Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Origins of Cuban-Chinese Cuisine

Cuban-Chinese Cuisine is the traditional fusing of Cuban and Chinese food by Chinese migrants to Cuba in the 1850s. Brought to Cuba as laborers, these migrants and their Cuban-Chinese progeny developed a cuisine that blended Chinese and Caribbean flavors. After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, many Cuban Chinese left the island and some established Cuban Chinese food restaurants in the United States, mainly in New York City and Miami. Some diners contend that Cuban-Chinese food is more Cuban than Chinese. There are also other genres of Chinese-Latin and Asian-Latin food blends created by Asian migrants to Latin America over the last two centuries. Traditional Cuban Chinese food should not be confused with the current trend of Chino-Latino fusion restaurants that have a modern fusion take on the blending of these two cuisine cultures. Major Food Elements   The Chinese and Cubans are both fans of pork  and serve them as staple dishes. So it was only natural that many Chinese-Cuban specialties involve the â€Å"other white meat.† Popular pork dishes include grilled pork chops in black bean sauce – that’s the Chinese black bean, not the Latin one, using fermented black soy beans. Also popular is a Chinese-Cuban roast pork using Chinese five spice and Chinese-Cuban spare ribs. Rice is also a staple for both cultures. The Chinese in Cuba took local varieties of rice and cooked it in the Chinese stir-fry method in a wok, creating arroz frito, or fried rice. They also used the rice in a Chinese rice porridge, which is like a rice soup cooked with bits of meat and vegetables. Other starches also include noodles for hearty soups, and dough to make wonton wrappers. Plantains, yucca, and black beans are also featured in many Cuban Chinese dishes. Seafood such as fish and shrimp also make up many Cuban-Chinese dishes. Often fish, such as red snapper, is served in the Chinese style of frying or steaming it whole, with the head included, using only the lightest of flavorings such as ginger, scallion, cilantro, and lemon. Popular vegetables include Chinese cabbage, turnip and bean sprouts. Where to Eat Cuban-Chinese Food New York: Flor de Mayo (two locations) La Dinastia   La Victoria China  Nuevo Jardin De China Miami: El Crucero

Monday, December 23, 2019

Animal Trainer - 828 Words

Animal Trainer My career for our first career cluster is Animal Trainer. An animal trainer is in general a person who teachers animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli, which may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, entertainment, etc. In addition animal trainers do all the dirty work like take care of the animals as in clean, feed, etc. I chose animal trainer for a few reasons. Based off of my personality tests and such, it seemed like the perfect match as a job. It’s definitely not a job I’d prefer for this project or my career but for this cluster it’s the best choice I have. For education animal trainers often need just a high school diploma or GED equivalent. Some require a†¦show more content†¦For animal trainers hours are very irregular. Often weekend and holiday shifts. Some are on duty 24 hours a day. For vacation time, that isn’t blatantly specified, but based on the facts I know alread y unless a person is off on the holiday shifts it seems like animal trainers don’t get much of a vacation. Salaries for this job are significantly low at around a max of $31,590 a year. Average salaries are between 16k and 24k. Physical and emotional stress is big in this job. All of the hours worked caretaking for animals, lifting, cleaning; the skills needed basically, can really take a toll on someone in this job. Usually the people that work in this field are veterinarians, animal control, other animal helpers, etc. and they are usually animal lovers. I personally am not an animal lover but I like to have a dog or pet. You’re evaluated by your peer employees and the employees above you or at a higher authority such as the manager of the establishment. To me there aren’t many advantages to this job besides it works with animals and it’s an easy job to be hired at. The disadvantages are numerous. The hours worked, the time not spent with family, the amount of pain possibly involved and with all of that hard work, not very much in return with a very low salary. If I chose to apply for this job it could definitely help me in the long run if I play my cards right. The more I work as an animal trainer the more I am recognized and could possiblyShow MoreRelatedBlackfish Film Analysis1332 Words   |  6 Pageswho has eaten a trainer at SeaWorld. The film puts viewers on edge by using the dark background and music and the call between the dispatcher and a SeaWorld trainer. While an underwater video is being played of an orca the audience is led to believe that they will see an orca which will attack a SeaWorld trainer, but then we soon find out it is just a show between a trainer and an orca. As the dark unwelcoming feeling turns into an enjoyable and fun feeling when we see the trainer and orca performingRead MoreI Woke At The Sound Of A Grandfather Clock2050 Words   |  9 Pageswhere to start. You are chosen, like Mrs. Len sol told you. You are here because, because you are special. You have to be trained to defend yourself because you, I mean something, well uh, incase something happens to you. I will train you like my trainer trained me. And I-I. Excuse me for a moment,† she breathed in, then slowly let it out looking down at the rock she was on. I held myself back from asking questions. â€Å"Let me restart,† Lexie said quietly. She squared her shoulders and looked me in theRead MoreIcebreakers3633 Words   |  15 Pageseach other as soon as possible. The activities the trainer or facilitator uses at the beginning of a course to help the participants get to know each other are known as icebreakers or introductions. Here are a number of icebreakers and introductions you can use. Unique Characteristics - Even if the participants already know each other, the clinical trainer must get to know them. Instead of asking participants to say their names, the trainer can divide the group into pairs and give participantsRead MoreThe Animal Of The Zoo1525 Words   |  7 Pagesthe world have captive breeding programs in which they take animals from the wild and breed them in captivity and the offspring of these species become the entertainment of the public. Seeing the new panda bear cub exhibit can bring major business to the zoos, but when the new set of cubs arrive what is to be done with the old cubs? When there is no profitable use or need for an animal in the zoo it is considered a surplus. Surplus animals, if they’re lucky, will be transferred to another program thatRead MoreDid you remember those days when you were so excited to hear there was a circus stopping by your900 Words   |  4 Pages Did you impatiently wait for the animals to come up in circus and to amaze you with those performances? If yes was your answer, you were definitely not alone. There were 330 other people out of 550 respondents who enjoyed the animal performances best, as to compare with human ones. However, recently part of the world had been shocked with the video footage of animals cruelty in an infamous circus. This had arisen a controversy of whether we should use animals in circus or not. Little of us knewRead MoreThe Current Uk Animal Welfare856 Words   |  4 PagesThe current UK animal welfare legislations and their objectives are:  ¬ Animal Welfare Act 2006 This Act has for the first time introduced legislation for pet owners meaning that the owners have a legal duty of care to meet the five welfare needs of their pets. The welfare needs are also known as the five freedoms and they are the basic needs of any animal. The law also applies to people who are responsible for animals, such as breeders and those who keep working animals. (APGAW. No Date)  ¬ TheRead MoreLiving Space The Size Of Your Closet1639 Words   |  7 Pagesyour closet? Animals in captivity are often kept in situations vastly too small or unfit for their needs, for example - elephants need about 100 acres of space, but the standard requirement is only about 1,800 sq. ft. (which isn’t even a fourth of one acre) (Cohn). Generally, you’d start to question the effects this may have on mental and physical health, as you probably couldn’t fathom living in a broom closet. â€Å"Captivity† has a negative connotation, bringing up thoughts of animals being held againstRead MoreZoos And The Best Interest Of The Animals Essay1759 Words   |  8 Pagesbest interest of the animals. As there are far more negative view points against the value of zoos, such as the use of whips electric prods, and other blunt instruments. By doing so forces innocent animals to do as humans say and what they want only for the pleasure of pleasing a crowd. The prov ided statistics and facts show just how wrong and completely cruel keeping animals in captivity is not right in anyway. Unfortunately, zoos cannot provide adequate space necessary for animals to roam freely andRead MoreProfiting on Conservation: Animals in Captivity Abused for Human Entertainment 1119 Words   |  5 PagesAnimals have been used in entertainment before Shamu became the headliner at Sea World. Ancient Romans threw innocent people and animals into a coliseum solely to entertain the spectators in the stands. People have been paying to see animals perform tricks for the past two thousand years. Marine animals are often captured or rescued from the wild under conservation terms, but trained by punishment instead of positive reinforcement to perform in themed shows in order to boost attendance for MarineRead MoreZoos Are Bad For Animals1335 Words   |  6 PagesZoos are bad for animals There have been a lot of problems with animals in zoos. It has gotten to the point where zoos are hated and looked upon as a places of animal torture. Are zoos really that bad? Turns out, they are. They do not have enough space, they do not allow the animals to communicate with each other, and they sell the animals to cruel circuses. Have you ever thought what it was like in prison? Well zoos are like prison for animals In 2010, investigators went into a zoo and filmed sick

