Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Product Innovation

Product Innovation Salient features of the product for innovation emphasized on the continuously changing market needs and trends in the market. The trends identified the need to implement an innovation strategy on Rexona which had been a leading bathing soap and household brand for many years.Advertising We will write a custom thesis sample on Product Innovation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to the changing times, need, customer behavior, and substitute products, the first phase of innovation on Rexona commenced. Emphasis was on the kind of soap that addressed the problem of an oduor due to sweating, a problem associated with different physical and psychological effects. The parameters included According to the article Innovation Zen (2006), a radical innovation made the toilet soap unique and synonymous with household use. Unique characteristic features of the soap, a common toilet soap, included an attractive smell and ability to maintain that status for a number of hours in addition to other extras. According to Innovation Zen (2006), an innovative approach on the product included analyzing the chemical characteristics of the soap and technologies available to address those concerns. Chemical Researched Scientific research was conducted to bring to light the chemical processes involved when human beings sweated with an emphasis on the type of sweat involved and the chemical composition of the sweat. According to Innovation Zen (2006), human beings responded to two kinds of sweat, sweat due to stress or anxiety and sweat due to emotional stress. According to Innovation Zen (2006) Rexona, a popular soap and household name synonymous with bathing was innovated along the line of the different types if human sweat. Modular and radical approaches to innovation were used in undertaking the innovation on the deodorant article (Innovation 2010). The article Innovation (2010) asserts that research findings pointed to the arms and hands as the specific sources of the unpleasant smell. In addition to that Information and previous knowledge on the deodorant was collected and analyzed to identify various stages of product improvement in relation to research findings on the sweating of the body and the available technology to develop and innovate the deodorant. According to Innovation (2010), technology was readily available and an innovative approach to product development commenced. This included developing an anti-perspiring chemical formulated in the house hold soap. The micro-capsules formulated into the innovation acted by blocking instant and long term chemical perspiration reactions which could result in unpleasant odours. This could in the end make the user feel fresh for a long time.Advertising Looking for thesis on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Innovation (2010) â€Å"Our Rexona deodorant uses body- responsive micro-capsule technology that kicks in when it’s needed most, giving people the confidence to face the days more stressful situations.† This innovative approach was supported by scientific formulations and relevant technology to address instant or long term perspirations. However the innovation has been incremental based on market needs and changing trends in addressing customer needs, tastes, preferences while remaining competitive in the market over the years. According to Innovation (2010) the innovative approach could impact well on the personal needs of individuals who use the deodorant in their homes. The Market Today According to Timeline (n.d) the soap was developed back in 1899 and has undergone successive innovation till today. Currently the deodorant has been innovated to address scents varying from silver ice to extreme scents as critical needs in the market toady. References Innovation. (2010). Intelligent Deodorant. Web. Innovation Zen.(2006). H enderson – Clark Model. Web. Timeline.(n.d). Web.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Inspector Calls (play) essays

Inspector Calls (play) essays Question:"Imagine you are a director writing to an imaginary actress who plays the part of Sheila. Write how you want the actress to play Sheila." I am writing you this letter because I feel it will help you in your acting career to play the part of Sheila in An Inspector Calls. I enclose notes on the play and how I feel your character should be performed. The play itself is set in the year 1912 and the main characters are the Birling family, Arthur and Sybil the parents. Sheila and Eric, their children. The Birlings are a prosperous Edwardian family. Arthur Birling being the head of his own Company. Also central to the play is Gerald Croft, who is set to be engaged to your character Sheila, Inspector Goole and Eva Smith, who never actually appear on stage. At the start of the play the family are celebrating your engagement to Gerald. The Inspector comes to the house with the news that Eva Smith, a young woman, has poisoned herself and died. The plot of the play is centred around this death, and the other characters involvement in it. In your role as Sheila I want you to come across at the beginning as very lively and pleased with life. You need to talk in an excited manner with an exaggerated tone. Sheila likes to be the centre of attention and you will need to interrupt the other characters when they are talking as if only what you are saying is important. By this behaviour you need to make the audience adopt a feeling that you are not a very interesting or likeable character. Your fianc Gerald is also happy with his life, being the son of another manufacturer, Sir George Crof t. At the dinner you need to tease Gerald and be playful towards him. (same tone as before) Yes, thats what you say You are teasing Gerald about being away last summer. When he gives the ring you are the centre of attention and you need to show you are enjoying this by your voice and body actions. You lea...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Essay Example Thesis The movie reflects modern cultural and social phenomena through the lens of gender constructed along sexuality and gender inequalities. In the essays, Susan Bordo (2003) proposes a unique vision and interpretation of modern culture and gender relations between opposite sexes. She criticizes a "material" and gendered body supposing that sexualized images of women make them victims of male oppression and violence, and "sex objects". Also, the author talks about such things as "standardized visual images' and gender stereotypes, "complex crystallizations of culture" which have a significant influence on modern audience. The prestige of the individual self-reached an all-time high when new social arrangements and events dramatized the relative powerlessness of the individual leading to a devaluation of the self. The movie takes place at the beginning of 21st century in New York. It vividly reflects modern culture and values, human relations and hopes. During this period of time, gender roles and sexual relations have a great influence on the society as it is often designed to add psychological value to its existence; it plays a more important communications role in every day life than any another activity: politics or economics. It is possible to say that sexual relations (depicted between Joel and Clementine, Stan and Mary) control the circulation of ideas in modern culture. The movie is based on the idea that new gender roles and new wave of feminist movement has changed identity and the role of women in the society. New ideas and values are inherent in modern culture based on technological innovations and the Internet, globalization and the popular global culture (Jarvis, 2000). The historical context of the movie has a great impact on production and perception of its context reflected in circulation of ideas and values. Viewers understand that through a complex interaction of identification processes such as love and fear, pain and haltered between the main characters, gender differences are produced--typically in the form of a dichotomy that not only opposes masculinity to femininity but also translates these oppositional differences into gender hierarchy, the privileging of traits and activities defined as masculine over those defined as feminine (Bordo, 2003). Through a gender-sensitive lens, the storyteller portrays how constructions of masculinity (agency, control, aggression) are not independent of, but rely upon, contrasting constructions of femininity (dependence, vulnerability, passivity) of Clementine and Mary. The whole span of development, from the explosive emotions of his youth to the skeptical mysticism of his middle age, is encompassed by the desire to play a game with his life and death. Joel fits very closely in with these ideas; he is a man trapped by a conventional notion of what is 'right' and 'wrong'. The composition of the movie supports its unique interpretation of events and gender roles creating a circle of events which forces viewers to rethink and re-interpret them time and again. The film employs reverse chronology structure that depicts relationships between Joel and Clementine in reverse order, from the most painful moments to happier times. This structure helps audience to focus on the memories and emotions of the heroes and understand the essence of their relations. It is possible to assume that such chronology is used to

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

CRANBERY SUPPLEMENTS AS PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT Assignment

CRANBERY SUPPLEMENTS AS PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT - Assignment Example From the above parameters it may be anticipated that if cranberry supplements are really useful then the frequency of urinary tract infection will decrease, the symptoms of UTI like polyuria and hematuria will decrease, the diagnostic results will show normal count (5000-9000 cu mm) of WBC and reduced levels of C - reactive protein. The further anticipated outcome will be the reduction in the frequency of antibiotics prescribed or there will also be a reduced need to escalate the dosage and class of an antibiotic. This means that though infection may occur but it does not require the intervention with an antibiotic and the innate immunity of the body can take care of the situation. Further decreased need to escalate the dosage and class of an antibiotic also implicate that chances of antibiotic resistance would not be high, if cranberry supplements are administered (Lane and Takhar,2011) (Wang, Fang and Chen, 2012) The protocol will be evaluated with the help of statistical tests of significance and in this regard the â€Å"chi square test† will be performed. First of all stratified random sampling would be done to specify the sample sizes and the limits. Seven groups will be formed with the women in the age range of 18 to 67 years. These groups are 18-28 years, 29-38 years, 39—48 years, 49-58 years, 59-68 year, 69-78 years and 79-88 years. Data will be collected from the urologists who classify that these women are patients of recurrent urinary tract infections. Patients below and above the specified age range will not be included in the study. Further newly diagnosed patients of UTI will also be not included in the study. After selection of samples the patients in each group will be separated as the experimental arm and control arm. The patients of the experimental arm will only be administered cranberry supplements and the patients of control arm will receive placebo treatment. However as the study will

