Dhl Introduction

————————————————- DHL Express From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia â€Å"DHL† redirects here. For other uses, see  DHL (disambiguation). DHL Express Deutsche Post AG| | Type| Division| Industry| Express Logistics| Founded| 1969| Headquarters| Bonn,  Germany| Key people| Ken Allen (CEO, Chairman)[1] Adrian Dalsey  (co-founder) Larry Hillblom  (co-founder) Robert Lynn (co-founder)| Products| DHL Express Worldwide DHL Express 9:00 DHL Express 12:00|Owner(s)| Deutsche Post DHL| Employees| 275,000| Website| www. dhl. com| DHL Express  is a  division  of the German logistics company  Deutsche Post DHL  providing international  express mail  services. Deutsche Post  is the world's largest logistics company operating around the world. [2]  DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail. [3][4] Originally founded in 1969 to deliver documents betwe en  San Francisco  and  Honolulu, the company expanded its service throughout the world by the late 1970s.The company was primarily interested in offshore and inter-continental deliveries, but the success of  FedEx  prompted their own intra-U. S. expansion starting in 1983. DHL aggressively expanded to countries that could not be served by any other delivery service, including the  Soviet Union,Eastern Bloc,  Iraq,  Iran,  China,  Vietnam  and  North Korea. In 1998,  Deutsche Post  began to acquire shares in DHL. It finally reached majority ownership in 2001, and completed the purchase in 2002.Deutsche Post then effectively absorbed DHL into its Express division, while expanding the use of the DHL brand to other Deutsche Post divisions, business units and subsidiaries. Today,  DHL Express  shares its well-known DHL brand with other Deutsche Post business units, such as  DHL Global Forwarding  and  DHL Supply Chain. The DHL Express Service has ce ased domestic operations in the United States of America, as of February 2009. [5]

How reliable is source 5 as a representation of the death of Hattie Carroll?

‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll', the song by Bob Dylan is both reliable and unreliable in many ways as a representation of her death. During the Black Civil Rights Movement of the time, Dylan was a popular artist and felt strongly about this specific cause. Through his lyrics he spoke out for the oppressed minority. His songs however, did not represent the views of all the black people at the time. Through his lyrics he expressed only his point of view. Therefore, it must be taken into account that there may be bias of some form in some of his works. We must take into account that it is more than likely that Dylan was not at the actual murder scene and therefore his song is a secondary source. We also are not totally sure if Dylan was genuinely concerned about the welfare of the oppressed, or, he was using the situation to boost his own career. Ultimately, these together could be factors for why Dylan wrote and performed â€Å"finger-pointing songs.† I would say that the majority of the motives in his work are honourable but others may think differently. Joan Baez, a folk singer and a Civil Rights activist and, Dylan's girlfriend at the time said of him; â€Å"he never went to marches. One of the ironic things was, 20 years after the fact, people at marches saying, â€Å"Is Bob coming? We heard Bob's coming.† He never went. It wasn't his life and there was no reason he should really because he didn't believe in all that politics stuff.† The contents of the song tell us some of the basic facts about the incident. We know Hattie was murdered by Zanzinger who got a very lenient sentence. Gaps however exist in our knowledge due to the fact that source 5 contains only part of the actual song. Therefore we do not see the full picture surrounding what happened and what actually happened. Dylan puts his lyrics across with a sarcasm and bitterness. This is because Carroll was murdered due to racial discrimination. We are not sure if Dylan was present at the trial and because of this we cannot trust what he is suggesting fully but we can take it for granted that what he is saying is at least partly true. I feel that Dylan's intended audience was universal. He aimed to inform people of the wrong in society and he gave the black Americans hope in their campaign for justice. I can only presume that Dylan wrote this song to make society aware of what was happening to the black people. I also think that the fact that Dylan would gain publicity for his controversy and therefore this may have been a reason for him writing and performing â€Å"finger-pointing songs.† In source 5 we do not gain any insight into Zanzinger's motives for murdering Carroll. Zanzinger's story is not known and because each story has two sides we cannot view the ‘bigger picture.' This source is partly reliable. We know that Dylan had a good reputation as a truthful, genuine artist but it must be acknowledged that the limitations to the song as a representation of the death of Hattie Carroll given the language, tone, motives and the missing part of the source.

Project Management Tools/Methods Essay

Over the years, Information Technology (I. T) projects has been known to fail, that is, they are either completed with over budget or not completed within time and budget. Information Technology projects are often complex and detailed in nature and require cognitive knowledge and skills for its accomplishment. I. T projects are often difficult to estimate and manage as some projects are either cancelled or reduced in scope because of over budgeting and time overruns or failure to produce anticipated benefits (Kumar, 2001). Failure of I. T projects is often characterised by the inability to meet the customer’s requirement or change in requirements during the project. To achieve a successful project, monitoring and control process performance is important, that is, control of Information Technology projects involves the use of appropriate management frameworks/methodologies and planning tools. In this report, we are going to look at the various ways of we can monitor and manage I. T projects, evaluating some management frameworks/methodologies and planning tools used with critical analysis on their functions, benefits as well as their weaknesses. Project monitoring and control are steps taking to keep track of a project process to ensure its success. Project monitoring is the gathering of information to determine the current state and progress of a Project in relation to its expected state and success (McBride, 2008; Aljibouri, 2003). Despite efforts put into project planning, things do change or occur that cause our project to derail. At this point, an effective monitoring and control process is useful and required to get the project back on course. It is in the control and monitoring process that we keep track of the project process, identify deviations, and determine and implement corrective actions. Many Organisations tend to manage I. T projects in an unstructured or ad hoc manner throughout its life cycle with limited understanding of the relationship between I. T project implementation and traditional business performance metrics (Stewart, 2008). The attention to schedule and cost are of utmost relevance in project monitoring and control as well as the scope of the project, risk and change control plus the overall performance measurement and reporting. The essential purpose of project monitoring and control is to alert the project manager to any project inter-dependencies that are becoming critical in terms of delivery date, resource allocation, cost or benefits (Lycett et. al, 2002). The basic challenge of project management in achieving its goals it based on managing effectively its typical constraints which include time, scope, budget. The following activities are involved in monitoring and control of I. T Projects; * The adoption of appropriate management framework/methodology – reporting structure, assessing progress, communication. Use of Planning and scheduling tools/techniques e. g. Gantt chart, PERT, CPA, WBS e. t. c * Data control – reporting progress of risk or staff activities MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS/METHODOLOGIES Project management methodologies can be said to be a set of principles or guidelines that can be defined and applied in monitoring and control of projects. Project management framework defines and determines how to initiate and run a project. These various methodologies ensure; * Clearly visible and defined management process for project execution * Defined line of reporting and decision making Risk management * Staff are appropriately trained and suitable to handle and run projects * Commitment to the proposed project. There so many various methodologies available as it all depends which suits the organisation practice. Here are a few of some well known ones below: PRINCE 2 – It is an acronym for Project IN Controlled Environment. PRINCE 2 is a structured project management methodology and a widely used standard for managing I. T projects. It significantly provides assistance with the optimal usage of resources with risk management initiatives to manage projects. Elkington and smallman (2000), argues that though the PRINCE 2 method has greatly increased the success rate of projects, but it has little in the way of directing project managers in handling project risk. It offers no advice to project managers on risk estimation. PRINCE 2 promotes consistency of project work and also facilitates staff mobility, reduction of personnel change impact. The method also provides for the absolute recognition of project responsibilities in order for participants to understand each other’s role. The Prince 2 method helps you work out who should be involved and their responsibility. Due to the numerous changes attached to I. T projects, PRINCE 2 has a technique of controlling the impact of change in a project so as to prevent the project from derailing from the right direction. SSADM – Structured System Analysis and Design Method is a method widely used in information system development in the U. K. it is based on data flow diagram. SSADM divides a system development project into stages, steps and tasks and provides a framework for analysing projects in a defined way to manage project. It aims at improving project management and control, develop quality systems, and establish a framework for good communication among personnel in a project team. It also ensures project continuity if there is a loss of staff without any effect on the project success (Middleton and McCollum, 2001). However, some limitations occur in the use of SSADM as it puts much emphasis on the analysis of the system and its documentation. This causes the impact of over-analysing, and can be cost and time consuming. Also, due to various types of description method, consistency checks cannot be carried out. The outline diagram can become very unclear, especially with large systems because all relevant data flow have to be included. Agile Methodology – Agile Development is a term that covers several iterative and incremental software development methodologies. This agile methodologies includes Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Dynamic systems development method (DSDM), Crystal, Feature-Driven development (FDD) e. t. c â€Å"Agile Software development represents a major departure from traditional plan –based approaches to software engineering â€Å"(Dyba and Dingsoyr, 2008). Each of these Agile methods is unique in its specific approach, but they all share a common core values and vision. Agile method is a new system development methodology which is used by software development teams to improve the software development process in terms of increased productivity of I. T personnel and higher quality of the final I. T solutions (Chan and Thong, 2008). According to Chan and Thong, (2008); Reifer, (2002), agile methodologies, such as Extreme programming (XP) and Scrum have received praise from practitioners because of their abilities to deal with volatile requirements. Although the deployment of these agile methodologies by I. T personnel is still resistance, industry surveys have indicated that its acceptance in I. T organisations is still at an early phase with many respondents indicating a limited knowledge (Chan and Tong, 2008). Also, in as much as the agile method have generated quite a bit of controversy, but since its entrance into the software community, most projects have continued to deliver high quality software systems within time than the traditional processes. BASIC I. T PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING TOOLS Different types of planning and scheduling tools exists, but we are going to discuss some of the basic one used in managing Information technology projects like Gantt Charts, CPM, PERT, WBS Gantt chart and Critical path Analysis flow diagrams are two commonly used tools for detailed project management planning, scheduling, costing and budgeting. Gantt chart is a typical scheduling method for most types of projects. A Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a schedule which helps in planning, co-ordinating and tracking specific tasks in a project. A key feature of Gantt charts is its focus on systemic rather than algorithmic solutions to utilisation problems† (Wilson, 2003). It specifies complex task sequence, that is, a task or more can be required to be completed before other tasks can start. According to Maylor, (2001), he emphasizes that the use of Gantt chart in controlling information systems projects is beneficial as it shows clearly the overlap of scheduled task s, which commonly occurs in system development. Gantt chart supports modification of task dependencies, creation of new task connector as well as re-scheduling individual tasks. It also helps to evaluate the progress of a project. Although, Gantt chart is a widely used and beneficial tool which gives clear illustration of project status, it also has some limitations. Gantt chart do not show task dependencies of one task to another, that is, it is difficult for you to see or tell the effect of a task falling behind schedule of which PERT chart does. Also, Gantt chart does not show the necessity of completing one task before the start of another as Critical Path Analysis will do. Gantt chart is also often used as a reporting tool. PERT and CPM Type Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) are useful tools that help to manage and schedule complex projects. Activities of a complex projects can be performed parallel and some sequentially. The collection of these activities can be modelled as a network. PERT type network looks for the schedule to minimize the objective function of the total elapsed project time, that is, it determines the start and the finish times of each activity or task. CPM type is based on the critical path method. It looks for the schedule with the minimum cost in a definite period of time (a case where the cost is associated with each task). CPM provides a graphical view of a project, helps predict the time required for project completion and shows which activities are critical to maintaining the schedule and which are not. â€Å"CPM execution can enable monitoring and control over various topics uniquely related to software projects† (Gelbard et al, 2002). The CPM considers a set of precedence relations between the tasks of a project, that is, some tasks must be finished before other tasks can be started (Conde, 2009). CPM helps to plan all tasks that must be completed as part of a project. When managing I. T projects, CPM helps to get a project back on course by showing you where remedial actions need to be taken as in the case of Gantt Charts. CPM type is deterministic as it uses a fixed time estimate for each activity. According to Chanas and Zielinski, (2001); Yakhchali et al (2009), they emphasizes that the importance of CPM is that the activities duration time are deterministic and known, but the assumption cannot always be fulfilled with satisfying accuracy. Therefore, in order to deal with imprecise durations, they suggested that PERT method be used, which has conception of random variable with beta distribution to model the activity times. However, CPM is simple and easy to understand, but it does not consider the time variations that can have a huge impact on complex project completion time. For less routine projects, there is more uncertainty in the completion times of which PERT network is an alternative as it allows a range of durations to be indicated for each activity. The reduction of time and cost required for project completion is one of the capabilities of a PERT network. PERT assumes that the time estimate for an activity lies within the range of earliest time and latest time. It uses a three time estimates (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) to compute the expected average time. However, PERT technique provides less benefit if the uncertainty of time estimates is relatively small and irrelevant. Chanas et al, (2001) and Conde, (2008) agrees that the PERT assumes beta distributions for the individual task completion times but also that the assumption and some other conditions are not exempt for criticism. â€Å" Apart from that, PERT provides a scheduling mechanism that is based on resource reallocation and ordering the project activities for cognitively driven task like software projects and research/development projects. â€Å"The main drawback of PERT technique is the difficulty of obtaining the time estimates† Changes do occur in I. T development projects, of which most often result to failure of the overall project. Controlling changes provides stability to projects. Changes to project agreement must be evaluated and recorded accordingly. According to Wang et al, (2008), change control facilitates software flexibility by controlling risks due to unstable scope and run-away requirements. Change control is necessary in project monitoring as it ensures; * Prevention of unauthorized use of resources * Proper update of project plan, its scope, budget expectations, schedule and quality * That the recommended change is consistent with external agreements. Monitoring and control process is no doubt necessary in project development by use and application of methodologies, tools and techniques. However, evaluating the various ways, their functions and characteristics, it can be said that there is no better of f methods as they have their benefits and weaknesses in various areas which other encompasses and vice versa, in other words, there is no-one –fits-all methodology. In practice, project managers have found out that it is difficult to simply use a methodology or tool exactly as it stands. But, it can be said that a good and successful project which delivers quality result, within time and budget are generally dependant on the quality and effort of participants from the project board down to the individual team members.