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Language and Communication in Psychology Free Essays

string(240) " It is difficult to take no notice of incoming speech—even if attention is not used for receiving speech, a response will take place one will immediately respond on hearing a relevant sound for instance a someone own name \(Foder 1983\)\." Through detailed consideration of one selected area of investigation evaluate the progress made by researchers in developing explanations of key aspects of the psychology of language and communication. The study of language is frequently debated in different theories of human nature. The importance of language is relevant when it to comes to the work of philosophers, neuroscientist, humanist and psychologist. We will write a custom essay sample on Language and Communication in Psychology or any similar topic only for you Order Now Language has been applicable to Aristotle, Plato, Hume, Locke, Freud and Skinner. This essay seeks in investigating the definition of language and communication. In doing so traditional language theories will be assessed, this will later be compared to modern progression by researchers in developing explanations of the psychology of language and communication. The development of language and language disorders will be evaluated in order to successfully investigate the modern approaches to language. Firstly, the evaluation of language, its origins, process and the use have been investigated in areas such as computational theory, cognitive neuroscience, evolutional and cultural psychology in contemporary studies of language. Language is usually seen as systems for example English, French and Italian even seen as systems of language it can be used to describe other things because of its broad definition, In describing music for instance or art. These areas can have its own language that needs to be learnt to understand and interpret music for example. Language in general can be used in any form of communication. Since language is broad it is important to study specific areas of language, instead of its general definition (Bloom, . P, 2007) . This is so that direct questions can be answered. As a result the narrow questioned being investigated can be generalised to other systems of language. It is known that some form of language is used everyday, linguistics is dedicated field of the scientific study of everyday language and even though the broad term is difficult to define, linguists believe that ‘language is a formal system of agreed rules that have to be followed by a speaker. In this system there is the addition of morphology also known as the formation of words, syntax the formation of phrases and phonology, sound systems (Fromkin 2000). Secondly, Charles Dawins works have been used as a platform in the belief that’ man has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write’ Darwin (1871). This gives the idea that language comes natural, that humans have been biologically designed to speak. Neurological studies support the idea that language is part of the human nature through the investigations of dedicated parts of the brain for language. It is believed that this might explain why every human society has language. The idea has therefore raised questions as to whether language is innate or a cultural innovation. Language deficits and aphasia has been investigated in recent studies to prove what happens when these dedicated parts for language are damaged. The works of cognitive neuropsychologist is to use theoretical frameworks and methods to specific language impairments. During the initial stages of Cognitive neuropsychological (in the second half of the nineteenth century) neurologists such as Lichtheim, Wernicke and Bastian began to make assumption about the design of the brain and its fixed language processing systems (Coltheart, 2006) this brought about the box-and-arrow diagrams in an attempt to demonstrate the brain’s architecture. In taking this thought further, how these components in the brain were localised was also studied. Even though at the time the cognitive function of language was not proved, by the failed attempt of localising the brain, it was relevant in influencing the work of other psychologist, an example is the later simplified version conducted by Coltheart. The work of Lichtheim, Wernicke and Bastian, received a lot of criticism from neurologist that were not cognitively oriented such as Head (1926) this led to fall in cognitive neuropsychological and the rise of behaviourism. Shallice, (1988) have suggested that cognitive neuropsychological data are too â€Å"noisy† and there difficult in being used further than exploring the brains functional architecture. Others such as McCloskey Caramazza, (1991) have argued against this point. Stating that there shouldn’t be a restriction on what data produced cognitive theory at ‘any arbitrary level of detail’. Thirdly, It was not until the mid twentieth century that there was a Cognitive revolution† with the work of Broadbent (1956), Chomsky, (1959) Miller, Galanter, Pribram,(1960), also study from Marshall and Newcombe (1966, 1973) looking into cognitive neuropsychology of reading and from Shallice and Warrington (1970) memory. This also included the work into the development of researching sentence processing in aphasia, where linguistic and psycholinguistic theory were responsible for the analysis of aphasic symptoms (Caramazza Zurif, 1976 ; Marin, Saffran, Schwartz, 1976). A substantial amount of evidence afterwards has been produced in showing modularity in the brain. This shows that even though language is specifically located in the brain it is split into separate stages that may selectively be disrupted. (Berndt, Basili and Caramazza 1987) it is therefore established that specific lesions (in specific parts of the brain dedicated to language) will not affect the entire language process. This might see a patient losing the ability to understand spoken word but retain the ability to repeat words, suggesting that there are separate modules responsible for separate actions in the brain. (Schwartz,Saffran, Marin, 1980) Fodor (1983) was also in support of the modularity of the brain after incorporating some of the ideas that were developed in cognitive neuropsychological. Foder describes a module as a domain specific. This is where the brain stores information that is responsible for a specific mental representation. For instance speech perception uses a separate path then that used in different auditory analysis and controls only acoustic signals, perceived as utterances. D. Bishop (1997). Superior cognitive functions can not affect the processes of modules in the brain, known as ‘information encapsulation’. In this processing becomes fixed. The fact that modular processing can not be influenced by higher cognitive operations describes the term. It is difficult to take no notice of incoming speech—even if attention is not used for receiving speech, a response will take place one will immediately respond on hearing a relevant sound for instance a someone own name (Foder 1983). You read "Language and Communication in Psychology" in category "Language" Fodor with the support of evolutionary arguments states that the brain complex system can be broken down into layers, through case studies of selective impaired patients having a particular effect on the process of language. He believes that language therefore is innate and pre- programmed in humans. Human studies have relied wholly on researches regarding nature. The main reasons for carrying out functional neuroimaging are to improve peoples take on the variable anatomical functions of language. This then leads on to the argument that’s the much debated Broca’s area which is linked to speech production can be subdivided into three regions, a posterior and superior region that is involved with sounds of language, an interior and ventral region that is involved with meaning of words and a regions between the other two that is involved with meaning conveyed by sentences. Research carried out during the analysis on the anatomy and physiological aspects of the auditory processing in animals, show specific revelations regarding how the human brain perceives and process speech. Ignoring the concerns of critics, Researchers studying this phenomenon have resorted to using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) (which was introduced as a basic tool for monitoring language and brain activities) with the exception of people affected by induced nervous disorders such as stroke, to produce valuable evaluation, with regards to how language is organised in the human brain. Critics believe this is another example of wasted effort especially with the exclusion of patients with neurological disorders as study showed that this illness affects mainly the social and professional lives of those affected and sometimes it is not enough to impair their speech recognition abilities. PET has four advantages for the study of language: (i) it does not lose sensitivity and spatial localisation in important anterior and medial temporal lobe structures, a (current) problem with fMRI due to susceptibility artefacts and geometric shifts4,,5; (ii) its lower spatial resolution makes it orders of magnitude less susceptible to movement artefacts time-locked to stimulus and response, as occurs with overt articulation (most fMRI studies of word retrieval use covert responses); (iii) it does not create the din that is a feature of data acquisition in an MR scanner, requiring special techniques when important acoustic features in auditory stimuli may be masked6; and (iv) in the serial study of aphasic patients, it is the author’s anecdotal experience that patients are far more likely to agree to come back for a second PET scan than to go back into a MRI magnet, a much more intimidating environment. † Coltheart (2005). Technological development such as the scanning of the brain has been shown to be critical in the work of language processing. Since language is built into the brain PET scans is useful method in watching the brain at work with the use of basic words. The area of the brain that is activated during the process of language can be identified (recognition of words). Further studies on thought processing (especially with regards to language) shows that certain groups of people were not able to process language normally. â€Å"a group has to be anatomically normalized into the same stereotactic space. To allow for individual variations of gyral and sulcal anatomy, the image data have to be smoothed. This is because of the problem of lesion distribution. Ablation studies in non-human animals are placed with great care, and often post mortem examinations are performed after the behavioural experiments to confirm the boundaries of the lesion. The unsubtle lesions occurring as the consequence of cerebrovascular disease, necrotising viral infections, etc. may destroy cortex, local white matter connections, major white matter tracts connecting remote cortical regions, sub-cortical nuclei, and their reciprocal connections with cortical areas. No lesion experiment in a non-human animal, relating structure to function, would be accepted for publication if clipping of a major arterial branch produced the focal injury. † Coltheart (2005) It is clear that studies on the human brain have been dependant on nature experiments with the application of liberal scientific standard. This has therefore allowed certain syndromes to be associated to lesions. ‘This sometimes have been related to marked inter-subject distinction in the cortical organisation of function, which, would mean that studies of structure–function relationships in the human, other than early perceptual and motor processes, are meaningless. It would seem much more plausible that broadly similar clinical syndromes may result from very differently sited cortical, sub-cortical or tract lesions within distributed neural systems that are essentially similar between subjects with the same handedness and uneventful development. Coltheart (2005) The data from useful neuroimaging is a vital contribution to the perspective of language and its structure. It is therefore useful when used on normal subjects in pinpointing where modular language processors a re. The traditional Broca’s area in the left frontal gyrus can be divided further into three parts it has been argued: ‘one that is posterior and superior and is involved in the sound structure (phonology) of language; a second, anterior and ventral that is concerned with the meaning of words (semantics); and a third, lying in-between the first two regions, that is involved in meaning conveyed by sentence structure (syntax). Of particular clinical relevance is the ability to determine shifts of function after focal brain lesions and how these may be potentially modified or even induced by behavioural or drug therapy’. Caplan (2006) The recent cognitive studies have been useful in producing architecture and process of the brain but there are few studies that evaluate the technique of neuroimaging in a negative manner. Poeppel, (1996) states that neuroimaging so far has told us nothing about the mind so far. In support of this notion Orden and Paap (1997) agree that nothing has been learnt from neuroimaging and never will. It is believed that complexity of cognition can not produces evidence through this technique. Henson (2005) has provided a vital framework for considering the role of brainimaging data in cognitive psychology. He writes: â€Å"My main argument is that, provided one makes the assumption that there is some ‘systematic’mapping from psychological function to brain structure, then functional neuroimaging data simply comprise another dependent variable, along with behavioural data, that can be used to distinguish between competing psychological theories† (p. 194). This idea recognises that there is some systematic mapping from psychological function to the structure of the brain. To conclude, Cognitive neuropsychology can be easily seen as a branch of cognitive psychology which has been vital to study of language and how it is processed in the brain. It has been useful in creating theories through the study of subjects performance in which normal cognition are identified. There have been several studies in support of how the language is processed in the brain to further prove or disprove these theories. The studies of these damaged sections have been able to be looked at through the advancement of technology. These scans have been able to explain a range of questions about the processing of language in the brain for instance, the lateralized view of the human brain. This has also been observed in animals that also use sound for communication e. g. monkeys birds and dolphins. In this the control of sound production is usually in the left hemisphere also seen in humans. The two major areas of the human brain that are responsible for language are the Broca’s area ,this is partially responsible for putting sentences together and using correct syntax secondly the Wernicke’s area, which is partially responsible for language processing (untangling others’ sentences and analyzing them for syntax, inflection, etc. ). Broca aphasia is used to describe if the Broca areas is damaged. side effects show slow, hesitant speech that lack grammer. Typical Broca’s aphasics can not words not essential to the significance of the sentence, such as the and and. When the Wernicke area is damaged then it is known as Wernicke’s aphasia. It can be seen as opposite to Broca’s aphasia. Wernicke’s aphasics are able to make general sentences but they are often senseless and include made-up words. Wernicke’s aphasics show signs of understanding others’ speech, but have difficulty naming objects Other types of aphasia noted in brain-damaged patients can show even worse effects. If Wernicke’s and Broca’s area are disconnected, patients struggle to repeat sentence said out to them. This shows that there is the possibility Wernicke’s area, which has processed the sentence heard, is unable to communicate it to Broca’s area for repetition. In another type, Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas remain connected but cannot communicate with the rest of the brain. Patients can only repeat sentences but fail to speak on impulse speech (Pinker 1994). How to cite Language and Communication in Psychology, Essays