Sunday, November 17, 2019

How Is the Power of Dreams and Dreaming in the Novel of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

How Is the Power of Dreams and Dreaming in the Novel of Mice and Men Essay The idea of moving from one place to another, working hard and trying to raise the quality of life for you and your loved ones is known as The American Dream. Steinbeck invites us to understand how having this dream keeps them going despite the challenging life that each character faces. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck makes this dream the main focus of the story for both the reader and characters. George’s dream is to have independence and to go into town and get whatever I want but most importantly he dreams of being somebody. On the other hand, Lennie aspires to be with George and to tend the rabbits. Ultimately, George and Lennie both wanted to have a little house and couple of acres an a cow and some pigs however, George only tells Lennie about their dream to comfort Lennie. This is shown when Lennie says No You tell it. It aint the same if I tell it. Go on George. How do I get to tend the rabbits. It is only after they all realised that together, this thing they never believed in was coming true Even though the dream is very important to George as well, Steinbeck portrays Lennie as someone who wants the dream a lot more. This is shown through Lennies angry or upset feelings when he feels like he has done something that would jeopardise their dream. George uses this to his advantage to threaten and control Lennie by blackmailing him, If you do, I wont let you tend the rabbits. Consequently, Lennie tries to please George and to gain his approval as much as possible. Another way in which Steinbeck shows the power of dreams and dreaming in the novel is through how much they want it. Steinbeck portrays each character’s desperation through their lifestyle. The dream that each character has reflects what is missing from their life. George and Crooks are both very desperate about this dream because they both want their current lives to be like their past. This is shown when, for a second, George loses track of the present and says â€Å"we’d keep a few pigeons to go flyin’ around the win’mill like they done when I was a kid† which is referring back to his childhood. Similarly, Crooks wants to return to his past. â€Å"The white kids used to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them. † This shows that Crooks used to be well respected and equal within his community. After all, Crooks â€Å"ain’t a southern negro†; however, he is not treated well at the ranch, therefore, the dream provides comfort for Crooks. Although George wants to return to his childhood, there is a deeper meaning to his dream. George wants to â€Å"just say the hell with goin’ to work† because unlike Candy, George doesn’t want to stay at the ranch too long so he would get ‘canned’. For George, the dream means that â€Å"nobody could can us† Furthermore, George doesn’t want to have to keep moving because he would â€Å"jus live there† and â€Å"belong there. There wouldnt be no more runnin round the country and gettin fed by a Jap cook. † This suggests that he’ll be his own boss. A result of being a migrant worker, no one at the ranch has any friends, which is why Crooks was surprised to hear that Lennie had George. For George and Lennie, the dream of having their own land provides a stable home that will eventually gain them friends and family. On the other hand, Crooks is very pessimistic about the possibility of a dream becoming a reality because he has been segregated in the ranch for as long as he can remember. His cynicism has led him to believe â€Å"Its just in their head. Theyre all the time talkin about it, but its jus in their head. This suggests that his past experiences have affected his power to dream. Steinbeck reinforces the power of dreaming within the novel, as he shows every character’s reaction when they all realise that there is a possibility of George and Lennie’s dream becoming reality. â€Å"They looked at each other, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true. Once they believed that the dream is a possibility, the tension is ramped up. Suddenly there is something to lose and something to fight for. This massively enhances the power that the dream has over each character and for a while the feeling of doom is lessened. The reader wants to know if each character can escape the curse they seem to be under and reach their goals. For Lennie and candy the dream would provide an exciting opportunity, as both characters are not worth mu ch in the real world. The dream would provide them a chance of appreciation. To Lennie, the dream is an antidote to disappointment and loneliness, and he often asks George to recite the description of the farm to him for comfort. Like a child, he loved the hear George telling him to â€Å"tend the rabbits† correspondingly for Candy it would make him feel more important as he can â€Å"cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some† Even though Curley’s Wife was the reason that the dream fell apart, she had big dreams to be in â€Å"pitchers† Unsatisfied by her surly husband, she constantly lurks around the barn, trying to engage the workers in conversation. However, although she may come across as very flirtatious, she only flirts with the men for attention. Which is what her dream would have provided her if she didn’t marry Curley. Shes so lonely, and so desparate for the attention of the men at the ranch that she even flirts with Lennie as she leans â€Å"closely† at him to â€Å"see if she was impressing him† To look in more detail about how Steinbeck shows the power of the dreams, take each individual character and how they all act to their dreams ending. For example, Steinbeck has made Curley very bitter after the realisation of his dreams ending when Candy’s wife is killed by Lennie. His bitterness shows how much the dream meant to him and how he needed it because he is old and disabled so he will probably get ‘canned’ soon, He shuffles out of the barn which that he has given up all hope, almost given up on life.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Night Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without a doubt, one of the darkest episodes in the history of mankind involved the systematic extermination of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs and gays by Nazi Germany. In order to get a good sense of the horror and despair that was felt by the interned, one simply needs to read the memoirs of Elie Wiesel in his â€Å"Night†, as translated from French by Stella Rodway and copyrighted by Bantam Books in 1960.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Transylvania. His parents ran a shop and cared for him and his three siblings, Hilda, Bea, and Tzipora. Early on, the Jewish community of Sighet payed little heed to the stories of what had happened to foreign Jews that were expelled. By the time Germans had entered Sighet, it was too late for the people to escape their fates. At first, they were made to give up all of their valuable possessions and move into makeshift ghettos. Next came deportation of the entire community to the Auschwitz internment camp. The way that the people were piled into cattle wagons was only a precurser of appalling events that were to come. The horror really dawned on Elie when he realized that the large smokestacks that he saw were from crematoriums that were set up to burn the bodies of the thousands upon thousands of Jews that were killed in the gas chamber. Elie paints a portrait of life in the camp, which included hours of back-breaking labor, fear o f hangings, and an overall theme throughout the book: starvation. The prisoners were given only black coffee in the morning, and soup and a crust of bread in the evening. The most terrifying aspect of the entire experience was the â€Å"selection†, the picking out of those that were to sick, old, or weak to be useful. These unfortunate souls were thrown into the fires. The one constant in Elie’s life was his father, who along with his son and all other prisoners, were later forced to evacuate to trains that would bring them to the Buchenwald internment camp deep in Germany, under the pressure of the Allied forces on the area. The final horrific scene in this book was how the interned, in mass, were forced to run full speed for hours on end, the people that lagged being shot on sight. The story culminated in the death of Elie’s father, and the eventual freedom of the Survivors of these death camps.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The way that Elie describe... ... day, Pope John Paul II apologized for the past sins of the church, but did not address the way that Pope Pious VII threw a deaf ear towards the Holocaust. What is more disturbing than the fact that their was not opposition to the Nazis by other European countries is the fact that something as horrible as this could happen again. In Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990’s, the â€Å"ethnic cleansing† of Muslims and Croats by Serbs led to the removal of 2.5 million people from cities and villages, mass murders, and the internment of men and boys in as many as 100 concentration camps. Although the situation did not escalate to the point of the Holocaust, it showed the ignorance of people as to past events.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To conclude, Elie Wiesel’s â€Å"Night† is a haunting and accurate account of the cruelty that man can inflict on man. The lessons learned from this account cannot be forgotten. If they are, then they are sure to be repeated. Works Cited â€Å"Ethnic Cleansing.† The Complete Reference Collection. 1998ed. CD-ROM. The   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Learning Company, Inc., 1998. â€Å"Holocaust.† The Complete Reference Collection. 1998ed. CD-ROM. The Learning