Common Law 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Common Law 2 - Essay Example Another relevant aspect is regarding provision of goods and services in that there is an implied clause in the Sale of goods and services that the products or services sold are of satisfactory quality and shall be suitable for the purpose for which it has been purchased. Besides, in this case it is believed that the buyer, Abigail, had relied on the skill and knowledge of the seller, Cable Fast, but ultimately, the services could not meet the needs of the buyer. Further, she had also informed Cablefast that she actually needed superfast broadband because she was a movie buff and a busy film critic, and yet there has been lowered degree of service provision by the internet service provider, Cable Fast. Further, in this case, it is important to note that Cable Fast owes the buyer, Abigail, a duty of care. In the 1964 landmark case of Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465, this issue arouse, especially under circumstances under which one party placed trust and reliance on the pronouncements and actions of another. Although the bank had categorically disclaimed their responsibility in providing credential opinions, yet, the duty of care aspect was evident. In deciding this case, the judge observed, â€Å"I consider that it follows and that it should now be regarded as settled that if someone possessed of a special skill undertakes, quite irrespective of contract, to apply that skill for the assistance of another person who relies upon such skill, a duty of care will arise. The fact that the service is to be given by means of or by the instrumentality of words can make no difference.† (Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd: Judgment, 1964). Thus, the additional payment may not be enforceable, at the option of the buyer. In the case of exclusion clauses in contracts, it is necessary that contracting parties are

Democratic candidate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Democratic candidate - Essay Example John Kerry raised in 2004 combined. No doubt, Obama is a contender. But what is it about him that will make voters want to vote for Obama come November 4th? First of all, people who have voted strictly Democratic will probably tend to vote for Obama. Obama also seems to be gaining ground with independents because of his inclusive message. Unfortunately, John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate’s message at the Republican National Convention was divisive and alluded to the culture wars—something that has slowly but surely made its way into McCain-Palin campaign rallies, where cries of â€Å"Terrorist† and other nasty verbal threats have been heard, referring to Sen. Obama. All the serious ones have been investigated. Obama will surely appeal to people who definitely want change, as well as leadership for the economic crisis. When the economic crisis hit, Obama outlined a four-point plan and appeared very presidential, calm, cool, and collected, with a clear idea of what to do. This may appeal to voters who may vote the ir pocketbooks this election, and want to see someone in office who will end a costly war in Iraq which is currently bringing our country into debt by an extra $10 billion dollars per month, when that money could be spent on health care for every man, woman, and child, and better the country’s infrastructure, schools, and other programs. Obama may also appeal to the middle-class voter, as he is the only candidate allowing for a tax cut for 95% of working families. Obama also offers a health care plan for universal coverage with the government. That is the bulk of the Obama program. It is a solid program, as he sharply contrasts himself with Bush-McCain politics, and offers a change from four more years of the same failed policies. John McCain will probably appeal to voters who are more socially and

DAVID POOL Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

DAVID POOL - Research Paper Example Dave Pool’s war tactics and strategies are best revealed during the Lawrence raid in 1863. Similarly, he undertook remarkable operations in March 1865 with Arch Clement, Jim Anderson and 144 other men in Sherman, Texas. It has been identified that Dave Pool joined Quantrill in July 1862 â€Å"after his uncle, Archibald Poole, was killed and his home sacked by jayhawkers and another member of his family shot† (Captain Francis Marion Pool 1837 – 1899). There are many who hold that Dave Pool is named after the famous Revolutionary War guerrilla, Francis Marion who was also known as the Swamp Fox. The role of the Quantrill Army was no less significant in the American Civil War that they exerted tremendous influence in determining the present status of America. That is why historians regard the Knights of the Golden Circle, or Quantrills Guerrillas or Quantrills Raiders as the most prominent group that helped the confederates. The Missouri-based band was formed in December 1861 by William Clark Quantrill and originally consisted of only ten men who were determined to right the wrongs done to Missourians by Union occupational soldiers (Longley & Eby, 2010). Kansas Jayhawkers and the Red Legs who have widespread in Missouri were their prime enemies. When the Civil War broke out the Quantrill guerrillas could attract many youngsters to their army and in a way they could act as the official arm of the Confederate Army after May 1862, when the Confederate Congress approved the Partisan Ranger Act (Longley & Eby, 2010). Some of the important leaders of Quantrills Guerrillas included William C. â€Å"Bloody Bill† Anderson, David Pool, William Gregg, and George Todd. Quantrill Army was the group of Confederate guerrilla fighters during the American Civil War. William Quantrill has often been referred to as the leader of the army who exhibited audacious nature from the very young age itself.

The Global Significance of the Middle East Essay - 66

The Global Significance of the Middle East - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that most leaders in the region as well as superpowers try to take control of the area so as to gain in this viable energy business. The large oil wells in the region have caused its global significance as it meets most of the oil needs in the world.  The global significance and dependence on the Middle East for oil and energy resources is known to have begun with the British navy that intended to use the petroleum from this region to give them a strategic advantage during the Great War.  From this time, the region has been dominated by the great powers who struggle to take control of the looming oil business.  Today leading nations are at conflicts in the struggle to control the lucrative oil market, and an example is the crisis in Iraq, which the United States and Britain invaded pretending that it had weapons of mass destruction, and this led to war in the region, causing death of many civilians, US and British soldiers. As the paper highlights the struggle for control of oil in the Middle East has led to wars, overthrow of leaders and dictatorships in the effort of taking over the oil business. An example is the Libyan crisis, which occurred due to the authoritarian rule of Gadhafi, and there were protests to remove him from power. Gadhafi was a dictator and had used the wealth generated from the oil wells in Libya for his own and family benefit while other citizens languished in poverty. The West intervened to remove him from office, which some people think was a plan of the superpowers to gain control of the oil in Libya, one of the Middle East countries.   