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Forced into Glory Abraham Lincolns White Dream free essay sample

This paper looks at the book by Lerone Bennett Forced into Glory : Abraham Lincolns White Dream. In his book Forced into Glory : Abraham Lincolns White Dream, Lerone Bennett claims that the glorification of Lincoln by Americans is not totally justified. He claims that Lincoln himself was a racist. In making these statements, an overall study of the issue of racism vs. slavery is discussed in a historical context. From the paper: Lerone Bennett?s book Forced into Glory : Abraham Lincolns White Dream is designed to make any reader rethink all of her or his preconceptions about Lincoln. American schoolchildren are taught that Lincoln was the savior of our nation, a man so motivated by the highest of ideals in terms of both guaranteeing the continuing union of our states and ending slavery that he willingly put himself into deadly peril. Bennett suggests that this is not quite an accurate picture, and indeed in some measure he must be right. We will write a custom essay sample on Forced into Glory : Abraham Lincolns White Dream or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page No one is perfectly self sacrificing, no one perfectly good, no one perfectly wise. Lincoln was flawed as any great man. He was not, however, perhaps as flawed as Bennett makes him out to be.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Stephen King Why We Crave Horror Movies Essay Example For Students

Stephen King Why We Crave Horror Movies Essay The Master Of MaliceIt starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isnt in the middle of the room. Life isnt a support system for art. Its the other way around states Stephen King in his book On Writing (94). Stephen King is a world-renowned author for his works in horror fiction, fiction, cinema and television. He has published more than forty novels and written nine screenplays (Adams 1). Stephen King draws a great deal of his inspiration from his surroundings, his job and his life experiences. Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. Stephen came as a surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would never conceive. The couple had adopted a son, David, Stephens older brother. When Stephen was just a toddler his parents divorced. Nellie moved Stephen and David to Indiana for a short time then to Connecticut. At the age of twelve, Stephens small family moved back to Maine (Stephen King.com 1-2). Stephen showed an interest in writing at a young age. When he was growing up his brother would allow Stephen to write articles for Daves Rag, his brothers independently published newspaper (Full Biography 2). Throughout his childhood he would read articles from horror comics and become inspired. He began to write short stories and sell them to his mothers friends for a nickel (King On Writing 15). Stephen graduated from Lisbon Falls High School where he was sought after to be on the newspaper staff. Stephen sold his first professional story to Starting Mystery Stories in 1967 (Stephen King.com 1-2). We will write a custom essay on Stephen King Why We Crave Horror Movies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Stephen King met his wife, Tabitha, while attending the University of Maine at Orono. Tabitha and Stephen were married in January of 1971. The couple lived in a small apartment; their only source of income was Stephens salary as a laborer at an industrial laundry. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching sophomore English in Hampden Maine and working on short stories on the evenings and weekends. In 1973, his first novel Carrie was published. Not long after that his second novel Salams Lot was published. With the money made from the two novels Stephen and Tabitha moved to Colorado on the fall of 1974. While there Stephen wrote The Shining, which is set in Colorado. This novel cemented Stephens place as a popular horror fiction novelist. Stephen and Tabitha moved back to Maine to start a family. They currently have three children: Naomi, Joe and Owen (Stephen King.com 1-2 ). In 1976, Stephen realized he had a problem. He was an alcoholic. He was also addicted to cocaine. The problem only got progressively worse over the course of eight years (Adams 6). The problem began to surface in his characters. I began to scream for help in the only way I knew how, through my fiction and through my monsters. (King On Writing 91-92). Today, King is clean and sober. His only problems are his fears of insects, dark, death, closed-in places, rats, snakes and deformity. Also Stephen King has a slight case of paranoia. (Full Biography 1)In 1977, King began to write novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. King made a whole life story for Bachman and told nearly no one that they were one in the same. Bachman died of cancer in 1985. When asked why he did it King replied, I wanted to know what was in a name (Full Biography 10). At the time of his death, Bachman had published five novels: Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man and Thinner (9). Rage was actually wri tten when King was 18. He drew the inspiration for the book from his teen years (Adams 5). On Saturday June 19 1999, at the age of 51 Stephen King was involved in an almost fatal accident. He was on his daily four-mile walk when he was hit by a car. The man who hit him was distracted by his dog and lost control of his car. King had to endure ten hours of surgery to be repaired enough to be able to someday walk. At the present time, King is well and able to walk (Full Biography 7). The accident gave King, if nothing else new topics to write about. You have to put your experiences to use for you (Adams 7). Kings negative experiences help to shape his writing carrier. The settings within Stephen Kings writings are very similar to the places he lives and works everyday. Although many of the towns names in his stories are fictional the towns themselves are modeled after towns he knows. Some of the settings are based off trips Stephen has taken. Many of these are set in Maine, but not all of them. The Shining was based on a weekend trip to a hotel. While staying there, King found himself experiencing odd feelings of fear. Many of the characters from the book are based on real life such as Grady, the hotel bartender. The hotel in the novel is eerily similar to the one the Kings stayed in that weekend (Full Biography 5) The settings within King novels seem so real they are often referred to by name in other Stephen King books. .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .postImageUrl , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:hover , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:visited , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:active { border:0!important; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:active , .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5 .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub5bd8140803c9825fa8fd42d99770fe5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Go to Your Room EssayThe town knew about darkness. It knew about the darkness that comes on the land when rotation hides the land from the sun and about the darkness of the human soul (King Salems Lot 180). The town mentioned is Jerusalems Lot, the town that Salems Lot takes place in. Jerusalems Lot is a small town in Maine, which is not a real town. Although, within the story, real surrounding towns are named. This gives the reader an idea of where the town would be if it existed. The novel, like many others written by King, is set in present time. The book was published in 1976, while the story ends in 1975 (King Salems Lot 22). Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is another of Kings novels that has the setting in a familiar place. The novel takes place in a prison in Maine (King Rita Hayworth 15). Also before the main character was sentenced to prison he lived in a small Maine town, much like the one the King family currently resides in. Even though it Iis only one small fact, it is undeniable that King is most comfortable writing about what he knows best. The Breathing Method is another story by King. The story does not take place in Maine but King could not go an entire story without mentioning his beloved state even just once. The novella is actually about a man in New York listening to another man tell a story. In this story, a little boy is adopted into a family that lives in Maine (King The Breathing Method 496). Stephen Kings The Body was popularized when it was made into the film Stand By Me, which also has references to Maine towns. The story takes place in Castle Rock Maine. Castle Rock is a small working class town that exists along a long river and has a train that runs through it (King The Body 324). Throughout the novella, there are many references to past King novels. The boys come in counter with the evil trash mans dog named Cujo (336) King had previously written a novel entitled Cujo about a rabid dog. Another instance of past King novels being referenced is when the boys are discussing stupid names for towns and they bring up Jerusalems Lot (366). Another reference is stated when the boys are taking about being arrested. One boy states how he will not be thrown into Shawshank (402). Although none of these places exist in real life they are very real within Stephen Kings world. Within Kings writing incidences occur where his characters are themselves writers or hold jobs Stephen had previously held. The Shining just happens to be about an alcoholic writer and ex-school teacher (King On Writing 84). Within his stories there are a few examples of Mr. King using his profession as inspiration. Salems Lot has an exquisite example of King writing what he knows best. The main character, Ben Mears is a struggling author. He returned to the town in which he grew up in search of inspiration for his next book (King Salems Lot 27). Mears had only written three books Conways Daughter, Air Dance and Billy Said Keep Going so he was a fairly new writer (27-9). Salems Lot was only Stephens second published book so it is obvious that the feelings of pressure to write another hit book expressed by Mears come directly from Stephen Kings own head. Small examples of King using writing as a profession for his characters exist throughout his writing. Red, one of the inmates, is telling the story of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. He is telling the story to the reader as if it is a journal entry (King Rita Hayworth 4). Also within the story another character, which is only briefly mentioned, is a writer. It was obvious this one guard was only interesting in one thing, compiling information for a book he was writing on prison life. (29) Although this is only mentioned briefly it is easy to tell that he is a part of King as much as the main characters are. Another example of the writing profession used in King writing is in The Body. Much like in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption the person who had the experience first hand is telling this story. The protagonist Gordie wrote man y short stories as a youth, which were very popular among his friends. As an adult he became a professional writer and is reflecting back on a particular adventure he had as an adolescent (King The Body 326). Fictional characters are not drawn directly from life on a one-to-one basis. Characters are mostly drawn from life. If the reader focuses on whom a certain character is based on, the stories tend to be unsatisfying with shadowbox celebrities who quickly fade from the readers mind (King On Writing 188-9). The most prevalent aspect of Kings life that is reflected through his writing is his life experiences. Many of the characters and situations found through out his novels parallel his life. An incident such as falling down a hill behind a gas station sparked the idea for his novel called From a Buick Eight. (231-2) At times King will write about himself subconsciously. I was after all, the guy who had written The Shining without even realizing that it was written about myself. ( 88) Some of his characters only share a few key events with his actual life. Dreamcatchers main character is related to King in two ways. The character had been hit by a car and is recuperating and is hypnotized by the pain (Adams 17). Charlie Decker (from Rage) was me. All my characters are. But the characters are more then me they are real people only within the story states King in his Observer interview (16). Even though King uses himself in his characters they are still independent of him entirely. In some instances there are only minor characters that mirror King himself. In Salems Lot, there is one character who does not last long in the plot but seems to be influenced by Kings own life. Father Callahan, the town priest, is a drunk. He hides in the shadows and tries to hide his problem from the towns people, but it is no use. .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .postImageUrl , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:hover , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:visited , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:active { border:0!important; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:active , .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857 .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufe0e0ae97373da250fc5995ffb8a0857:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Japanese in America EssayEveryone can easily see that Callahan has a drinking problem (King, 142). At the time this book was written King had realized he had a drinking problem but did not want to admit it to his friends and family. King once said But I do think that if you have things that bother you, things that are unresolved, the more that you talk-about them, write about them, the less serious they become (Adams 2). King uses his writing as a type of therapy. When you ask yourself what a certain character will do given a certain set of circumstances, youre making the decision based on what you yourself would do (or, in the case of a bad guy, wouldnt) do (King On Writi ng 190-1). At times, Kings characters share personality quirks with him. In The Breathing Method the main character, David is a self described book worm. He spent many hours in the club library searching through new books (King Breathing Method 445). King spent a year of his childhood bed ridden due to chronic ear infections and admits to reading anything he could. To this day. King will read around 50 books per year. Also throughout the story David, (who shares his name with Kings older brother) continually had thoughts that the members of the club were out to get him. In one instance he declares, Im just being paranoid (449). Stephen King has self-declared paranoia. In some instances, there is more than one character that is similar to Stephen King himself. In The Body the storyteller is a writer, like King is. There is one boy in the group of children the story revolves around that seems to be quite similar to King as a child. This character is Teddy. Teddy is an odd looking chil d who had to wear thick set glasses, wasnt the bravest juvenile in the group and had ear problems through his childhood (King The Body 295). The interesting part about The Body is that it is set in Kings lifeline time frame. The novella takes place in 1960. The children in the story are around twelve and thirteen. In 1960, King would have been thirteen. (291) There is a strong possibility that the gang of hoodlums that star in this book are modeled directly after Kings childhood friends. One of Kings philosophies is, the way a person writes and the topics that person writes about come natural to him or her. There are some events in life that influence ones writing. There are places in some peoples lives where they start to recognize what they want to do. King Believes that writing talent is something one is born with. It is undeniable and it is extremely difficult to become a great writer if one does not possess the natural talent (Adams 2-3). King believes that a strong desire to write is what fuelsbrilliant story telling. Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex and work (King On Writing 157). Stephen King is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He is also the worlds best selling novelist (Stephen King.com 2). When Stephen is not writing he spends his time playing guitar in a rock band called Rock Bottom Remainders (Full Biography 5). The way King parallels his life with his writing without making it seem like every story is a biography is amazing. His stories are compelling and inspiring. These are just interests which have grown out of my life and thoughts, out of my experiences as a boy and a man, out of my roles as a husband, a father, a writer and a lover (King 208). Stephen King is a phenomenal author who has written many classics of the twenty-first century. He has cleverly told the world about himself and his life thro ugh his immortal words.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - P

Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - P The occupations found recorded in documents from prior centuries often appear unusual or foreign when compared to the occupations of today. The following occupations are generally now considered old or obsolete. Packman  - a peddler; a person who traveled around carrying goods for sale in his pack Page - a young mail servant Palmer  - a pilgrim; one who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land. See also the surname PALMER. Paneler  - saddler; one who makes, repairs or sells saddles, harnesses, horse collars, bridles, etc. for horses.  A panel or pannel was a short saddle raised on both ends  for small burdens carried on horseback. Pannarius  - A Latin name for a clothier or draper, also known as a haberdasher, or a merchant who sells clothing. Pannifex - seller of woolen cloth, or sometimes a generic occupational term for someone who worked in the cloth trade Pantographer - someone who  operated a pantograph, a device used in the engraving process to draw a replica of an image by tracing. Pardoner  - originally  someone who collected money on behalf of a religious foundation, a pardoner came to be synonymous with an individual who sold pardons, or indulgences, which implied that time in purgatory would be pardoned if one prayed for the souls there and made a donation to the church through the pardoner.   Parochus  - rector, pastor Patten maker, Pattener - one who made  pattens to fit under normal shoes for use in wet or muddy conditions. Pavyler - someone who erected tents and pavilions. Peever  - a seller of pepper Pelterer  - skinner; one who worked with animal skins Perambulator - a surveyor or someone who made inspection of property on foot. Peregrinator  - an itinerant wanderer, from the  Latin  peregrÄ «nÄ tus, meaning  to  travel  abroad. Peruker or peruke maker  - a maker of gentlemans wigs in the 18th and 19th century Pessoner - a fishmonger, or seller of fish; from the French poisson, meaning fish. Petardier - A person in charge of a petard, a 16th century bomb used to breach fortifications during sieges. Pettifogger  - a shyster lawyer;  especially one who deals with petty cases and raised petty, annoying objections Pictor  - painter Pigmaker - someone who poured molten metal to make pigs for distribution of raw metals. Alternatively, a pigmaker could be a crockery or pottery maker. Pigman  - crockery dealer or a pig herder Pilcher  - a maker of pilches,  a type of outer garment made of skin or fur, and later of leather or wool. See also the surname PILCH. Pinder  - An officer appointed by a parish to impound stray beasts, or a keeper of the pound Piscarius  - fishmonger Pistor  - miller or baker Pitman / Pit man  - a coal miner Plaitor - someone who  makes straw plaits for hat making Plowman  - a farmer Ploughwright  - one who makes or repairs plows Plumber  - one who worked with lead; eventually came to apply to a tradesman who installed or repaired (lead) pipes and drains Porcher  - pig-keeper Porter  - gate-keeper or door-keeper Potato Badger -  merchant who peddled potatoes Pot Man -  a street merchant selling pots of stout and porter Poulterer  - dealer in poultry; poultry merchant Prothonotary - principal clerk of a court Puddler  - wrought iron worker Pynner/Pinner  - a maker of pins and needles; sometimes other  wire articles such as baskets and bird cages Explore more old and obsolete occupations and trades in our free Dictionary of Old Occupations and Trades!