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

It331 Documentation

Infinet Infinet is a company that has been providing networking and data communications solutions for companies since 1994. Infinet has throughout the years stayed on top of current networking trends and technologies to ensure reliability and extensive network lifetimes for Infinet’s customers. Our clients range all across the southern and southwestern states of the U. S. Infinet’s mission to its customers is to provide them a network resolution that suits their needs and budget with the highest reliability that current technology can offer.Infinet has many different teams working within the company to maintain positive relations and to provide the highest level of customer service. Technical Support – Infinet offers its clients technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Technical support is available to help troubleshoot with clients to attempt to reach a resolution as soon as possible. Sales Team – Infinet’s sales representatives work with o ur potential customers to determine the customer’s needs and forward the information they gather to Infinet’s design team.Design Team – The design team at Infinet is primarily responsible for the development of a project plan, diagrams, and the implementation of the project plan. The design team is then responsible for the presentation of their proposal to the client in a way that is easy for the client to understand. Networking Team – Once a deal has been made with a client the project is then handed to the networking team. The networking team at Infinet is responsible for the installation of all hardware, software, cabling, and any other type of device to be installed.The networking staff at Infinet is the most crucial part of Infinet. Training for client employees is also provided by the networking team. TTI’s Proposal The following is a list of TTI’s major needs as stated in our documentation that Infinet received. Network Design †¢ TTI must stay within the regulations regarding network design to remain in compliance with various regulations. †¢The network must be separated into two networks, Curriculum and Administrator, and not allow access from the Curriculum Network to any computers or servers on the Administrator network. A maximum of 200 workstations will be deployed at each campus for the Curriculum network and a maximum of 50 computers for the Administration network. †¢The network must facilitate 100x growth in LAN throughput, 2x growth in WAN throughput, and a 10x growth in the main campus internet connection. It must also remain functional for a minimum of 5 years. †¢The four new schools must connect via the ISP’s internal network into a central device at headquarters and forward any internet requests through the headquarters’ internet connection. †¢Each campus will have a MDF room where data will be sent and forwarded as needed.The Houston West campus will include an MDF as well as an IDF on the second floor to forward data to the MDF. †¢Each school has four labs that require 31 connections. There needs to be 3 runs of cabling to the 30 computers on the Curriculum network and 1 run of cable to terminate at the instructor’s computer on the Administrator network. †¢All computers on the Administration network will have their ip addresses set statically and all computers on the Curriculum network will obtain their ip addresses automatically from a DHCP server. DHCP Server †¢Each campus will have a DHCP server to hand out ip addresses to nodes on the Curriculum network.DNS and E-Mail †¢DNS and e-mail servers will be implemented in a hierarchical manner with all services located on the master server at the main campus. †¢All DNS and e-mail servers will be capable to communicate with each other in the event that the master server becomes unavailable. Administrative Server †¢TTI will need to have an Administration s erver at each school site to interface with the DBMS at headquarters for student tracking, grades, attendance, and other functions †¢The Administration server must not be accessible by any students or the Curriculum network. Web Server TTI will need a web server to host its virtual library which will house an online library for curricular research and give students access to several online databases. Application Server †¢All computer applications will be housed on a server at each school location to provide the IT staff with an easy solution to upgrading applications. FTP Server †¢An FTP server will be setup to provide TTI staff with a quick way to recover missing or corrupt files. Executive Summary Infinet has recently received a request from TTI to implement a network plan to meet the addition of four new campuses within the state of Texas.We believe that we have come up with the most reliable and secure plan to meet your needs at a reasonably low price. In our plan we have included many options to provide TTI with our personal recommendations as well as options lower in cost to suit TTI’s financial obligations. Infinet will take on all responsibility of hardware and software installations as well as an effective training plan to give the IT staff at TTI the tools they need to monitor and maintain their network. Assumptions and Constraints The following list is a few assumptions that Infinet has made based the information TTI has presented. TTI has already laid down the cabling or has done so with the construction of the building. †¢TTI will remain responsible for any physical security of network components and servers. †¢Proper cooling will be available in the MDF and IDF rooms. †¢TTI is needs new workstations to be purchased and installed. If we are wrong with any of our assumptions we have made a few possible solutions. †¢Infinet has the staff and resources to lay down any cabling if need be. †¢Infinet has in cluded the option to omit any costs for new workstations if TTI has no desire to upgrade their current workstations.Deliverables Based upon the previous information, Infinet has come up with what we plan to bring to the table. †¢Infinet will propose hardware and costs with several options for TTI to better suit their budget and needs. †¢Infinet will provide a project schedule and implementation timeline to clarify each phase of the project. †¢Infinet will identify the network topology and layout. Our main highlights will include the following. o4 T1 data lines for point-to-point connectivity and 1 T1-speed data frame relay to connect all sites to the Internet. Fiber optic-multi mode backbone. oSegment LAN at each site into two networks, administrator and curriculum. oSuccessful network connectivity with campuses to the main campus as well as Internet connectivity. oEstablishment of MDF’s at each location as well as an IDF at the Houston location on the second f loor. oImplementation of an IP subnet capable to meet current needs and to facilitate growth. oDHCP configuration with student network and static IP addresses assigned to the administrator network. oInstallation of DHCP, DNS, and Application servers at each site.Each location will have a separate Administration server that will directly communicate with the DBMS at the main campus. oThe main campus will include the main DNS server, DNS, IIS, Active Directory, Exchange, Web, Application, and FTP servers. †¢Infinet will provide a comprehensive backup solution for data and power. †¢Infinet will ensure security to the Administration LAN as well as a firewall to deny access from any device outside the TTI network. †¢Infinet will present a training plan for the IT support staff for TTI to give them the necessary knowledge and tools to monitor and maintain the network. Infinet will have a prototype for display to demonstrate our ability to effectively separate the Curriculum and Administration networks. Project Plan Implementation and Timeline There are going to be 7 major steps to complete the project. 1. Inspect locations Verify the current setup and identify the requirements that TTI needs to accomplish before installation takes place. Also to identify the location of the new hardware and verify what is needed. Jason: Dallas, Scott: Houston, Troy: San Antonio, Tyson: Austin An estimated 4. 5 days will be needed to complete the inspection of all sites. 2. Purchasing and DeliveryAll hardware that has been deemed necessary will be ordered and delivered to each site. During this time, Technician’s will be coordinated at each site to prepare for hardware installation. An estimated 18. 5 days will be needed to complete purchasing and delivery of all sites. 3. Hardware Installation All hardware will be installed and setup at each location. This includes all Workstations, Servers, Networking Equipment and Cabling. An estimated 11. 5 days will be need ed to complete hardware installation of all sites. 4. Software Installation All software and server services will be setup and implemented at all locations.Routers, switches and firewalls will be configured and optimized for network communication between sites. Workstations will be setup with their appropriate network configuration. An estimated 4. 5 days will be needed to complete software installation of all sites. 5. Finish Installation and Network Testing All hardware and software installation will be finished and network setup will be verified and tested for problems. Security policies and double firewall will be tested for weaknesses from outside Internet connectivity. Backup solution will be tested and verified with a complete disaster recovery plan.An estimated 11. 5 days will be needed to complete the finish Installation and network-testing phase of all sites. 6. Training Training for the TTI administration and IT staff, so that they will be fully capable of maintaining and monitoring the network using SNMP standards. An estimated 5 days training will be needed for training. 7. Support Period: 10 day on call support. Any problems detected during this 10 day period will be corrected by Infinet. Project Details Network Topology TTI Network Overview All campuses will be connected through the ISP’s internal network.Internet access from the campuses will be forwarded to the Houston Headquarters and then out to the internet through Houston’s T3 or Frame Relay connection. Houston Headquarters Campus The Houston Main Campus will house the main DBMS server and the master backup server. The application, main DNS, DHCP, and Active Directory servers will also be located in the MDF. Each of the other four campuses’ internet connections will be forwarded to the Houston campus’ router, Cisco 7204 VXR, which will then forward internet connectivity through the Houston campus’ T3 or ISDN connection.The T3 or ISDN connection will be gu arded by a PIX515e firewall that will block all incoming requests except those for web and e-mail traffic. Houston West Campus The Houston West campus has the same setup as the other campuses, minus Houston Headquarters, except that cable runs will come from the MDF to a switch on the second floor that computers on that floor will connect to. It hosts local DNS, E-Mail, DHCP, and application servers as well. Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin Campuses These campuses will host local DNS, DHCP, application, E-Mail, and FTP servers and have T1 connections.Project Details IP Schema The IP addressing scheme we chose is designed to make administering the network easier. Each IP address will allow TTI’s IT staff to identify if it belongs on the student or administrator network and what its physical campus location is. The chart below provides the details. HoustonHouston WestAustinDallasSan Antonio Student Network10. 1. 5. 0/2410. 1. 15. 0/2410. 1. 25. 0/2410. 1. 35. 0/2410. 1. 45. 0/24 Admin Network10. 1. 10. 0/2510. 1. 20. 0/2510. 1. 30. 0/2510. 1. 40. 0/2510. 1. 50. 0/25 Student Range10. 1. 5. 2 – 10. 1. 5. 25410. 1. 5. 2 – 10. 1. 15. 25410. 1. 25. 2 – 10. 1. 25. 254 10. 1. 35. 2 – 10. 1. 35. 25410. 1. 45. 2 – 10. 1. 45. 254 Admin Range10. 1. 10. 2 – 10. 1. 10. 12610. 1. 20. 2 – 10. 1. 20. 12610. 1. 30. 2 – 10. 1. 30. 12610. 1. 40. 2 – 10. 1. 40. 12610. 1. 50. 2 – 10. 1. 50. 126 Student Gateway10. 1. 5. 110. 1. 15. 110. 1. 25. 110. 1. 35. 110. 1. 45. 1 Admin Gateway10. 1. 10. 110. 1. 20. 110. 1. 30. 110. 1. 40. 110. 1. 50. 1 Student Broadcast10. 1. 5. 25510. 1. 15. 25510. 1. 25. 25510. 1. 35. 25510. 1. 45. 255 Admin Broadcast10. 1. 10. 12710. 1. 20. 12710. 1. 30. 12710. 1. 40. 2710. 1. 50. 