immigrated to this country have left the cast system behind them, there remains much influence from it, including what kind of profession you will have and where you will be on the social latter. The

Christian Scriptures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christian Scriptures - Essay Example Watt points out that the gospels cannot be literally true and also completely accurate. On the other hand the perspective of E P Sanders was markedly different from that of Watt. As such Sanders takes a less critical stance with regard to Jesus Christ and his attitude towards scripture. Instead of representing Jesus Christ as a fundamentalist Sanders presents Jesus as an accomplished religious leader promising to guide people towards their own salvation. From Sanders' perspective Jesus Christ is argued to have been a highly important religious prophet who had performed miracles as well as claiming to be the Jewish Messiah. Sanders also believed that it always important to place the entire gospel accounts and stories concerning Jesus Christ into the most appropriate context. Basically the gospel writers as well as Jesus himself wanted certain messages passed on to their intended audiences. The opinions of Meier are certainly closer to those of Sanders than those of Watt. This is due to Meier also taking a much less critical stance concerning the mission, teachings, and the beliefs of Jesus Christ, as supposedly predicted within the Old Testament, and recorded in the gospels. Personally it would be best to assume that the gospel writers just like Jesus Christ had messages to get across to people. The gospels were written due to the fact that the people who had personally known Jesus Christ were dying out and the New Testament was needed to spread the teachings of the Early Church. The gospel writers wanted to persuade as many people as possible that Jesus Christ had been the Son of God and therefore needed to provide enough evidence of his status as the Messiah does. What do you think each of these three would write for example about the story of the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark, 9 2- 8) Watt would more than likely write that the story of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ was not literally true, and than the gospels should not therefore be automatically taken at face value. He would probably also contend that the message, which the story of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ was intended to convey was more important than whether or not it was actually or indeed literally a true life event. Watt would argue that the purpose of the story of the transfiguration of Jesus was to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was not only the Messiah he was also he resurrected Son of God. It is a fundamental part of mainstream Christian doctrine yet Watt might easily contend that the transfiguration of Jesus Christ did not actually take place. Sanders would probably have written that the story of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ was based upon the events that the disciples had believed to happen. Only Jesus and his most trusted disciples had gone up the hillside, with only the disciples coming back down. Sanders would probably mention that Jesus had grouped these disciples together in order to prove that he had indeed risen from the dead. There were therefore only a small number of witnesses that could describe how Jesus had descended up to heaven. All these witnesses also played significant roles in the development and the territorial expansion of the Christian religion. The eye - witness accounts strongly

