Performance Measurement Essay Example

Performance Measurement Essay The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0263-7472. htm Performance measurement in facilities management: driving innovation? Michael Pitt and Matthew Tucker School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to examine the state of knowledge of performance measurement in facilities management, in particular regarding the concepts underlying benchmarking in relation to its ability to drive innovation in the industry. Design/methodology/approach – An evaluation of the key issues surrounding performance measurement and the effective application of benchmarking systems are examined, exploring the possibility of applying a benchmarking technique to measure facilities performance. Findings – The paper suggests that a fully developed performance measurement solution via effective benchmarking can deliver as a business tool in facilities management (FM), whilst acting as a driver in the innovation process. Practical implications – With the nature of performance measurement having changed over the past few decades, the paper acts as a catalyst to how performance measurement systems and techniques operate within FM and stimulate innovation. Originality/value – By adopting the notion of innovation to performance measurement, the paper highlights new areas of thought to facilities management and how performance measurement is strategically applied to the industry. Keywords Performance measures, Benchmarking, Facilities, Innovation Paper type Research paper We will write a custom essay sample on Performance Measurement specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Performance Measurement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Performance Measurement specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Performance measurement in FM 241 Received October 2005 Revised August 2007 Accepted May 2008 Introduction Performance measurement is an area to which companies have paid much attention recently. Performance is regarded as a major competitive issue (Tran? eld and Akhaghi, 1995). In facilities management (FM), there is a wide range of choices in measuring FM performance, re? ecting the varied nature of the ? eld. The focus on FM skills and techniques should be in the areas that contribute to the overall management of a business, ? nancial and ersonal criteria (Barrett, 1992). This paper aims to review the state of knowledge of performance measurement in FM and seeks to explore how measuring service performance is linked to innovation processes within the organisation. Benchmarking is a key performance measurement tool that allows organisations to achieve added value and â€Å"superior performance† (Camp, 1989). The discussion focuses on the proposition of adopting benchmarking techniques in measuring facilities performance, driving a framework of an FM performance measurement solution. It is important to stress however that by researching such an approach, with the emphasis on benchmarking, it does not contend that benchmarking should be the only performance instrument implemented to organisational performance measurement Property Management Vol. 26 No. 4, 2008 pp. 241-254 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-7472 DOI 10. 1108/02637470810894885 PM 26,4 systems. It merely identi? es the importance of benchmarking as a stimulant to achieving innovation in performance measurement. Facilities management overview FM is a relatively new discipline. It has developed since around 1978 where the Herman Miller Corporation, the worlds leading furniture manufacturer, staged a conference on â€Å"Facilities Impact on Productivity†. This might be seen as the beginning of FM. FM as a discipline emerged out of practice, just as the great established professions. It emerged with the integration of three main strands of activity: property management, property operations and maintenance and of? ce administration (Kincaid, 1994). More signi? antly it established a focus on the management and delivery of the business â€Å"outputs† of both of these entities; namely the productive use of building assets as workplaces (Varcoe, 2000). The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) adopt the following de? nition, â€Å"the practise of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of th e organisation: it integrates the principles of business administration/architecture/behaviour/ engineering science† (US Library of Congress). FM can be de? ned as the integration and alignment of the non-core ervices, including those relating to premises, required to operate and maintain a business to fully support the core objectives of the organisation. Over the years, FM has been growing as a business ? eld and also as a scienti? c discipline, slowly ? nding and anchoring its position among organisations’ business processes. Nowadays, the dedication of FM organisations to new developments and continuous innovation processes seems to be the way to stay in business, constantly exceeding customers’ expectations and adding value to the core business of the client organisation (Mudrak et al. , 2004). Performance measurement principles and revolution The traditional view determined by Teague and Eilon (1973) of performance measurement is that it has three broad purposes: (1) to ensure the achievement of goals and objectives; (2) to evaluate, control and improve procedures and processes; and (3) to compare and assess the performance of different organisations, teams and individuals. An early attempt at developing ? nancial measures was made by Du Pont (Walters, 1997). Du Pont is widely acknowledged as being the founder of ? nancial performance measurement, by introducing a pyramid of ? ancial ratios as early as 1903. However, in the late 1970s and 1980s, numerous authors expressed a general dissatisfaction with traditional backward looking or lag accounting based performance measurement systems. In the 1990s, attention on performance measurement shifted to quality and consumer satisfaction. A broader conceptualisation of business performance emerged, as the emphasis on operational performance (i. e. non-? nancial performance) was added to indicators to measure business performance (Venkatraman and Ramanujam, 1986). 42 Traditionally the use of ? nancial indicators has determined the way in which businesses operate – if the cost is low, and the pro? t is high then they are happy. With the considerable in? uence of the changing business marketplace however, this philosophy is no longer sustainable, and the emergence of non-? nancial or qualitative indicators, speci? cally focused on process, structure and change, instead of traditional cost, pro? t, and output, has drastically changed the way in which businesses perceive performance. Drucker (1993) described traditional measures as not adequate for business evaluation and fail to meet new business needs as they are lagging indicators. By this, they mean that traditional indicators are not able to provide real time performance, they are always set on past periods. This was reiterated by Varcoe (1996) terming traditional indicators as being â€Å"past their sell by date†. Kaplan and Norton (1996) contended that â€Å"companies were in the midst of a revolutionary transformation† as they shifted from industrial age competition to information age competition. By this, they urged that it was no longer feasible to gain â€Å"competitive advantage† within business merely through the deployment of new technology (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). To this, a shift has occurred, as Kaplan and Norton (2001) claim that ? nancial measures are historical in nature, they report only on outcomes and the consequences of past actions. Amartunga and Baldry (2003) summarised the views advanced in the debate on traditional performance measurement as follows: . Criticism of traditional management control (Brown and Laverick, 1994; Stone, 1996; Letza, 1996; Rangone, 1997; Neely, 1998). Need to represent non-? nancial measures (Olve et al. , 1999; Ernst Young, 1998). . Lack of prescription on how to implement the measures (Olve et al. , 1999; McFadzean, 1995). . Lack of strategic focus (Hally, 1994). The debate and the criticism on traditional performance measurement show that ? nancial performance measures are not a solution to the measurement of business p erformance. Therefore the principles of performance measurement become revolution, as contemporary ideas and practices of how to strategically measure business performance change. For Nani et al. (1990) performance measurement systems were developed as a means of monitoring and maintaining organisational control: Organisational control may be de? ned as the process of ensuring that an organisation pursues strategies that lead to the achievement of overall goals and objectives. Performance measurement in FM 243 Hronec’s (1993) work emphasises this, de? ning performance measures as a vital sign of the organisation, showing how well activities within a process or the outputs of a process achieve a speci? c goal. According to Zairi (1994) performance measurement is the systematic assignment of a number of activities. Kanter (1995) claims that in today’s dynamic business environment the emphasis has shifted to the â€Å"three C’s† – concepts, competence, and connections, which drives from investments in innovation, education and collaboration. As cited in Wilson (2000), the roles of performance measurement have been intertwined with the premise that organisations achieve PM 26,4 244 success (meet their objectives) by delivering services with greater ef? ciency and effectiveness than their competitors (Ghobadian and Ashworth, 1994). Further themes emerging in contemporary academic literature that relate to adding value to performance measurement systems have been determined and analysed by Wilson (2000). The themes are: . Measurement for improvement, which states that measurement systems are service functions and only have the right to exist if they add value to the organisation (Van Schalkwyk, 1998). . The integration of broad measures, which see the challenge for performance measurement systems as being the ability to balance multiple measures (i. e. cost, quality and time) across multiple levels (i. e. he organisation, the process and the people) (Hronec, 1993). . Clear communication and dissemination, where, if information is poorly presented, it may be misunderstood, poorly assimilated or at the extreme