127 Project Details Security Security planning for the internal and external TTI network should be as follows. †¢A nominal amount of training with the staff will have to be done with regards to physica l and logical security. †¢Logical security should be setup using the firewall for external use and ACL’s, managed switches, and password security for internal security. †¢Using monitoring programs to the benefit of the school and to see where problems may rise. †¢Monitoring tools for service availability and bandwidth management. oNagios oMRTG oEmail NotificationActive Directory Structure TTI. EDU Training and Maintenance Plan Once the project has been completed, Infinet will begin the training of Network and System Administrator personnel at each TTI location. The training will be for the length of 5 days from 8 A. M to 12 P. M. and 1 P. M. to 5 P. M. for a total of 40 hours. Each site will be trained simultaneously from Infinet’s design team. TTI’s IT staff will be trained on the router and switch configurations, IP addressing schemes, all servers and their configurations, troubleshooting techniques, and client node configurations.TTI will also be provided with contact information regarding their WAN connections. Once training has been completed a support period will begin. This support period will last for 10 business days, Monday through Friday. During this period TTI will be responsible for â€Å"digging† into their network to find any bugs or potential problems. Upon the discovery of any problem TTI can contact Infinet’s customer support to work out a resolution. All warranty information on hardware will be held by Infinet until the expiration of the support period at which time TTI will be solely responsible.One item to keep in mind is that although we will discontinue responsibility after the support period, Infinet is always willing to listen to clients’ problems and give suggestions to help the client reach a solution. Risk Analysis The following table addresses particular events that may delay the completion of the project. RiskImpactProbabilityResponse Late arrival of connectivity equipmentLH Push all servers to a â€Å"plug-n-play† state to minimize schedule interference. Cable interferenceHMLocate the source of interference and terminate it or insulate the cabling.Damaged server or wrong server hardwareMMSend equipment back and obtain new equipment Late arrival of serversMMSend equipment back and obtain new equipment ISP problemsMMDepending on response time of ISP, possibly find a new ISP. VPN connectivity problemsMMDiagnose the source and implement solution. Natural disasterHLResolution depends on the effects of the disaster. Sudden increase in the pricing of resourcesMLConsult with TTI. Perhaps find an alternative solution in the case of drastic changes. Poor attendance during training phaseMLHold multiple sessions or commute to certain locations for additional training if necessary.Complications when migrating existing dataMLPerform any conversions or third party support. SQL connectivity problemsMLDiagnose the source and implement solution. Wrong equipment o r damaged equipmentLMSend equipment back and obtain new equipment Backup Strategy Hardware: The Houston campus will house the main backup server. The type of device will be either Dell PowerVault 110T LTO-2-L, a tape drive solution, or Iomega StorCenter Pro 200d, a device that uses random access rather than sequential. The choice of device will be up to TTI. Each campus except for headquarters will use Bytecc 40GB 3. 5†³ LANDisk NAS for data backups.This networked attached storage device utilizes a 100-BaseTX networking interface and a Western Digital 40GB hard drive. Each campus will have a UPS system. The device we have selected, APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA, has an internal alarm, hot swappable batteries, connects via USB or serial, a 110 minute blackout run time, and a $150,000 lifetime equipment protection plan. Strategy: The main campus’ backup device will run a routine scheduled backup nightly that will pull the data from each individual NAS drive. Along with this data, it will backup Active Directory and the Microsoft Exchange email databases.These are items that we have deemed required for backup and any remaining items are to be discussed and implemented into the daily backup schedule. The latest copy of the data will be taken home by the administrator each day so that there is always an off-site duplicate of the backup. Cost Analysis Infinet has worked hard to make an effective solution for TTI. One difference that you will find with our company is that we prefer to provide our clients with options. In our costs proposal we have given TTI options such as the client workstations, backup solutions, and WAN connections.Each option has been analyzed and determined to fit TTI’s needs within the RFP we received. Infinet bids a range of $1,769,487. 96 to $2,425,751. 26 to give TTI the option to weigh their cost versus their needs. Infinet cannot determine what will be the best solution for TTI as it is TTI itself that knows what is best. If TT I has any suggestions regarding hardware, software, or WAN connections Infinet will be readily available to share ideas and work firmly to meet TTI’s demands as a customer. For exact details on the costs breakdown please refer to Appendix A and for hardware descriptions please see Appendix B.Appendix Appendix A: Cost Analysis Breakdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 Appendix B: Hardware†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦27 Appendix A – Cost Analysis Recommended Cost Sheet Hardware:Quantity:Unit Cost:Total Cost: Dimension 9150 Desktop1250$1,411. 30$1,764,125. 00 Cisco 7204 VXR1$3,958. 90$3,958. 90 PA-MC-8T1 (WIC)1$2,198. 90$2,198. 90 Cisco 2600 XM4$3,376. 99$13,507. 96 Dell PowerEdge 285011$3,291. 20$36,203. 20 Cisco Secure PIX 515E1$2,823. 70$2,823. 70 Cisco Cat alyst 2948G Switch40$4,677. 19$187,087. 56 NAS Network Attached Storage4$153. 99$615. 96 APC APWBR15005$383. 90$1,919. 50 23†³ Equipment Racks 5$143. 0$715. 00 REVStorCenter Pro 200d Series (HQ Backup Server)1$1,978. 90$1,978. 90 Total: $2,015,134. 57 Software:Quantity:Unit Cost:Total Cost: Server 2003 Enterprise CALS (25)2$571. 95$1,143. 89 Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (Open License)1$492. 80$492. 80 Total: $1,636. 69 WAN:Total Months:Monthly Cost:Total 5 Year Cost: 5 Year on T1 (Per Site)60$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year on T1 (Per Site)60$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year on T1 (Per Site)60$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year on T1 (Per Site)60$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year on T3 (Headquarters)60$825. 00$49,500. 00 Total Internet Cost: $254,100. 00Labor and Training:Hours:Rate:Total Cost: Team Member (5 Employees)1600$27. 50$44,000. 00 Hardware Technicians (24 Employees)3840$16. 50$63,360. 00 Software Technicians (24 Employees)2880$16. 50$47,520. 00 Total: $154,880. 00 Total Project Cost: $2,425,751. 26 Low Cost Sheet Hardware:Quantity:Unit Cost:Total Cost: Dimension 9150 Desktops1250$910. 80$1,138,500. 00 Cisco 7204 VXR1$3,958. 90$3,958. 90 PA-MC-8T1 (WIC)1$2,198. 90$2,198. 90 Dell PowerEdge 285011$3,291. 20$36,203. 20 Cisco Secure PIX 515E FireWall1$2,823. 70$2,823. 70 Cisco Catalyst 2948G Switch40$4,677. 19$187,087. 56 Cisco 2600XM4$3,376. 9$13,507. 96 NAS Network Attached Storage4$153. 99$615. 96 APC APWBR15005$383. 90$1,919. 50 23†³ Equipment Rack5$143. 00$715. 00 PowerVault 110T LTO-2-L(HQ Back-up Server)1$1,538. 90$1,538. 90 Total: $1,389,069. 57 Software:Quantity:Unit Cost:Total Cost: Server 2003 Enterprise CALS (25)2$571. 95$1,143. 89 Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (Open License)1$492. 80$492. 80 Total: $1,636. 69 WAN:Total Months:Monthly Cost:Total 5 Year Cost: 5 Year T160$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year T160$852. 50$51,150. 00 5 Year T160$852. 50$51,150. 00 ISDN60$852. 50$51,150. 00 Frame Relay (5PDC 5 Year)60$307. 40$18,443. 70Frame Relay Installation (Per Site)1$858. 00$858. 00 Total Internet Cost: $223,901. 70 Labor and Training:Hours:Hourly Rate:Total Cost: Team Member (5 Employees)1600$27. 50$44,000. 00 Hardware Technicians (24 Employees)3840$16. 50$63,360. 00 Software Technicians (24 Employees)2880$16. 50$47,520. 00 Total: $154,880. 00 Total Project Cost: $1,769,487. 96 Cost Options Breakdown Hardware OptionsPrice Selected Price ?Dimension 9150 Desktop (Upgraded)$1,764,125. 00 —–>+ oror ?Dimension 9150 Desktops$1,138,500. 00 —–>+ ?REVStorCenter Pro 200d Series (HQ Backup Server)$1,978. 90 —–>+ oror PowerVault 110T LTO-2-L (HQ Back-up Server)$1,538. 90 —–>+ Total: Internet OptionsPrice Selected Price ?Houston West T1 Connection$51,150. 00 —–>+ oror ?Houston West Frame Relay including Installation$19,301. 70 —–>+ ?Houston Headquarters T1 Connection$51,150. 00 —–>+ oror ?Houston Headquarters ISDN Connection$51,150. 00 —–>+ Total: Set Costs T otal Price Non-Optional Hardware—–>$249,030. 67 Other Campus' Internet Connections—–>$153,450. 00 Software—–>$1,636. 69 Labor—–>$154,880. 00 Set Costs Subtotal:$558,997. 36 Total Project Cost: Appendix B – Hardware Cisco PIX ® 515EThe Cisco PIX ® 515E Firewall is an enhanced version of the widely popular Cisco PIX 515 platform, providing industry-leading firewall and IP Security (IPSec) virtual private networking (VPN) services. Designed for small and medium businesses, as well as enterprise remote offices, the Cisco PIX 515E features increased processing power and integrated, hardware-based IPSec acceleration (certain models) delivering even more robust performance for high throughput security requirements. Performance Summary Cleartext throughput 188 Mbps 168-bit 3DES IPsec VPN throughput 63 Mbps Simultaneous VPN tunnels 2,000 Dimensions and Weight Height 1. 2 in. (4. 37 cm), 1 RU Width 16. 82 in. (42. 72 cm), Stan dard 19-in. rack mountable Depth 11. 8 in. (29. 97 cm) Weight (one power supply) ~ 11 lbs (4. 11 kg) Expansion PCI BUS Two 32-bit/33-MHz PCI Random Access Memory Two 168-pin DIMM slots (64 MB maximum supported by Cisco PIX OS) Dimension 9150 Processor: Pentium ® D Processor 940 with Dual Core Technology (3. 20GHz, 800FSB) Operating System: Genuine Windows ® XP Home Edition Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs Hard Drives: 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 16MB cache Optical Drive: Single Drive: 16x DVD+/-RW with double layer write capability Monitors:Free Upgrade from E196 Analog Flat Panel to 1907FP Digital Flat Panel Video Cards: 128MB PCI Expressâ„ ¢ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard Mouse: Dell ® 2-button USB mouse Dimension 9150 Processor: Pentium ® D Processor 805 w/Dual Core Technology (2. 660GHz,533FSB) Operating System: Genuine Windows ® XP Pro Memory: 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 5 33MHz – 2DIMMs Hard Drives: FREE UPGRADE! 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) Optical Drive: Single Drive: 48x CD-RW / DVD-ROM Combo Drive Monitors: Free Upgrade from E196 Analog Flat Panel to 1907FP Digital Flat Panel Video Cards: 28MB PCI Expressâ„ ¢ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory Dell Service ; Support Plans: 1 Year On-site Economy Plan Adobe Software: Adobe ® Acrobat ® Reader 6. 0 CISCO 7200 VXR SERIES ROUTER †¢ WAN edge-Award-winning quality-of-service (QoS) feature performance †¢ Broadband aggregation-Up to 16,000 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) sessions per chassis †¢ Multiprotocol Label Switching provider edge (MPLS PE)-Number one choice for provider edge deployment today †¢ Voice/video/data integration-Time-division multiplexer (TDM)-enabled VXR chassis and voice port adapters †¢ IP-to-IP Gateway Support-Direct IP-interconnections IP Security virtual private networking (IPSec VPN)-Scalable to 5,000 tunnels per chas sis †¢ High-End Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)-For managed WAN services saving equipment, transport and administrative cost The Cisco 7200 VXR addresses these solution requirements by integrating functions previously performed by separate devices into a single platform. Through this integration, the Cisco 7200 VXR provides a single, cost-effective platform that supports: †¢ High-density LAN and WAN interfaces Broadband subscriber services aggregation, including PPP, RFC 1483 termination, and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) tunneling †¢ Digital T1/E1 TDM trunk termination for voice, video, and data †¢ High-density multichannel T3/E3 and T1/E1 with integrated channel service unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU) †¢ ATM, Packet over SONET (POS), and Dynamic Packet Transport (DPT) connectivity †¢ ATM IMA (Inverse Multiplexing over ATM) for voice, video, and data †¢ Direct IBM mainframe channel connectivity †¢ Light-density Layer 2 Ethernet switchi ng PowerEdge 2850:Processor: Intel ® Xeonâ„ ¢ Processor at 2. 8GHz/2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB Additional Processor: Single Processor only Memory: 1GB DDR2 400MHz (2X512MB), Single Ranked DIMMs Chassis Configuration: No Rails Included Operating System: Windows Server ® 2003 R2, Standard Edition, Includes 5 CALs Hard Drive Configuration: Drives attached to embedded SCSI controller, No RAID Riser Card: Riser with PCI-X Support and Embedded Raid (ROMB) Support Hard Drive Backplane: 1Ãâ€"6 Hard Drive Backplane,PE2850 Bezel: Active ID Bezel Option Primary Hard Drive: 73GB 10K RPM Ultra 320 SCSI Hard DriveNetwork Adapter: Dual On-Board NICs CD/DVD Drive: 24X IDE CD-ROM Power Supply: Non-Redundant Power Supply Tape Backup Software: CommVault 1-Touch Recovery Client License Key Documentation: Electronic Documentation and OpenManage CD Kit Hardware Support Services: 3Yr BASIC NBD: L1 Hardware Queue, Next Business Day Onsite, M-F 8am-6pm Catalyst 2948G The Catalyst 2948G is a dedicated Ethe rnet switch featuring high-performance Layer 2 switching for the wiring closet, with low cost per port and advanced and proven software capable of supporting a wide variety of switching features.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Leadership Imperatives in the Arab-American University Essay