The Business Objectives Of New Technologies Information Technology Essay

The Business Objectives Of New Technologies Information Technology Essay Prior to think about starting new business or implementing new technology to the business, one must think about the Objectives what they are expecting from it and objectives are based on planning. Therefore, plan is the most important part and if plan does not figure out the outcomes, this would mean that the plan made is vain. So planning should be made under consideration that whatever objectives we are going to calculate from the business, plan should stipulate end results and its associated activities to achieve that results. Objective may be set under the consideration of increase in monthly sale, profit or decrease in cost, operating expenses, check and balance on cash flows, debts, investments etc or non financial objectives such as customer satisfaction and whatsoever to give the positive edge to the business in the competitive environment. However, the selected topic would highlight the introduction of a new technology in an organisation in achieving its business objectives in following discussion. 1. Introduction Lots of executives nowadays are more sentient about the strategic weight of technology in terms of providing the value and cut-throat edge to their companies in fast pacing business arena. Such kind of needs turn into more crucial issues when we talk about their practical implications in any business as it comprises not only cost and complexity but also increase in the rate of technology change, sources and competition. This may sound uncomplicated in terms of designing it on papers, however putting it prudently into practice is not simple, as it requires valuable processes, management of technology and system to make sure that these technological resources are matched with the business needs, not only to cope with current demand but for the future needs of the business as well. Hence, no matter what technology is planned to introduce in the business, but it must considered that it assists the business processes such as communication and its implementation must be aligned with business strategy and development. 1.1 Technology And Its Appendage To Business We can define technology in many ways and the abstracts from the various definitions highlight different aspects that epitomize technology and this can be deemed as a precise type of knowledge however this may also be in material form in a shape of physical object, e.g. it can be a machine, system, module or product. Moreover, when we talk about important elements of technology then we come across with the sense that these elements distinguish technology from ordinary understanding to precise understanding of the company, as technology comprises with engineering and science. And the procedures which work effectively for its functions are also very important, for instance organisations structures and software applications / tools together with innovative procedures and advancement of new product etc. Obtaining awareness about the technology and accommodating it for its effective use is crucial, as technical know-how of any technology consists of both overt and unspoken knowledge. Where, overt know-how can be explained whether in a form of report, process or user manual, together with the physical equipment. However, unspoken technological knowledge can not be easily expressed and depends on training and understanding of work such as obtaining different skills according to the need of work. Equally like technology, we can portrait technology appendage to business in a way that it concentrates on the effectual recognition, selection, getting hold of development, utilization and shielding of technology needed to uphold a market place and business recital in conformity with companys objectives. So technology appendage to business can demonstrate as ascertaining and upholding the link between resources and objectives of the company and this requires suitable processes and tools sustai n by effective management and communication. 1.2 Management of Technology Once technology introduces to the business the next phase comes in the shape of its management which elucidate the demanding processes to build up an incessant relationship between product and services that it can produce desired results while serving to the target market. In this way it becomes easy for it to put together all technological issues arise during the business processes, including innovation, operation management, strategy development and new product development and ultimately the extraction of those issues with best solutions. Excellent management of technology requires the strong link of knowledge and communication among the technological and commercial perspectives in the organization and this would help to accomplish a balance between technology push and market pull. Thus, it does not only depend alone on either internal or external factors but equally on both factors such as business objectives, inside culture of the company and dynamics of the market. Following figure shows how technology can support to both product and services to achieve its best and cost efficient results while simultaneously focusing on business strategy and available market opportunities. Key Challenges As challenges are associated with all of the businesses, fields, professions, processes, etc similarly there are various challenges attached with the introduction of new technology to the business few of the vital challenges are as follows: Comprehensible Business Need The first challenge prior to decide the introduction of new technology to the business is Need and this must be taken into account with high consideration as cost of implementing new technology must not exceed the benefits originate from it. Otherwise lack of clear business need may affect worst to the business position and ultimately may put business out from the market. 1.3.2 Valuable Business Processes Once its decided that there is a genuine need of the new technology in the business and competitive advantage would be driven into the business, then there is a need to think about how to develop valuable business processes which would align all internal and external factors with the business strategy to achieve its objectives and it must not overload from limited or short term tasks only. Organisation Culture Culture of any organisation is vital for its success so new technology must be supportive to its culture and should participate in the effective progress of making culture stronger than the ongoing culture and definitely it should not impede the ongoing progress otherwise the introduction of new technology would be costly rather than beneficial to the company. 1.3.3 Right People and Functions There is also a need to ensure that right people and functions must be aligned with new technology as it all depends on the knowledge and skills so if the right persons are not put in place to exercise it or in the process of making functions to obtain competitive outcomes then the best use of new technology may concealed forever from the companys desired results. 1.3.4 Obligation from Senior Management Obligation from senior management is required for this introduction as they are in command to decide and use of the technology. As they are working for the best interest of the shareholders so every decision from them must be transparent and they are accountable and responsible for their actions towards the companys progress. Lack of commitment in this regard may affect worst on the decision of introduction of new technology. 1.3.5 Required Data / Information Availability of required data / information is essential that could support the companys decision for the introduction of new technology. Because this would help the management to decide whether these is a need for the new technology in the business or they can make outsource arrangements for the required processes without this data / information company may play blind ultimately associated cost would turn their profit into loss. Effective Tools / Techniques Effective tool, techniques and methods must be analysed which would be associated to the new technology as these should not either play a difficult or negative role in the companys ongoing processes. Consequently, these would leave destructive impact on the operations and company may face solvency or loss due to the introduction of new technology. Effectual Training and Monitoring Training must be provided to all of the staff members involved in the processes affected by the introduction of new technology as without the proper training they may face difficulty to use or bypass cost effective processes and finally monitoring is vital for the sake of observing the desired benefit calculated prior to the introduction. If company achieves its objectives then its beneficial and would give competitive advantage and if not then company always move with the contingency plan to depart from the use of new technology or processes. 2. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) New Technology By Tesco Tesco is trying to develop the idea of introducing new technology Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) from last 5 years with a perspective to align it with its business strategy. 2.1 How It Works This technology has an ability to track and tag items, on the other hand its implication is enormous. For instance, the movement of stock can be tracked and in transit products can be easily monitored, so inventory of all items can be examined at any time. 2.2 Enhanced Customer Availability With the help of stock tracking in real time and ability to record it automatically, this technology will help the staff members to re-shelve the items on time. Eventually, it will be the reason for enhanced customer availability to the stores. 2.3 Reduced Pricing Through this technology control over the waste in store, effective supply chain management and better stock levels would help Tesco to reduce the products prices to obtain competitive advantage. In simple words products would be ordered in controlled manner such as Just In Time delivery before the stock ends and eventually minimum waste of it in store. 