Contemporary issues in management assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Contemporary issues in management - Assignment Example This paper makes a critical analysis regarding the innovation management practices adopted by two well known companies of the world. The names of these companies include Apple Inc. and Haier Group. These companies are well placed into consumer electronic industry and are known for their innovative practices at workplace. This paper aims at making critical analysis of organisational culture and human resource management practices in these two companies and their influence upon creativity and innovation of both the organisation. When we talk about innovation and management of innovation in the context of Consumer electronics, we cannot help talking about Apple Inc. It is considered as one of the most leading companies in the field of technology in today’s world. Initially, it was started with a scratch and grew rapidly in such a way that became a symbol of innovation in technology. It is known worldwide that no company can sustain in the market without innovation and creativity and when it comes to consumer electronic devices, continuous innovation and creativity becomes a prerequisite in order to survive and succeed in the market. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and a great innovator once said, â€Å"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower† (Gillam 2012). Apple Inc. has set up itself as one of the most prominent companies in industry of consumer electronics. It has made the most significant position in both hardware as well as software through constant innovation and creativity. It was established in 1976 and since that day, it has been continuously focusing on innovation. It has made a great impact on society through its various major innovative products and features in the field of consumer electronics such as Trackpad, Mouse, GUI, iMac , iBook, iTunes, iPhone, iPod, iPad and so on (OGRADY 2008). Research and development is an integral part of any company especially when dealing in consumer

Training and Development Paper Essay Example for Free

Training and Development Paper Essay Training and development have become an essential component in the health care industry. â€Å"Well-trained support workers are more likely to provide safe care and increase the confidence of registered staff to delegate tasks.† (â€Å"Better care through better training-evaluation of an HCA development programme,† 2012, p. 35). The overall quality and quantity of training and development received by employees determines the success of an organization. It an important for organizations to assess why training and education are important. It is also vital that organizations measure the competencies within the organization. Once training and education programs have been put in place, the organization should create a system for tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of the training. According to Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, and Cardy (2010), â€Å"Training typically focuses on providing employees with specific skills or helping them correct deficiencies in their performance.† Training is used by organizations as a means to immediately enhance an individual employee’s skill deficiency for their present job. Typically, training occurs in three stages. These stages are needs assessment, development and conduct, and evaluation. (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, Cardy, p. 246, 2010). In the needs assessment phase, organizations determine if training is needed. If training is needed, the organization will develop training program that addresses the organization, tasks and personal needs of the company and the workers directly involved in training. Once it has been determined that training is needed, the development and conducting phase will be used to determine what approach will be used. These approaches include the location, presentation and types of training to be used. The locations of training vary depending on the job, but may include on the job training, apprenticeships and internships. The presentation of the training may be conducted using technology based examples, such as computers or human to human interaction through stimulation and role play. The types of training also vary and may include team training or cross functional training. The evaluation phase is the final phase in the training process. During this phase, organizations determine if the training was necessary and effective. The organizations often look at the financial impact of the training and the overall productivity of the workers trained. There are several ways that organizations can evaluate and track the  effectiveness of training. One of these ways is by testing employees about job specific tasks. This can include direct and indirect forms of testing that might include written test or general questions being asked while employees are performing tasks. In the healthcare industry, it is essential that an organization measure each employee’s level of competency. By doing so, the organization is made aware of what type of work the employee is capable of producing. This allows employers the opportunity to assess if certain individuals are able to effectively do their jobs. This is important for organizations to do because many organizations and employees are given a realistic expectation of what can and cannot be accomplished based on the resources of the employee. New technological advancements in healthcare are often evolving. For this reason, constant training and education is needed for healthcare employees. Healthcare organizations must develop ways to measure the competency of all their workers. It is also important the training programs be developed that effectively and efficiently train any employee who is lacking proper job skills. By putting these efforts in place, organizations increase the overall productivity of their workers. References Better care through better training-evaluation of an HCA development programme. (2012, January). British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 6(1), 35-38. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D., Cardy, R. (2010). Managing human resources (6th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Colllection database.