Advertising targeting children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advertising targeting children - Essay Example The researchers implemented a two-level Bayesian hierarchical linear model. The research concluded that all three methods – incentives, pledges, and competitions – were successful in improving students to increasingly incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diet. Further analysis of these results demonstrated that younger children responded more actively to incentives and pledges than did older children. While I had difficulty understanding the specific way the quantitative data was used, for the most part I understood the article. I appreciated this article as it is concerned with a socially responsible cause. I also felt that these findings could greatly aid students throughout their lives. Even though many of the students in the study may go back to poor eating habits, the very act of them practicing these habits at this age will for sure contribute to their developing strong habits in the future. Dar et al. (2011) examined the role and functions of fast food advertising on children. Within this area of investigation the research indicates that the Canadian government became highly concerned with the childhood obesity epidemic. Because of these concerns there is growing policy measures proposed that would prohibit or restrict fast food advertising on children. Subsequently this research sought to identify the effect of this advertising on children. The research implemented a quantitative research design. Specifically the researchers examined statistical data on household expenditures on fast food in a Quebec town from 1982 to 1992. This statistical data was compared to data from a town where fast food advertising had been banned. The difference between these figures was then used to determine the impact of the advertising. More specifically a triple difference methodology was used to examine these statistical findings. The researchers indicate that a ban on fast food advertis ing

Michael Kors Business Strategy and Policy Essay

Michael Kors Business Strategy and Policy - Essay Example The paper tells that the vision of Michael Kors has taken the company from American luxury sportswear house to a merchandise of global accessories, and footwear with the presence in over 74 countries. The company has exceptional experienced sales momentum with a clear trajectory for important future growth. This has made Michael Kors a highly recognized brand of luxury lifestyle in North America and has led to an improving awareness in the international markets. The company has successfully expanded over the years beyond apparel into accessories that include small leather goods, handbags, jewelry, eyewear, watches, and footwear. Introduced in 1981 in the fashion industry, Michael Kors Company reflects the luxury pinnacle and establishes authority in aesthetics in the entire brand and makes the cornerstone of the company runaway shows. The collections of Michael Kors Company are available in many retail shops and other department stores in the world and are subjected to international competition in offering accessories in the industry. In spite of the cut-throat competition in the design market and fashion industry, Michael Kors Company has remained a world celebrated designer. In the analysis of Michael Kors’s business strategy in the fashion industry through the Porters Five Forces Model, we will consider the following competitive forces of the company: Threat of entry by emerging or new competitors Intensity of rivalry among the competitors Pressure from the available substitute products Supplier bargaining power Bargaining power of customers These five forces in the Porters Model taken together provide insight into the competitive position of Michael Kors Company in the fashion industry as well as its profitability Rivals in the fashion industry are the existing competitors in the market. These are the competitors that Michael Kors faces in the fashion industry which may drive profits to even zero. Rivalry can be weak in the industry with the small nu mber of competitors that do not aggressively compete. Rivalry can also be intense where there are a large number of competitors who fight in a cutthroat environment. In the case of the Fashion industry, some of the factors that affect the intensity of rivalry among the existing competitors include the number of replica handbags of from Michael Kors by other firms and this will lead to intensive competition. The fixed costs and the high percentage of fixed costs in the total costs of Fashion industry demand that the company sells more accessories in order to cover for such costs, hence increasing the competition in the market. In addition, Fashion industry needs  to practice product differentiation because similar products in the market will basically compete on the price basis, and therefore identification of brand reduces rivalry. Among the features of competitive advantage is the barrier to entry into the fashion industry. The fashion industry has very high barriers to entry suc h as the fake Prada china handbags because the prices are normally very expensive for the newly established firms such as authentic designer handbags to gain entry. On the other hand, where the fashion industry has minimal barriers to entry such as Louis Vuitton handbags are cheap relatively for new firms to enter.

Young Peoples Use of Mobile and Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Young Peoples Use of Mobile and Internet - Essay Example Qualitative research method is based on observation and no scientific methods are applicable on it. There are two types of observations first is to simply observe and draw a conclusion and second is to ask questions from the other person and draw a conclusion. Observational method consists of observation of an individual by a trained observer can take place in a natural setting (watching a child interact with classmate) in an experimental situation. Observing a student, when he is trying to complete a test deliberately, designed to be too difficult to finish in the allotted time. Second type of research method is quantitative research method, which consists of systematic and scientific research method. In this method, the first step is to examine hypothesis and systematically further steps are followed. In this presentation, qualitative research method is followed. There are two ways of data collection in qualitative research method, primary data collection and secondary data collect ion. In the primary data collection, data has to be collect from the direct source and in the secondary data collection data is collected from the surroundings and not from the direct source. According to the BBC, behaviors of the people have remarkably changed due to the heavy exposure of media. In addition, the people have now especially the children totally rely on media and they have started to forget their real culture, norms and values. According to the BBC, people use media for fulfilling their two basic.

Recruitment and Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Recruitment and Selection - Essay Example To be able to fully benefit from the technology, network and database systems, and media technologies that can be used for interview, high-sped connectivity to the internet is advised and technical support staff are advised (Horwitz et al, 2006). Another key issue that is being focused in e-recruitment is the issue regarding security and fraud. Among the concerns regarding security is the accesses to applicants' information particularly contact details (E-recruitment, 2006). Though e-commerce and related online regulations have already addressed these issues, there are still some fears that information is being sold to third parties or used for other purposes either with or without the consent of e-recruiters (Nickel & Schaumburg, 2004). As e-recruitment also became more popular, recruitment frauds also became prevalent. Aside for standard anti-fraud regulation, most of the efforts to curb the activities have been initiated largely by legitimate e-recruiters (Grabner-Kruter & Kaluscha, 2003). E-recruitment has encouraged the flexibility of labor and has encouraged work migration. It has also been able to improve data basing and management employee information to support other human resource functions (Sridhar, 2005). Another key improvement it has been able to bring to the industry is in the enhancement of communications with prospective employees and hiring agencies. It has allowed real time coordination and management of information that has been effective in shortening and improving efficiency of the whole hiring process (Liu and Wang, 2006). On the part of applicants, it has in turn allowed to more options and access to jobs and companies respectively. The utilization of online applications has also significantly cut the cost of applying for jobs and communicating with perspective companies (Yoon Kin Tong & Sivanand). Development E-recruitment developed in conjunction with the trend of outsourcing of support services as part of down-sizing efforts in the late 1980's. However, e-recruitment has to wait a few more years before it came into the form we know today because of the lack of necessary technological capacity to support it. The first forms of e-recruitment involved either the posting of job vacancies in traditional media or coursing of applications to online addresses or by posting of jobs on online posting boards and coursing through snail mail or offices (Grabner-Kruter & Kaluscha, 2003). The eventual popularity of e-mails, increased capacity of the internet communications and higher computing capacity are the basis of e-recruitment industry as it is known today. E-recruitment models today have to develop the "capability of HR to facilitate the system and to view the staffing process as an end-to-end process" (Kerrin & Kettley, 2006) E-commerce E-recruitment is one of the success stories of e-commerce. The first models took the form of job postings that were part packaged with traditional recruitment outsourcing services. Improvement on the internet and database capacity eventually created the next model of e-recruitment that was an independent service. This model asked for employees to become members of the service by including their information into a database wherein they could view available jobs online (New E-recruitment

Advantages and disadvantages of Home-working Essay Example for Free

Advantages and disadvantages of Home-working Essay Most of organizations use ICT for their work. Using ICT has increase the pace of organizations by a huge factor as well as helping in many other ways. However, everything has its disadvantages as well as advantages; the disadvantages of using ICT is developing some physical diseases, increased chances of fraud through ICT, etc. Day by day, new technologies are exploited and new ways of using ICT is introduced to people. One of the changes that can be brought to an editing company is to increase the amount of home-working. Increasing home-working will have many positive effects on the organization as well as some bad. If home-working is increased, the staff will have an opportunity of preparing their ergonomics just the way they want it to be. This will provide the staff with a more comfortable environment, and a better status of the brain; this way the staff can be more active and contribute more to their job. The other benefit of increasing home-working is that the risk of hacking and fraud of the data is reduced. If the staff member does most of his/her work at home, this means that he stores it in his own personal area. If someone broke up into the company, they wont be able to find that information, because it is not stored in the companys ICT. If home-working is increased, the staff member will be able to do his/her work whenever, wherever he/she wants; this wont give them a hard time trying to show up in the office on time. It will also help reduce transport. The members can do the work from home and will not need to go to their office. The reduction in transport is proven helpful for the environment. The disadvantages of increasing home-working are that the worker should be a responsible person. Many people will not do something unless they are forced to. If the employee of an organization is an irresponsible person, home-working will shows a decrease in productivity of an organization. The staff member should be able to differentiate between their personal life and work life to be able to have as successful life. The other disadvantage of home-working is that the employee is independent while working; this might raise a temptation of not working in them since there is no boss to tell them to do the work. Also, the boss would not know which employee is more productive than others, therefore they wont be able to reward, or penalize any of the employees. Keeping to the deadlines is very important. If given a task to complete by a certain date, it will be the responsibility of the employee to manage their time and have the task done by the deadline. However there is no guarantee that something wont go wrong. Maybe for example, losing all the data due to some technical or software error in the computer. There might even be some kind of a physical damage to the machinery which will delay the task. But being away from the employers sight, it might be difficult to prove that such an incident had really take place.