2.4 Enhanced Customer Services Due to control over all other aspects such as enhanced products availability, the staff would be able to provide excellent and focused customer services. As, they would get awareness of stocks in seconds of time whether items are available or not together with tracking the misplaced items and putting them back to their places. 2.5 Automated Re-order As, this technology keeps record of all items available in stores, in transit, misplaced in the store and control over the wastage of inventory. So, it would be possible to reorder items automatically based on the contact of minimum level of stocks of each item. 2.6 Implementation Issues Tesco is still working on this project to implement it in its stores but there are many issues left and need appropriate intention and secure programming. The main barrier around its implementation is the requirement of huge cost and without cost / benefit analysis Tesco is not ready to implement / test it in any of its stores. But it is expected that it will introduce in 2010. The other main issue which has to consider carefully that this technology has a potential of spy and this issue has already risen by Civil Rights activists. Also there is apprehension about the manipulation of data in terms of changing in the product price by customers. For instance, PDA (hand held device) may edit the tag of one item with the price of another. 2.7 Conclusion The idea behind introducing the new technology is that whether it endows positive and efficient results to what is currently in use by the company or not. So, the thing is company has to decide that whether they need to upgrade the existing technology already in use or introduce the new technology to achieve business objectives while taking advantage of the more profit, competitive edge / enhancement of operational activities or if they can push the business activities forward without introduction of new technology. Also company must take its vision in account and must ensure that this new technology is heading towards the same direction and has ability to dominate the future approach of performing a task in the companys favour or will it become obsolete after a little time (companys loss in terms of functional cost) or complex in use that customers will lean while using it at the time to buy a product (damage of image). Apart from the criticism about spy and other associated issues, Tesco knows that introduction of new technology has other short terms issues as well such as re-organising, re-training of staff, educating customers how to use it etc. Moreover, the cost / benefit analysis are left behind and has to analysed before the implication of this new technology. This is fair to say while concluding from the introduction of new technologys analysis that business would not obtain benefits if it is same alike so. And if without introducing new technology a business is already standing on the top of competitive environment then there is no need to introduce new technology to the business but hold the card to put off when any of the competitors changes its approach to come forward in the competitive business arena. 3. Approaches Of Introduction Of New Technology Once I read the available list for The Oxford Brookes University  Research and Analysis Project (RAP) by ACCA, I decided to write on How the introduction of a new technology can assist an organisation in achieving its business objectives and for this purpose I selected Tesco RFID to refer it with the different available approaches. Following are various approaches / levels / stages etc that every company may consider while functioning about the introduction of new technology to achieve their business objectives: 3.1 Planning Of Product / Technology This is the very common type towards the introduction of new technology in the business and it covers the entire processes that a company may come across with right from its start to its end. This stage helps the company to insert technology in their running system and contrived products. Tesco RFID prior to its development was taken into account with a consideration of individual customers understandings and needs. The idea was based on customers shopping experience and wastage of stock in the stores. So they planned to introduce a new technology that regulates with the current operational activities and this process can be seen in the following figure which shows the timely introduction and connection of products-technologies relationship on planning stage. 3.2 Capabilities Of New Technology After the planning stage, the next step companies consider for the introduction of new technology in their businesses is analysing the capabilities to handle the current operations of the organisation by new technology that it should enhance the performance of the ongoing processes and should not become the reason of either making it difficult to handle or making the current operations more complex than their existing way. Same as in the case of RFID, Tesco reviewed its existing operations and analysed that with the help of capabilities of new technology together with the management serving the customers by giving individual attention, the implementation of RFID would be very effective. The technology captured positive perception but still issues are associated with it and Tesco is working hard to resolve these issues. Tesco management knows that it would give them cost reduction benefit by controlling over the wastage of stock but the implementation is still delayed due to the high initial cost requirement and other issues. But, it seems like Tesco management is sure about technologys capabilities and exceptional services by staff members so they know that it would help Tesco to understand that how much investment is required to implement it properly and ultimately this would become a rationale in increased business activities plus profit. Following figure shows the interrelationship between all activities behind the introduction of new technology in the business to achieve its objectives. 3.3 Strategic Approach It is very important to keep in mind about the future vision of any introduction of new technology in the business as it comprises on the all vital aspects of the business environment including market, product, skills, technology etc. So prior to deciding for the new technology, companies should made the vision that what they are expecting from this new project that it should stroll along with all vital aspects of the business without having conflict with any of it. The same way, Tesco realised that they can save much of the costs they are wasting in a way of stock wastage and made vision that this RFID would produce excellent results in terms of increase in sales and reduction in costs including management cost and more important is that it is aligned with its operations and future vision. Following figure shows the how the strategic approach works for the business even to fill out the gap which turns up due to the comparison of current position with the future vision. 3.4 Information System Information system is vital part of every successful project and especially when thinking about to introduce new technology to the business. All of the projects essences up to its success are based on the right information on timely basis. If wrong information driven on the initial stage would mean the wrong decision for the future and ultimately it would drive company towards cost and loss of business. Tesco for instance, when initially took step for introducing the RFID they came across from many experiments in the shape of surveys and observing customers behaviour and they collected right information from its various outlets to make decision about introducing new technology. So, we can see from the following figure that right information on right time in the process of technology development provides the dominant outcome (e.g. nugget in the fig) leads to cost effective edge in the companys operations. 3.5 Asset and Management Knowledge On the basis of aligning available management and asset knowledge companies can portray the future demands. Asset knowledge relates to the processes on which management takes decision about the projects and their needs including introduction of new technology and this is the stage where management takes business objectives very carefully in to account. As Tesco on the basis of its knowledge and management skills enabled it to take a decision about to introduce RFID. With the help of following figure we can analyse that how all aspects of introduction of new technology in business such as assets, knowledge and management help to align all the processes while focusing on the eventual end of achieving business objectives. 4. Issues With Introduction Of New Technology Similar to all projects, there are various issues attached with the introduction to new technology and these issues must take into account very sensibly to achieve the desire business objectives. However the most import issue is Software, as almost all of the technologies are dependent on software that enables its effective use so companies must consider the following main issues related to software: Software should define all aspects of the business processes without any conflict with inter-related activities from enabling data, sharing information, to all templates and protocols. Software should enable management to retrieve data for decision making, analysing situations, and managing the complexities in the systems etc. Software must provide the critical paths of the activities along with available activities which can start parallel to the critical paths to save time and cost and eventually helping management to make timely decisions. Software must have ability to uphold market information, product-market analysis, option evaluations, assessment of technology up gradation etc. Software should have ability to customise it on timely basis according to the requirement to obtain utmost results from the technology. Software should have ability for integration of methods, processes and information. Software must have ability to facilitate the business processes from importing and exporting data simultaneously connecting with other management and business information systems. Software interface must be user friendly with ability to grow with company, this would mean that it must have ability to support multi-users as data would input from various locations and types. Must consider that only software alone may not produce good results as its role is just to support business activities and it depends on the management that how they utilise the best from the information generated from the software. 