Transgenic Rice Plants Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For centuries, rice has been one of the most important staple crops for the world and it now currently feeds more than two billion people, mostly living in developing countries. Rice is the major food source of Japan and China and it enjoys a long history of use in both cultures. In 1994, worldwide rice production peaked at 530 million metric tons. Yet, more than 200 million tons of rice are lost each year to biotic stresses such as disease and insect infestation. This extreme loss of crop is estimated to cost at least several billion dollars per year and heavy losses often leave third world countries desperate for their staple food. Therefore, measures must be taken to decrease the amount of crop loss and increase yields that could be used to feed the populations of the world. One method to increase rice crop yields is the institution of transgenic rice plants that express insect resistance genes. The two major ways to accomplish insect resistance in rice are the introduction of the potato proteinas e inhibitor II gene or the introduction of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene into the plant's genome. Other experimental methods of instituting insect resistance include the use of the arcelin gene, the snowdrop lectin/GNA (galanthus nivallis agglutinin) protein, and phloem specific promoters and finally the SBTI gene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The introduction of the potato proteinase inhibitor II gene, or PINII, marks the first time that useful genes were successfully transferred from a dicotyledonus plant to a monocotyledonous plant. Whenever the plant is wounded by insects, the PINII gene produces a protein that interferes with the insect's digestive processes. These protein inhibitors can be detrimental to the growth and development of a wide range of insects that attack rice plants and result in insects eating less of the plant material. Proteinase inhibitors are of particular interest because they are part of the rice plant's natural defense system against insects. They are also beneficial because they are inactivated by cooking and therefore pose no environmental or health hazards to the human consumption of PINII treated rice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to produce fertile transgenic rice plants, plasmid pTW was used, coupled with the pin 2 promoter and the inserted rice actin intron, act 1. The combi... ... SBTI gene is being cloned into vectors and is being used to transform other types of embryos using the particle gun technique.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, through the use of new technologies such as the introduction of potato proteinase inhibitor II gene, the establishment of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene and the experimental methods of using the arcelin gene, the snowdrop lectin/GNA (galanthus nivallis agglutinin) protein, and phloem specific promoters and finally the SBTI gene, rice plants have become almost completely resistant to insects that used to destroy much of the crop. This has been an important step in biotechnology because the improvement of rice plants is a major concern that could potentially effect almost all of the populations of the world. Biotechnology has become an increasingly accepted method of solving some of the major problems in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Potentially, with the advancements of many techniques, almost whenever people eat, drink, take medicine, or go to work, they will be touched in some way by the many complicated processes of biotechnology, that are striving to make our world a better place to exist in.

Baby Dumpers in Malaysia Essay

In Malaysia, cabinet decides baby dumping cases investigated as murder or attempted murder to ensure that inhuman acts receive severe punishment (â€Å"Mixed reaction to classifying†, 2010). Some others said that they should given a new chance to repent on what they have done. Our opinions, the punishment is heavy for them due to most of baby dumpers in Malaysia and other countries were committed by underage and teenagers around 20’s. In order to find the solutions for this problem, the community and government need to find the causes and factors that contribute to the problem first. The factors that contribute to baby dumping are cultural values and perspective of the community, HIV/AIDS, poverty and lack of sex education. Cultural value is a concept that a community sharing together about what is right, wrong, possible or impossible, true or false and so on (Young, 2009) while according Oxford dictionary perspective can describe as an attitude or a way of thinking about something. Some of country shares a similar perspective and values. Because of we cripple the issue of baby dumping, so we will focus on what the community thinks that broke into this problem. What makes one girl decided to dump the illegal baby, because they are afraid if they are not accepted by the family and society. This is because having children outside marriage which the mother is no longer involved in a relationship with the father is seen unacceptable in culture in certain country especially in Asian country and Africa (Maundeni & Nnyepi, 2011). Besides that, the mother who carried illegal baby in her belly will think that she would be a shame if people outside the family know about her pregnancy. Due to that, it leads mother to throw or bury their babies (â€Å"Baby-dumping rates soar among school girls†, 2011). Family and community play important roles in this case by giving a moral support for them (Hafidzhi Razali, 2012). Parents and community need to guide them and support them when they go through the phase of their mistake not judging them. This is because they are still young which cannot think what is right and wrong. Yes, they made mistake but the parents and community should correct them and tell them this is not the end of the world. We need to realize that these young people decided to abandon their baby because of they are out of options due to the limitations set upon by social circumstances. From being despised by society and scolded by the family, it is preferable to dump the baby. Abortion is prohibited in all religion no matter you are Christian, Islam, Jews, Buddha or Hindu. Abortion can be like killing a person life so that is why it is prohibits to practice. Many girls who share their experience said that they choose to abandon their babies is because of abortion is prohibited in society (Jia, 2010). Like we mentioned earlier, these girls are young to think what is right to do. So they think that abandon the baby is the best options rather than abortion. This is because they believe that abandon the baby in the dustbin which the baby is still alive is so much better than abort. The second factors that contribute to baby dumping are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). When we say about HIV/AIDS, society always has negative thought about the disease. When someone get infected by other people, they will get the punishment too even though it not their fault. A child with HIV/AIDS always get insulted and negative look from the society even though they didn’t ask for the disease. Issue on baby dumping has been widely happen around the world. The baby been dumped because of the infected of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS can be transmitting through sexual contact with the infected, sharing needles or other injection equipment with the infected person, through an open cut or wound