The Influence Of New Media Sociology Essay

The Influence Of New Media Sociology Essay In Malaysia, human rights of homosexual issue are getting serious. Media is shaping the image of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups through their news. The problem statement of this research is that LGBT community is greatly discriminated in society. The research attempts to investigate the power of new media through youth`s view and gauge the level of public awareness and also to instil awareness of respecting homosexuality in todays youth. The target audience is Malaysian university students of different races and ages between 17 to 27 years old. The survey method to obtain the result is through a questionnaire and to distribute 200 sets to the respondents on the Internet. Eventually, the researchers found out that the majority of students view that negligence on the LGBT community is not a serious problem in Malaysia and do not think that the Internet influenced much of their views on LGBT community. At the same time, they view Seksualiti Merdeka as a negligible issue since the respondents do not know much about it but majority think that LGBT deserves equal human rights. In conclusion, youth are not aware of homosexual issues in Malaysia. Government or some organizations should lend a hand in educating youth about homosexuality. Homosexual identity is abstracted as a life-spanning development process. This process eventually leads a person to personal acceptance of a positive gay self-image and a clear personal identity (Minton McDonald, 2012). According to Habermas theory of ego development, it is utilized to provide a synthesis and understanding of the literature on the construction and maintenance of the homosexual identity. It is concluded that the homosexual identity generally emerges in a three-stage process, in which the person progresses from (1) an egocentric interpretation of homoerotic feelings to (2) an internalization of the normative, conventional assumptions about homosexuality to (3) a post-conventional phase in which societal norms are critically evaluated and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed. In short, homosexual develops in three stages. The first stage is the homoerotic feelings in a self-centered way. The second stage is the internalization of the normative, assuming ho mosexuality in a convention way. The final stage is a post-conventional phase where the critical evaluation of societal norms happens and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed. However, no one knows how exactly homosexuality entered into human history. According to Samhsa, the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) describe distinct groups within the gay culture. The early initiatives for people who were gay focused mostly on men. So, in an attempt to draw attention to issues specific to gay women, lesbian is often listed first. People who are bisexual or transgender have been traditionally left out of, or underrepresented in, research studies and health initiatives. Other than that, a study from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy revealed that the term homosexuality was coined in the late 19th  century by German psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert. Although the term is new, discussions about sexuality and same-sex attraction have occasioned philosophical discussion ranging from Platos  Symposium  to contemporary queer theory (Pickett, Brent, 2011). However, the gay group is different from sissies and tomboy. According to Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United State, the dictionary itself documents the distinction between tomboy and sissy with gay, while tomboy refers to romping, boisterous, boyish young girl, sissy an effeminate boy or man, a timid or cowardly person (Siecus Report, 2003). Thus for a boy been called sissy can be devastating, as it pierces his self-image at its most vulnerable point. By contrast, tomboy is said with approving tones, and does not detract from a girls sense of worth (Green, 1979). By this definition, it could be understood that a gay individual is more likely to have same sex attraction, but a sissy person may only behave like a girl while having a normal sexuality as other heterosexual males. According to National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), LGBT refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. The term gay  refers to both men and women who are attracted to persons of the same sex. Lesbian  is the term used specifically for women who are romantically and sexually attracted to other women. Bisexual  is used to indicate that a person is attracted to both men and women. Some describe bisexuality as an attraction to the qualities a person possesses rather than the gender of the person who possesses the qualities. Bisexual persons often experience a lack of acceptance in both heterosexual and GL communities because of misconceptions and stereotypes associated with bisexuality. Finally, transgender  is an umbrella term used to describe someone who experiences his/her gender in a way that varies along a continuum from masculine to feminine (Brown Rounsley, 1996; Perez, DeBord Bieschke, 2000; Cunningham, 2003; Smith 2006). Hall (1996) coined the term of under erasure to refer to the LGBT individuals who happen to occupy outside the field. Within the gay and lesbian community, the subjective voices of transgender people are often marginalized or ignored (Minter, 2000) It indicates that the social status of the LGBT persons often insignificant and lower in rank. Social networking sites are spots where youth are easily influence by sexual text, photos and videos and also creates such materials by own (Rebecca, 2001). New media helps in addressing issues such as sexual health and their important role of youth at risk depends on media which is in use (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). To see the ever present queerness in the most prosaic straightness is important to be sure, as it has been for every oppressed minority. Visibility is much important to gays and lesbian because change of social acceptance. 1.1 Problem Statement This study addresses the issue of the portrayal of the marginalized group, known to be LGBT, by the new media and to what extent it influences the perceptions of the young individuals towards this group. A study performed by Free Malaysia Today stated that the Centre for Independent Journalism reprimanded the Malaysian print media for their lop-sided reporting on the Azwan Ismail video that was first made by a group called Seksualiti Merdeka. Azwan, an engineer, shot to fame after he stated his sexual preference in a video entitled, I am Gay, I am Okay. The video was first aired in an event organized by Seksualiti Merdeka. His open statement, however, did not go down well with other media. The Malay dailies newspaper and the community made their displeasure known via various cyber platforms. Some even went to the extent of issuing death threats against Azwan. One prominent Muslim blogger took the government to task for its failure in curbing the spread of gay and lesbian activities ( Free Malaysia Today, 2011). Other than that, Youth Pride Inc also stated that 36.5 % of GLB youth grades 9-12 have attempted suicide and 20.5% of those attempts resulting in medical care (Robin, 2002). In 2005, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) survey of LGBT youth, 90% reported experiencing verbal or physical harassment or verbal assault in the past year (Harris Interactive GLSEN, 2005). All these findings share one conclusion namely LGBT people are greatly discriminated in the society. This study thus chooses to highlight on homosexuality and Seksualiti Merdeka with aims to create awareness among todays generation about the need to respect every persons right, including the rights to be homosexuals. 1.2 Research Objectives To discover the new medias portrayal of the LGBT community in Malaysia. To examine the Malaysian youths perceptions towards the LGBT community in general and specifically towards Seksualiti Merdeka. To create awareness about the issue of homosexuality among Malaysian youths. 1.3 Research Questions How are new medias portrayals of the LGBT community in Malaysia? What are the Malaysian youths perceptions towards the LGBT community and Seksualiti Merdeka? How far Malaysian youths are aware about the issue of homosexuality? 1.4 Research Hypothesis This research has one hypothesis, which is if the new media portrays the LGBT community negatively; the perceptions of youth towards LGBT community will be negative. This means, if the new media portrays the LGBT community positively, the perceptions of youth towards LGBT community will be positive. 1.5 Research Significance This study examines the influence of new media on the youths perception towards LGBT community. The researchers highlight youth perceptions on this issue because in the modern era today, youths are expected to be more open minded apart of being daring to voice out their opinions about any arising issues. A research by Pew Internet America Life Project (2007) revealed that 94 percent of internet users are young people with age range between 18 to 29 years old. This finding indicated that youths today are the active users of new media such as social networks, forums, blogs etc. With new media, the youths can easily get information about LGBT issues that occured in the country or abroad. Therefore, the youths may have more awareness towards LGBT groups. New media is becoming a platform for the youth to express their opinions and to discuss about any issues. Therefore, the researchers think that, there is a need to study more about the influence of new media on youths perceptions towards LGBT community. This study will help to instil awareness and provide a better perspective about the issues of LGBT and Seksualiti Merdeka to upcoming generation. It can also be useful and functional as reference for future researchers who are interested to expand the discussion on similar topics and areas. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Media Portrayal of LGBT Society has always had a general fear or disdain for homosexuality. That is why the media tended to support the already common perceptions, instead of challenging them (Montgomery, 1981). According to Kanter (2012), since the start of television programming, the forms of LGBT characters in entertainment or popular culture have both been limited. If they did exist, they were either exaggeratingly stereotypical, or associated with criminality or deviance. All the way through the 1980s, gay characters were seen on television as cameo roles with particular problems that hold almost non-existent lives, absent of desire or relationships. With the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, starting in the 1980s and into the 1990s, homosexuals were portrayed in more substantial, reoccurring roles (Netzley, 2010). Jackson Gilbertson (2009) explained that versions of the media lesbian that preceded her contemporary incarnation as hot typically cast her in stereotypical and undesirable ways, for example as masculine and unattractive (Wilton, 1995; Ciasullo, 2001). Dow (2001) notes how the lesbian on television historically occupied a fleeting space as an object of humor or as a villain. In her contemporary guise, the media lesbian can most often be seen as constituted within post-feminist discourses that produce women as sexually desiring, sexually plural, and self-pleasing (McRobbie, 1996). Gamson (1995) encouraged the homosexuals to tell their views in the talk shows. Talk show is the place where they get the attention they want and rise out their views which they cannot get in other ways. He is also the only spot in mainstream media culture where it is possible for non-heterosexuals to speak for themselves. A study shows the changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in the United State through fashion in public opinion polls.   The results were considered by  issues connected to homosexuality which integrated legal status, morality, acceptability, causes, familiarity with self-identified homosexuals, as well as views on both military and nonmilitary occupations, civil rights, marriage and adoption rights, and AIDS. This also concluded that community behavior have shifted in a free-thinking path (Yang, 1997). 2.2 LGBT Youngsters Engagement with New Media Past research had supported the idea that the Internet is frequently a lifeline in the development of sexual health among LGBT young people (Hillier Harrison, 2007). Many of them first come out online, and report learning about sexual behaviours, pursuing friendships with other LGBT young people, and exploring same-sex attraction online (Harper, Bruce, Serrano, Jamil, 2009; Hillier Harrison, 2007). Social networking tools had been widely used among youngsters in getting sexual health information. Importantly, social networking tools do not only allow researchers and practitioners to receive and provide information, but also allow the LGBT young people to exchange information and experiences with LGBT peers, engendering broader development of their sexual health (Bargh McKenna, 2004). This opportunity allows for a greater chance for LGBT young people to test out identities and gather information in a more controlled, private environment than is typical among general Internet resources or large social networking sites (Joshua, Louisa, Samantha Brian, 2011). According to Wilkerson (1994), there several types of homophobic attitudes like the treatment of people with human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) about ways in which HIV is transmitted, media representation of AIDS and the way the medicines purpose reinforces a positive view inimical to lesbians and bisexuals. African-American news websites are growing in influence in terms of the number and loyalty of the unique visitors they attract. Homophobia and discrimination are the top storylines on the African-American news websites we analyzed, followed by culture, religion, and same-sex marriage in equal measure (Siegel, 2012). 