5. Pros and Cons Of Introduction Of New Technology Like every object new technology introduction also has pros and cons to the business as the logic behind the introduction of new technology is that businesses want to make their activities and processes more efficient as compare to their current available needs. 5.1 Advantages of Introduction of New Technology Following are the advantages of the new technology in business: 5.1.1 Cost Efficient The first and main advantage behind the decision of introduction of new technology is cost saving. 5.1.2 Productivity Increased productivity in terms of production, planning and efficiency is also one of the advantages associated with introduction of new technology to the business. 5.1.3 Reduction in Workforce Automated activities help companies to reduce the workforce eventually this would help as a source of cost saving. 5.1.4 Profitability As efficiency increased it reduces the cost so introduction of new technology to the new business allows work to be done more quickly which would mean more fluency of cash inflows to the business. 5.1.5 Employees Motivation Once company achieved its business objectives from the introduction of new technology this would means business is making profit. So, companies may think about remuneration increment or bonuses to their employees to increase their motivation level. 5.1.6 Effective Communication and Decision Making Introduction of new technology may help companies to communicate effectively with their long distance businesses point of sales and thus it would be easy for them to make decision according to the requirement of a particular area. 5.1.7 Competitive Advantage Companies always decide to introduce new technology with keeping competitive advantages in their mind. It could be offering products on low prices without lowing standard of products. 5.2 Disadvantages of Introduction of New Technology Following are the disadvantages of the new technology in business: 5.2.1 Management Main disadvantage is the introduction of new technology to the business might be difficult to manage. So with high consideration of genuine need must take in to account. 5.2.2 Skills New technology if internal, the company may require to arrange appropriate training for its employees or if external (for customer use) then may not be user friendly and thus beyond the range of use from large number of customers and this would generate loss in return. 5.2.3 Maintenance The maintenance and up gradation of technology to keep it effective may incur more cost than its benefits. 5.2.4 Other Costs Other costs may be in terms of redundancy pay to the staff due to the introduction of new technology and purchasing it for the entire branches of business. 5.2.5 Time Factor Introduction of new technology may obsolete more quicker than the time company calculated to obtain benefits from it. 5.2.6 Integration Introduction of new technology may not integrate with all of the business processes or may bypass various activities which may be important to take into account for the effective outcome. 5.2.7 Substitute Substitute of the technology may be more efficient of cheaper than the technology company is going to arrange for its business activities. This would mean inefficient and costly decision by management without making proper research. 6. Conclusion From all of the above discussion we can abstract that introduction of new technology (if genuinely required by the company) has great potential to support the development and implement of business activities, align with strategy of the company while endowing a company with the effective information, processes and tool to obtain positive outcomes. The following features of introduction of new technology have identified: A lot of benefits of new technology are taken from the business processes and these processes brings together personnel from various divisions of the business endowing them chance to share effective information and their perspectives towards the development of new technology. The obvious advantage to develop and introduce the new technology is based on the effective communication which is associated with business processes and eventually with the strategic planning. The new technology development may have potential for supporting business planning and strategy to achieve the business objectives sketched by businesss vision. New technology introduction is not a black box approach that it would use as a learning experience or flexible approach that it would base on specific circumstances. Introduction of new technology should articulate in graphical form as it is the most effectual means which maintain communication across useful boundaries prior to the development of processes under new technology. New technology must integrate with technology already in use, products development, business processes and commercial activities by the company. New technology should overtly describe the time measurement which is significant for certifying that all business related activities are synchronised effectively. Introduction of new technology must focus on long term vision of the company as the initial investment for the development, implementation, and training about new technology costs as a huge expense to the company. Software plays an important role in every application in the technology. It may alone can not deliver the best results unless it is made as user friendly and integrated with all other related aspects of the business Finally a key benefit of introduction of new technology is sharing of knowledge among all the personnel even if around the globe and the development of strong and common vision where company is heading. 7. Recommendations After working about the implementation of RFID by Tesco and attached issues to this project following are few recommendations for its growth: YE ABHI CHANGE KERNI HEIN Establish Technology Management Practices Create IT Management Team ORG does not have a formal technology management team. Given the size of ORGs computing environment, CompuMentor recommends ORG develop an Information Technology Management Team. This team will drive the overall direction of technology and information systems. We have found this to be the most sustainable and cost effective way to manage the technology projects and systems that ORG will be developing. This team can be comprised of existing staff through a reallocation of their time depending the existing staff skill set, interest and budget considerations. Benefits Allows all staff to begin discussing needs, ideas and directions for technology. Provides a realistic technology budget that takes into account the organizations technology plans. Becomes a focal point for future technology planning, and specific technology projects such as web site construction or database planning. The diverse membership of the tech team can help ensure that such policy is useful for all members of an organization. Recommendation ORG should develop an Information Technology Management Team pooled from its existing staff. The team works to set technical priorities, assist in decisions in technology plan implementation and advocates for technology in the budgeting process. The team is made up of a representative cross-section of the organization. This will be increasingly important as ORGs technological capacity grows and the needs of its users become more diverse. The tech team ensures continuity for planning that outlasts the tenure of any one individual. The tech team should ensure that members also share training opportunities. Document Policies Procedures In order to most productively manage the technology usage at ORG it is important for the organization to document common computer procedures and computer usage policies and to train staff members on these policies and procedures. Recommendation The series of training materials that Miriam has produced should be finalized and deployed to all ORG staff members. Computer usage policies should be drafted and posted at each location. Improve Network Server and File Security. ORG should standardize and improve its network security. The mix of local vs. server accounts and the lack of standards for file organization and file sharing not only requires more overall administration; but also puts ORGs data at risk from loss, theft, or access to private files by individuals who should normally be denied access. Recommendation In order to provide a consistent model among all of its offices ORG should follow a standard set of guidelines for storing and sharing files. Additionally, all user accounts should be centralized on the servers at each location. A consistent file storage and sharing model will help users across the organization to know where to put files so that they are secure and confidential. Considerations This recommendation should be considered when planning to replace the network server at the unified Peabody/Whitehall office as many of the tasks below could be most quickly performed on a new server. Evaluate need for regular systems administration. Due to the size of ORGs organization, it should consider how much time is spent administering various systems and resolving day-to-day user problems. ORG presently has a person at each location designated as the defacto administrator. This role is in addition to their regular mission oriented duties. Recommendation ORG should track its daily user related issues and the amount of time it takes to resolve them over a period of time (30-60 days). Evaluate the time requirement to resolve such issues in order to identify if further scheduled support service or a full-time administrator is required to free up the time of the present administrators and to provide better service to staff members. Establish a formal technology budget. ORG pr