and mother to infant. Mother to child transmission of the disease can be happen during the pregnancy month, delivery and after birth and breastfeeding (Otti & Jallow, 2003). This is called perinatal transmission that is usual way the disease transmitted to the child (American Pregnancy Association, 2012). The chances for the baby to be infected is 25% if the mother not taking any treatment during the pregnancy. Baby gets infected by the virus through the blood circulation from the mother HIV-positive, make the fetus to be exposed in the HIV process (Cichocki, 2010). Therefore, the mother who infected will feel depressed due to the transmission of HIV. The depression will lead the mother to dump the baby as her last option. During the delivery, the connection between mother and baby are umbilical cord, which connects the baby with the mother body fluids and blood that contains the virus. The body fluids may get the baby to be infected. Mother with HIV positive are not allow to breastfeed their babies because of the mother milk has very high concentration of HIV. They have been suggested to give commercial milk formula to their babies to avoid the babies from being infected. Due to that, it is kind of burden to the mother to spend money on commercial milk. The other major factor that will contribute to baby dumping is poverty. As we know that if the parents do not have any money to raise the child, they may dump their babies so that they will not have to pay all the baby basic’s requirements, (Sulayman Makalo, n. ). For example, to raise a good baby they will need shelter, and some other basic requirements. For some poor families, they cannot afford for the shelter. This is due to the money shortage and they neither able to buy nor rent a house for the family. Most of the cases of baby dumping are happened in the poor country such as Africa, (Skosana, n. d). There are so many people who live incompetent where some of the families did not plan the pregnancy, but then after the mother pregnant they are not able to raise and give the basic requirements to the baby. This include for the baby’s food, clothes and education. This may affect the developmental growth of the children (Sulayman Makalo, n. d). They dump their baby and hoping that someone will take care for their child with complete requirements with proper education. Other than that, there are some cases that the mother abandoned the baby as a solution due to desperation, (â€Å"Baby dumping-A genocide†, 2012). According to Gosamalang (2011), most of the women who leave and kill their babies are poor, single mother and often the first time mother. This may happen because they are fear of being poor while raising the child. Besides that, there will be a lot of cost needed to grow a child, to buy their food, milk, diapers and clothes. The mother may desperate and under pressure and finally they will dump the baby. Moreover, the father of the child doesn’t want to take the responsibility for the child, which may be the unwanted pregnancy and have no money and disable to grow them. In the developing country such as Malaysia, most of the cases are related to teenagers. This is because eenagers are still young, full with curiosity and not able to raise their own babies, (â€Å"Baby dumping-A genocide†, 2012). They only know to enjoy their youth while they actually have no money and not able to carry a huge responsibility, such as take cares their own baby. They are the largest group who neglect their babies with hope they can start a new life. They also should be studying in school or college where they have no sufficient money to survive with the baby. Here, it can be concluded that poverty is one of the major causes that escalates the baby dumping cases worldwide. The last factors that contribute to baby dumping are sex education. Nowadays, these youngsters are lack of knowledge about sex education, which they are clueless about it. In Nazni Noordin et al, 2012, research; they said that with not enough knowledge on sex, it adds to unwanted pregnancy which it can lead to the baby dumping issues. With the knowledge on sex education, the youngsters can differentiate between bad and good. So in order that all of these youngsters get all the knowledge on sex education, government must play a vital role so that the baby dumping issues are in control. Moreover, in order to decreases the issues, government should introduce sex education in school to combat baby dumping issues (â€Å"Malaysia Considering Sex Education†, 2010). With introducing sex education to school across Malaysia, it can tackle the widespread of baby dumping issues. Even though by bring out the sex education classes have against conservative elements, saying that it will encourage lechery, but with the abandoned of newborns all over the country by young mothers has forced a reconsider. Other than that, according to Singh and Tan, 2010, with sex education, it is creating an accurate understanding of reproductive health among the young, which it was important in reducing baby dumping. It is believe one of the methods that can adopt to raise awareness among schoolchildren especially the youngsters. To success the education, all sectors, includes government, private sector and non-governmental organizations were needed as part of a complete ways to address baby dumping. Furthermore, sex education in school also can create awareness among young generation towards consequences of free sex (Nazni Noordin et al, 2012). Nazni Noordin et al, 2012, also stated that, teenagers nowadays find it much harder to come up with good reasons to say â€Å"no† to sex and to use birth control pills carefully and it shows that there is low awareness among the teenagers towards the sex which its lead to the unwanted pregnancy and consequently, it will lead to baby dumping. Nazni Noordin et al, 2012 cited from Dr. Ismail Thamby, 2010, usually young generation will not think of the result with their behavior. In addition, it is not only government who responsible to control the baby dumping issues. It also must come from the â€Å"root† itself which is the teenagers’ parents or family. As a parent, they need to be fully aware of what their teenagers is taught in school. In order to overcome this situation, parents and family must be open-minded when it came to sex education or sex talk with their children. Moreover, parents should pay more attention and be more supportive to their children so that the young mothers are not afraid of them if they are pregnant outside the marriage (Nazni Noordin et al, 2012). Furthermore, they need to talk to their children about sexuality issues (Mellanby et al, 1995). Other than that, according to Mellanby et al, 1995, all parents should be prepared to answer questions that their children may have. By this it can be sure that the information that the parents provided is complete and accurate and more importantly, it reflects the family’s values. The parents also must control and aware of their children’s outdoor activities in order to prevents unwanted pregnancies which can lead to baby dumping. As the conclusion, this baby dumping issue is hard to control. Before we think about on how to solve this problem, we have to tackle from the root that contributes to baby dumping. Like we have discussed earlier, the factors that contribute to baby dumping are cultural values and perspective of the community, HIV and AIDS, poverty and sex education. Moreover, baby dumping gives so many negative impacts to our society and we have to take several actions in order to reduce the numbers of baby dumping cases.