completely ignored (Harvey, 1984). Research by Amartunga and Baldry (2003) described performance measurement as a process of assessing progress towards achieving pre-determined goals, including information o n the ef? ciency by which resources are transformed into goods and services, the quality of these outputs and outcomes, and the effectiveness of organisational objectives. Therefore, the basic foundations of performance measurement are the quali? cations of elements, which impact on organisational objectives, management control and evaluation. Fitzgerald et al. (1991) examined performance measurement in service businesses. They highlighted the complexity of measuring performance within the service sector, as opposed to that of the manufacturing sector, as services are intangible in nature. For example, Fitzgerald et al. (1991) talk about air travel where there are many intangible factors such as the helpfulness of the cabin crew, but also more tangible factors, such as the measure of luggage with passengers. Fitzgerald et al. (1991) contended therefore that â€Å"a range of measures† is required, which act as a â€Å"contingency theory† to the uniqueness of performance measurement within the service sector. Fitzgerald et al. (1991) stressed however that the selection of a range of performance measures should be made according to the strategic intentions of the organisation. What this means in essence is that measures should have a balance so that one dimension is not dominating the performance system and consequently skewing the strategic goals of the organisation. Facilities performance and innovation The objectives and roles of performance measurement to achieve organisation goals have been expounded as FM is growing and enhancing into this business. However, as business performance becomes revolution, the need for learning, growth, and innovation becomes crucial. There are as many de? nitions of innovation as there are of FM. Innovation can be de? ned as a continuous process of bringing new ideas into practical uses (Tidd et al. , 2001). A broad de? nition as cited in Mudrak et al. 2004) is that innovation is: a management process, involving multiple activities, performed by multiple actors from one or several organisations, during which new combinations of means and/or ends, which are new for creating and/or adopting a unit, are developed and/or produced and/or implemented and/or transferred to old and/or new market-partners. Performance measurement in FM 245 According to Tidd et al. (2001) the innovation processes in product and service de velopment are similar in principle; however, they vary in speci? routines and activities performed, by which the innovation processes are enabled. One of the more common debates concerning the de? nition of innovation asks whether innovation should be regarded as a process or a discrete event (Cooper, 1998). Either a process or discrete event, innovation is a synergised element to organisation growth and competition in the market. According to Cooper (1998) understanding of learning processes is a key requirement for the facilitation and optimisation of improvement and innovation in business processes. By understanding and optimising learning processes, managers in organisations will be able to achieve behavioural change leading to performance measurement. With respect to performance measurement and the innovation process in organisations’ it shows that performance measurement is the driver. Buckler (1998) explained the link between learning and performance improvement and stated that by understanding and optimising learning process, managers will be able to achieve behaviour change leading to performance improvement (Figure 1). Therefore the growth in performance measurement within the FM discipline seems to relate and directly impact on the organisations performance and actual innovation of that performance. Facilities performance measurement The focus of facilities management skills and techniques should be in the area that contributes to the overall management of a business by relating accommodation and support infrastructure issues to business, ? nancial and personal criteria (Barrett, 1992). Therefore the issue of measuring facility performance is a critical task to the facilities manager. However, why should FM organisations want to measure performance? From a classical management perspective there is a need to assess performance in order to guide management decision-making, and as FM is a subset of general management, performance measurement applies to management in the FM context (Amaratunga et al. , 2000). Further, performance measurement is a driver to an innovation process in an organisation. Alexander (1996) identi? es measurement of performance as one of the â€Å"three essential issues for the effective implementation of a facilities strategy†. Thus Figure 1. The link between learning and performance improvement PM 26,4 246 performance measurement has become increasingly important both for reasons of justi? cation to general management and to support management and practise within FM organisations. The measurement of facilities has three main components, namely, physical, functional, and ? nancial (Williams, 1996). Physical performance relates to the behaviour of the building fabric and embraces physical properties such as structural integrity, heating, lighting, energy ef? ciency, maintainability, and durability. Functional performance concerns the relationship of the building with its occupiers and embraces issues such as space, layout, ergonomics, image, ambience, communication, health and safety, and ? exibility. Finally, ? nancial performance arises from the physical and functional performances of the building and comprises capital and recurrent (life-cycle) expenditures, depreciation and ef? ciency of use etc. According to Amartunga and Baldry (2003), the contribution made by FM will be judged by organisations’ stakeholders over a wide range of performance criteria, including the hard metrics of ? ance and economics. FM is seen to be able to contribute to the performance of an organisation in many ways, including strategy, culture, control of resources, service delivery, supply chain management, and perhaps most importantly, the management of change. Quality, value and the management of risk also emerge as signi? cant factors. Thus it is important to have systems to measure the ef fect of the FM functions on an organisations core business, together with systems to measure FM’s own performance. There is a wide range of choices in measuring FM performance re? ecting the varied nature of the ? eld, and is regarded as a major competitive issue (Kincaid, 1994). Facilities managers must understand the nature and the business of the organisation and their work process in order to derive the effective and ef? cient measurement tools. Besides this, the facilities manager may also have to clarify the purposes of measurement before deciding on the technique to be applied for assessing facilities management performance. Measuring facilities performance: a practical insight The key determinant in achieving effective performance measurement is to view FM strategically, where FM is aligned to support the core objectives of the organisation. To exemplify how this may operate practically, let us take one element of FM, the reception service. The reception service is at the front-line of the business. Often it is the ? rst service that the customer comes in contact with, and consequently has a signi? cant impact on their initial perception of the organisation. One could assume therefore that the most ef? ient method to measure the performance of the reception service is through customer satisfaction indicators. However, is this comparable for all organisations? Here is where FM performance measurement must be viewed from a strategic context. This can be further exempli? ed by comparing three different organisations delivering a reception service. Firstly, the reception service within a telecommunications of? ce. Primarily, the core business objectives within the telecommunications industry are centred on the customer through the delivery of a product. All business operations must meet the needs of the customer in order to generate mass customer satisfaction and stimulate market sales. Hence, when measuring the ef? ciency of the reception service within a telecommunications of? ce, the primary indicators will be focussed on customer satisfaction, such as the helpfulness of staff, the ability of staff to deal with a query, and the comfort of the waiting area. Second, the reception service within an international bank. Again, primarily core objectives if an international bank are centred on the customer, in this case however through the delivery of ? ancial support and management. Here, the core business objectives differ slightly, as the bank is still primarily selling services to the customer and therefore needs to promote high levels of customer satisfaction, but also has an important security element involved due to the nature of the core business. When measuring the ef? ciency of the reception service within the bank, the indica tors will be different, focussed around two key factors – ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction, and ensuring security measures are in place when dealing with customers. This is likely to involve ensuring that standard identi? cation checks are taking place, such as cross-checking personal details within a database. Third, the reception service within a government security building. Here, the core business objectives differ dramatically to the previous two examples, as the primary focus is centred on security. In this instance, measuring the levels of customer satisfaction of the reception service fall much further down the list of priority indicators, and are overtaken with robust security measures ranging from ensuring that standard identi? ation checks are taking place, to more sophisticated measures involving rigorous scanning and checking of visitors entering and exiting the building. Through using the example of one element of FM, it illustrates the importance of how the practical application of performance measurement must be centred on the core business objectives of that organisation. FM performance measurement however is often too internall y focussed. Measures can therefore be benchmarked in order to understand how an organisation is performing compared to industry overall. However, the