Self Reliance - Society never advances :: Self Reliance Essays

Self Reliance - Society never advances "Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. ... For every thing that is given something is taken." Emerson, "Self Reliance", p 169 I agree with this statement, and it frustrates me to no end. Our country is screwed up in every direction one looks. People are starving while others have too much money to spend. Our population is out of control. We pollute to no end. Ours is one of the best countries in the world? Society’s tumors seem to keep growing but I want them to end. These problems disturbed me to the point of depression when I discovered them but now I can handle my knowledge. One thing that has helped me is learning about American history. I thought that we teetered on the brink of imminent collapse with budget, environmental, and social problems, but I have learned about the problems that America has dealt with over the years. Now I know that this time period is no worse than the past. Yes, no worse than the past, but like the quote suggests, no better either. We keep trying for advancement, starting new social programs and developing new scientific solutions. Sometimes we make a little headway. When penicillin was discovered, it was a great boon to the medical industry. We are well on the way to loosing that gain as anti-biotic resistant microbes invade our bodies. We have eliminated slavery and segregation but the gap between the rich and poor has grown to compensate for this victory. We make scientific progress yet there are more ox-carts in use across the globe than there ever have been in the history of mankind. Are we actually making progress? I write this on a machine more powerful than the entire computing power of the world just sixty years ago.

Organisations External Relationships And Its Internal Capabilities Commerce Essay