Leadership in a school of higher and advanced learning such as the Arab-American University requires collaborative and confrontational challenges with a number of issues, typical but not limited to that of any educational institution. Such issues as cultural diversity, inclusivity, intellectual activities such as research and instruction, social involvements such as community extension services, students affairs, finance, marketing, strategic business models, organizational theories, profitability and shareholder value, political and social congruencies and differences, among others, often create deep chasms to and between the various school sectors that are ironically bound by a common purpose – quality education. This is made more demanding when Arab and American views are integrated in a single community. What unique leadership and management model therefore would apply under such a sensitive configuration? What risk management intervention would constantly prevail? What residual risks or synergy, if any, would be evident? Leadership and management in an educational institution are perhaps among the most formal, sensitive and confrontational roles a professional can assume. Business organizations established for profit are far easier managed and led as there is that environment and mandate of compliance required of every employee based on employment contracts and agreements. This compliance system gives the manager the elbow room to adopt an organizational approach under a theory x or y scenario. Admittedly, discipline under an entrepreneurial undertaking is demanded primarily to meet shareholder value targets and for survival secondarily. Universities are considered more complex than most organizational systems as they demand the most professional processes than any other institution. Schools are assumed to be the fount and cradle of learning, hence a strong exemplary modeling of instructors and administrators are always the subject of intensive scrutiny among other sectors. Would this university therefore require a business-like management style or an organization leadership mix that is as fluid as the socio-cultural and political dimensions? . In an age where socio-cultural and political diversities are characterized with the widest spectra and extremes, the establishment of an Arab-American intellectual Mecca can be expected to require the most intense professional and socio-cultural leadership anywhere. This study would be interested in identifying areas of collaboration while addressing confrontational issues and risks along the process. Similarly, the relevance of this study along multicultural settings in complex and diverse forms and in highly professional environment would transcend, even revolutionize all assumptions, hypothesis and even all forms of propositions about multicultural biases. Brief history of the Arab-American University The Arab-American University (AAU) was established in 1973 as non-sectarian, non-profit and non-government institution of higher learning. Its primary purpose is to address the educational needs of Arab-Americans starting from preschool to basic, secondary, higher education, to graduate and post-graduate levels. Among its goals and objectives include providing full scholarships to families of indigent but intellectually capable members of the Arab-American community in a specific area with a relatively high density of Arab-American families. While the university accepts Muslim students, it also caters to students from other religious and cultural denominations and groups.. The university is primarily a combination of a business college strongly oriented towards information technology and engineering courses, both technical and baccalaureate degrees. The university is composed of seven schools: the Schools of Business Management, Hospitality Management, Accountancy, Nursing and Midwifery, Medicine, Arts, Political and the Social Sciences, Polytechnic Institute composed of the Departments of Architecture, Computer Science, Electronic Communications Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Fine Arts, its flagship programs includes Accountancy where it ranks among the top 50 business schools in the United States, Electronics Communications Engineering, Nursing, Hospitality Management and Mechanical Engineering. All seven schools are verticalized with their respective graduate schools. As of the year 2008, the university boasted a population of 30,000 highly selected students and scholars from 25 states and 15 countries mostly from the Middle East and Asian countries. Its student population increases by an average of 15 per cent and expected to hit 50,000 by 2012. Presently, it maintains two campuses – the Chicago and Urbana Campuses, each with its own charter and separate sets of faculty. All courses are offered in both campuses. For the last three years, AAU has garnered a number of academic awards, including twelve top researches awards in Accountancy, Computer Sciences, Nursing, Electronic Communications Engineering Awards. As of December 31, 2008, the school started to become consistent in its passing rate for the Accountancy, Nursing and Engineering courses all averaging about 80 per cent against the national norm of 40 per cent. For nursing, AAU has started to register a 100 per cent passing rate in the Nursing Board Examinations. All colleges and schools in the university are headed by a Dean of the College and are assisted by a Vice Dean with a pool of Academic Chairs for each of the courses or majors within the college. A Faculty secretary is the administrative officer of each college or school and must be a holder of a doctor’s degree in any of the courses in the college where he or she is assigned. The faculty secretary is the point person of every college but maintains a built-in six units of academic load in addition to his full-time administrative work. The university boasts of complete state of the art facilities for all of its laboratory classes including its basic education department. Its library is one of the most complete, up-to-date libraries in the world with the most comprehensive collection of traditional and electronic materials. During the last five years, the university has been the recipient of awards for excellence in community involvement and extension services. Its research center laboratory enjoys an endowment fund from where it trains and maintains its pool of researchers from the ranks of the faculty. Leadership Efficiency and Effectiveness and the primary key concepts adopted in the university Just like any school of advanced learning, the university is a complex organization that adheres to the mission, vision, goals and objectives it has demanded from itself and its academic and non-academic employees the highest standards of professionalism, responsiveness, community involvement, strong, visible and dynamic research-orientations and the disciplinary but compassionate relationship maintained with the students of all levels. To be effective and efficient, the university periodically asserted its need to formalize and communicate its strategic, tactical and operational plan in the same other successful organizations do. (Robbins, 2003). Looking ahead and beyond the current situations in the industry, (in this case the education sector) brings uncertainties and risks into the open and allows the organization a clear means of managing, confronting and even avoiding those uncertainties and risks. (Shaw,2003). The university makes sure that it conducts its strategic planning session annually before the onset of the succeeding year in time for translating the strategic level into the tactical component as well as operationalizing the tactical level. (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2001). Similarly, AAU never fails to conduct an evaluation and assessment of its preset plans as means of determining where it is and what constraining and enabling factors it is experiencing. (Atkinson et al, 2003). This evaluation additionally renders the university an effective means of addressing change (Koller as cited by Robbins, 2003). These planning and change management processes articulates AAUs assertion of leadership under inherent socio-cultural complexities through clear visioning and communication initiatives to all its stakeholders that for many years, have been encouraged to actively participate in the planning sessions. This has greatly contributed to the overwhelming atmosphere of professionalism in the university. The senior administrators of AAU may not have formal training on complexity management, but their organizational leadership styles enable the attainment of an enviable cohesiveness as a team with a common purpose of being; that of addressing ignorance and mediocrity where they are needed. AAU’s uniqueness stems from its capability to harness its management with the leadership character to instill regulatory and policy compliance without having to assert authority and power in between (House cited by Robbins, 2003). It is surprising that even under intense pressure to compete and manage the scarce resources provided endowment; the AAU is able to integrate the sensitive and complex balance scorecard approach in its strategic decision making. (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). The university attributes this success factor on its priority for choosing its leaders under the trait theory that focuses on the personal qualities along charisma, exemplary modeling, attitude, enthusiasm and even personal traits common to both cultures as courage and determination. (Robbins,2003). Despite rigorous studies on identifying leadership traits for its management, supervisory and staff positions, the university correlates traits such as drive and ambition, integrity which includes honesty and sincerity, competence along knowledge and skills and even sense of sacrifice. (Robbins,2003). The university however, continues to experience a dearth of this type of managers with the leadership dimension due to the expansion and establishment of similar institutions outside of the United States. Thus, aware of this constraint, AAU emphasizes its executive and management development training programs to prepare the transition of its key people towards the great demand for exemplary modeling (DelaTorre, 2006); that is, managers and leaders who took initiatives to address the personal needs of the employees as means of making them more productive in the process. (Robbins, 2003). The university seldom experiences the risks of the groupthink factor (Shafritz & Ott on Janis,1992) as it respects the need for all decision makers to be extremely knowledgeable and skilled in the decision making processes. Being a part of its strategic objectives, the annual development programs encourage AAU employees to be continuously motivated, through the behavioral theory approach, effectively deciding as a team in addressing organizational objectives. This motivational drive expands the employees horizons and capabilities towards job satisfaction and sustainable learning and growth of its human capital (Kaplan & Norton, 2003). As a result, AAU has achieved in just 25 years what other universities tried to accomplish in a century and under the most challenging multicultural scenarios. On one hand, the leadership and management mix being adopted in the university guarantees and assure empowerment of units and people towards autonomy and self-regulation. This is granted after intensive training on decision making and university processes that includes appreciation and utilization of marketing researches and theories in support of policy formulation and implementation. The immense authorities and power given especially to the respective heads of offices, primarily the Deans of Colleges and Schools, are always tempered with management control systems to guide all decisions towards achievement of goals every inch of the way. The resultant good governance, control and transparency outcomes of this empowerment initiatives unburdens the senior management with operational concerns, thus allowing this level a clear focus on the strategic direction of the university and strengthening its social and political influence through good governance and risk management processes (Shaw,2003) On the other hand, the administrative efficiency has been excellently adopted through specialization and responsibility accounting that enables units to address issues at every level strengthening the span of control while focusing tasks towards a specific class of clients, concerns and even the university campus designated purposely for the educational services. (Shafrits & Ott on Simon, 1992). The leadership styles and practices exercised by the AAU stakeholder group are creating new levels of efficiency and effectiveness in the hierarchy and creating precedents as well as new theories to emerge in the realm of university value-based (Koller, 1994) management and organizational leadership. These new learning and growth perspectives have revolutionized the balanced scorecard (Horngren et al, 2000) and stakeholder principles (DelaTorre, 2006) with an exemplary mix of leadership innovations. Despite the control risks that mix might be spawned by the staff turnovers experienced during the last few years, the university has maintained a loyalty index of more than ten years among its people. This is a sustainability plus factor in human resource management of the school. Other key principles and concepts adopted In the area of instruction, research and extension services for example, excellence in the classroom is primarily driven by a strongly motivated select members of the faculty pool whose training and development focus is based on aligning the needs of the teachers with the needs of the university. This congruency theory in objectives (DelaTorre, 2006) allows for mutual and beneficial relationship between faculty providers and students. The intervention theory (Shafrits & Ott on Argyris, 1992) in organizations demands a strong psychotherapy approach (Rogers & Roethlisberger, 2000) to communications. The theory presupposes the presence of a special relationship between people to enable openness and transparency among constituents. Teachers display this practice in terms of open and complementary student advising and counseling sessions not only as part of the intervention process but a critical part of the formation process in education. Students need and demand attention in the form of interventions especially in difficult and complex scenarios they find themselves in the process of earning a degree. Thus this psychotherapy theory helps in providing a strong motivational environment in the classroom opens avenues for students to be creative and enthusiastic about their career plans. Secondarily, this special attention given to student clientele becomes a strong promotional and marketing tool for the university in attracting students even from those school already established. The need for any intensive advertising and marketing efforts to project the identity of the schools are addressed by the students themselves who become informal marketing and testimonial proofs of quality education. This has expanded the market of the university even to those non-Arab-Americans who appreciate the philosophy that the school articulates and manifests through its graduates. Managing and leading a university in the current socio-economic environment becomes problematic even under the various principles of organization (Shafritz and Ott on Cohen and March, 1992). These anarchic ambiguities of purpose, power, experience and success can render even the most competent university president to fail in some circumstances in due time. Thus the management and organizational leadership mix is both critical and mandatory. This allows the president to grab the appropriate management and leadership tool at a given situation and scenario and exert and even allow certain precedent-setting decisions to effect changes with the least minimum resistance or optimum cooperation. Thus, inability along this line runs the risk of getting confused with his leadership character or manager authority or some hybrid in between. For AAU, the consultation process with the constituents and stakeholders becomes the medium by which decision critical to every office head’s functions are articulated. This explores the best idea possible while addressing and dissipating potential resistance to any innovations and measures not easily understood or appreciated.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Juergen Habermas