Friday, November 22, 2019

New Perspectives on Computer Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

New Perspectives on Computer Concepts - Essay Example All the activities that are taking place in the different functional departments are working in an integrated mode with the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning software. The functional departments in the business are the accounts and finance department and the human resource management department (Parsons, 100). The business can use the benefits of ERP to run their business in an efficient and effective manner. The planning of product types, the purchasing of raw materials, the inventory control process, and storage of the product in the warehouse and then the distribution aspects of the product along with the process of tracking the orders can all be handled by this one software of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP can be considered as back-end software for businesses. ERP takes the order from the customer and then through the path designed in the software, the order is worked out through the different functional departments. The customer services representative has all the information readily available when the customer id is inserted in the ERP software. Within a matter of clicks, information about the customer becomes available for completing the order forms. All the information available on the ERP software is available for everyone. Any type of update in the information can be viewed easily by the whole organization and also have the access to update at their end too. Management in the business organizations is one of the most important functions of business and it needs to be carried out in the most specialized way possible so that everything works out in a systematic mode. The ERP software has made it possible for businesses to manage and integrate their information in a systematic way and also ensures that all the activities taking place in the functional departments are easily updated with the latest information.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Non-Traditional Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Non-Traditional Advertising - Essay Example One common example linked to narrowcasting is the use of electronic mailing lists used over the internet. Internet users get to subscribe to mails or newsletters from websites they frequent or post web content parallel to their areas of interests. For instance, I receive emails and newsletters from business blog and news sites such as the Huffington Post, an online news that offers news and content on technology, environment, business, politics and lifestyle among others. The emails received from the sites are usually coupled with links to the specific content as requested. The email provides the reader with the headlines and links to their web content, which the reader has the freedom to open and explore more. As such, I find the mailing lists overly resourceful and I receive them positively since I get the chance to access information with one click of a button. The mails and advertisements received in such a manner are long lasting and it is only upon deletion that the data is dis carded. From my point of view, the method is effective since the information is only displayed to interested parties and usually gets the attention it requires to be effective. This method of advertising or promoting products heavily relies on innovation and creativity to have the message delivered to the intended audiences. Companies get to design advertisements that the public may find it difficult to ignore. An example of such a demonstration was a blue leather couch I saw in a hall, the couch was divided into two parts – A rough side and a smooth side.

Monday, November 18, 2019

ANALYTICAL SUMMARY (English Class) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ANALYTICAL SUMMARY (English Class) - Essay Example As a student at high school where she had to work on composition exercises, this divide between the linguistic roles she had to take alternately had caused immense difficulty for her. She had to hide her readings and writing exercises for school from her family, and had to take ultimate care not to use the English language or its particular expressions of her home for her school exercises. In her opinion, this situation leads to a stifling experience when one is supposed to take writing as a mode of self expression. However, the conflicts in her day-to-day life could have also made her a perceptive writer. She feels the new generation of students, even if they are monolingual, face a similar problem when they have to differentiate the so-called ‘pure use of language with that of the real versions of language which they encounter outside the class. She feels the differences should be narrowed down from the very beginning in order help them use the language to the best of their a dvantage and make writing classes less stifling and prescriptive. Andrew Jacob’s article ‘Shanghai is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish’ reveals the way English had been used in road signs, restaurant menus and utility centres. Some of the examples, like ‘†fried enema† for â€Å"fried sausage† and â€Å"Racist Park† for â€Å"Minorities Park†, would bring a smile to anyone who knows English. These maladaptations are found to be the result of the use of an unreliable computerized dictionary named Jinshan Ciba. People who have studied the issue had been of two opinions. Oliver Lutz Radtke feels that â€Å"[I]f you standardize all these signs, you not only take away the little giggle you get while strolling in the park but you lose a window into the Chinese mind†. He has produced a book which features Chinglish signs that

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Discussing The Process Of Operations Management Information Technology Essay