Schemes are formulated and driven by senior direction to whom we expect to put Strategic way. Such schemes are so adopted by concerns in order to enable them to accomplish their concern aims. By looking at the external and internal capablenesss of the concern a new degree of sustainability have to be considered and ‘businesses are implanting sustainability to their schemes. ‘ ( Mertins 2012 ) We will research concerns schemes like Porter ‘s ( 1985 ) generic competitory schemes which provide a sustainable industry. Barney ‘s ( 1980 ) resource base position looks how this has improved the concerns sustainability. I will be using this theory to existent life administrations looking at Physical ; Human ; Technological and Organisational facet of the concern. Finally I will research the external parts of the administration with this theory and seeing what is valuable ; rare and what makes them ‘Imperfectly Imitable ‘ ( Barney 1980 ) as a concern. Busine ss Strategies that I will analyze are ; Cost leading ( Porter, 1985 ) and Differentiation ( Bowman and Faulkner, 1996 ) . Therefore integrating Cost Leadership and distinction and explicating how this affects the internal capablenesss and external relationships within an administration. Following on from this I will look at Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR ) is a concern scheme which involves the full concern, whereas the Porter ( 1985 ) and Bowman and Faulkner ( 1996 ) concern scheme which merely involves a subdivision of a concern. I have selected Microsoft as a taking illustration of Carroll ( 1991 ) theory on the ‘the pyramid of corporate societal duty, analyzing how they have succeeded by carry throughing the four degrees of the pyramid utilizing this scheme. I will look how CSR affects ‘Triple Bottom Line ‘ ( Elkington 2004 ) and the external relationships and the internal capablenesss of Microsoft. Other schemes concerns can follow are ‘differentiation by trade name ; distinction by design: distinction by positioning ; distinction by engineering and eventually distinction by invention ‘ ( Baroto, 2012 ) . I will concentrate on Apple ‘s concern scheme to put themselves apart from other rivals through engineering. Furthermore Apple scheme to distinguish themselves you can reason that they are concentrating on â€Å" Luxury good † market section and peculiar types of audience. Apple created a new selling niche by puting capital in research, which allowed them to hold a alone engineering advantage against rivals which is sustainable for the hereafter. Firstly internal capablenesss have improved and the technological progresss have meant that Apple is able to hold an automated production line to better efficiency, which so improves the overall quality of the merchandise. However the upfront cost in execution is highly high and the cost of puting quality cont rol can be clip devouring. This could impact the internal and external relationships with Apple employees and providers as the production is chiefly automated this means that labor costs will be reduced and could ensue in occupation cuts for the concerns. One of Apples Core competences is the alone engineering that they adapt to their merchandises this competency is good protected by patents which stop rivals utilizing the engineering that Apple has. Apple does take a cost leading ( Porter 1985 ) attack. Buyer Power ( Porter ‘s Five Forces 1985 ) there is merely two different providers of memory french friess and the microprocessors and OS french friess nevertheless for keyboards ; disc drivers there are many different providers this means that providers will better the quality of their merchandises and lower their monetary values for Apple hence go forthing the provider in a low provider place. By maintaining the providers cost down through Buyer power this means that Net income borders are maximised doing Apple providers sustainable for the hereafter. Second the environment is a immense issue set uping Apple externally and focused on happening energy that is renewable. Apple is continually ‘working towards the end of accomplishing net zero energy plans for our corporate installations worldwide ‘ . ( Apple Environment Report 2012 ) Apple is besides working with the authorities to run into environment marks bettering their External relationships. Apple has a demand that all supplier s have to be environmentally friendly when bring forthing natural stuffs. Apple utilises purchaser power ( Porter, 1985 ) to guarantee that their providers are utilizing eco-friendly processing processs and in the transit of the merchandises to Apple. The provider adheres to petitions by Apple as they are major client. I am now traveling to use Barney ‘s ( 1980 ) resource based position to look further in the internal and external facets of the concern. Apple is really financially stable and booming in their current market as net incomes twelvemonth in and twelvemonth out seem to increase. Apple is world-wide company and has mills that are based in Asia the donees of this is are ; works out cheaper to transport the goods so base the mill in USA due to chiefly of revenue enhancement rates and labor costs are higher in USA than Asia. Apple ‘s human resource was Steve Jobs who innovated many of Apples finest thought ‘s and made Apple successful. Steve Jobs was a invaluable plus to the concern. Furthermore Steve Jobs thoughts boasted the Technological facets of the concern with new technological thoughts in their merchandises which helped them distinguish themselves against their rivals both in bend helped the internal capablenesss of the concern. Apple ‘s most valuable plus is the iconic engineering which they possess and they protect their promotions against their competition through patents. These engineerings allowed them to implement their scheme which is to stand out in the luxury good market and making a new selling niche which helps them stand out against their rivals. By standing out it brings high returns to their stockholders bettering the external relationships and Apple has done this through engineering promotion doing this rare ( Barney 1980 ) facet of the concern. Branding of Apple is alone as they still see themselves as frontier in the engineering industry. Apple brands themselves as a luxury good this is apparent when recession occurred in 2008 and they did n't drop the monetary values as a consequence they would bare the loss nevertheless this did n't impact their trade name image. I would see Apple ‘s trade name image to be amiss imitable which makes Apple sustainable for the hereafter. Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR ) scheme like Carroll ( 1991 ) identifies ‘the pyramid of corporate societal duty ‘ . There are 4 different degrees which a concern should travel through to go a successful company. Microsoft is an illustration of a company that has completed the four degrees of pyramids of societal duty. Economic duty to extent stockholders should see a return on their investing like providers ; clients and employees. Carroll ( 1991 ) believes that this is required in order to do a concern a success on the other manus we have the Friedman ‘s attack which some companies take as the neoclassical attack ‘The concern of concern is concern ‘ ( Friendman YEAR ) and would merely make any degrees of the Carroll ‘s ( 1991 ) Pyramid if it was to increase the company value with that peculiar company. Elkington ( 2004 ) theory on ‘Triple Bottom Line ‘ on sustainability an facet being Economic growing which Microsoft has to see . Microsoft with the new invention of Windows 8 has improved the external facet of the concern and helps excite economic growing more significantly this new invention has helped Microsoft internally as investors are more likely to put because of the possible output in market portion. This is good hazard direction in that they have lowered hazards for investors and will hopefully convey value for stockholders. Rubenstein stated ( 1994 ) ‘If your rate of invention likely to be competitory in the longer term ‘ in short ‘Are your net income borders sustainable ‘ for Microsoft to be successful they will hold adopt new wider constructs like Social capital and natural capital to turn as a concern. Microsoft does so when they create successful merchandises and dainty employees reasonably. The following degree in the pyramid is known as legal duty where they take note and accept the different Torahs around the universe. Microsoft is a great illustration as a planetary house they have to reconsider the different degrees of rewards in different states every bit good as the jurisprudence and statute law in different states. Microsoft are expected to follow jurisprudence and statute law about maintaining environment clean with Elkington ( 2004 ) theory about Triple Bottom Line it looks how Environment stewardship of a concern and how this contributes to sustainability for the hereafter. Microsoft has given clients information of what makers do when clients want to trash their old laptop and what schemes the maker offers. Furthermore Microsoft has updates Windows 7 so that it designed to cut down power ingestion which in bend improves the environment. Environment is a turning external factor that administrations have to see with judicial proceeding and ordinances. ( Microsoft – hypertext transfer protocol: //www.microsoft.com/environment/ ) The 3rd degree to this pyramid is being ethically responsible significance that beyond the jurisprudence it should be ‘expected ‘ by a concern. ( Carroll, 1991 ) By being an ethical concern this enables Microsoft to hold repeated gross revenues from their clients. Branding is another manner in which Microsoft usage and trade name themselves as Socially Responsible or an ethical concern and derive good public dealingss which could take to increased gross revenues and increased net incomes. Mintel ( 1994 ) ‘demonstrates that clients are willing to pay more for ethical merchandises. ‘ Wilson ( 1997 ) says ‘even during the recession there are clients who seek goods and services which have both been environmentally friendly and have been produced ethically. ‘ This demonstrates that clients who know that the point has been branded ethically that they are more likely to buy the merchandise which Microsoft adopts within their policies. Finally the concluding degree of the pyramid is Philanthropy duty. Carroll ( 1991 ) deems this to be desirable which frequently leads to better quality of life of employees, it besides includes contribution such as charities and instruction causes. Microsoft laminitis Bill Gates has set up a foundation for Philanthropic causes ; The returns of one have been used to help Ghanaian farming engineering in order to do a sustainable resource. ( Greene, 2009 ) Microsoft has fulfilled the Carroll ( 1991 ) Pyramid which scheme has been successful for Microsoft. Elkington ( 2004 ) in ternary bottom line negotiations about the Social advancement of a company Microsoft has demonstrated that they are invariably working with people an illustration of this Bill Gates did take clip to make Philanthropic activities to better quality life and to give more chances to employees. Last I am traveling to reflect on Corporate Social Responsibility scheme where the whole concern is driven to success ; the generic schemes that a concern could set about are cost leading and distinction where they focus on a concern section like production and doing their concern a success. In decision a concern should concentrate on a section of their company or concentrating on the whole concern to do the concern a success. From the Porter ( 1995 ) generic schemes I have found that a concern that has adopted any of the schemes have been successful provided the scheme has been implemented right which all these concern illustrations did. It is of import for a concern to do a pick between the cost leading scheme ; distinction or scheme as a concern that is â€Å" stuck in the center † is normally unsuccessful. ( Baroto, 2012 ) The resource base position ( Barney 1980 ) looks at a concern external and internal facets of the concern and to follow on Apple is truly is successful as resource based position has revealed that Apple has some rare and Imperfectly imitable which allows them to be successful and sustainable. Elkington ( 2004 ) theories incorporates ternary bottom line to place facets of the concern. I have to reason that utilizing this on Microsoft has brought out some cardinal external relationships and internal capablenesss more significantly shows that Microsoft is highly sustainable and therefore why Microsoft has been a successful concern because their high sustainability. Using the CSR scheme can do a concern successful by utilizing the whole concern to accomplish their concern purposes which in bend improves the internal and external capablenesss of the company. Carroll ‘s ( 1991 ) attack states that the ‘Pyramid of societal duty ‘ means a concern should take for Philanthropy duty as it is deemed to be desirable nevertheless some concerns will take the Friedman attack ‘the concern of concern is concern ‘ REFERE NCE and a concern would merely pattern philanthropic gift duty if it were to better their net incomes. All of these schemes have their advantages and disadvantages and all have improved facets of internal and externals relationships of a concern.