scope of benchmarking data depends heavily on the diversity and depth of the particular sector in which the organisation functions. From the examples above, benchmarking reception performance is much more accessible in the ? rst two examples. However, obtaining benchmarking data on high level security buildings is more dif? cult. The paper now seeks to understand how benchmarking can be used as a tool to measure facilities performance, and what impact this can have on driving innovation in FM performance measurement. Using benchmarking as a tool to measure facilities performance Benchmarking is essentially a cost reduction method (McDougall and Hinks, 2000). The principle of benchmarking evolved out of the total quality management movement and allows managers to place their performance measurement in context (Camp, 1989). It is the most powerful technique for gaining and maintaining competitive advantage (Codling, 1992). Sarkis (2001) outlines that from a managers perspective, benchmarking has been de? ed as a continuous, systematic process for evaluating the products, services and work processes of organisations that are recognised as representing best practices, for the purposes of the organisations’ improvement. For Camp (1989), benchmarking in the ? rst instance is about practices, not metrics. Many immediately consider benchmarking as a set of outputs, just like many confuse innovation as a one off invention instead of a process. Benchmarking is not as simple as gathering indicators t ogether so an organisation can evidence that they are measuring something. Because what are they measuring, and how relevant is it to their overall objectives? Hence, there must be a meaning before the measurement, a process Performance measurement in FM 247 PM 26,4 before the output, or in Camp’s case, a practice before the metric. To this, Camp de? nes benchmarking as follows: Benchmarking is the search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance. 248 In order to achieve this, Camp identi? es four basic steps that are fundamental to benchmarking success: (1) Know your operation – evaluate internal operation strengths and weaknesses. 2) Know the industry leaders or competitors – know the strengths and weaknesses of the competition. (3) Incorporate the best – emulate the strengths of the leaders in competition. (4) Gain superiority – go beyond the best practices installed and be the best of the best Hence, benchmarking techniques can signi? cantly help FM organisations to gain â€Å"superiority†, a nd can signi? cantly drive innovation in their performance measurement systems. Benchmarking within FM began to take shape in 1984, where the IFMA started to collect data on facilities trends and demographics. This was expanded in 1987 to include occupancy costs, which coincided with the initial interest in such data in the UK (Varcoe, 1996). In FM, benchmarking as a performance measurement technique is now well known however, and the application of benchmarking to FM performance criteria is now apparent within large organisations (McDougall and Hinks, 2000). It is the ideal tool for setting corporate goals and transforming them into tangibles which are delivered to the end customer and it is the tool that enables the senior manager to answer questions such as: where are we now? Where do we need to be? How do we get there? How could we remain there? The desired standards of performance are therefore to optimise process performance in order to deliver total quality and 100 per cent value to the end customer (Zairi, 1994). Gilleard and Yat-Lung (2004) stated that FM benchmarking issues are typically driven by ? nancial, organisational, change management, and customer-related needs. They may be either internally focussed or external driven. Therefore it has put pressure on FM teams that value customer-driven issues such as delivery of quality and timely services. It also fails to take into account how an organisation performs at a strategic level, whether from the worker or the workplace perspective. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, 1993) produced an executive guide and point out the importance of benchmarking against: . The best you can ? nd whether within your industry or outside. . What is relevant to your customers view of what is important. . That thing that affects ? nancial performance. From an FM context, many people think that benchmarking is only about comparing cost levels. However Wauters (2005) revealed there are other aspects of FM that can be benchmarked. The most prominent of these aspects are: . Space use: Benchmarking the space use is a prime aspect as it drives all of the premises costs. The ? oor areas need to be known for the purpose of comparing costs of maintenance, cleaning etc; . . FM management: Benchmarking the effectiveness and cost of the facilities management operation on a strategic/tactical level; and Computer-aided FM systems: Benchmarking of the costs and effectiveness of the help desk. Performance measurement in FM 249 In addition, Hinks and McNay (1999) emphasise the need to measure performance gaps between service delivery and customer satisfaction. Hence, Hinks and McNay stress the need to rank benchmarking criteria, linking these to performance and service in such a way that their overall in? uence may be evaluated against business-driven imperatives. Further, Hinks and McNay suggest that the application of a manage-by-variance tool. The tool identi? es business and facility key performance indicators (KPI), helping to create a rank order among the benchmarking criteria. Further literature on benchmarking techniques focused within the FM discipline has come from Wauters (2005), Gilleard and Yat-Lung (2004), Loosemore and Hsin (2001), Massheder and Finch (1998), Akhlagi (1997) and Varcoe (1996). According to Wauters (2005) benchmarking is one of the techniques that has been used by many organisations and if applied correctly will lead to effective value management of facilities services. By this Wauters means that to use benchmarking effectively, you must identify the â€Å"ideal performance†, and hen emulate it. Benchmarking and service performance in FM Most services are provided through facilities (Brackertz and Kenley, 2002) and it has been suggested that the measurement of facilities should relate to the core business objectives such as customer satisfaction or service delivery (e. g. Walters, 1999; Tucker and Smith, 2008). As an integrated approach in managing the workplace, service is one of the key components facilities managers put for ward and seriously consider in achieving the set-up goals of the organisation. In service provision, FM is wide in scope, concerned with the major strategic decisions to the very detailed decisions such as posting the signs to the ladies’ toilet in a restaurant (Looy et al. , 2003). Therefore, in order to achieve organisational objectives, measuring service performance is crucial to the facilities manager. However, applied models that link facilities performance measurement to organisational strategy have to date, been limited (Brackertz and Kenley, 2002). It has been noted that in service ? ms, the importance of the physical setting depends on the nature of the job as well as the consumption experience. Consequently, she presented a typology of service environments or â€Å"servicescapes†, being those categories of a service based on who is performance in the servicescape (the customer, employees, or both) as well as the complexity of the servicescape. According to Looy et al. (2003), the customer perceives the servicescape holistically. They sug gest the environmental dimensions where customers value the service. Environmental dimensions comprise ambient conditions, spatial layout and process, and sign, symbols and artefacts (Figure 2). Ambient conditions refer largely to background characteristics such as noise, temperature and scent. In short, all the elements of our human environment affect the human ? ve senses. Spatial layout and process includes elements of the environment that are closely related to the core elements of service delivery. These dimensions refer to the way of arrangement and the physical and psychological effects on the customer. PM 26,4 250 Figure 2. Servicescape environment The other dimension relates to sign, symbols and artefacts. It is the item in the physical environment that serves as explicit or implicit communications to its users about the place. Tucker and Smith (2008) explored the importance of user perceptions within an organisational context, and how their perceptions can be evidenced and applied within FM. Tucker and Smith contended that there is a â€Å"logical customer performance ladder† (LCPL) that organisations should aspire to climb in order to achieve optimum levels of service delivery (Figure 3). The ladder acknowledges the importance of the initial user input to determine innovative ways of delivering what is important; to the internal business processes that will enable this delivery to be successful; to the strategic direction of the performance measures in line with their core business objectives; and to the consequent added value by increased customer satisfaction. Figure 3. Logical customer performance ladder Performance measurement is integral to the effective implementation of continuous improvement and added value within business (Tucker and Pitt, 2008a) and can act as a key driver for embedding innovation into the mindset. Tucker and Pitt (2008a) illustrate the importance of incorporating a performance-focused strategic concept in FM (Figure 4), emphasising that in order to achieve strategic FM, organisations should incorporate performance measurement through a balance of competitive service delivery and the application of best value principles, which will in turn feed directly into the core objectives of the organisation. Research in benchmarking and innovation in FM Generally the review of the literature has determined the area of proliferation in measuring FM performance. Measuring facilities performance contributes to the organisational successfulness to the innovation process. Benchmarking is among the accepted approaches involved in measuring â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† issues in facilities performance without denying the weaknesses of the technique itself. Hence, the innovation process of performance measurement systems, can be signi? cantly enhanced via the application of effective benchmarkin