Discussing The Process Of Operations Management Information Technology Essay Operations management is a process of managing resources required for production and deliverance of the products and services. Its basic objective is to improve the amount of value-added activities in each of the processes. The part of the company that is entrusted with this process is the operations function. As each and every organization produces products they all are bound to have operations function. The people responsible for managing the operation functions resources are known as operations managers. In different type of organizations they may be called by different names like in supermarket they are store manager, etc. This report demonstrates the three operations management techniques which helped the companies improve their business activities and performance. They were Supply Chain Management (SCM) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Total Quality Management(TQM) In this report the case studies involving the implementation of the above three techniques are explained. The benefits experienced by the companies and any changes they could have made to maximize them are also mentioned. Supply Chain Management (SCM): Supply chain management consists of coordinating the material and information flow, and the finances between the supplier, manufacturer and the consumer. Its main objective is inventory reduction assuming that when products are needed they are available. The supply networks are made up of Supplier-buyer relationship. The flow of Supply chain management flows can be divided into three parts: The product The informational flow The financial flow The behavior of the supply chain is dynamic and is known as bullwhip effect. This means that if there are small changes happening at the end of the supply chain they start causing changes at the start of the supply chain. The reduction of the bullwhip effect can be achieved by: Efficiently distributing the information by connecting all the operations to the demand source. Establishing a similar decision making process along the entire supply chain. Increasing the efficiency of the operations by eliminating sources of waste. Supplier quality management The basic need of any company from their suppliers is the deliverance of good quality products on right time. The best practice of improving the quality of product is by improving the quality of raw materials supplied by suppliers. SQM can be implemented by following the practices mentioned below: Estimating and finding the cost incurred due to poor supplier quality: This is also known as COPQ (Cost of poor quality). The COPQ can be calculated from the following: The costs incurred due to scrapping and reworking. The shutdown of our assembly line due to defective products. The costs of shipping back the defective products to suppliers and the warranty costs. Developing a system for recovering our costs: In this, the suppliers are charged back for supplying poor quality products. Here, we must include not only the material costs but also the non-material costs like packaging defective products, their transportation costs, etc. Auditing and rating of suppliers: This is the most effective way of checking whether our suppliers are conforming to our mentioned processes, quality systems, transporting, etc. It can be done once every year for all of our suppliers. The advantages gained by companies by having effective supply chain are: They have low maintenance and real costs. They can make delivery of better value and have repeat of business with the customers. They can easily remove waste from the process. They get more turnover profits and can make long term plans for the future. Summary of Case study for Supplying fast fashion: This case study best demonstrates how the garment retailing business is carried out in this dane age.It shows how the different fashion ideas which would not have been even considered by a retail store can become must-have in a short period. The working of top retail brands like HM, Zara and Benetton is been explained. It explains the quicker-picker-upper fashion concept which has made Zara, HM todays leading retailers. Reasons: To achieve this science of fast fashion product development cycles need to compress, which can be done through effective supply chain management. The retail brands believed that the only way they can keep stocks to a minimum while meeting the customers demand quickly and flexibly was through the integration of processes along the supply chain All the top 3 brands have their supply chain divided in four stages Designing of garments Manufacturing Distribution to retail outlets Retail operations Designing: Designing is of extreme importance in retailing market. The stores are supposed to deliver high and fast fashion at an inexpensive cost not cheap cost. H M designing -It is carried out by team of 100 designers in Stockholm who operate with group of 50 pattern designers, about 100 buyers and many budget controllers. Zara designing: Here, the design idea is derived from three different sources-the designers, market analysts and the buyers who order consignments to suppliers. The design stage for Zara is divided in three sections: Women, men and children chlothes.The prototype designs are created and tried out by placing all the three sources (designers, market analysts and buyers) in small workshops. The market analysts capture the new happenings in the fashion market as they are always in contact with the retail stores. This way Zaras retail stores are at the start of the supply chain and not at the end. Distribution: The investment costs incurred by Zara and Benetton in automating their warehouses is very high as they want them to be near production centres which could store, pack and develop independent orders for the network of retail stores around the globe. Currently, Zara only uses half of its warehousing capacity while Benetton is still exploring the possibility of using RFID tags for tracking garments. The distribution process at HM is still routine. The stock management is carried out internally and physical distribution is sub-contracted. In HM, goods are routed to retail site from production site through a transit terminal in Hamburg owned by the HM itself. These goods are then inspected and stored in a centralized stock room known as call-off warehouse where stores are replenished on each item level depending on what is sold. Manufacturing: Manufacturing costs can be significantly reduced if there are reduced labor costs. Therefore, most of the Benettons manufacturing operations are carried out in Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe. The expensive technological operations are carried out in privately owned Benettons sites whereas all the labor intensive operations would be carried out by smaller contractors. The central Benetton facility decides upon how much and what is to be produced by non-Italian networks. Similar is the case with HM, whose 50% production is carried out in Asia. They have 21 offices all over the world which co-ordinate the supplier activities. The healthy relation maintained between suppliers and production offices allows them to buy fabric early. The actual cutting and dyeing of the garments carried out at later stage. This helps in delaying placement of an order, thereby reducing risk of purchasing wrong items. Zara owns much of its manufacturing capabilities which it can manipulate to meet the customer demands at short response. Almost 50% of Zaras productions, most of which are expensive operations (cutting, dyeing) are carried out in plants owned by Zara in Spain and similar to Benetton the labor intensive operations are sub-letted to contractors. Volume flexibility is maintained by Zara and their sub-contractors using a single shift system. Retail: This working is almost similar between all stores.HM stores have average size of 1300 sq.m and are owned and managed by themselves. Zara stores are smaller compared to HM with 800 sq.m size. The Benetton shops on the other hand are 1300-1500 sq.m.Previously the stores used to be run by third parties as small shops. Though there is difference in size they all have similar aim of providing the customer with comfortable atmosphere to make them feel at home and allow them to buy what they want. Benefits: The retail brands were able to achieve a high level of integration using supply chain management. This allows them to quickly react to customers demand and be flexible with minimum stocks posssible.They were able to find the correct balance between fashion, price and quality(Each brand has their own sense of fashion, price and quality).The average supply lead time achieved was about3 weeks 6 months. Of these 3 brands, Zara has achieved shortest lead times called as catwalk to rack time which is as small as 15 days. This means that not a single garment in Zara store is older than two weeks. The designs are also not repeated and are produced in small batches. This ultimately forces customers to avoid delaying their purchase and visit the store frequently lead to increased profits. Effective Supply Chain Management has helped each of the company to become a global brand image in their own way while keeping their production costs low. Suggestions: In the manufacturing stage where the raw materials are supplied by different suppliers a star rating system can be used. In this procedure a 3 star is given to that supplier which has previous record of success on supply factors set by company itself. On contrary, no stars are given to them with whom company has had certain problems before. We can do this as shown in supplier calculation table below: Value can be added to the retail industry by personalizing the needs of customer and improving customer service by using RFID technology. To automate the supply chain RFID can be used. This will help in labor reduction which accounts for about 50-80% of distribution costs. The benefits gained by implementation of RFID through supply chain can be clearly explained by figure given below: (Tajima M 2007) RFID can prove extremely useful in retail industry to control inventory efficiency and also as a theft protection service. (Michael K, McCathie L) ERP The most common and important problem involved in operations management is managing the vast amounts of data while performing it. It is extremely important that the information of each and every function done spread among the entire organization. This is what will enable them to make crucial decisions like when the activity to be done, by whom is and what is the capacity required. ERP-Enterprise Resource Planning is used to perform all the above said activities and overcome the problems arriving from them. ERP is an intelligent IT system which integrates all parts and functions of an organization to plan and control activities required for operations management. This integration also allows for transparency among all parts of organization. ERP is a complex and difficult system to implement as it is basically designed to solve problems involving fragmentation of information. An ERP system almost forces everyone to forces everyone involved in an organization to change the way they used to do their job. ERP automates the processes involved in all business operations right from taking of an order from the customer, delivering it and the billing process. In ERP, when an order is been taken by the company representative, he has full information of the customer like his credit rating and also the companys. As ERP has a single database system the new order can be accessed by all the departments and when one department is finished with the order it is automatically transferred to the next department by ERP.The location of the order can also be easily tracked using a ERP system. The ERP system make the order processing faster and the customer receive them quickly with fewer errors. The key success factors required for successful ERP implementation are: Top level management support and commitment Clear vision and proper planning Having a Project champion A set time frame to deliver the implementation strategy Project and change management Proper IT infrastructure and selecting the right ERP package Maintaining healthy relationship with the Consultant Risk management The investment required for buying and implementing the software is very high. This can be proved by the survey conducted by the META group on the Total cost of ownership of ERP involving all costs like software, hardware and all staff cost. The highest Total Cost of Ownership was of about $300 million and lowest was $400,000.the average price for user of ERP for period of two years was a massive $53,320.which proves ERP is expensive. Some of the risks involved with ERP implementation are: The chances of under estimating the overall cost are high The training and the expertise level required from the consultants will be more than expected. Under estimation of effort and time required. The project scope can be difficult to control and the need for change management may not be recognized on time 3. A case study conducted at Rolls-Royce investigating the implementation of ERP (SAP): In this case study, the Introduction and background of company along with the changes observed by them after the implementation of ERP is discussed. The risks involved with implementation of SAP are also presented. Reasons For implementation: Rolls-Royce returned back to private sector in 1987 and started acquisition of companies which enabled them to consolidate their position in industrial power .The basic reason for implementing ERP was to sort out centralized database from old legacy MRP2 systems. Before ERP, Rolls-Royce had as many as 1500 systems which were developed internally. The operation of these legacy systems was expensive maintenance was equally difficult. They did not assist for accurate and good decision making as they were unable to provide accurate accessible data. The systems implemented were unable to communicate between individual sites. The tracking of the work in progress between sites was inaccurate and causing inventory problems. The legacy systems were unable to communicate direct with suppliers and customers. (Yahaya Y, Gunasekaran A, Abthorpe M S 2004). Rolls-Royce then decided to outsource its IT department to EDS.This allowed Rolls-Royce to concentrate on its main area of expertise which was developing and manufacturing aero-engines. A team of specialists from EDS-the outsourcing firm was assigned the task of implementing ERP project which also had SAP consultants in their team. The team was well equipped with managers and staff that had crucial knowledge of old legacy systems understanding of cross functional business relationships. Yahaya Y, Gunasekaran A, Abthorpe M S 2004). Although the new systems implemented were better than most of the legacy systems they were not fully appreciated as the older ones. The team decided to overcome this problem by conducting seminars for the staff and explaining them the improvements the new systems have made to company. Training was given to about 10000 people through demonstrations, meetings and presentations. Strategy and direction: For the project, Rolls-Royce required over 100 personal computers and the total cost incurred was two million pounds. The scope and the outline plan for the project were made. A team was allocated to look over actual implementation process. After this a prototype was created and installed. This prototype model was based on Rolls-Royce Allison model. In this stage following activities were carried out: Reviewing preliminary design: Here, strategy for designing and implementation was developed along with BPM (Business process model) Development and customization of the vanilla prototype. Reviewing of implementation and the technical operations. Development of the systems and their conversions before they Go-live. The main implementation stage was divided into two waves. The first wave got delayed by 6 months because They wanted to provide more time for line organizations to prepare and clean up data. To allocate time for pilot testing and system development. To overcome difficulties faced with SAP usage. Wave one-The main objective here was to replace all the old systems. In wave one new manufacturing system like SFDMs were introduced. The pilot project of SAP suggested the end of wave one. Wave second: In this wave the engine assembly was implemented. This wave lasted for one year in duration. The second wave was ended when new systems began showing positive results. Enterprise Resource pilot: This pilot system was a small scale system run for 3 months and number 4 shops was chosen as facility where transmissions and structure operations were centre of attention for company. The reason for this facility selection was its low production capacity of only 280 parts. The pilot system was used to demonstrate processes and procedures for businesses .They were also responsible for defining role for each member and demonstrate how to manage data transfers. Go-live The problems encountered on going live were: They had user authorization issues like passwords, etc The route cards were not there due to which work on shop floor was temporarily halted. Transaction problems were observed and they were corrected by comparing old and new systems. The actual main pat of go-live system was difficult as the shear amount of data to be transferred from legacy systems was huge. To achieve this data was required to be kept in a state of stability for up to 10 weeks. The initial data like the list of suppliers was to be transferred and if any error occurred on old system they were recorded and passed on to the new system.MRP system was used to complete the go-love process which took 2 weeks time. After the go-live stage the old system were kept in view only mode which allowed comparisons to be done between new and old systems. Project risks: This project was involved with all the departments and ha its associated risks. These risks were tried to be overcomed by the ERP implementation team by maintaining a risk register. Some of the risks mentioned on the internet page of Rolls-Royce are: If due to some reason there was no delivery or unavailability of the IT hardware. Possibility of failure while loading the data or setting priorities on ERP. The project would have significant impact on the accounts of the company at the year end. Benefits: The effectiveness of such a large scale IT project is often difficult to understand .The benefits achieved from such a huge project requires at least a year to become visisble.The most immediate and important benefits that was achieved was to make a promise to customer and deliver it on time. This led to improved customer satisfaction and boosts their confidence which would result in increased orders for the future. The ERP system improved the relationship within the supply chain where Electronic communications were used to make transactions easier. The ERP system made communications between all the parts of the business absolutely clear. The Rolls-Royce management gained a better sense of control over number of operations which resulted in continuous improvements. It made possible to have accurate and timely information about their customers, business partners and suppliers. Suggestions: The company for the future can create a large data warehouse. In this the data can be stored centrally and extracted from all different places like historical and external databases. The data can be stored in user friendly format which can be accessible by non-external users. This data warehouse will help in collecting all the new data and merge it with the old data.. The management of EIS (Enterprise Information system) to check its sustainability can be done to maximize the benefits gained from an ERP system. TQM: Quality is the only one of the five operations performance criteria to have its own dedicated chapter in this book. There are two reasons for this. First, in some organizations a separate function is devoted exclusively to the management of quality. Second, quality is a key concern of almost all organizations. High-quality goods and services can give an organization a considerable competitive edge. Good quality reduces the costs of rework, waste, complaints and returns and, most importantly, generates satisfied customers. Some operations managers believe that, in the long run, quality is the most important single factor affecting an organizations performance relative to its competitors. Case Study TQM Summary: Rendall owned Preston graphics plant is located in Vancouver. Before, in March 2000 the plant was bought from Georgetown co-operation. This is a small-scale production plant of precision coated paper required in ink-jet printers. The precise coating was applied by coating machines after which they were cut into coated rods in conversion departments. They were then packed and shipped in small containers. Scenario before Implementation: The main customer of the plant was HP(Hewlett-Packard) and they were the one who pointed out the problems they were facing from the paper supplied to them. They were unable to curl the coated paper at low humidity conditions. This problem was noticed by HP personnel as there was no formal complaint made by Hps customers. The plant then hired a team which resolved the problem in the next 7-8 months. The process started producing in acceptable limits but this was due to the fact that they were only concerned about shipping the product within the specification limits. They had a culture which did not care about how close they were to the specification limits and eventually not be able to meet them. This resulted in the plant making loss of $2 million in a year even though they had buoyant sales. This was mainly due to lower productivity and high scrap and rework. To overcome them the management team hastily made a number of changes like increasing the speed of operation line to improve productivity. But still the process charts given by HP showed that the plant was not capable enough to satisfy their need for the next 3 generations. The plant was then bought by Rendall which was not happy with the plants continuing losses and the important customers dissatisfaction (HP).The plant continued to have productivity and quality problems. The full extent of the problem was made visible to the Preston quality manager by the HP engineer in a meeting at Chicago. They clearly explained him the process control charts they had which were given to them by Preston themselves. They convinced the Preston manager that people at Preston were not giving importance to the data showed by process control charts otherwise they would have realized their quality problems. The quality manager then decided to bring the plant under control. He along with his team then reviewed the decisions they made right from the start when the curl problem appeared and they adjusted the process. The team used a set of shut-down rules which enabled the operations to halt a line if they thought the product they were making was of inferior quality. This resulted in throwing away almost 64 large size rolls and about $10000 worth of scrapped product. The guidelines for shut down procedure were that they had to get rid of the defect and when that is done they are allowed to operate. This might cause the managers to tell the workers to improve their productivity but they would harshly criticize the workers if they were violating the quality process procedures. The two more change they implemented were: Daily reviewing of the control chart data The control chart data was then debated by the staff that was kept away from production while doing this. There was uncertainty among quite a few due to no production but it was vital as it got all the 3 shift operators talking about quality issues and control chart data. This caused a positive atmosphere among the workers and boosted the morale of the shop floor team. It led to remarkable improvements on quality front and improved efficiency of plant. The further progressive action taken in quality management by the plant was the implementation of Statistical process control. Then they did zero-based assessment to bring the costs down by reducing labor costs. They began downsizing process. The less number in workforce means that they should produce good quality paper in the first place to avoid inspection process. The plant workforce then decided to develop a portfolio for the ideas of new product which would boost their confidence. The most significant idea was of protowrap in which the new print wrap was able to be repulped. Benefits: Preston Company made profits after Christmas of 2000 after a period of 2 years. Moreover, they had made such a progress that they were beginning to get noticed at corporate level. This caused HP (Hewlett-Packard) to ask them to bid for their new product. It had continuous three months of profits and they also received the new contract from HP. The plants new quality procedures and principles allowed them to produce products more economically. The most significant benefit Preston received by implementing TQM was that they were able to reverse the decision made by Rendall-their owners to shut them down. The plant not only survived but flourished due to implementation of Quality based principles. Suggestions: Implementing QMS(Quality Management System) having corrective actions: This will be required when we encounter problems relating non-conformance of our supplier products. After faced with the problem, we must be able to locate the problem and find its root cause with immediate effect. This is done by (CAPA) corrective action items. The system implemented should be such that it should itself assess the cost of quality and try to initiate the recovery cost process with the supplier. Involving suppliers in quality systems: Suppliers should be encouraged to implement quality systems within their company so that they can easily reach the quality of products required and also save paying the recovering costs. (Metric Stream, 2010)