Regency Plaza Essay

Regency Hotel Group (RHG) is a well reputed and successful operator in the hotel industry. They have experience on managing resources and controlling the Regency Plaza project. But they have faced several problems such as Unhappy Customers, Slow Sales Growth, Increasing Costs, Work Delays and Internal Conflicts. The reason for all those problems is poor planning. When proper planning and project management well established, Its very easy to schedule and coordinate the process. Then any problem can be identified and solved less expensively in a short time period. This would help to utilize resources economically and save up more time to finish the work successfully in the completion of the project. RHG has reputed brand name with their Good Service, Luxury and wide range of facilities given to their customers. Any distraction or delay of this project would fail the reputation of Regency Hotel Group. This report will express the importance of close relation between organization’ s strategic mission and the Project Management. Also will state to which extent the Regency Plaza project has managed and giving a good example for future Project Managers. Introduction Introduction to the company The Regency Hotel Group was located in major urban centers throughout the world & it was well-known for both its emphasis on service & the wide range of the conveniences that it offered in this hotel. They had developed all of its hotel properties in the past and now it was a mixed use project, this would be the first project & that would include condominium units. The project manager of the regency plaza was decided to build the maximum of 96 units, averaging 1,400 square feet, rather than fewer but larger units. Introduction to the report This project initially targeted toward wealthy couples in late middle age. The hotel project was not success the condominium sales were slow & the local economy appeared to be weakening & also, this project was at the back schedule & over budgeted, the cost estimating changes did not run through, the number & frequency of changes that were taking place on this project & also, lot of buyers were complain about the slower service, delaying closing & the bad workmanship. So, we have to analysis this project under these four questions. Analysis 1. Evaluate the project definition phase of the Regency Plaza project. How do the problems that emerged during the project relate to how the project definition phase was managed? During the design process, managing construction, managing marketing and in the current situation Regency Plaza project team had to face many problems and they took actions to prevent these issues. The actions taken during the project have explained below. The Design Process The Regency, KDS, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and vocal neighbourhood groups involved to the discussions for design process of condominiums. Hodgkins first challenge was number, size and type of condominium units that he could offer to the buyers. There were different ideas about number of unit. Farely suggested it should be 72 units and KDS’s view was it should be 96 units. But Hodgkins decided to build 96 units which could gain more profits. Managing construction Kelly had a huge work load to handle and because of that she divided the workload among few subcontractors. To approve the contract, project team needed subcontractors to produce a floor plan showing all the necessary things and completing time of the contract. Though this cycle took around one month, project team needed to know that they are in the right path. Marketing Hodgkins used a comprehensive marketing and service programme to introduce condominiums to the customers. They have committed to a high level of  customer service and the strategy was to customize condominiums according to the buyer’s interest. Hodgkins did not except big changes that would disrupt other condominiums owners and the guests and she hoped buyers would change their condominiums by themselves after the completion of the building. Thus she did not start discussions about the customization with buyers by thinking changes would be cut off. The current situation The condominium project became slow due to the movement of workers to the hotel area, because the hotel area needed to speed up their work to finish the project before July 15th according to the schedule. The relationship among Hodgkins and Kelly became weak during the project period due to the increase of costs and design changes. Grogan, Kelly’s project manager also became frustrated because of the increase of specialty items and unusual details. The project manager of Regency hotel, Jeff Cunningham was also behind the schedule due to lack of man power. Thus there were arguments between Cunningham and Grogan, because Grogan used more man power due to the constant changes. There was a problem of hard wood flooring and Cunningham asked Grogan to replace the flooring. But Grogan said it was Cunningham’s responsibility. This was caused to a conflict between Cunningham and Grogan. The sales of condominiums went slowly. Only 30 units out of 96 units have been pre-sold, beca use there target market was wealthy couple in late middle age. So Hodgkins wanted to gain more sales by minimizing the cost. 2. Evaluate the role of the project manager (Kris Hodgkins) in the case. What skillsdo you think are required to be the project manager for the Regency Condominium Development project? How well do you think that Kris Hodgkins meets these skill requirements? Do you think Kris Hodgkins was a good project manager? Project manager is the person who has responsibility till the project is completed with the help of the project team. Project management helps to guide the people and the process to finish the project successfully. There are some qualities that project leader should have such as planning, organizing, controlling, leading, communicating, motivating and customer awareness. Planning A project manager should have a clear plan to achieve the success of the project. He should have clear objectives to motivate others to be actively involved to the project. Kris did not have any contingency plan to implement if something went wrong with the Kelly’s schedule of 32 months. Organizing Here the project manager should consider time schedules, resource allocation and