Juergen Habermas Best Known For:    A philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism.His theory on the concepts of â€Å"communicative rationality† and the â€Å"public sphere.†His work on the concept of modernity.    Birth: Jà ¼rgen Habermas was born June 18, 1929. He is still living. Early Life: Habermas was born in Dusseldorf, Germany and grew up in the postwar era. He was in his early teens during World War II and was profoundly affected by the war. He had served in the Hitler Youth and had been sent to defend the western front during the final months of the war. Following the Nuremberg Trials, Habermas had a political awakening in which he realized the depth of Germany’s moral and political failure. This realization had a lasting impact on his philosophy in which he was strongly against such politically criminal behavior. Education: Habermas studied at the University of Gottingen and the University of Bonn. He earned a doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of Bonn in 1954 with a dissertation written on the conflict between the absolute and history in Schelling’s thought. He then went on to study philosophy and sociology at the Institute for Social Research under critical theorists Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno and is consider a member of the Frankfurt School. Early Career: In 1961, Habermas became a private lecturer in Marburg. The following year he accepted the position of â€Å"extraordinary professor† of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. That same year, Habermas gained serious public attention in Germany for his first book Structural Transformation and the Public Sphere in which he detailed the social history of the development of the bourgeois public sphere. His political interests subsequently led him to conduct a series of philosophical studies and critical-social analyses that eventually appeared in his books Toward a Rational Society (1970) and Theory and Practice (1973). Career and Retirement: In 1964, Habermas became the chair of philosophy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt am Main. He remained there until 1971 in which he accepted a directorship at the Max Planck Institute in Starnberg. In 1983, Habermas returned to the University of Frankfurt and remained there until he retired in 1994. Throughout his career, Habermas embraced the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, which views contemporary Western society as maintaining a problematic conception of rationality that is destructive in its impulse toward domination. His primary contribution to philosophy, however, is the development of a theory of rationality, a common element seen throughout his work. Habermas believes that the ability to use logic and analysis, or rationality, goes beyond the strategic calculation of how to achieve a certain goal. He stresses the importance of having an â€Å"ideal speech situation† in which people are able to raise moral and political concerns and defend them by rationality alone. This concept of the ideal speech situation was discussed and elaborated on in his 1981 book The Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas has gained a great deal of respect as a teacher and mentor for many theorists in political sociology, social theory, and social philosophy. Since his retirement from teaching he has continued to be an active thinker and writer. He is currently ranked as one of the most influential philosophers in the world and is a prominent figure in Germany as a public intellectual, often commenting on controversial issue of the day in German newspapers. In 2007, Habermas was listed as the 7th most-cited author in the humanities by . Major Publications: Structural Transformation and the Public Sphere (1962)Theory and Practice (1963)Knowledge and Human Interests (1968)Towards a Rational Society (1970)Legitimation Crisis (1973)Communication and the Evolution of Society (1979) References Jurgen Habermas - Biography. (2010). The European Graduate School. egs.edu/library/juergen-habermas/biography/ Johnson, A. (1995). The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Discover The Cuban Swimmer, a Play by Milcha Sanchez-Scott