How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas

How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas By Ali Hale Do you ever feel completely out of ideas? Sometimes, I’ve got time to write – but I’m just not feeling inspired. I might want to write an article for one of my blogs, or work on a short story. I may just want to write something personal, perhaps a letter to a friend, or a journal piece, but for some reason I can’t think up a topic. Inspiration doesn’t always come easily. But for any writer, it’s vital to be able to generate ideas and get on with the work. I’m going to cover some great ways of coming up with more ideas than you’ll ever be able to use †¦ Brain-Storm or Spider-Chart I like to brainstorm ideas on paper, though there are lots of pieces of software available – these might be useful if you want to develop an idea into a full article, as they allow you to move things around. For the low-tech method, though, just grab a bit of paper – a full blank sheet of computer paper works well, as it’s good to give yourself plenty of room! Write your topic (maybe the name of your blog, or the subject for a short story writing competition) in the center †¦ and start jotting ideas around the edge. Timed Ideas Set a stopclock for five minutes and start writing. Scribble down as many ideas as you can in that time, and don’t let yourself stop – keep your pen moving, or keep typing, until the timer goes off. The pressure of time can force you to be creative: you’ll find yourself jotting things almost in desperation, but when you look back over the ideas that you’ve written down, you may well find some gems in there. Lists of 50 or 100 Ideas When I’m coming up with topics for blog posts, I often start by opening up a new document and typing â€Å"50 Ideas for My Blog† and then sitting there until I come up with all fifty! For the truly brave, 100 is even better. It’ll take you a while to get there, but the more ideas you write down, the more you’ll find yourself coming up with new and different possibilities. If you really want to challenge yourself, combine this with the stopclock idea above (I’d suggest allowing at least fifteen minutes). Joining the Dots You can use your list or your spider diagram for this. Draw lines to connect related ideas together: sometimes one thought won’t in itself be enough for you to write a whole article from it, but several points could combine together well. Alternatively, one topic may be far too broad – so jot down sub-points around it. If you’re brainstorming for fiction, try combining ideas from opposite sides of your page – you could even stick a pencil in at random. Juxtaposing two very different elements can give you that spark you need to come up with something truly creative. Using Other People’s Ideas There are hundreds of ways to find ideas ready for the taking. If you write fiction, try using writing bursts or writing prompts. You could try picking two novels at random from your shelf, choosing a character from each one – and then combining those characters. Or how about borrowing the plot from a fairy tale or traditional story? (Think that’s cheating? Shakespeare did it†¦) For non-fiction writers, try using a list of famous quotes to spark off new ideas for articles. Responding to someone else’s words – whether you agree, disagree, or go off on a tangent – can start to get your own ideas flowing. How do you come up with ideas? Do you ever feel uninspired and plough on regardless? Share your tips in the comments. If you try some of the above methods, it’d be great to hear how you get on! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and NumeralsHow Long Should a Paragraph Be?Preposition Review #1: Chance of vs. Chance for

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Critically Analysing Texts - Essay Example For instance The Times positioned a large photograph of the suspect below its caption reminding the audience of the parents’ source of relief. The suspect’s picture looks more like a mug shot, a sublime indication that the suspect is guilty as charged. The Sun positions a photograph of the girlfriend with the murder suspect in happier times. The picture itself is suggestive of an ordinary man and certainly not a portrait of a killer. A picture of the victim however is placed in the article, but smaller, yet provides contrast. The victim’s picture is plain and reveals very little about the kind of person she might have been. Most of all, the picture could easily be a routine snapshot taken for identification documents as it does not create an impression. Interestingly a suggestive ad for sex therapy sits alongside the victim’s picture. In any case, the rather bland picture of the victim and the continuous informal use of her name throughout the article come s across as an intention to present an average, somewhat unsympathetic individual. The term â€Å"average Jo† invariably comes to mind and could either create sympathies or create detachment. A picture of the suspect’s mother and brother also appear on the last page of the article, but with far less ambiguity than the picture of the victim. The image captures drawn and saddened faces, under which the caption reads: â€Å"Angry†¦mum Sonja and brother Marcel.† The article in The Times is more cohesive in its layout in that it tells a story that is easy to follow. The connection begins with a caption that clearly directs attention to the content of the article. The caption reads: Yeates Parents Tell of â€Å"Enormous Relief† at Murder Charge. Thereafter, the article reads like a narrative with facts integrated to ensure that the reader knows why the Yeates parents relieved. For instance, upon informing the audience that the parents of the murder victim are relieved, the writer immediately names the suspect, and identifies him as a neighbour of the victim and reveals that he was arrested and will be formally charged with their daughter’s murder. The article appearing in The Sun however, is not as cohesive and as such it is more difficult to follow. The caption itself is confusing and reads: Girlfriend: I Stand by Jo Accused. Unlike The Times, the language in The Sun’s caption is informal and does not read like a complete sentence. The reader’s curiosity is therefore aroused immediately, although the opening lines to the article dispels that curiosity by informing who Jo is. The caption is misleading however, as once the reader completes The Sun’s article it becomes clear that the murder suspect’s girlfriend did not directly state that she was standing by her boyfriend. This message was conveyed through the murder suspect’s family. Like its caption, the language in The Sun is also informal a t times. This register however, is indicative of the kind of audience that The Sun intends to reach. For instance law enforcement are referred to as cops at least twice and in one instance, the term is used in the context of investigators’ decision to make an arrest. This tends to suggest that the decision to make an arrest was made lightly. At another point, a public relations professional is referred to as â€Å"PR man†. This use of colloquialism is clearly intended to reach a