2.3 Health Issues among LGBT Community By the 1990s, lesbian, the LGBT youth have appeared only as a separate cultural group. There are quite few youth identified themself or turn as LGBT since social sanctions and stigma contributed to severe repercussions and isolation, limiting access to supportive communities and awareness of sexual and gender identities in the earlier periods. However, only a handful addressed the needs of youths although a range of lesbian and gay service organizations developed in large cities during the 1970s and 1980s. According to Makadon (2008), elimination of health disparities among LGBT individuals, also collectively called sexual minorities, is a critical need for focus on their health. LGBT populations are disproportionately at risk for violent hate crimes, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/ AIDS, a variety of mental health conditions, substance abuse and certain cancers. However, LGBT patients frequently encounter problems with access to quality health services, experiences disparities in screening for chronic conditions, and report a lack of counseling pertinent to actual lifestyle behaviors. Historically, homosexuality has been judged quite harshly due to cultural and religious taboos. The Pew Research Centres 2003 Global Attitudes Survey found that the majority of people in Western European and major Latin American countries (Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil) believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while most Russians, Poles and Ukrainians disagreed, and people in Africa and the Middle East objected strongly. Meanwhile, majority of Americans believe that homosexuality should be accepted (Makadon, 2008). Stigma, prejudice and discrimination create a stressful social environment that can lead to a variety of health problems among LGBT group. In LGBT group, minority stress is caused by (a) an external, objective traumatic event, such as being assaulted or being fired from a job; (b) the expectation of rejection and development of vigilance in interactions with others; (c) the internalization of negative societal attitudes (also known as internalized homophobia, transphobia, or biphobia); and (d) the concealment of gender identity or sexual orientation out of shame and guilt or to protect oneself from real harm. In addition, research shows a relationship between internalized homophobia/biphobia and various forms of self-harm, including eating disorders, high-risk sexual activity, substance abuse and suicide (Makadon, 2008). According to Rosan (1978), homophobia is a shortened form of homophilephobia, which means the fear of person neither of ones own sex, clearly not the connotation giv en to these terms in common parlance nor in professional literature. Garner (2008; as cited in Mulick Wright Jr., 2003) describes biphobia as psychological construct of negative attitudes towards bisexual individuals and bisexuality in general. In Malaysia, the rising trend of sexual transmission from 5.3% in 1990 to 22.15% in 2005 (Ministry of Health AIDS/STD Section) indicates that the situation could expand into a general epidemic. Furthermore, the proportion of women infected has risen from 1.4% in 1990 to 14.5% in 2005 (Ministry of Health AIDS/STD Section). Indeed, the female to male ratio of new infections has narrowed substantially. In sharp contrast to men, 64% of HIV infections in women were sexually transmitted. The result of HIV situation has an emergency need to go for gender-sensitive national respond by Malaysia government (Zulkifli, Lee, Yun, Lin, 2007). To do better in lend a hand to LGBT group for their healthcare, people should spend more time and attention to learn about LGBT health and obtain support in making educational improvements. Explanation focus on the clinician-patient relationship and address all threes domains of learning which comprised of attitudes, knowledge and skills would help clinicians to provide better care to LGBT patients. Attitudes have a major effect on health outcomes. Attention to attitudes requires growth in the affective arena. For clinicians, this involves developing awareness of and respect for a patients differences and willingness to listen empathically to that persons experience (Makadon, 2008). 2.4 LGBT involvement in international human rights Under international human rights law, all persons who including LGBT community are entitled to equal rights, including the rights to life, security of person and privacy, freedom from torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and the right to be free from discrimination (The Road To Safety, 2012). There are more than 80 countries still maintaining the laws that make same-sex consensual relations between adults a criminal offence. In year 2008, such laws were used in Morocco to convict six men, after allegations that a private party they had attended was a gay marriage. On 19 July 2007, six men were arrested after a young man who had been arrested on theft charges was coerced by police into naming associates who were presumed to be homosexual (OFlaherty Fisher, 2008). According to journal The Road to Safety (2012), LGBT refugees in Uganda and Kenya are among the most vulnerable of refugee populations. Due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, they can be targeted for violence by other refugees and some members of the host populations, harassed and extorted by police officers, and marginalized from accessing services from government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to Julie (2006), LGBT advocates have engaged in two very different kinds of activities on the international human rights stage. First, they have engaged in traditional human rights activism, using the traditional human rights techniques of monitoring and reporting to apply existing human rights norms to LGBT lives. These rights included the right to privacy in the criminal law context; the right to equality; the right to family; the right to non-discrimination; the right to freedom from torture (applicable in cases of forcible cures for homosexuality and psychiatric mistreatment generally); and the right of transsexuals to recognition of their new gender. Second, they have tapped into both traditional monitoring techniques and human rights culture-building efforts to promote new international human rights that are important to LGBT lives, including the right to sexuality. Until the mid- to late-1990s, most of LGBT advocates that involved in the international work on gay rights were also working with LGBT-specific organizations, such as the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). This organization was found in 1978 in Brussels as a world federation organization, and today it is joined by more than 500 gay and lesbian organizations from ninety countries on all inhabited continents. From its inception, ILGA has focused on presenting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation as a global issue. Another prominent group during this era was the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), founded originally in 1990 by Russian and US activists and now a US-based organization with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Buenos Aires (Julie, 2006). 2.5 Seksualiti Merdeka in Malaysia The rejection of homosexuality by Malaysian law and culture leads to the rise of human rights to the LGBT people. An increasing integration of Islamic political thinking and practice that builds on literal interpretations of Islamic textual sources is the main reason for why LGBT rights are neglected. Muslims who are under group of LGBT facing politically charged from conservative of normative Islamic discourses on sexuality and gender. To fight for their rights, LGBT community in Malaysia had formed Seksualiti Merdeka or Sexuality Independence in the year 2008, founded by Pang Khee Teik and Jerome Kugan. Seksualiti Merdeka is an annual sexuality rights festival held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and represents a coalition of Malaysian Non-Government Organizations which included Malaysian Bar Council, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Empower, Pink Triangle Foundation (PT Foundation), United Nations, Amnesty International and general public. The term used to highlight the fact that even after Malaysia independence, not all Malaysians are free to be who they are. The organization believes that everyone in Malaysia deserves to be free from discrimination, harassment and violence for their sexual orientations and their gender identities. They believe it is our right to be responsible for our own body and believe everyone is entitled to the freedom to love and the freedom to be, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, i ntersexes, straight, asexual, pansexual, or simply fabulous (Sexualiti Merdeka, n.d.). Being a Muslim-majority country, Malaysia would have to reiterate its strong objections to a policy that clearly contradicts the principles enshrined in the religion of Islam. On November 3, 2011, police banned Seksualiti Merdeka as the festival was deemed a threat to national security and a threat to public order. Co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka Pang Khee Teik said that they are not trying to promote homosexuality. This festival is actually the chance for Malaysians to listen to their story, why after all these years of trying to be somebody else, some of them have found peace with themselves and to accept who they are (Chun, 2011). According to Mosbergen (2012), on September 2012, Malaysias Education Ministry has endorsed guidelines to help parents identify gay and lesbian symptoms in their children. The guidelines are as below:- Symptoms of gays: Likes having a fit body and likes to show off by wearing V-neck and sleeveless clothes; A preference for tight and bright-colored clothes; Attraction to men; and A preference for carrying big handbags, similar to those used by women. Symptoms of lesbians: Attraction to women; Besides their female companions, they tend to distance themselves from other women; A preference for going out, having meals etc. with women and a preference for sleeping in the company of women; Not attracted to men Pang Khee Teik, however disagreed with the guidelines and he advised the ministry to rely on sound research instead of endorsing pseudo-experts as this could be damaging to children. Pang said education is an important tool to address inequality but the ministry had instead sought to use it for teaching hate, promoting inequality and playing politics. Besides that, the ministry should teach all children to be confident and to respect one another, no matter who they are. Seksualiti Merdeka thus was prepared to brief the Education Ministry if its officers were willing to listen to reliable research on the LGBT community (Asia One, 2012). 2.6 Online discussion of sexuality According to Mckee (2004), in one of the  ¬Ã‚ rst published articles addressing online discussions of sexuality, the homophobic comments made by composition students using the synchronous chat program interchange to brainstorm possible topics for a research essay (as cited in Regan, 1993). When a student raised homosexuality as a possible topic, a number of students posted homophobic comments: Were taught that homosexuality is a sin; A homosexual once made a move on me. I really didnt like it. I mean I really didnt like it! and To whoever was thinking about the topics of death and homosexuality, heres a thought, why not join together and do a project on the death of homosexuals? Not by AIDS. At the time of the exchange, the researcher Regan was unsure what to do when confronted with these comments, but she did try to redirect the conversation by interjecting, Has anyone thought about writing about homophobia? but it does not seem that her efforts were successful at redirecting what she called socially sanctioned classroom terrorism (McKee, 2004). Regan was distressed that the online environment enabled students to articulate their fear and hatred of homosexuals in a way that would not have happened in the traditional classroom, and she concluded that online spaces are not egalitarian, as was frequently claimed at the time. 2.7 Discrimination towards LGBT group in Malaysian Context Malaysia is one of the countries that illegalized homosexuality. Among the reasons for the country`s disapproval of homosexuality is its status as an Islamic nation, where everything that goes against the Islamic law and teaching is strictly prohibited and thus, condemned. According to Goh (2012), the rejection of same-sex behavior is not one that has emerged from a socio-political vacuum. Sexuality is considered taboo (Goh, 2012; as cited in Jerome, 2008) and appears to have a prominent place in the psyche of many Malaysians, notably institutional quadrants of Islam. Islamic civil and religious authorities closely observed on Muslims in Malaysia, ravaging the sexual lives of Muslims that are as private as khalwat (illicit close proximity) and zina (illicit sex or adultery) (Lee, 2010:31). In the Malaysian legal context, male homosexuality or gayness as a globally-recognized cultural trope has no direct equivalence to sexual identitiesà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Section 377A, 377B and 377C of the Malaysian Penal Code make provisions against acts of sodomy or liwat without being gender-specific, although it is in section 2 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act 1997 that one discovers a clearly-defined morphology of liwat as sexual relations be tween male persons (Goh, 2012). Uproars over male homosexuality in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries came into prominence with two major events. First is the sodomy charges of the former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and second is the festival celebrating the human rights of sexually-diverse persons, Seksualiti Merdeka. Raging debates on homosexuality in relation to Anwar (Kanaraju, 2007) and the banning of Seksualiti Merdeka in 2011 (Shazwan, 2011) caused innumerable forums on men`s masculinities population to mushroom among the Malaysian. Back in the year 1992, the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad made the statement that democracy would lead to homosexuality (Offord, 1999). Dr Mahathir used the conflation of homosexuality with democracy to consolidate Malaysias cultural borders (and its postcolonial status), so that Malaysian people can maintain the pureness and uniqueness. Dr Mahathir is drawn on cultural specificity in this context to explain the indigenous from the foreign, and homosexuality is conceived of as alien and other. It is in this sense that Anwar Ibrahim is bothered by the use of the accusation that he is homosexual. Anwar has been notable for his liberal views about democracy and transparent government (The Asian Renaissance, 1996). To simply do away with opposition and perceived threats to his authoritarian rule, Dr. Mahathir can inscribe upon his enemy the descriptor of homosexual (Offord, 1999). Prior to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) leaders summit in Kuala Lumpur in late 1998, amid the controversial jailing of Anwar and civil unrest and demonstrations, the role of homosexuality as a political and cultural tool of difference was propounded strongly by the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Dr Abdullah Badawi. It was his contention that sodomy was a serious offence in Malaysia; it was against the countrys religious and social values (The Weekend Australian, 1998). Dr Badawi maintained that in certain places in Europe, and perhaps Australia and America, they do not treat it as something big but to Malaysia, it is bad consider as a scandal. Following Dr Mahathirs accusations against Anwar, a Peoples Anti-Homosexual Voluntary Movement was formed to combat the dangers of homosexuality. In one blow Dr Mahathir succeeded in undermining Anwars credibility and deployed homosexuality as the number one impossibility. Anwar, also a Muslim, entrenched the perceived, corrupting value of homosexuality by asserting in the Time interview that his character was assassinated by this descriptor (Offord, 1999). Therefore in Southeast Asia today, this is one sense of where homosexuality is located, something that is demonized, and deeply disturbed. It is conflated at once with democracy, corruption, and foreignness. It does seem clear that when the nation state perceives a threat to its existence, that danger is frequently translated into sexualized terms. Same sex sexuality is deployed as the alien other, linked to conspiracy, recruitment, opposition to the nation, and ultimately a threat to civilization (Offord, 1999). 2.8 Theory applies between relationship of Media and LGBT Community Media plays a very important role in human life, where people get more of information they need from it. Therefore, to be more understand the influence of media on youths perceptions and opinions about homosexuality, the study chooses to employ framing theory. The concept of framing has been variously attributed to sociologist Erving Goffman and anthropologist Gregory Bateson. Frames allow journalists or media in general cover and package issue. The choice of journalists who shelter a story can influence the way issues are framed. The theory describe that the message framer has the choice of what is to be emphasized in the message, as the view through a window is emphasized by where the carpenter frames, or places, the window. If the window had been placed, or framed, on a different wall, the view would be different (Botan Hazleton, 2006). Acco