required performances. He should inform job scope, tasks and responsibilities to the project team members to get the maximum result from them. She purchased required items such as elevators and marbles earlier which take long time to receive. She was well organized with labour resource when needs. There were 250 construction workers at a time on the condominium floors. But Regency plaza condominium project went slow, because they could not follow the time schedules. This affects to the budget of the whole project. Controlling There should be a management information system to exchange information among the project team and monitor and control the ongoing project all the time. The project manager should always compare actual budget over planes budget and discuss regularly progress of the project with team members. But in Regency Plaza project, there was no good relationship between Hodgkin and Kelly. They didn’t discuss about the progress regularly. Because of that they couldn’t identify the future problems. Though she did not consider the above issues, she has retained 10% pay request to show some controlling over Kelly constructions. Leading This is important to guide the team to complete the project in efficient effective manner. The team member should be encouraged and inspired to get the maximum performance. But,  Hodgkins couldn’t get the maximum use of his team, though she had a well-qualified team. She didn’t lead her team well in there was no togetherness. Therefore conflicts have being occurred. In the case Susan  Randolph, the interior designer of the Regency didn’t agree with Hodgkins and Grogan because she felt they were both focused on speed and efficiency rather than quality. There was a conflict betweenSinclaire and Hodgkins because Hodgkins asked to cut down on tom’s billable hours. As a project manager Hodgkins should her attention more to reduce conflicts. Communication Communication is the important factor in projectmanagement. Projectmanager should able to send right massage to right person effectively. If not there will be more conflicts among members and expected result will not be achieved. But, Hodgkins did not make any meeting; she just sent letters to the buyers informing packages of condominiums. Hodgkins asked Sinclaire to do changes with incomplete information. If she maintained a good relationship with buyers, she could prevent the issues and complaints of the buyers. Motivation Project manager should recognize individual’s specific skills and talents. The team members should be appreciated,recognized, encouraged and inspired to achieve the project goals. Members can be motivated by giving incentives and feedback of the performance. In this project Hodgkins shows poor motivation skills. Shecut downSinclair’s billable hours but it was not fair because forwarded designs to him were incomplete. Customer Awareness Every organization’s ultimate target is to attract more customers and to gain more profits. Therefore this project also should follow the same strategy. They tried provide individual customization but they did not consider needs and wants of the properly. As this was a big project they should have to take idea of the customers. But they fail to do so, because of that only 30 out of 96 pre-sold and that project was behind schedule and over budget. He should have done a market research to find out the interests and attitudes of the people. Kris Hodgkinshad to face many problems and conflicts as a project manager but he was unable to take right decisions at the right time. Those decisions directly affected to the final result of the project. Considering above explanations if KrisHodgkins took better decisions, project would achieve expected results. 3. Evaluate how well risk was managed in the Regency Plaza project. You should use the four stage Risk Management framework from the module in answering this question. Every project has a risk and you cannot eliminate it. Only thing you can do is reducing risk. Risk should be carefully managed to minimize the impact of it. Regency Plaza project’s main priority should be to manage the risk to achieve the success. Using four stages of risk management process, how well risk was managed in the Regency Plaza project is described. Risk identification First, risks that will directly relate to the project should be identified and the risks that will occur in the future should be foreseen. It can be related to the quality, cost, schedule and etc. In this project they did not have a good idea about the size, layout, and design of the floor plate. They might have considered more about the fool plan efficiency and room locations. Hodgkins did not care much about the buyer’s satisfaction. He did not initiate ant meeting to discuss about the customization and he sent only a letter. He thought it will reduce the changes after completion of condominiums by his marketing strategy. Risk Assessment There were many upcoming risks with condominium units. Design changes, increasing number of specialty items, increasing incomplete information and unusual details were some of the issues. It was very difficult to continue the project with these issues. So they could not follow the schedule. Risk response development After assessing risk project manager should develop a contingency plan covering all the areas to manage the risks. But she did not make any provision for the design changes and she did not have a better contingency  plan. She did not think that buyers would agree or not with the design. Thus she had to face many problems and constructions were halt. Because of all these issues the project was become behind the schedule and over budgeted. Risk response control Finally after developing a risk response, project manager has to monitor and control it. In this case, Hodgkins could not manage and response to the risks occurred during the project. She made the wrong assumptions which were caused for additional costs and time delays. 