Business Operations at Dell Corporation Research Paper

Business Operations at Dell Corporation - Research Paper Example However, lately, managers have understood the importance and significance of operations management. One of the biggest advantages of operations management identified by the managers is increased productivity. Hence, operation management also leads to increased efficiency of the workers. Another major advantage identified is the better quality of the outcome. A number of scholars have emphasized that management of the operations of a company greatly helps in improving the quality of the outcome (Petersen, Ragatz & Monczka, 2005). Management of the business operation provides companies with the opportunity to undertake small-scale continual improvement process and at the same time, it facilitates a large-scale radical shift in the process and product design of the company. The operations manager of a company carefully focuses on the management of processes so as to manufacture and distribute the products and services to the end customers in the most efficient way. According to Varila, Seppanen & Suomala (2007), management of the business operations allows a firm to streamline its process and at the same time eliminates the wastes. Expansion of the business is another viable opportunity for the business.   Dell Corporation: A Brief Overview of the Company Dell Computer Corporation, commonly known as Dell Inc. is a US-based multinational company involved in developing and offering computer technology services. The company was founded in the year 1984 and is currently headquartered in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, US. The company was founded by Michael Dell, who plays the role of the Chairman and CEO of the company. The company is basically involved in developing, selling and repairing computers and associated products and services. The company currently employs around 103,300 people and is also considered as one of the biggest technology companies in the world. The company is listed at the 51st position in the global fortune 500 lists. Currently, Dell operates i n almost every part of the world and has allowed them to grab a significant market share (Dell, 2013). In terms of market share, the company is ranked at the third position just after Lenovo and HP. The major competitors of the company are HP, Lenovo, Compaq, IBM and Acer among others. The company sells data storage devices, servers, desktops, laptops, software products, printers, MP3 Players and other computer peripherals. Dell is known for applying innovative techniques for its sales process, manufacturing process as well as the entire supply chain process.  Ã‚  

Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution

Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts; chants of Union is Power could be heard as the young girls of Lowell Mills took to the streets to protest a wage cut of 15-20% to their already meager salaries. Banded together as one, with a common sense of companionship and unity bred from long hours of working side by side; the girls attempted to keep their earnings. An attempt that only ended in defeat, and the firing , of many. This is only a small example of the many indecencies done to society during the Industrial Revolution of America. From 1824 to 1840 the Jacksonian Era raged in America, a period in time in which the common man became the focal point of politics and the Industrial Revolution reared its head; changing the country economically as well as socially. In this time period The United States of America went from a mainly agricultural based economy to one that relied heavily on textiles and manufacturing. Several factors contributed to this occurrence: new technology, new fuel sources, advancements in transportation, a rise in immigration, and the creation of the telegraph which led to faster communication not only in America but also across the sea. Technological advancements were accompanied by a drastic rise in the population, not only had the average birth rate risen, immigration had added hundreds of thousands new residences in a relatively small period of time, mostly coming from Ireland and Germany. In the mid-1840s Ireland was faced with the Potato Famine, an extreme drought that left more than two million dead. In an attempt to escape this condition, and find a country that could not only support them but in which they could also make a living, many Irish immigrated to America. Unfortunately, many of these immigrants reached the land of plenty with insufficient means and were forced to stay in the cities being unable to afford expanding westward into new territory, or even owning any land at all. Due to their financial situations, many Irish immigrants were taken advantage of by the natives. Boston was a good example of the abuse that occurred to the Irish. Landlords were known to divide former single family dwellings into inexpensive housing charging a single Irish family living in a nine by eleven foot room with poor ventilation, no water, unsanitary conditions, and no daylight for around $1.50 a week. The demand for housing was astronomical and the cramped, overpopulated conditions that steamed from this need became a breeding place for diseases; especially cholera. Of all the Irish children born in Boston during this period, sixty percent did not live to see their sixth birthday, and the adult Irish lived an average of only six years after stepping off the boat into America. Most of this death and disease was simply caused by poor housing. A Boston Committee of International Health described an Irish slum as, a perfect hive of human beings, without comforts and mostly without common necessities; in many cases huddled together like brutes, without regard for to age or sex or sense of decency. Under such circumstances, self-respect, forethought, all the high noble virtues soon die out, and sullen indifference and despair or disorder, intemperance and utter degradation reign supreme. Not only were the new Irish immigrants faced with horrible living conditions, they were also discriminated against heavily by the native Americans. The Protestant population that could trace their origins all the way back to the earliest English settlers did not take very kindly to the newcomers. Not only were they stealing scarce jobs that were in high demand in their eyes, but they were also Catholics. Protestants were extremely against any religion that wasnt theirs, especially Catholics who were rumored to be cannibals among other things. It was this resentment that helped fund a strong nativist/ anti-Immigration movement and helped to later form the Know-Nothing Party. This discrimination along with the fear that the Irish immigrants would take much needed jobs led to the placement of NINA signs on many factories, or No Irish Need Apply . Germans, the other major European nationality emigrating to America at this time, faired slightly better due to the fact that they arrived in North America in much better financial standings. However, they were still forced to deal with discrimination and were still forced down to the bottom of the social ladder. Many ended up pushing westward and keeping to themselves, forming German communities. Women were another group that was greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution. Before the Industrial Revolution farm women and girls made a living for their families; spinning yarn, weaving cloth, and making candles, soap, butter, and cheese. However, with the new technology in manufacturing goods, these women were displaced by factories that could produce the same products at a much quicker pace and at greater quantities. While these factories took away one part of their livelihood, they attempted to make up for it by offering employment to them, promising a new economic independence and the ability to afford all of the manufactured products of the time. This promise was misleading; the reality of the matter was that these factory girls typically worked long, grueling thirteen hour days, six days a week. They earned a meager salary, much below the male workers of those days, for limb-numbing, mind-draining, dangerous work in which the machinery could seriously or even fatally injure a girl of she made a mistake. On top of that, they were made to live in a small boarding house owned by their employers, carefully watched and held at a very strict time schedule that ran their lives leaving these young women with no free time. Their lives were lived from whistle to whistle, its blowing signaling when to wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, and every other aspect of their lives including going to church every Sunday. The factories also claimed that they would provide education for their young workers. However, this was generally meant to be done on the ladies own time that of which there was little. A young woman who worked in the Lowell M ills of Massachusetts in 1845 wrote about her living conditions, Crowded into a small room, which contains three beds and six females, all possessing the without end tongue of women, what chance is there for studying?Despite the constant restriction these women were set in a new environment far from home with no mother-like figure to guide them. These boarding houses provided plenty of temptations and the lack of guidance was surely an equation for trouble. Another problem that arose with women in the workplace was the rearing of the next generation. Long hours in the factories, year after year, led to a physically and emotional premature breakdown of these women. When it came time to raise their own children who were to be the next generation, many times they had to continue working or were ill after the added stress that child birth put on them. A young Lowell Mill girl simply known as Julianna commented that, It has been remarked by some writer that the mother educates the man. Now, if this be a truth, as we believe it is, to a very great extent, what, we would ask, are we to expect, the same labor prevailing, will be the mental and intellectual character of the future generations of New England? The Industrial Revolution which led to the employment of women completely disrupted the cult of domesticity that was in place at this time. Despite the fact that this cult of domesticity was almost necessary to the bringing up of children at this time, it was also something that most women wanted. They looked forward to raising their children at home; this was a society that was still predominantly family orientated. A new way of looking at life was becoming prominent with the Industrial Revolution. The strive to make money in order to survive and obtain the luxuries now available to the general population through the new manufacturing technologies brought about the idea that money equaled happiness. That, To get, and to have the reputation of possessing, is the ruling passion ( Bellows, Henry W. The Influence of the Trading Spirit ,1845) is the new American ideal. According to Henry W. Bellows , this new drive for material possessions and money was creating an anxiety in the people of America, making them fundamentally unhappy. The basic moralities that used to drive the nation were no longer, and the new need for material conquests had taken over creating an every man for himself environment. In other countries in the world, happiness is as easy as maintaining a family business and making enough financially to support a family, but not so in America. Where work had driven American families ti b e gone from the home for most of the day and to neglect the family. This bread an unfortunate consequence of unhappiness during the Jacksonian period. All of these factors can add up to and attribute to one of the most influential social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution; a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. Through the new market enterprise, those in charge continuously took advantage of the less fortunate, gaining wealth without fail. Whereas those who were poor only continued to become more so. This widening of the social gap was beneficial to none but the highest of classes leaving the majority to despair and strive to survive. The Industrial Revolution from 1824 to 1840 was a time of drastic change. An influx of new immigrants, over population, new social roles for women, a new American ideal, and a widening gap between social classes were all unfortunate repercussions of this movement that drastically changed the way society ran for the worse. Creating a negative impact that categorizes this era and provides a building block for unrest in the Civil War. Sources Cited: 1834 Lowell Mill Girls Turnout to Protest Wage Cuts. Massachusets AFL-CIO. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. . Bellows, Henry W. The Influence of the Trading Spirit. 1845. Print Robinson, Harriet H. Memories of a Factory Girl. 1898. Print. A Young Woman Writes of the Evils of Factory Life in 1845. Documents Workbook Out of Man A History of the American People. Fifth ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007. 146-47. Print. A New England Woman Describes the Responsibilities of American Women in 1847. Documents Workbook Out of Man A History of the American People. Fifth ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007. 148-49. Print. A Young Woman Writes of the Evils of Factory Life in 1845. Documents Workbook Out of Man A History of the American People. Fifth ed. Upper Saddle RIver: Pearson Education, 2007. 146-47. Print. A New England Factory Issues Regulations for Workers. Documents Workbook Out of Man A History of the American People. Fifth ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007. 146-47. Print.