Motivation Theories in Project Management

Motivation Theories in Project Management In this assignment I will present my views about some motivation theories and how they can be applied or not applied when running in a project mode Introduction About Societe Generale Albania Banking sector continues to be one of the most important economic sectors and one of the most rapid growing businesses in Albania in the last 10 year (Bank of Albania, 2010, www.bankofalbania.org). Societe Generale Albania, previously named Banka Popullore, started its activity on 1st of Mars 2004. In 18th of April 2007, Societe Generale Group acquired 75.01% of the shares of this bank. The bank has its head office in Tirana and is present allover Albania with 41 operation branches. At the end of 2009, the bank had 379 employees, both Albanian and French nationality (Annual Report 2009, 2010, www.societegenerale.al). About the case study Being on the most important economic sectors has created enough space for operation of 17 Banks in a relatively small market like Albania. With such a high competition it is very important that banks stay always in line with economic developments and react fast toward customer needs for new products or adaptation. Our bank is quite small and there are frequently high pressures for sharing resources in order to complete in time and with budget different operational or business initiatives. These needs has made mandatory for bank management to apply a matrix organizational design in our organization. Such organizational structure are quite complex when it comes to management and control of staff performance, as they bring the employee in front of two managers, the department manager and the project manager. Now days project management is becoming a key component of the success for eveyr organization in any sector and such the motivation of employees working in projects is of a great interest for both the project manager, as the main beneficiary, and the organization. There a lot of researches and studies for motivation in standard organizational structure, but the topic is considered as less explored when it comes to project management (Dwivedula and Bredillet, 2009). Theories of motivations Motivation is the driving force within individuals that compels them physiologically and psychologically to pursue one or more goals to fulfill their needs or expectations, (Lam and Tang, 2003, p. 61). Why do managers need motivation? If we agree that an output of motivation is control, than we may say that a manager needs motivation to make people do the things he wants and stop doing the things There are currently a lot of theories to explain the nature of motivation and help mangers on addressing it according to their needs. These theories do not conflict between them, which means the manager can use any of them or even combine them. In my assignments I will be focused in 2 theories; The hierarchy of needs as the most first one and most well known by all kind of managers and The dual-structure theory since it was developed based on a research on engineers and accounts, which is about the same environment and employee nature as in my bank. The Hierarchy of Needs This is one of the most well know need theories of motivation and was developed by Abraham Maslow in 1940. According to this theory the needs are organized in 5 main groups of needs that stay together in the form of a pyramid (Maslow, 1943): Physiological Needs; they stay in the bottom of the pyramid and include the basic needs of every human been such as: the need for food, drink, education, medical care, etc. Every organization can provide these needs by providing good working condition and a salary to their employees. Security Needs; includes the need for feeling safe and secure, having a secure job, having a home and a future. The organization can satisfy these needs by offering job continuity, health and retirement plans. Belongingness Needs; includes the needs of humans to love and be loved, to be accepted by others, to take and give friendship. Most of this needs get satisfied by the family ties, but this is not enough since we spend a considerable time of our life in our works. Managers and direct supervisors can play a significant role to satisfy these needs by encouraging the work in group, enhance their communication with employees and provided basis for social interaction between employees. Esteem Needs; the needs of this group in be divided into two major needs, the need for self respect and the need for being respected by others. The organizations and managers can satisfy this by job title, awards, recognition of merits, benefits etc. Self-Actualization Needs; is the highest level of the hierarchy and includes the need we have to be the one we want to be in order to be self fulfilled. If all the other levels of the hierarchy are fully satisfied, it does not remain a lot for the managers to do to satisfy this need, all they need to take care off is make sure the individual has a challenging job and that other needs in lower level become deficient. According to the theory the needs of each level should be satisfied before going to the next level until we reach the self-actualization needs, however if during our road to the top of hierarchy, a lower level of need become deficient again the individual returns to that level (Moorhead and Griffin, 1995). Despite the fact that the theory is well recognized among many organization and managers due to the intuitive logic and easy understanding, the theory is not fully validated either by Maslow or any other research, in contrary many deficiencies have been identified (Wahba and Bridwell, 1976) It is important to mention that the most basic needs are provided by the top management of an organization and more we go up in the hierarchy of needs more we go down in the level of management responsible to satisfy these needs and turn them in motivator for improving job performance. The Dual-Structure Theory The theory was developed by Herzberg on late 1950s based on a research with a couple of hundred engineers and accounts (Herzberg, 1968). The finding of this research proved that different set of factors were connected with different feelings about work. The motivation of an employee goes in a two step process, first satisfying the employee (eliminate any factor which may bring dissatisfaction) by hygiene factors and second go with motivation factors. The motivation factors would result at the end with satisfied and motivated employees who can have a long term and positive job performance. The combination of these factors can set employee in four situations (Herzberg, 1987): Satisfied and motivated employee. The target situation for having the best performance. Satisfied but not motivated. The manager should find the way to apply motivation factors and change the status; otherwise the de-motivated employee will bring low productivity and bad quality. Not satisfied but motivated. The company should change its policies and rules and try to change the situation. An employee is not expected to stay to long in this status. Not satisfied and not motivated. The worst situation, both company and managers have a lot to do. These employees will bring to the business apart from the low productivity and bad quality a lot of complains, strikes, no communication. The hygiene factors, when they exist are in placed by the company strategy and/or governments rules and they are not directly related to the performance and ability of anybody. In opposite with them, the employee can get the motivation factors only by his involvement and his work. (McCrimmon, 2008). The theory has been analyzed more than any other theory in the field of organizational behavior (Pinder, 1998) and the results are quite contradictory. Studies and researchers which use the same method support the theory, other ones criticize it for the research population used, which is limited only to accountants and engineers, for not taking into account the individual differences, since a motivation factor can depend individual age and/or organizational model (House and Wigdor, 1967). Herzbergs theory states that money does not motivate employees but only satisfies them (Herzberg, 1968), due to this statement the theory is widely discussed and analyzed in studies and researches about the rewarding and motivation (Beel, 2007).The rewords supporters are totally against it and they say it does not have evidences to prove that money is not a motivation. Another aspect of critics is the fact that the theory does not take in consideration the circumstances, what does motivate an employee today, not necessary satisfy and motivate another one tomorrow (Robbins, 2005). Visual presentation of the dual structure theory (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/motivation_theory_herzberg.asp, Nov 2010) Motivation in Project management PRINCE2 manual defines a project as: a management environment that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case. Another definition is: a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and pre-define outcome or result at a pre-specified time using pre-determined resources. Being a temporary organization and with specific targets, the project organization is a more complex structure than a normal organization unit and different rules and practices are applied in every aspect of organizational behavior, including motivation. In 2008, our bank started a project for migration of existing core banking system into a new and modern one as part of the group strategy for mutualization of IT services. The project team was composed by more than twenty employees coming from different departments and sectors, covering many different positions such as; translators, business analysts, IT developers, organization and even a public relationship specialist. We knew since the beginning that such a challenging and multidimensional project could not succeed without a motivated team. Why do we need motivated staff? Is motivation the only factor for having a good performance? Conclusion Projects by definition are a temporary organization, this automatically excludes some motivation techniques which become irrelevant due to the time required to give their effects. What should we do? Should we leave motivation only to be applied in standard organizational structure?