Discover The Cuban Swimmer, a Play by Milcha Sanchez-Scott The Cuban Swimmer is a one-act family drama with spiritual and surrealistic overtones by the American playwright  Milcha  Sanchez-Scott. This experimental play can be a creative challenge to stage because of its unusual setting and bilingual script. But it also presents actors and directors with an opportunity to explore identity and relationships in modern California culture. Synopsis As the play begins, 19-year-old Margarita Suarez is swimming from Long Beach to Catalina Island. Her Cuban-American family follows along in a boat. Throughout the competition (the Wrigley Invitational Women’s Swim), her father coaches, her brother cracks jokes to hide his jealousy, her mother frets, and her grandmother yells at the news helicopters. All the while, Margarita pushes herself onward. She battles the currents, the oil slicks, the exhaustion, and the family’s constant distractions. Most of all, she battles herself. Theme Most of the dialogue within â€Å"The Cuban Swimmer† is written in English. Some of the lines, however, are delivered in Spanish. The grandmother, in particular, speaks mostly in her native tongue. The switching back and forth between the two languages exemplifies the two worlds which Margarita belongs to, the Latino and the American. As she struggles to win the competition, Margarita tries to fulfill the expectations of her father as well as the crass American media (the news anchormen and the television viewers). However, by the play’s end, when she drifts beneath the surface when her family and the newscasters believe that she has drowned, Margarita separates herself from all outside influences. She discovers who she is, and she saves her life (and wins the race) independently. By almost losing herself in the ocean, she discovers who she truly is. The themes of cultural identity, especially Latino culture in Southern California, are common in all of Sanchez-Scotts works. As she told an interviewer in 1989: My parents came to California to settle, and the Chicano culture there was so different to me, very, very different from Mexico or where I came from [in Colombia]. Yet there were similarities: we spoke the same language; we had the same skin color; we had the same interaction with culture. Staging  Challenges As mentioned in the overview, there are many complicated, almost cinematic elements within  Sanchez-Scott’s The Cuban Swimmer. The main character is â€Å"swimming† the entire time. How would you, as a director, portray this action on stage?Margarita’s family puts along on a boat. How would you convey this? With a set? Pantomime?Helicopters and news commentators â€Å"interfere† with the characters. In what ways could sound effects enhance or sully the play? The Playwright Milcha  Sanchez-Scott was born in Bali, Indonesia, in 1953, to a Colombian-Mexican father and an Indonesian-Chinese mother. Her father, a botanist, later took the family to Mexico and Great Britain before settling in San Diego when  Sanchez-Scott was 14. After attending the University of California-San Diego, where she majored in drama, Sanchez-Scott moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Frustrated by a dearth of roles for Hispanic and Chicano actors, she turned to playwriting, and in 1980 she published her first play, Latina. Sanchez-Scott followed the success of Latina with several other plays in the 1980s. The Cuban Swimmer was first performed in 1984 with another one-act play of hers, Dog Lady. Roosters followed in 1987 and Stone Wedding in 1988. In the 1990s,  Milcha  Sanchez-Scott largely withdrew from the public eye, and little is known of her in recent years. Sources Bouknight, Jon. Language as a Cure: An Interview with Milcha Sanchez-Scott. Latin American Theatre Review, Spring 1990.Mitgang, Herbert. Theater: Dog Lady and Swimmer. The New York Times, 10 May 1984.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Major Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Major Project - Essay Example The leadership of the organization has to pronounce their promise to support the safety programs boldly. Policies of the organization regarding safety and health management should address issues relating to the purpose of having a health safety programs. Measures are taken to safeguard the employees in the workplace and policies that protect the health and safety of an employee. The input of the worker in coming up with safety and health measures is very vital because their interests will be for because the policies affect them directly (OSHA, 2013). XYZ Company needs to form a special task force that should be the responsibility of investigating accidents in the workplace. The composition of the team should include representatives from the different departments in the organization to ensure theirs equal representation. Proper investigations should be on health and safety issues monthly reports should be done to evaluate made in addressing safety and health issues. Through such a taskforce, cases that deserve compensation will be in time hence avoiding legal lawsuits that seem to have drained the company’s revenues in the 2013 financial year (OSHA, 2013). It is prudent that the organization identifies high-risk zones within an organization and caution employees in advance. Some areas in the organization can be classified as high-risk zones because they pose severe threats to the health and safety of employees. It is important to create awareness amongst employees and discourage them from accessing such areas unnecessarily without getting prior permission. Training employees who operate in the danger zones is very essential because it offers them skills that can help them avoid accidents. When a hazard is in advance, it becomes simple to come up with measures that can be used to control them and lessen the severity of