Artificial Intelligence :: essays research papers fc

Artificial Intelligence: Can Small Insect Like Robots Rule the AI World? The Question that I propose is: Can insect-like robots perform tasks superior to that of any other style of robot? I am going to prove to you that the answer is yes, of course they can! With their superior stability and many less drawbacks that larger wheeled robots the legged â€Å"insects† can out perform even the most powerfully computing machines in many tasks. The applications of these robots are only limited by our imagination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people believe that artificial intelligence and robots should only be for â€Å"unthinking and repetitive tasks, or for dangerous but straightforward undertakings† (Economist 83). But as human understanding and intelligence of computer systems and technology progresses the idea of artificial intelligence becomes more of a reality instead of a vision. Right now a computer can be a matchmaker, a chess champion, and a useful searcher of medical information. And many people and programs are changing that with their leaps and bounds by actually giving the machine senses like a database of knowledge and sight and sound in the forms of a camera and a microphone respectively. In one case a robot can sense â€Å"hunger† by making a decision when it is running low on fuel to choose to refuel before it completes its task that has been scheduled. It may have to refuel multiple times before the task is completed. The decision can even be made taking into effect the distance it is away from a refueling station (Economist 84). This is one reason why a small insect –like robot could be more useful, because it could be more efficient and adaptive to the task at hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Much of the robotics community believes that a robot will have to be huge in size and programming to be useful in anything. But many of those types of robots could only mover across smooth surfaces like floors or roads for it to be stable and have no chance of it damaging itself by tipping over. The only way that robots could ever move where humans could, was to develop legs. But legs could be unstable causing the robot to fall, which concerned many people. But it wouldn’t be a concern if the robot was the size of an insect since insects fall down all of the time and they seem to still get around ok (Waldrop 963).