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Self-Disclosure Through Weblogs and Perceptions of Online and Real-lif

Introduction The way people choose to portray themselves on an online social networking site or a dating site is does not always stand true to real life. There are many stipulations that one has to go through in order to be comfortable not only receiving, but distributing their personal information. This paper will explore different ways that online presentations in mediated communication through dating and social networking sites are represented and the issues that coincide. Social networking sites have distinctive cues that create various levels of importance to those browsing them. Almost everyone today has some form of a social networking account, and there are plenty to choose from. People may be facetious when revealing about who they truly are, even when looking for a mate. The self-competence that exists in people is very well presented online and it is curious to see what is true and what is not. Forming impressions The idea of forming impressions while in an online environment comes into play rather frequently. Since there is no technical face-to-face meeting, a person is left with their own assumptions of what their supposed partner is truly like. It is common for a person to be skeptical of what the other is saying because it is simple to alter the truth in a computer-mediated relationship. Whether it be choosing a new partner, or making a new friend impressions are formed beforehand especially in an online world. In the article â€Å"The Effects of Verbal versus Photographic Self-Presentation on Impression Formation on Facebook† by Brandon Van Der Heide et al, the idea of textual and visual primacy on Facebook is explored. The proposal of â€Å"impression formation in the context of social networking Web sites rasing new q... ...9.07.005. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209001216) Palmieri, C., Prestano, K., Gandley, R., Overton, E., & Qin, Z. (2012). The Facebook Phenomenon: Online Self-Disclosure and Uncertainty Reduction. China Media Research, 8(1), 48-53. Toma, C.L., Hancock J.T., Ellison N.B.Separating fact from fiction: An examination of deceptive self-presentation in online dating profiles (2008) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (8), pp.1023-1036 Van Der Heide, B., D'Angelo, J. D., & Schumaker, E. M. (2012). The Effects of Verbal Versus Photographic Self-Presentation on Impression Formation in Facebook. Journal Of Communication, 62(1), 98-116. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01617.x Zhao, S. (2005), The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others. Symbolic Interaction, 28: 387–405. doi: 10.1525/si.2005.28.3.387

Monday, November 11, 2019

Relationship between Psychological Properties and Physical Properties According to Physicalism Essay

Physicalism refers to a stand by some philosophers that everything in the world is physical. Physicalism in some cases is referred to as materialism, where everything is viewed to have physical properties. With respect to philosophy, Physicalism is the ontological point of view that there is nothing above and over the physical. Physicalists view the nature or the world as one and believe that everything including mind has physical properties and thus it is physical. In the attempt to prove their view of the world, Physicalists has come up with diverse explanation to bring out the relationship that exists between different aspects of nature including psychological states and properties. To understand the relationship between physical properties and mental properties, realization, reductive and supervenience ideas have been used by the physicalists. However, critics argue that physicalism is a false view of nature. This research paper will seek to determine the relationship that exists between psychological states or properties and physical properties according to Physicalism. In addition, the paper will bring into light reasons behind this relationship. Relationship between psychological properties and physical properties according to PhysicalismIn the attempt to bring out the relationship between the physical properties and psychological properties, philosophers such as Lewis used supervenience approach. This approach is simply based on meta-ethics and indicates that physical properties and mental properties are closely related due to the fact that psychological properties are part of the physical properties (Daniel, 2010). In other words, philosophers assert that psychological properties such as thinking are enclosed by physical properties. To make the argument certain, philosophers such as Lewis give an example where he refers dots on a picture as physical properties and claims that the picture is like the global features or the world. The same way he affirms that psychological properties and other properties including biological properties are like dots on the global features. Supervenience idea of the explaining physicalism ass erts that psychological properties are nothing but simply physical properties (Kim, 2008). Psychological or mental properties such as pain are viewed as physical according to physicalists as they believe that the physical aspect of pain is casually closed by the major physical properties. According to Kim, (2008), supervenience tries to bring out the identical aspect between the physical properties and psychological properties. The fact that psychological or mental properties are part of physical properties indicates similarity according to the physicalists (Daniel, 2010). This is particularly supported by the general view of physicalism that the world is a single stuff. According to the physicalists, mental or psychological properties are dependant to physical properties and thus there can not be physical difference without psychological difference. Simply, psychological properties supervene on material properties and thus they are just but the same thing. According to Physicalism, physical properties can be reduced to mental or psychological properties. The notion of reductive by the physicalism brings out the relationship between mental properties and physical properties (Kim, 2008). Essentially, physicalists use reductive idea to ascertain their idea that the world is made of a single stuff that is physical properties only. Physicalism philosophers affirms that there is a close relationship between physical properties and psychological or mental properties particularly basing their argument that mental properties are smaller components of physical properties and thus are physical properties. Realization theory is another approach used by the physicalism to bring out possible relations between psychological or mental properties and physical properties (Daniel, 2010). Based on this theory, all psychological properties can be realized through a particular physical basis (Kim, 2008). In a philosophical perspective, physicalists argue that all physical properties or predicates can be traced or are definable in physical language. This implies that there is a close relation between the two and according to physicalism they are inseparable (Daniel, 2010). Physicalists affirms that the fact that physical properties can be reduced to mental or psychological properties implies that the two are identical and simply has a close relationship. Physicalism believes that everything inside the world has physical properties and the world itself is a physical thing in its own nature. The developed understanding from this argument is that everything considered as physical thing has its own physical properties which in reality has its own psychological properties. This claim can be explained further by application of ontological perspective which involves both methodological and epistemological corollaries. According to the Physicalists, every object in the world is composed of different material which in reality encompasses different physical properties (Kim, 2011). Therefore, physical properties exhibit different properties such as mass, shape volume, energy, temperature and volume among others. In reference to the reductive physicalism, objects with high levels of properties are more reducible hence there is a high chance that they have physical properties. Jackson (2002) affirms that physicalism is more dependent on philosoph ical position which presents a myth that everything that exists in the earth has physical properties. From this explanation the understanding developed is that physicalism is closely associated with philosophy of mind which extensively believes that mind is a physical object which can be viewed at different perspectives (Kim, 2011). In reference to physical science point of view, physicalism includes bigger notations as opposed to just matter, space energy and time. The mind being in a form of a physical world, it is closely associated with non reductive physicalism. Fodor in his own research argues that physicalism is dependent will all genuine items which can be referred to either identical or are dependent upon other physical properties (Clarke, 2003). In order to accept these believe of physicalism, it vital to understand how it is related with mind dualism rejection. According to Fodor, â€Å"mentalism† is the best alternative of the dualism. Basically, physicalism believes that the concept of the consciousness is entirely dependent of the physical properties (Clarke, 2003). The state of the mind is a functional that exists in a given system. In relation to the theory of functionalism, brain is extensively believed to be a just biological implementation in a given system. The general understanding it , that the brain has capacity to recognize any change in mental status. Dualism theory is quite different from physicalism because it argues that consciousness is not related to the physical. According to Savellos and YalcÃŒ §in, (1995), panpsychism theory explains that all items which contain aspects of reality within themselves have psychological properties in additional to their physical properties. Critics argue that hardcore physicalists are more concerned to investigate the structure of the outer world in the bid of trying to understand the build relationship between the physical properties and psychological properties. Ultimately, the physical properties and mental are two distinctive area but they are contingently connected with each other. Philosophically, mind is believed to be dependent on the physical properties. Therefore, based with the explanation of the physicalism the empirical world is composed of all properties or entities which have effects of causes. Notably, both mental facts and physical have a close relationship with physicalism in relation to mental effects and causes. According to many physicalists the world in general is a physical hence everyth ing in it have its own physical properties. When reviewing the world at a supervenience base, it helps to reflect the general thinking of the physicalists. This implies that the relationship between of fundamental physical properties and psychological properties are closely dependent on each other as per the explanation of Physicalism (Clarke, 2003). The two features have the common bond of metaphysics because they are depending on certain established physical facts. Conclusion                     From the above discussion, it is evident that Physicalism extensively refers to a developed understanding by some philosophers who believe that everything in the world is physical hence have its own physical properties. In addition, Physicalism can also be referred to as materialism, where everything is viewed to have physical properties. Psychological or mental properties such as pain are viewed as physical according to physicalists as they believe that the physical aspect of pain is casually closed by the major physical properties. Therefore, this is an indication that the state of the mind is a functional that exists in a given system. References Clarke, R. (2003). Libertarian accounts of free will. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford University Press. Daniel .S. (2010). Physicalism, New Problems of Philosophy. RoutledgeJackson, F. (2002). Mind, Method and Conditionals: Selected Papers. Routledge, 2002 Kim, J. (2008). Physicalism, or Something Near Enough. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Kim, J. (2011). Philosophy of Mind. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited, 2011 Savellos, E. E., & YalcÃŒ §in, U. D. (1995). Supervenience: New essays. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press. Source document