Friday, November 1, 2019

Deming's 14 points of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Deming's 14 points of Management - Essay Example All these changes point to standardisation across the board for athletics coaches and athletes, and it is this standardisation which leads to the processes associated with quality. Total Quality Management is management philosophy that has been adopted and applied to various sectors of industry. Its popularity stemmed from the highly efficient and highly productive systems that most Japanese organisations used, for example, the Toyota and Nissan car plants in the United Kingdom. Total Quality Management was first introduced by Feigenbaum in 1957, but this notion has recently been developed further by incorporating ideas from other quality experts, for example, W.E. Deming (Slack 1998). Deming was considered to be the father of quality control in Japan as he stressed the importance of implementing quality from top management levels and ensuring it was a strategic activity. Deming's basic philosophy was that the quality and productivity would increase as the unpredictability of the process decreased. This was to be achieved through the use of statistical control methods, participation, education, openness and purposeful improvements (Slack 1998). Total Quality Management is basically a way of thinking and working in an organisation and is not a prescriptive philosophy, as it provides guidance on how to approach quality in an organisation. In fact Total Quality Management stresses the need to meet the needs and expectations of the customers, which is important as organisations exist to serve customers. For instance, in the sports establishment, athletes will often select facilities and coaches they think will provide a quality service in terms of advice, guidance and helping them reach their full potential. TQM must also cover all parts of the organisation and include every person working in that organisation as well. TQM is a holistic system, and is not dependent on just one or a few individuals, but on all individuals. Successful athletics coaches often have a highly developed and highly efficient management system behind them that monitors and assesses their performance. This assessment constantly assesses quality by setti ng benchmarks which the coaches have to meet or exceed. A TQM system also examines all costs related to quality, but more importantly it looks at the cost of failure. By looking at failure, an organisation is able to analyse the situation and identify the problem. It is quite easy to overlook quality if no records of failures are present, as an organisation always tends to get complacent. Emphasis is placed on getting things right the first time, but building in quality as opposed to inspecting it. This is important as there are situations where organisations cannot afford to get things wrong due to the cost involved, for example, space travel. This is also an important point to consider in athletics as athletes often have optimum ages were peak performance can be expected. The failure of recognising this and capitalising on it can result in a lost opportunity for both the athlete and the coach. The success of the TQM system is highly dependent on the development of systems and proc edures that support quality and improvement as this philosophy is about developing a continuous process of improvement