I Need a Grant

I Need a Grant I forget that new writers enter the profession daily, and Im most reminded when a slew of them write me after seeing FundsforWriters.com for the first time. The first thing they see is GRANTS, and that throws their fledgling minds into overdrive, wondering how they can find some generous grant provider to offer money to a new writer. Its like rumors that some government agency will pay off your mortgage or write off your debt. In writing, nobody offers you a free lunch. You pay for that lunch. You can hope for a coupon here and there, or a free sandwich if you buy a coke, but nobody is going to offer lunch for free. Lets look at grants. Why do grants exist? Nobody cares about that, but grants have missions, too. Grants have specific purposes, and providing money to people who dont have it isnt the leading purpose. Its more about what someone wants to do with that money that matters. 1) They are created to fill an identified need. 2) They are created to make a difference with humanity. 3) They must demonstrate to the world that the money they spend has done great things. 4) They answer to high authorities about how effective and efficient theyve been with the money they doled out. 5) Their money depends upon politics, donations, and the economy. In other words, there arent pots of money waiting for people to apply for a share. The applicants for any grant must qualify using the following mindsets: 1) As if they were applying for a job, 2) As if they were promoting a product, and 3) As if they were seeking a loan at the bank. As noble as grants sound, grants are a sort of business venture for the grant provider. If they dont do well with the money they provide . . . if the projects that obtain grants do not demonstrate a positive end . . . then the grant provider has failed. The results? Less grant money to use in the future or even the dissolution of the entire grant entity. Lets visit a scenario of a new writer seeking a grant: A new writer may be from Montana and want to write about a boy who immigrates to New York and experiences a coming-of-age story. The writer asks for a grant to live in New York for several months to do research and think about how he will write the story. Nobody will fund this grant. Why? 1) There is no need to fund unpublished writers. There is a glut of writers out there as it is. 2) The writer is not experienced and cannot assure the grant provider they can write. 3) The writer cannot assure the grant provider they can publish. 4) The writer cannot assure the grant provider they have a market for the work. 5) The grant provider has to have a mission that somehow fits the story, the writer, or the writers need. Sowhen you think of a grant, think of it as a loan. They give you money based upon your qualifications, you have to follow their rules, and you pay it back with your projects success. Grants have needs, too, and they are careful with how they write their checks.

Quartzite Rock Geology and Uses

Quartzite Rock Geology and Uses Quartzite is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock that consists mostly of quartz. Its usually a white to pale gray rock, but occurs in other colors, including red and pink (from iron oxide), yellow, blue, green, and orange. The rock has a grainy surface with a sandpaper texture, but polishes to a glassy shine. Key Takeaways: Quartzite Rock Quartzite is a hard, nonfoliated metamorphic rock formed by the action of heat and pressure upon sandstone.Usually, the rock is white or gray, but it occurs in other pale colors. It has a grainy, rough surface. Magnification reveals a mosaic of quartz crystals.Pure quartzite consists entirely of silicon dioxide, but usually iron oxide and trace minerals are present.Quartzite occurs in folded mountain ranges at convergent plate boundaries worldwide. How Quartzite Forms Quartzite forms when pure or nearly pure quartz sandstone undergoes heating and pressure. Usually this is caused by tectonic compression. The sand grains of sandstone melt and recrystallize, cemented together by silica. Quartzite arenite is the intermediate stage between sandstone and quartzite. Arenite is still considered to be a sedimentary rock, but it has an extremely high quartz content. However, its difficult to identify the transition from sandstone to quartzite. Some geologists use the term quartzite to refer to metamorphic rocks consisting almost exclusively of quartz. Here, quartzite is identified by the way it fractures across grain boundaries, while arenite breaks around them. Other geologists simply identify quartzite as a tightly-cemented rock found above or below a band of sedimentary quartz rock. Quartzite Composition Quartzite consists almost entirely of silicon dioxide, SiO2. If the purity is about 99% SiO2, the rock is called orthquartzite. Otherwise, quartzite commonly contains iron oxide and may contain trace amounts of the minerals rutile, zircon, and magnetite. Quartzite may contain fossils. Properties Quartzite has a Mohs hardness of 7, which is comparable to that of quartz and considerably harder than sandstone. Like glass and obsidian, it breaks with a conchoidal fracture. Its coarse texture makes it difficult to hone to a fine edge. Under magnification, quartzites interlocking crystal structure becomes apparent. Magnified thin section of quartzite displays its mineralogy. Jackdaan88 Where to Find Quartzite Quartzite forms at convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Converging plates bury sandstone and exert compression. As the boundary folds, mountains arise. Thus, quartzite is found in folded mountain ranges worldwide. While erosion weathers softer rock away, quartzite remains, forming peaks and cliffs. The rock also litters mountain sides as scree. Quartzite cliffs surround Lake Oberon in Tasmania, Australia. Whitworth Images / Getty Images In the United States, you can find quartzite in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, the Wasatch Range of Utah, the Baraboo Range of Wisconsin, Central Texas, near Washington, D.C., portions of Pennsylvania, and the mountains of Arizona and California. The town of Quartzite in Arizona takes its name from the rock in the nearby mountains. Quartzite occurs throughout the United Kingdom, the La Cloche Mountains in Canada, the Rhenish Massif in Continental Europe, Brazil, Poland, and the Chimanimani Plateau of Mozambique. Uses Quartzites strength and toughness lends itself to many uses. Crushed quartzite is used in road construction and for railway ballast. It is used to make roofing tiles, stairs, and flooring. When cut and polished, the rock is quite beautiful, as well as durable. It is used to make kitchen countertops and decorative walls. High-purity quartzite is used to make silica sand, ferrosilicon, silicon carbide, and silicon. Paleolithic humans sometimes made stone tools out of quartzite, although it was harder to work than flint or obsidian. Quartzite Versus Quartz and Marble Quartzite is a metamorphic rock, while quartz is an igneous rock that crystallizes from magma or precipiates around hydrothermal vents. Sandstone under pressure becomes quartz arenite and quartzite, but quartzite does not become quartz. The construction industry further complicates the matter. If you buy quartz for countertops, it is actually an engineered material made from crushed quartz, resin, and pigments and not the natural rock. Another rock commonly confused with quartzite is marble. Both quartzite and marble tend to be pale-colored, non-foliated rock. Despite having a similar appearance, marble is a metamorphic rock made from recrystallized carbonate minerals, not silicates. Marble is softer than quartzite. An excellent test to distinguish the two is to apply a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to the rock. Quartzite is impervious to weak acid etching, but marble will bubble and retain a mark. Sources Blatt, Harvey; Tracy, Robert J. (1996). Petrology: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic (2nd ed.). Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-2438-3.Gottman, John W. (1979). Wasatch quartzite: A guide to climbing in the Wasatch Mountains. Wasatch Mountain Club. ISBN 0-915272-23-7.Krukowski, Stanley T. (2006). Specialty Silica Materials. In Jessica Elzea Kogel; Nikhil C. Trivedi; James M. Barker; Stanley T. Krukowski. Industrial minerals rocks: commodities, markets, and uses (7 ed.). Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (U.S.). ISBN 0-87335-233-5.Marshak, Stephen (2016). Essentials of Geology (5th ed.). W. W. Norton Company. ISBN 978-0393601107.