Five Past Midnight in Bhopal Essay -- Environment, Methyl Isocyanate,

Union Carbide owned and operated a pesticide factory in Bhopal, which at one point was a gift to the city’s people and economy. However, an explosion released the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate or MIC into the air, killing thousands of innocent people in cities in close proximity to the plant and exposing many more to its effects. Union Carbide as a company prided itself on its safety standards. However, several oversights would give rise to this disastrous event. Carbide neglected to explain the dangers of MIC, to design the factory properly, and to operate the factory in a safe manner successfully. In this paper, I will argue that Union Carbide’s negligence caused the release of the toxins and the poor immediate response. MIC itself is a highly volatile and deadly substance that is used in the production of the pesticide, Sevin. Carbide neglected to explain the dangers of this substance on several fronts. First, Carbide studied the substance thoroughly in order to construct a manual designed to instruct workers on how to handle MIC properly. However, they neglected to include knowledge of an antidote to MIC in the manual. "Injection with sodium thiosulfate could, in certain cases, neutralize the deadly effects of the gas." (Bhopal, 92) If Carbide had included this information in the manual, then all of the employees, including the medical staff, would have a purported treatment in the event of an accident. This treatment could have saved the lives of many people in a disaster. Secondly, not only did the medical staff lack knowledge of an antidote, but also they â€Å"did not have any specific training in the effects of gas-related accidents, especially those caused by methyl isocyanate." (Bho pal, 167) The company ... ...egligence on all fronts allowed for the opportunity of the worst-case scenario to take place. The people of Bhopal had a right to a clean environment and air. Union Carbide knew the critical information about the gas and had a professional responsibility to uphold its obligation by not releasing toxic gas into the atmosphere and by making sure their employees followed all procedures. The company knew that a disaster of this magnitude was possible beforehand. Therefore, they knew the consequences that would occur from a failure on their part to correctly operate their factory. Carbide showed a lack of care in operating the factory where a moral obligation to the safety of the people was clearly present. Therefore, Union Carbide’s negligence is responsible for the release of toxic MIC into the air and the poor immediate response to the disaster.

Technology Ethic: Stem Cells Essay -- Research Science Biology Essays

Technology Ethic: Stem Cells Stem Cell: Stem cells can be thought of as blank slates or cells that have yet to become specialized. They can be transformed to become cells with special functions. History/Background of Stem Cells: In the mid 1960's, R. G. Edwards and colleagues at Cambridge University began studying differentiation of rabbit embryonic cells in an artificial environment. They manipulated these embryonic cells into specific types of form such as connective tissue and muscle neurons. Richard Gardner, a graduate student of R. G. Edwards, had furthered the experiment with mice blastocoels. As a result, human blast cysts became available since R. G. Edwards' laboratory in the early 1980s. In 1986, Peter Hollands, another graduate student of Edwards, demonstrated that mouse embryonic stem cells could colonize and repair damaged tissues of the haematopoietic system in adult mice. In 1998, James Thomson and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin successfully isolated and grew human embryonic stem cells. At John Hopkins University, John Gearhart successfully isolated human germ cells. From 1999 to 2000, researchers continued to manipulated cells from adult mouse tissues. Types Of Stem Cells: Stem cells can be classified into tree main types: oEmbryonic Stem (ES) Cells oEmbryonic Germ (EG) Cells oAdult Stem (AS) Cells Embryonic Stem Cell: ES cells are undifferentiated cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blast cyst. They are the original cells of our body tissues. ES cells have the potential to transform into 200 different specialized cell types. Human embryonic stem cells are derived from fertilized embryos which are less than a week old. In November of... ...ind. A young woman paralyzed in a car accident now can move her legs and toes as a result of having her own immune system cells injected into her spinal cord. Two children born without immune systems now have functioning ones because of a bone-marrow stem cell treatment. After analyzing stem cell development, I feel that research on ES cells should be stopped because of the many risks involved. Whereas the research on AS cells should carry on for it opposes no hazard to anyone. References: http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm#5 http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/ http://bioethics.gov/topics/stemcells_index.html http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/stemcell/ Mahendra S. Rao, Stem Cells and CNS Development (Contemporary Neuroscience) Kursad Turksen, Embryonic Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols Daniel R. Marshak, Stem Cell Biology

Personal Sacrifices for Career Success

A great career often means that you have to sacrifice. There is always a give and take that you have to go through in order to get to where you want to go. Whether you have to work with someone you don't like because they can get you a connection, or doing a Job you don't like because you will one day get promoted to something you do, a good career requires give and take. Say the boss asks you to work on a Saturday. Why would you do It? Why would you give up a day where you could sleep In, go see a movie In the afternoon and then go out at night?You do it because working on Saturday will Impress people. It will show that you have a team first attitude that you will come In when needed to help the company. You might not enjoy working with people you don't know all day. This especially holds true for those who don't have great hygiene or respect personal space. Why do you put up with them? Why not just tell them they smell bad and get it over with? You shut your mouth because you have to be a professional, and you have to get along in order to get ahead. Professional sacrifice is also why you don't yell and scream at people who don't do a DOD job.You don't want others to feel bad, but you don't want to look like you are short tempered. This doesn't help anyone, and you can get in trouble for it. Even If you are saying what others are thinking, it still requires you to restrain yourself and stay quiet. The betterment of your career is why you show up five minutes early to work. It's why you go to Buffalo for a job when you have been living in San Diego your whole life. No one wants to go across the country when it is much easier to stay where you are happy. No one wants to get to work early when we all know that work isn't fun.