Impact on Local Community and Environment

2.Impact on Local Community and Environment 2.1 Image and Regeneration Environmentally Sustainable direction should be implemented from the early phases of event planning. Alternatively of concentrating on holding ‘green’ installations and equipment, the construct of sustainability should be implemented in the full determination devising procedure. Therefore holding an environmentally sustainable event should be portion of the purposes and aims. Mega events are extremely concerned about this, as undertaking environmental issues are important in winning a command. This inaugural gave London success in winning their command and the chance to host the Olympic games in 2012. In their command study London promised that 20 per cent of the Olympic Park energy comes from sustainable agencies. Besides obtaining the games London’s Environmentally sustainable direction gave the chance for regeneration of East London. Beside seting two thousand native trees and 300,000 wetland workss and reconstructing five stat mis of the River Lea, new locales and attractive forces were constructed together with new places, schools and concerns. This increased touristry in East London therefore helped in making a better image non merely for east London but besides to the full metropolis. However some aims such as edifice wind turbines were non carried out and some undertakings were merely done in order to pull tourers instead than for sustainability. Conveyance and Noise Pollution Environmentally Sustainable Management is extremely important even more so in modern twenty-four hours, as local councils have the power to prohibit an event from go oning, if they see that the event is making devastation and doing lives harder on locals. When be aftering an event the event director must maintain in head that the bulk of pollution and breaks created during an event, come from transit to and from the event. DEFRA ( 2002 ) illustrated that noise ailments to Environmental Health Officers have drastically increased over the last 20 old ages, peculiarly for route traffic. Events such as festivals are supplying transit from different metropoliss to the location and encouraging visitants to utilize public transit where necessary. During mega events such as the Olympic games public transit should be efficient for the usage of people in order to advance the usage of public transit over private transit and hence cut downing congestion. During the London Olympics in over 100 mi llion journeys were made utilizing the belowground tubing. Having scheduled transit to an event will make a flow in the figure of visitants geting during a short period therefore this will let controlling of the visitants and cut downing traffic break, congestion and noise pollution at the location. The traffic Management Plan for Isle of White 2013 established a program for â€Å"roads and paths from the ferry terminuss are free from congestion, thereby understating the impact of Festival related vehicular traffic on the route network† and hence minimising the consequence on locals. Transportation is non merely used by visitants, but besides by staff who arrive at events location yearss prior to the event. During festivals the figure of staff can make over 1,000 people. In 2010 T in the park provided staff with bikes, which were used at the site location during the set up, in order to cut down the usage of autos. This is done as portion of the understanding with Julieâ€℠¢s Bicycle in 2008 in order to cut C emanations by 40 % by 2020, which is portion of the Scots Parliament’s committedness. However this is non plenty, and efficient transit to staff should be organized so that the use of private autos to acquire to the location is reduced. Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo in 2013 decided to utilize ISO 20121 and provided free public transit to all delegates and the imperativeness. Visitors were besides encouraged to do usage of the train to acquire to the sphere in order to cut down emanations. Noise Pollution is another factor that has to be taken into consideration for event direction. In 2013, Flag Factory Festival at The Plough in Hutton was threatened by Brentwood Borough Council ‘s licensing officers due to the impact of noise on occupants. There is non much an event organizer can make to minimise noise pollution on neighbouring occupants nevertheless the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 provides limitations to this issue and besides states that staff should be protected from loud noises. 3.Reducing Costss 3.1Facilities Event directors are cognizant that by implementing Environmentally Sustainable direction they are besides cutting costs, particularly in events that occur repeatedly and desire to be in the concern for the long tally. Events generate considerable sum of waste that doesn’t merely have negative impacts on the environment, but it is besides dearly-won to the organizers. In 1996 directing waste to landfill cost ?7 a metric ton and a lower rate of ?2 for inactive waste nevertheless in 2013 this increased to ?72 a metric ton which made organizers more cognizant of the waste an event generates. Melvin Benn caput of ‘Festival Republic’ acknowledges that bettering environmental public presentation â€Å" no longer merely makes environmental sense, it makes economic sense every bit good † . Events administrations are coming up with enterprises to cut down waste and have a greener event. Glastonbury sets 15, 000 bins around the site, which are clearly labeled for recy cling stuff and non recycling stuff where in 2012 trash was separated and 49 % of this was recycled. Harmonizing to the Glastonbury web site, In order to dispose of all the waste that is left behind the Festival used to pay ?780,000, nevertheless with the aid of voluntaries and initiatives the sum of money that is saved from waste aggregation is donated to charity. Assorted inducements are being placed in order to acquire the visitant to be cognizant of the environment and cut downing waste and hence cut downing costs. Festivals have set up the cup recycling enterprise where clients are rewarded with 10p ( depending on the event ) for every cup that is returned. Similarly at Christmas markets selling mulled vino and other gay drinks clients pay a little sum excess as sedimentation for their cups, which they will acquire back if the cups are returned. Nevertheless some visitants are non concerned about go forthing litter around and farther instruction should be provided to emphasize the importance of these enterprises. Another publicity by Glastonbury is ‘A collapsible shelter is for life non merely for a festival’ where visitants are encouraged to purchase a collapsible shelter, which they will utilize even after the event and therefore collapsible shelters won’t be left behind. However this is non plenty as there are still visitants who don’t fuss in taking their collapsible shelters and this is why T in the park has The International Relief Trust roll uping quality abandoned collapsible shelters. ‘Tomorrowland’ offers an option to encampment by supplying little lockable suites but harmonizing to wikifestivals.com, some suites can be up to ˆ21,000. These should be offered at a cheaper monetary value in order to promote visitants to utilize them and hence being environmentally sustainable. Organizers should happen better ways at doing their campgrounds more sustainable by supplying more information and educating visi tants on the effects that arise. 3.2 Taxes and Local economic system In mega events such as The Olympic Games and The World Cup it is in the governments’ involvement to be environmentally sustainable when be aftering events as states may be burdened with the wake these events leave on the state. When building immense substructure for such events such as stadia these can go white elephants and locals have to pay more revenue enhancements for their care. Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002 exhausted one million millions of dollars in building and refurbishing of bowl, which are now white elephants and environmental loads. These become besides immense economic loads on locals who are paying excess 1000000s annually in revenue enhancement for their care. A better hazard and environmental appraisal and farther planning should hold resulted in a better rating of future usage of these bowl which is what Russia are be aftering to make for the 2018 games as Alexey Sorokin, the CEO of the Russia 2018 LOC stated ; â€Å"But the success of the World Cup in Russ ia will depend non merely on how good it is organised, but besides on how efficaciously the installations are used after the tournament.†

Hebrew Culture In Todays Society Religion Essay Example

Hebrew Culture In Todays Society Religion Essay Example Hebrew Culture In Todays Society Religion Essay Hebrew Culture In Todays Society Religion Essay Hebraism is non merely a civilization, it is besides a faith. Hebrews, as they are now called, were antecedently known as Hebrewss, Hebrews, God s chosen people, every bit good as assorted other names. Abraham is considered the male parent of the Judaic people. God called Abraham out the Ur of the Chaldees to the Fertile Crescent to do a Mighty Nation, which became the state of Israel, or the Jews. Judaism was developed around the clip of the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, which was 586 B.C.E. , when the first temple was destroyed. The Old Testament is a history of the Hebrew people. God established, or put up, a compact with the Judaic people at Mount Sinai and revealed His Torahs to them, via Moses, in the signifier of the Torah, or the Pentateuch, which is made up of the first five books of the Old Testament. Torah means Divine Instruction. It was put together after their civilization had collapsed. God appointed Moses to present the people out of Egypt, every bit good as to enter the history, which is contained in the Torah. Moses went up Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments from Yahweh, another word for God, which was written on two rock tablets. He presented these commandments, or Torahs, to the people of Israel, which was so developed into the Torah. The first five books of the Old Testament were all written by Moses as God gave him the words. The same can be said of Jonah, that he wrote the book that bears his name through the inspiration of God. Genesis is the history of the universe and the early people. Exodus is the history of the relationship between God and the state of Israel. Leviticus contains most of the Mosaic Law. Numbers is the nose count of the people of Israel, which David did without permission from God, and Deuteronomy is the 2nd giving or a restating of the Law. The most of import subject in the Judaic faith is their monotheistic belief, intending that they believe in and idolize one God. This Monotheistic belief is different from others, such as the people in the narrative Oedipus the King, who believed in many Gods. This belief system is called Polytheism. Monotheism is really prevailing in our civilization today. Most spiritual people in today s society believe in God and worship Him entirely. However, Judaism stresses the public presentation of good workss instead than the attachment to a certain set of beliefs. It is non uncommon in today s society, whether people are saved or non, for people to believe that they will travel to Heaven because they are good people or make good things. I have talked to many people who say that they hope they will travel to Heaven because they have tried to populate a good life. Prayer life is really structured in the Hebrew civilization. Jews must pray every forenoon, afternoon, and dark. However, they are non limited to merely these times. This procedure of praying at regular intervals has become portion of our tradition as America is considered to be based on Judeo-christian rules. In the Judaic faith, there are many illustrations of ritual, moral, and societal concern ; one of them being the importance of sexual pureness. It is non uncommon for people in our society to abstain from sexual activity until they are married. True, there has been a rise in the figure of adolescent gestations over the past several decennaries, but sexual pureness is a really of import issue to many people in our civilization. Judaic people besides have a figure of nutrient ordinances and tabus, such as clean versus dirty animate beings, phytophagy, which is the feeding of workss, and proper readying and storage of nutrient. Hebrews are non allowed to eat the meat from a hog, coney, or camel, because these animate beings merely chew the rechewed food and have a bisulcate hoof. Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy both province that these animate beings are dirty. However, these people may eat the meat from cattles, caprine animals, and sheep. There are many different types of vegetarians i n our society today __ whether they are Judaic or non. I believe many of these vegetarian beliefs derived from Judaic beliefs. In the Judaic civilization, there are certain Rites of Passage throughout one s life that are considered really of import. At birth, a male babe would hold a Circumcision ceremonial, know as a Berith or Brit Malah, on his 8th twenty-four hours of life. This ritual, or rite of transition, still is taken really earnestly in this twenty-four hours and age. I think it is safe to state that most male babies born in our civilization today are circumcised, whether they are Judaic or non. In American civilization, the Circumcision is non needfully a rite of transition as it is in the Judaic civilization. At pubescence, males and females both have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah severally. This ceremonial is held when the kid turns thirteen-years-old. It symbolizes their spiritual duties ; now that they are work forces and adult females, and the fact they are responsible for their ain good workss, while up until this point, the parents were responsible. Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are still celebrated in our s ociety, go oning the Judeo-christian beliefs within our civilization. Marriage is besides another of import rite of transition. I learned in a old category that Judaic people have the lowest divorce rate of another other group. The Sabbath is the most of import vacation ( Holy Day ) in Judaism. The Sabbath is by and large a twenty-four hours of remainder and clip of worship. This tradition still occurs throughout our civilization today. Sunday is by and large the twenty-four hours of worship and remainder. Many concerns are closed on Sundays. However, in some faiths, such as Catholicism and Seventh Day Adventists, Saturday is the twenty-four hours of Worship, so Sunday can be reserved for a twenty-four hours of actual remainder. Passover is another of import event in the Judaic civilization. It is an eight twenty-four hours festival after the first full Moon of the twelvemonth. It symbolizes an of import event in Hebrew history before Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt where the decease angel killed the first Born of every household whose door station was non __ anointed with the blood of a lamb. Hanukkah is a non-biblical vacation and symbolizes the rededication of the 2nd temple after the devastation by the Greeks. Israelitess have a rich heritage that remains a big portion of non merely Judaic civilization, but American civilization as good.