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Work Family Conflict

Hypotheses Hal- Individuals who report telecommuting will report less work-family conflict than those who do not report telecommuting. H2O – Individuals who report being able to take work home to complete will report less work-family conflict than those who do not report being able to take work home.. HA – Individuals who report having a flexible work schedule will report less work- family conflict than those who do not report having a flexible schedule. HA – Individuals who report taking a family leave will report less work-?family conflict than individuals who do not report taking a leave..HA – Reporting to a family-supportive supervisor will be related to the use of (a) telecommuting, (b) taking work home, (c) flexible hours, and (d) family leave. HA – There will be a negative relationship between reporting to a family-supportive supervisor and work-family conflict. HA – Having a family-supportive supervisor will mediate the relationship b etween (a) telecommuting, (b) taking work home, (c) flexible work hours, and (d) family leave and work-family conflict.Method Sample for the study was drawn from two sources (alumni of the College of Business f a public university and students enrolled in an evening MBA program there). Consent forms, questionnaires, and return mail envelopes were sent to alumni along with a letter requesting their participation. Only 12% of the alumni returned usable questionnaires. The low rate of returns was due to incorrect addresses and the fact that alumni were told they were only eligible to participate in the study if they were currently working and had a supervisor.For the MBA students, consent forms and questionnaires were distributed during class time. Students were told they only would fill out a questionnaire if they were employed by an organization. In total, 140 alumni and 71 MBA students returned questionnaires. Given the focus of the study was on work-family conflict, the only Indivi duals Include In the analyses were individuals who were working at least 35 hours per week and who had responsibility for whom an individual had responsibility. Given the sample inclusion criteria, the study ended up with a sample of 96 individuals (83 alumni and 13 MBA students).Of those individuals, 86 reported having childcare responsibility; eight individuals ported being responsible for another person, and two persons reported being responsible for both children and others. In order to ensure accuracy of the self- reported information, the alumni and the MBA students who returned questionnaires were asked to supply the name and address of a person whom they felt was quite familiar with their work and family life. A questionnaire was sent to those significant others along with a letter explaining why they were contacted.Of the 96 persons who comprised of the main sample, 53 questionnaires from significant others were received. Results Childcare responsibility, non-child responsi bility, and the use of family-friendly practices, questionnaire responses were made on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Participants were asked-?†On average, how many hours do you work per week? ‘ , â€Å"How many children do you have under your career, and â€Å"Do you have care giving responsibilities for someone other than a child? ‘ (coded 1 = no, 2 = yes).As noted in the study, in order to be included in the analyses, an individual had to be employed, have a supervisor, be working at least 35 hours per eek, and be responsible for a dependent. With regard to the mean number of hours worked, the 96 individuals comprising the main sample reported working 47. 21 hours (SD = 6. 21). In terms of child dependents, the mean number reported was 1. 89 (SD = 1. 08). In terms of being responsible for non-child dependents, of the ten individuals reporting such responsibility, no one reported being responsible for more than one person. 6 indi viduals reported taking work home (58%), 55 individuals reported working flexible hours (57%), 23 individuals reported using family leave (24%) and even individuals reported telecommuting (7%). Of the 96 employees in the sample, two reported using all four family-friendly practices, 12 reported using three practices, 24 reported using two practices, 49 reported using one practice, and nine individuals reported using no practices. Hypothesis 1 predicted that individuals who reported telecommuting would report less work-family conflict.This hypothesis was not supported for either self-reports of work-family conflict (r = -. 01) or reports of significant others (r = -. 07). Hypothesis 2 predicted that individuals who reported Ewing able to take work home to complete would report less work-family conflict. No support was found for this hypothesis for either self-reports of conflict (r = . 17) or significant other reports (r = . 10). In fact, for self-reports, the correlation attained a p. 05 level of statistical significance but in the direction opposite of that predicted. In contrast to the results for Hypothesis 1 and 2, Hypothesis 3 received strong support.Individuals who reported having flexible work hours also reported lower levels of work-family conflict (r = -. 22, p. 05). The results for significant other reports of conflict also supported Hypothesis 3 (r = -. 23, p. 05). In terms of Hypothesis 4 individuals who reported having made use of family leave reported lower levels of work-family conflict (r = -. 21, p. 05). On the other hand, significant other reports of conflict did not support Hypothesis 4 (r = -. 11). Hypothesis 5 predicted that individuals who reported to family-supportive supervisors would make greater use of family-friendly (r = . 8, p. 05) were significant at the . 05 level. Hypothesis 6 predicted that individuals porting to a family-supportive supervisor would report lower levels of work-family conflict. This hypothesis was supported both for self-reports of work-family conflict (r -? -. 54, p. 01) and significant other reports of conflict (r = -. 38, p. 01). In summary, with the exception of the relationship between taking work home to complete and self- reports of work-family conflict, all of the other relationships between the use of family-friendly practices and work-family conflict were mediated.Discussion The study hypothesized that telecommuting, taking work home, having flexible hours, ND taking a family leave each would be negatively related to reports of work-family conflict. Strong support for Hypothesis 3 (I. E. , the use of flexible hours was negatively correlated with both self-reports and significant other reports of work-family conflict). This information may prove to be advisable for many organizations to offer flexible hours to their employees. In addition to focusing on the use of family-friendly practices, the study also examined the effects of reporting to a family-supportive supervisor.It was f ound that reporting to such a supervisor was positively related to he use of flexible hours and family leave. In terms of the correlation (r = . 14) between having a family-supportive supervisor and telecommuting, it may be premature to dismiss this relationship because it did not meet the p. 05 threshold that was used throughout this paper (this correlation was significant at the p. 10 level). Criticism Limitations for this given study are as follow: The response rate for the alumni survey was lower than the study would have liked. Another limitation is the low base rate for a few of the variables that were examined (I. . The use of telecommuting). A third limitation to note was the educated nature of the sample (everyone in the sample was a college graduate). Application This study could be expanded to include a larger population of employees, such as non-college graduates. It could also be expanded to other professions/departments in the organization. In future studies, it might also be worthwhile to consider coworker support for balancing work and family responsibilities (e. G. , are coworkers willing to switch work days or work hours to accommodate family responsibilities? ).