Biodiesel Investigation Essay

‘Biodiesel is a clean burning renewable fuel made using natural vegetable oils and fats.1 Biodiesel is a revelation to chemists, engineers and environmentalists who are looking for more sustainable ways to make use of fuels. Since it is a natural and renewable fuel, it can be fitted in as a substitute for petroleum diesel, which is the substance conventionally used in automobile transport. Biodiesel is normally utilised as a replacement for petroleum diesel fuel or can be blended together with petroleum diesel fuel in any ratio. Biodiesel is a biodegradable substance with a lower toxicity in comparison to petroleum diesel fuel and is preferred as it is safer to handle since there is little human risk involved in its handling. The use of biodiesel as a petroleum substitute reduces the degree of exhaust emission. Biodiesel are notorious for their easy use in terms of how they can easily be pumped and stored in existing engines without having to make major industrial alterations to the engines themselves. They are usually blended together with petroleum fuels in order to create the optimal usage in engines. The output yield of biodiesel is I had never really heard of biodiesel until it was a topic covered in school. After finding out what biodiesel was, I looked into the IB chemistry syllabus to see what points it had on biodiesel and looked further into the applications of biodiesel as well as the process of transesterification and what is involved. My personal interest was sparked from my curiosity of how to obtain my own sample of biodiesel after I found out about its many uses. My high school chemistry department provided us with a set of materials and allowed us to investigate our own ways of obtaining biodiesels and I was keen to see what I could do with a sample of this versatile substance. I do feel as though this is an important experiment to engage in as scientists find biodiesels an extremely useful substance to use in machines and such. To try an experiment which involves looking at factors that can change the output of the product, would be a stepping stone to building a stronger understanding on the substance itself and how more of it can be obtained and perhaps what benefits it may serve. The experiment conducted was intent on looking at a certain independent variable (the concentration) that would affect the yield of biodiesel produced in experiment. The research question for this is: How the concentration of Potassium Hydroxide solution would affect the yield of biodiesel when transesterified with a standard sample of vegetable oil. Background: To look at the scientific aspect of it, biodiesels are a form of methyl esters, an organic chain compound that has a set of properties. The experiment involves the reaction between vegetable oil and potassium hydroxide and methanol mixed together. The equation for the reaction of the transesterification is: Vegetable Oil (l) + (3)HOCH3 + (NaOH catalyst) ——> C3H8O3 + 3-methyl ester 1 Biodiesel Basics This valuable renewable fuel resource is not vegetable oil, but instead formed from the organic chain compound. It is 3-methyl ester and has the following chemical structure: Fig. 1 The diagram on the left shows the transesterification process that forms two products (Glycerol and A 3-methyl ester). The experiment conducted involves potassium hydroxide as a catalyst instead of sodium hydroxide. Furthermore the biodiesel product of this varies from the other structured methyl ester that usually come in The other product is glycerol, which is commonly found in soaps. This is a standard example of transesterification however the experiment that is attempted involves different reactants. The diagram below shows the process for this experiment and the outcomes. The temperature of the oil mixed with the methanol mixture will be measured and the experiment consists of five different solutions of KOH + methanol that will each be reacted with the vegetable oil. A magnetic stirrer will be used in the process to get the reaction going and afterwards the finalised solution will be placed in a centrifugal and the process of centrifugation will separate the solution into glycerol and biodiesel. The biodiesel will then be extracted to give a reading on percentage yield. The method was personally derived and many modifications were made to the initial standard procedure of mixing 50% concentration Potassium Hydroxide solutions with 10ml of vegetable oil and stirring on a magnetic stirrer for 10-15 minutes at a certain temperature was deemed to unsafe for students as the high concentration acid was extremely corrosive, had irritating effects and also raised environmental concerns as the organic waste disposal process was far more complicated when the substances would permeate a trash landfill. As a result the new method was made and the substances involved were altered significantly. The new method consists of a reaction with a 5g/100ml (KOH concentrated) mixture between potassium hydroxide and methanol. In each test, there is a varied use in the concentration of the methanol mixture and this is measured by an arbitrary percentage figure as well as a known uncertainty. Furthermore, the potassium hydroxide serves as a catalyst for the reaction. Equipment Used: Apparatus Uncertainty 10cm3 Measuring Cylinder 0.2ml Mass Balance 0.005g 50cm3 Beaker 5ml Magnetic Stirrer N/A Thermometer 0.5 ºc Magnet Capsule N/A Method: 1. To set up the equipment appropriately, use a 10cm3 Measuring Cylinder to measure out 10ml of vegetable oil, and keep aside separately. Measure 1.5ml of the 5g/100ml (1%) Potassium Hydroxide solution and place set aside in the measuring cylinder. Set up the magnetic stirrer, and measure the temperature of the oil using the thermometer. For this experiment, the oil (placed inside beaker) will need to be kept on the magnetic stirrer with the capsule inserted and heated to 31 ºc. Measure the mass of the empty beaker first using the mass balance and record. 1. Once the oil has been heated to the appropriate temperature, add the methanol-KOH solution with 1% concentration to the oil and allow the stirrer to stir at a constant temperature for approximately ten to fifteen minutes. After a few minutes of stirring and any visible physical/chemical changes have occurred, remove the beaker of mixture from the solution and set aside temporarily. 1. The methyl-ester biodiesel mixture is ready for centrifugation. Using the mass balance, measure out the mass of the beaker with the oil mixture that has just undergone transesterification and pour all the substance from the beaker into a centrifugal tube. 1. Repeat all the tests with the 2%,3%,4% and 5% concentration KOH mixtures in methanol. When repeating, remember to measure each separate beakers individual mass and use the stirrer to bring the temperature back up to 31 º. Once the temperature has hit 31 º, mix the KOH with the oil as done before and allow the stirrer to create a reaction between the substances. Keep making qualitative observations and recording changes in temperature from the reaction and record the mass of the final solutions once stirring. 1. Finally, once all the products have been reacted, place them in centrifugal tubes and insert the tubes into the centrifuge. The centrifugation process will separate the biodiesel and glycerol. Extract the thin biodiesel layer (on top), measure the mass of the biodiesel in the initial beaker and derive the percentage yield of biodiesel from the mass difference between the solutions, density from mass and volume and make observations on the mass obtained. Diagram of Process : Done On Skitch Variables: Safety And Environmental Measures: Plenty of glassware will be utilised throughout the experiment, and therefore it is essential that safety glasses are worn as extra precaution to protect eyes from broken glass. Furthermore, all glassware should be kept away from the edges of tables to prevent risk of damage. KOH – methanol mixture is labeled as an irritant and mildly Independent Variable: Concentration of KOH – Methanol Mixture as % value. Fixed Variables: * Temperature of Oil * Volume of Oil Used * Volume of KOH – Methanol Mixture Dependent Variable: % Yield of Biodiesel, Mass outcome of biodiesel from transesterification corrosive based on *Cleaps Hazcards and it is therefore advised to wear gloves. It is also advised to wear lab coats as products of transesterification may permanently stain clothing. Fortunately, there are no ethical concerns involved as only vegetable oil is being used and no animal substances. The biodiesel substance is biodegradable and can be easily disposed of in organic waste. *Cleaps cited in Bibliography Qualitative Observations: * In all tests after the oil was placed into the centrifuge, a gunky substance was formed from the separation into two layers, one being the biodiesel and it can be assumed that the gunky substance was glycerol (used in soaps). At times the position of the magnetic stirrer was not in place for some results, which may be a result of random error (anoma Error Calculations on Mass Example % Yield Calculations of Biodiesel 1% Concentration: Example Calculation [(0.052 à · 1.000) x 100%] + [(0.2 à · 10) x 100] + [(0.2 à · 1.5) x 100] + [(0.005 à · 5.962) x 100] = 5% + 2% + 10% + 0.08% = 17.08% Uncertainty ≈ 17% Absolute Uncertainty for 1% Concentration yield: 5.95g  ± 20% (1sf) 1% Concentration Solution: Mass of biodiesel Extracted: =5.952 ( ±0.005)g Total mass of oil Mixture (Products from transesterification reaction) 100 x (5.952 à · 33.119) ( ±0.1 *100) Approx 18% Yield ( ±0.3%) * lies) in results such as the 2% concentration. * The temperature of the magnetic stirrer would be set higher than 31 º, and many of the substances would exceed or be under the temperature of 31 º before the actual reaction began. * The volume of the oil and KOH mixture used in the second test may not have been the same amount as the first, which would cause an error in the percentage yield of biodiesels. Data Processing: 2% Conc. 3% + 2% + 10% + 0.08% = 15.08% ≈ 4.99g  ± 20% 3% Conc. 2% + 2% + 10% + 0.08% = 14.08% ≈ 6.84g  ± 10% 4% Conc. 1% + 2% + 10% + 0.08% = 13.08% ≈ 7.81g  ± 10% 5% Conc. 1% + 2% + 10% + 0.08% = 13.08% ≈ 7.97g  ± 10% Processed Data Table: Mass of Biodiesel (2DP) Total Uncertainty on Mass % Yield of Biodiesel+ Uncertainty-2sf Volume of Biodiesel Layer + Uncertainty Density of Biodiesel Uncertainty on Density Conclusion: Multiple inferences can be made from the data obtained. Firstly the clean burning renewable fuel has been formed from a derived method, in which a transesterification reaction has occurred between Methanol and Vegetable oil (using potassium hydroxide as a catalyst). It was expected that the increase in concentration of the KOH would cause a greater percentage and mass yield of biodiesel. Fortunately this expectation was met with the results provided, although there were a few given anomalies formed from the systematic errors present, it was evident that the experiment did match the initial hypothesis of an increase in biodiesel yield. Although the conclusion states than an increase in concentration of the KOH – Methanol substance would increase the yield of biodiesel in the product of transesterification, it must be understood that there were many imprecisions and boundaries for error were relatively high throughout the experiment. The primary reason for this is that only one test was conducted for each concentration, rather than gathering an average for each results, which was a result of time management problems. Despite the causes of error and uncertainties, the calculated average density of biodiesel produced was 1.23gcm-3. The literature value for this was given above (0.88) and this value has been taken from an experiment in which the yield of biodiesel was taken from vegetable oils using both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide as the catalyst in the experiment. The experimental error for the density was extremely high, being around 40%. The general formula for calculating systematic error in experiments is as such: â€Å"Experimental error = {(Literature Value – Calculated Value) à · (Literature Value)} x 100 â€Å" The experimental error is actually the sum of the systematic and random error, (error which could influence one single result), and therefore varies for each result obtained. However the graph for the density shows the rising increase. Although a clean line of best fit cannot be placed upon the graph, it is clear that there is a steady rise in the output of biodiesel against the increase in initial concentration. It is evident that there was a random error for the 2% concentration with the mass output measured. This may have been a result of some of the substance spilling onto the stirrer during one of the measurements, when equipment was not handled appropriately. Since this only affected a single result, it was omitted from the graph, and the line of best fit was not inclusive of this result. Despite this, the error bar uncertainties are relatively high for the mass output, and therefore the min and max gradients vary highly, which means any value for output within this range would be regarded a systematic error in the experiment. In the density graph, the curve of best fit is exponential, and does not include the result obtained for 3% concentration, as this also appears to be slightly anomalous. It could also be regarded a random error as the gradient of the curve does not fit into the boundaries of uncertainty for this result. Reasons for this uncertainty could be a result of any of the limitations explored in the evaluation. Finally the percentage yield graph also has somewhat of a linear relationship between the output of biodiesel as a percentage of the total substance and the concentration increase together. The diagram (figure 4) shows a successful gathering of biodiesel, in which the top layer represents the biodiesel and the bottom layer the glycerol. There were other different physical appearances for other results (not photographed). Evaluation: Limitation Significance Possible Improvements Unknown layer between biodiesel and glycerol (Fig. x) It was difficult to distinguish whether this layer between the biodiesel and glycerol, (as photographically depicted above), could be counted as biodiesel and therefore it was either left out or in the measuring process, which would contribute to a systematic error of the yield of biodiesel being too high or low. To improve on this and reduce this uncertainty, a combustion test would need to be done on the biodiesel, as it is known to be flammable. The unknown substance should be tested with a flame test and if it burns, should be included in the yield measurements of biodiesel. Using Apparatus with a lower uncertainty for measuring out KOH – methanol substance The 10ml measuring cylinder used had an uncertainty of 0.2, which for 1.5cm3 of solution, was extremely high as a percentage uncertainty. Since this was used for all tests, it must be noted that this was also a contributing factor to the systematic error obtained for each test. To improve this, a different (more precise) piece of measuring apparatus, i.e a burette should’ve been used as it has an uncertainty of 0.05, which would’ve quartered the uncertainty on the potassium hydroxide mixture, and reduced the total uncertainty. Improper placement of beaker on magnetic stirrer Due to time limitations for conducting the experiment, multiple groups had to share the stirrer and therefore place two beakers with magnetic flea’s (capsules) atop the stirrer. This interfered with the ability for the maximum biodiesel output to be produced for each result, and since this only occurred for certain tests, would’ve contributed to any random errors present. To target this limitation, the best solution would be to find time to work on the experiment individually, so that the magnetic stirrer could be used for only one beaker. Impurity on biodiesel The substance measured may not be entirely biodiesel, but instead a mixture of biodiesel and glycerol that may have been extracted without notice. This would’ve caused a higher percentage yield of biodiesel to be measured rather than the actual amount. To add on to this limitation, the reason for an impurity would most probably be from a difficulty in distinguishing between the biodiesel and layer of glycerol. Any filtration process that could separate the biodiesel and the glycerol effectively, would be appropriate. The mixture should undergo centrifugation multiple times in order to separate the layers more clearly. Works Cited: â€Å"Biodiesel Basics – Biodiesel.org.† Biodiesel Basics – Biodiesel.org. Biodiesel Org, n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. Button, Scott. â€Å"Biodiesel: Vehicle Fuel From Vegetable Oil.† Energy & Environment 21.8 (2009): 1305-324. Web. Jamil, Cut Aisya Z., and (Ijera). Performance of KOH as a Catalyst for Trans-esterification of Jatropha Curcas Oil (2012): n. pag. 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 May 2015. â€Å"Secondary Science Hazcards.† Secondary Science Hazcards. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. Images: â€Å"The Chemistry of Biodiesel | Biodiesel Project | Goshen College.† Academics. Goshen College, n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. All other images were personally taken and diagrams constructed using Skitch.