4. Given the situation that Kris Hodgkins finds herself with the Millers at the end of the case, evaluate all of the options available to her and recommend the course of action your group thinks she should take? Kris Hogkins has five options at this situation. Option one has an opportunity for Millar to make the change at a later date and no additional delays in project. But some changes such as sprinkler require closing the whole floor. Option two minimizes changes required and costs will be removed by putting unit ob hold. But Miller’s changes will incur more cost and that will reduce Millar’s interest on the condominium. There will be a risk to put unit on hold too. Option three, hiring a small general contractor has more disadvantages. It is very difficult to hire contactors for small works and labour cost will be increased. There will be conflicts between the contractors and difficult to manage. The risk will be more. But required changes can be done to satisfy both parties. Option four also not a good idea to work out. Because there are many disadvantages such as difficulty in getting bank loans without certificate of occupancy, Regency’s control over project will be reduced and the target customer pool will shri nk. Option five, Move Millers to a different unit on higher floor will buy some additional time. But there are no similar floor plates on higher floors. After evaluating all the options we can come to a conclusion that option 2 is more beneficial comparing to the other options to the project though there is a risk of selling the condominium, there is a chance of selling it, because of the time and cost spend on it by the Millers. Thus we recommend option 2 as the action that she should implement. Discussion and Conclusion After studying the given case study, they have come across many problems and also they have found better solutions for the said problems.In theDesign Process we have found some problems, we find Hodgkins idea a better suited for the process, because it brings more profit. We think Hodgkins marketing plan is effective because giving the freedom to the buyers to customize their own condo is a great marketing idea. The buyer can get exactly what they want rather than unwanted stuff. The current situation of the project is getting messy due small facts that are not taken in to account by the relevant people. We think that the man power should be increase to achieve the given dead line and as said in the case study only 30 units were pre sold. Also there are small conflicts between fellow partners so it’s a disadvantage to the firm, and some have lack of interest. However Hodgkins makes his target market by minimizing the prices. According to the case study the project manager Hodg kins is not a skilled person at her job, she fail in many areas which her decisions were effecting the final output. She was not best at her duties; even though she had a good team she did not take much use of their skills. Also she was unable to achieve her target and the expenses were high, could not achieve the deadlines. Hodgkins should have focus more on the communication skills; due to her miner mistakes her team mates had small conflicts which affect the project in a way. Overall the Hodgkins managing skills was poor during this project. We evaluated the risk assessment and responses and the project manager have not focus much on the risks, because of that the cost of building have been increase also she was unable to give what the buyers wants. Since she was not focus on the risk and once they occur she was unable to face them all. By examining the five options which are left to Hodgkins to make this project work the author thinks the option two will benefits all who are involve in the project. We would like to conclude by saying that improving Project manager’s skills and by focusin g on risks and using all the resources give the project would have been a success. If they can overcome the above problems they will be able to achieve their targets. If we were the project manager we used our skills to get the maximum output.  And also always try to get team members ideas & by using their skills performed tasks to gain best interest to the project. Try to perform all the tasks according to the plan within the budget in order to complete the project on or before the deadline. Then we establish proper communication process to communicate among all the members without occurring barriers & before starting the project made arrangements for assessing risks and establish contingency plans to overcome from them. By considering all the above factors we can recommend below facts. Project managers must aware of the potential issues that can be cause for delay a project & to reduce such kind of delays project managers must conduct audits during the usual intervals during the project. At the same time by showing sensitivity to human reactions audit should be conducted throughout the project. Without looking at the weak points and without bl aming to mistakes project managers must focus on the issues that should be resolved. All the above things can be possible when there’s a stable proper communication between all the parties those who involve in the project to complete it successfully.

The purpose of this assignment is to compare stomatal densities of the upper and lower epidermis of a leaf Essays

The purpose of this assignment is to compare stomatal densities of the upper and lower epidermis of a leaf Essays The purpose of this assignment is to compare stomatal densities of the upper and lower epidermis of a leaf Essay The purpose of this assignment is to compare stomatal densities of the upper and lower epidermis of a leaf Essay This assignment of stomata is also relevant to my AS biology course as stomata is a key factor in transpiration of plants, and transpiration and the transport of water is a major section of the syllabus. This assignment will therefore help me to understand why transpiration occurs and how the stomata affect it as stomatas activity is related to the rate of transpiration.It is said that in general, the greater the number of stomata per unit area, the greater the rate stomatal transpiration, however distribution and densities are also important.Stomata are pores in the epidermis layer, which is found in the mesophyll spongy layer of the leaf. They are found mainly in leaves, but also in stems.There are two main functions of stomata1. To allow gaseous exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the inside of a leaf and the surrounding atmosphere When the stomata are open, carbon dioxide diffuses into the sub-stomata air chambers and then into the intercellular spaces between mesophyl l cells. When it comes into contact with the wet surface of a cell it