The analysis of EC Proposals and the Statutory Audit Essay

The analysis of EC Proposals and the Statutory Audit - Essay Example Blame was levied at rating agencies, directors of companies in the financial system and their regulatory agencies, as well as accounting and auditing professionals. This led to a number of regulatory responses that were aimed at strengthening controls over the operations of financial institutions and enhancing financial reporting. These responses have not only been limited to governments in the countries affected but to various bodies including standard setters for the accounting and auditing profession. Te European Commission (EC) which gives directives to 27 countries, made two proposals that could result in major changes in the auditing statutory audits and the audit of PIEs. They are aimed at the professionals whose opinion adds credibility to financial statements as well as supervisors of PIEs. Additionally, there was the Basle lll Accord which amended the capital requirements for financial institutions. Since then auditors have been required to provide more comfort to investors by carrying out additional procedures that would enhance financial reporting. Audit committees have also been challenged to provide the necessary support to ensure compliance. This paper provides information on the background to the financial crisis and the audited accounts of financial institutions. ... 2.0 Background to the financial crisis Several factors worked together to generate the crisis in the financial markets across the world since 2007. Jickling (2010) points out that there were multiple causes to the crisis as reflected in the policy responses taken in the US. One of these was the existing and anticipated credit losses on mortgages in the United States (Ellis 2010). These mortgages were made available to persons who would not have been able to obtain them under normal circumstances. The lowering of standards allowed them to obtain mortgages at relatively low rates so that they could own their own homes. However, one drawback was that the rates were adjustable. Therefore, persons who might have been able to repay in the initial stages soon found out that they could no longer service their mortgages. This coupled with the oversupply of houses on the market resulted in a reduction in their house values and therefore the values of the security for mortgage loans. In some ca ses the value of the houses was worth less than the loan balance and so homeowners ended up with negative equity. Therefore, there were no tangible benefits to be gained from holding on to properties that were not worth the amounts owed. A large number of homeowners defaulted on their mortgages and so it had a ripple effect which impacted the global financial system. Murphy (2008) referred to this as imprudent mortgage lending which caused a terrible shock to the financial system. Murphy (2008) also indicated that although imprudent lending paid a role, its role was not very significant. Another factor blamed for the crisis was global imbalances. Smaghi (2008) indicates that this is characterised by some countries like China and Germany having large surpluses

Description of a data data warehouse Assignment

Description of a data data warehouse - Assignment Example Data from different sources are converted into a common format in the data warehouse, therefore, each department will produce results that are in line with all the others. Furthermore, a data warehouse will be of great importance during data recovery. If a disaster occurs in the transactional database, it will be easy to restore all data, all if not all, that which is of importance, to the transactional database from the warehouse. This table is used to store information about different tables from the dimensions table, which include: CustomerKey, SupplierKey, DateKey, ProductKey, OrderID, Required_DateKey, UnitsOnOrder, ProductPrice, Shipped_DateKey, Quantity, TotalPrice, ShipperCompany, ShipperPhone, InsertAuditKey and UpdateAuditKey. The table contains key values of different dimensions tables. ProductKey, SupplierKey, DateKey, UnitPrice, UnitsInStock, UnitsOnOrder, ReorderLevel, UnitsSold, InsertAuditKey, UpdateAuditKey. The Product, Supplier, and Date keys are surrogate keys in the FactInvetory table. The InsertAuditKey and the UpdateAuditKey are foreign keys from the FactOrder table. The table contains information about keys, the SK_EmployeeKey, SK_TerritoryKey, and the SK_DateKey. All these are surrogate keys referencing EmployeeKey TerritoryKey and DateKey from different dimensions table. The table has CustomerKey as the surrogate key for the table, CustomerID as the business key. Other customer information stored in this table include: FirstName, LastName, TitleOfCourtesy, CompanyName, Address, City, Region, PostalCode, PostalCountry, Phone, Fax, Description, IsCurrent, EffectiveStartDate, AffectiveEndDate, InsertAuditKey, UpdateAuditKey. The other employee information stored in the dimension employee table include: LastName, FirstName, Title, TitleOfCourtesy, BirthDate, HireDate, Address, City, Region PostalCode, Country, HomePhone, Extenision, Notes. Other information stored in this table include: Day,