Environmental Education Standard - Conflict Essays - Free Essays

Environmental Education Standard - Conflict Essays - Free Essays Environmental Education Standard - Conflict The Key to Life or Death: An Environmental Education Standard Joe woke up one morning and looked out his window. What he saw startled him: a barren landscape, a desolate land for miles, and the absence of vegetation. He got up, rubbed his eyes, and thought what he witnessed was all part of a dream. Joe walked outside, only to be thrown back by the horrendous smell of toxic chemicals, heat generated from the greenhouse effect and gruesome after effects of acid rain. There are rusted and eroded cars lying around; millions of dead ants scour the baked topsoil. His final thought, before he radioactively melted, how did this all happen? Life on earth could possibly be like this if people do not change their ways in which they handle the environment. If people do not change their current treatment of the environment, a desolate uninhabitable earth will replace this pristine planet. The scientific facts are there to support that we have been destroying our environment, funding is out there to support groups to help the environment, and educational programs are in place to bring awareness. So why are humans still hurting the earth? One possibility is the teachers. It seems that the educators do not teach about conservation or how to save the environment. Their reasoning stems from the fact that the teaching materials are controversial and confusing. If it is not the teachers, then it must be the educational materials. In order to bring about changes to peoples treatment of the environment, universal standards in the curriculum and methodology of environmental education must be developed and implemented at the educational level. Governments throughout the globe fund projects to increase ecological awareness through environmental education; unfortunately, the education being taught is riddled with problems. The problem with people is that there is so much confusion and conflicting opinions about both environmental issues and environmentally responsible behavior (Smith-Se bato 33). The confusion arises because, on one hand, critics of environmental education say that people are being fed doomsday visions of the future and biased and incomplete scientific information about everything, while advocates have stated that the education that people receive are sensible and give a better understanding of human impacts on the environment (Schimdt 1828). These doomsday visions misinform people by telling them that one wrong action against the environment will lead to the earths destruction (Schimdt 1828). Granted that this information usually comes from extremist groups, it does lend to the clout in environmental education. The biased information stems from textbooks that make readers feel guilty about the way they live: In the United States, fuel is wasted and used carelessly. The United States has 6 percent of the worlds population but uses 35 percent of the energy available in the worldHeated pools and hot tubs are seen as necessities in some parts of the U nited States. This is not true for other countries. (Schimdt 1829)This is an example of bias in textbooks. From this, one gets the impression that U.S. citizens are the problem and if an American reader was to glance at this, he or she would feel guilty about the luxuries that he or she owns. The guilt factor, while it is one way for allowing people to realize that their actions and comforts are damaging the environment, also hinders progress and productivity. Critics say that education should not make people feel awful for their actions, but let them realize that they need to change their habits and treatment of the environment. Advocates would see the example as fact, and it should make people realize, specifically U.S. citizens, that their living habits are the only contributors to the deterioration of the environment. Change should come to the U.S. citizens, because it is proven that their actions hurt the environment. These two opposing sides provide a problem in environmental education because they are always arguing what should and should not be taught to people. The solution would be to organize the information in a complete, unquestionable manner, so that people will be aware of the environmental problem and stop their destructive actions. Once the education materials and practices are set in place, teaching it to

Response Paper on the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Essay

Response Paper on the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen - Essay Example Personally, my son has recently informed me that he joined the army, so the poem resonates increasingly strong. When reading the poem I am constantly reminded of the realities of the contemporary armed conflict in the Middle East and conflicted about my son joining the cause for American freedom. Dulce et Decorum translates to ‘It is sweet and right,’ an ironic reference to the reality and of the tragic occurrences of World War I. While I completely support our troops in Afghanistan, one could make a convincing case that this line is a similar justification used in the wars in the Middle East. Although it’s not entirely clear what the ‘sweet’ refers to one could rightly attribute it to the ‘sweet’ revenge that many Americans felt justified the countries attack on these regions for the advances made by Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attacks made on the World Trade Center. The ‘right’ portion of the title refers to the belief that American attacks are justified on the grounds of moral reasons – weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, stopping the Taliban in Afghanistan. I believe that the poem functions to bring the reader’s attention not to these abstract justifications, but to the bitter realities of arm ed conflict. In just the first two lines of the poem, the soldiers are portrayed as tired and sick. In the rest of the stanza, Owens shows how the conditions that theses soldiers had to go through were horrendous. For example, â€Å"Many had lost their boots, but limped on, blood-shod† shows how these soldiers had been fighting in all conditions. He uses connotations of dirt and everyday language to add to the realism "we cursed through sludge." When I consider these lines I envision that the soldiers are demoralized, shadows of their former selves. They dont march proudly as imagined, but trudge wearily and heavily. The punctuation of the verse slows down the rhythm of the poem, to enhance the realism of the soldiers movements. I

Does football promote freindship or enmity Essay

Does football promote freindship or enmity - Essay Example Apparently, most soccer fans prefer watching matches in social places such as clubs, restaurants or at home as long as they are in the company of people who have interest in soccer. Consequently, a bond is created between these people, who may be strangers, since they will have a common topic for discussion throughout the 90 minutes. In this context, it is true to say that football facilitates and enhances the creation of friendships between strangers however short lived they might be (Foer 39). Similarly, football promotes friendship in terms of suppressing racial mentalities that promote discrimination. The world cup for example sets an international stage for teams from different countries, some of which have been in conflict with each other for a long time due to political or ideological differences. Whenever these teams are playing, the people watching get to forget their differences, especially due to the fact that there are high standards set for officiating matches such that every participant feels comfortable with the results. This is made better by the display of sportsmanship by footballers whereby they shake hands even after one of them has committed a foul against the other. By doing so, they portray a high level of emotional intelligence which becomes a good example for those who are watching.