goes into solution and diffuses into the cytoplasm. Oxygen travels via the same route but the opposite way.2. To permit the escape of water vapour from the leaf this is the evaporation of water vapour from spaces in the mesophyll cells of the leaf otherwise known as transpiration.The diagram below shows a vertical section through a stoma.Each stoma is bordered with two semicircular guard cells whose movements due to changes in water content, control the size of the stomata by changes in their turgidity.If water is drawn into the guard cells by osmosis the cells expand and their turgidity is increased. . But they do not expand uniformly in all directions. The thick, inelastic inner wall makes them bend. The result is that the inner walls of the two guard cells draw apart from each other and the pore opens creating the stoma. Stomata and changes in turgidity can be seen very clearly under an electron microscope. (A diagram of stomata under an electron microscope is presented later on in the assignment)As noted before stomata activity affects the rate of transpiration, but now more specifically, it is the turgidity of stomata determines is the main cause of transpiration. It is thought that in normal circumstances when a stoma opens the turgidity of the guard cells is increased by their taking up water from the surrounding epidermal cells but it is also know that the turgidity of the stomata is also affected by external factors of the particular environment, such as light, wind, and humidity.During the day stomata tend to be open, this is because the guard cells of the stoma become flaccid to light. This is important as it allows gaseous change of carbon dioxide and oxygen to take place for photosynthesis of the plant. This can be investigated by means of a perometer, an instrument for measuring the resistance to the flow of air through a leaf. If you attach a perometer to a leaf and take meas urements of its resistance to airflow at intervals, you will find that there is a generally less resistance during daylight hours than at night. This is because the stomata open during the day and close at night.For wind, in still air, a highly saturated air shield builds up around the stoma. Air movement will sweep this layer away, which decreases the humidity of the stomata therefore increasing transpiration also a xeromorphic feature of some leaves is the presence of sunken stomata, the stomata grooves into the epidermis which then a high humidity can build up inside the stoma and reduce transpiration rates. An increase in temperature also has an effect as the guard cells become more flaccid thus increasing the capacity of the stoma therefore increasing transpiration rates.A main factor that affects the distribution and densities of stomata is the type of plant. There are two main types of plants, monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous.Monocotyledonous (monocot) or more modern lilii dae, have leaves that have parallel veins and therefore do not grow to a large size. Also their leaves are held vertically rather than horizontally, which affect where the stomata is distributed and thus the densities, leafs of a moncotylic nature therefore have equal stomatal densities on both upper and lower epidermis.Dicotyledonous (dicot) otherwise known as magnoliidae, has branched veins and therefore can grow very large leafs. Their leaves grow horizontally and as a result most or all of the stomata are found on the lower epidermis. This is because of the cuticle found on the upper epidermis. If there was no cuticle, stomata wouldnt be necessary as gaseous exchange would be much more efficient, however, then transpiration could not be controlled. This is because a waxy cuticle reduces water loss but further control is exercised by stomata. It is estimated that about 90% of the water absorbed by the roots of the plant is lost by the leaves in transpiration.An example of a monoc ot leaf is one of a maize plant. On the table below this monocot plant is compared to a dicot leaf- an oak tree leaf.Upper epidermisLower epidermisOak leaf- dicot045000Maize leaf- monocot52006800You can clearly see that the monocot leaf has similar stomatal densities and the dicot has contrasting results.The leaf I will be studying is a dicotyledonous type so based on all of my research I predict that there will be a greater number of stomata on the lower epidermis of my leaf.The plan:The aim of this investigation is to try and count the number of stomata on both sides of the leaf and then compare the results, therefore a method has to be devised to try and view the number of stomata. Viewing a leaf under a light microscope does not allow the number of stomata to be counted, as this microscope is not powerful enough. Therefore an alternative would be to get an imprint of the leaf. This can be done by painting the upper and lower leaf with clear nail varnish and then this imprint of the stomata can be seen and counted under the light microscope.FAIR TESTTo make this experiment a fair test, I will conduct the experiment on different areas on both sides of the leaf to see if this affects the density of stomata. Also four different people will count the number of stomata, so to get an unbiased number and then to calculate an average.The stomata in the field of view will only be counted, to ensure everyone is counting the same surface area. The same magnification of x 400 (high power) will be used when viewing under the microscope.The apparatus used included:- Nail varnish- A leaf- 2 glass slides and cover slips- A light microscope- TwistersMETHOD Using the eyepiece graticule.To do this, you need to have a scale (graticule) in position in your eyepiece, so that it can be seen when you look down the microscope. The scales are usually on small circular pieces of glass or acetate.1. To insert the graticule scale in your eyepiece, remove the eyepiece lens from the mic roscope and carefully unscrew the top lens.2. If you look down into the lens body, you will see a ledge running round the sides about half way down, drop the scale into the lens body so that it rests on the ledge. Then replace the lens. N.B it doesnt matter if the scale is upside down but if it annoys you then unscrew the lens again and turn the scale over.3. When you look through the microscope, you should see the scale overlying your specimen.4. To calibrate the scale, you need to use a stage micrometer. This can be a special slide with a scale engraved on it. It usually consists of a scale 1cm long, which is divided into 100 units, each of which is 0.1mm (100 um) there is an extended line every 10th unit.To calibrate the eyepiece scale1. Place the stage micrometer on the microscope stage and hold it down with the clips.2. Using the eyepiece lens with the scale in, look through the microscope and focus it so you see both scales clearly. This is usually easier if you focus your eye on the eyepiece scale and adjust the microscope so the stage comes into focus as well.3. Move the stage micrometer carefully so that the starting units of the two scales. Note down the number of divisions along each of the two scales that this represents as these represents 1 division on the eyepiece scale.4. The equation for this is:1 division on the eyepiece scale =No. Of coincided divisions X No. of divisions on the scale micrometer scaleX 10Number of divisions on the eyepiece graticule scaleAt x100 and x400 magnification the lines on the scale will have a definite thickness. It is important to measure from one side of one scale mark to the same side of the next coinciding mark.All my procedures of stomata count were done on high power therefore 1 division on the eyepiece scale = 3.5 um.When you measure another specimen, you will already have the calibration figures so all you have to do is count how many eyepiece scale divisions your specimen covers, and multiply that by the ca libration factor for tat objective lens.Method for determining stomatal density1. Apply nail varnish onto a section of the leaf2. Allow 2 minutes for nail varnish to dry and gently peel off varnish with twisters, bringing the varnish, which has an imprint of the surface of the leaf. Nail varnish was used instead of cello tape to gather an imprint because as the varnish is liquid it can mould and fill every space around the stomata on the surface, therefore creating an accurate and clear imprint to show. Cello tape might not fill every space therefore missing out stomata, which results in an incorrect perception of the stomata densities.3. Place the peeled nail varnish onto a slide with the imprint side up, add 1 drop of water and apply cover slip on top.Then the stomata are ready to be calculated.RESULTSEyepiece graticule calibration calculations.I found that 3.5 micrometers coincided with every graticule division to give 1 division of the eyepiece graticule. To calculate one divisi on on the eyepiece scale I followed to following equation:Therefore if I followed the equation:Field or areaStomata count of 4 peopleAverage117, 17, 20, 1817 + 17 + 20 + 18 / 4= 18211, 11, 11, 1211320, 19, 19, 2020Total average stomata count18, 11, 20 / 316RESULTS OF STOMATA DENSITY COUNTS. My groups results.Lower epidermis stomata count.Field or areaStomata count of 4 peopleAverage10, 0, 0, 00 + 0 + 0 + 0 / 4= 020, 0, 0, 0030, 0, 0, 00Total average stomata count0, 0, 0, / 30Upper epidermis stomata count.Now the average stomata count of both sides of the leaf have been calculated, I can now calculate the stomata density as numbers of stomata per cm2.To do this I first needed to calculate the area of the field view in cm2.This answer will then be used in the calculation of the radii of the field of view to calculate stomata per cm2.CALCULATIONS OF STOMATAL DENSITY AS NUMBERS OF STOMATA / CMà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½The formulae to calculating the area of acircle isr = 45 x 3.5r = 157.51000r = 0.15 7510= 0.01575? X (0.01575) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½= 0.000779310.0007793= 1283.21283.2 x =After I calculated how many stomata per cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ where in my field of view, I gathered the calculated results from the other groups constructed a table.GroupNo. Of stomata per cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ on the upper epidermisNo. Of stomata per cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ on the lower epidermis113537958Mine020, 5313010, 266442811, 5495021, 1736054057245815, 641807699921656561053221, 814AVERAGE49912, 769The graph below shows the comparison of the average upper and lower epidermis data for the whole 10 groups.The graphs below show my results for the comparison of stomata per cm2.The Chi squared test.This is a simple statistical test, which looks at the difference between observed and expected values as data and then relates them to a probability level. This makes it possible to identify how likely it is that the values are significantly different or similar.The formula for the chi squared test is as follows:The ? is the Gree k O is the observed valueletter Chi. E is the expected valueThe top part of the formula for ?à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ considers the size of the difference between the observed and expected values. This difference could be either positive or negative. To avoid the mathematical problems associated with negative values, the difference is squared.The bottom part of the formula relates the size of the difference to the magnitude of the number involved. The sigma ? sum symbol is required because there is not just one pair of observed and expected values but several (in this case 2)From background research, I found out that the expected values of percentage stomata densities for the upper and lower epidermis on a monocot leaf is:Upper 7%Lower 93%My observed values wereUpper 4% 499/ (total) 13268 x 100 = 3.8% to nearest integer 4%Lower 96% 12769/ 13268 x 100 = 96.2% = 96%UpperLowerE = 700O = 499E = 9300O = 12769O E = -201O E = 3469(O E) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ = 40401(O E) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ =12033961(O E) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 40401=E 700= 57.71(O E) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 12033961=E 9300= 1293.97? = 57.71 + 1293.97 = 1351.69?à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ = 1351.69There is one more thing that needs to be added to the chi squared test, which is the degree of freedom.This relates a critical value to your chi squared values to show if there is a significant difference in the densities of stomata on the upper and lower epidermis or if it was just by chance.The degree of freedom is calculated = the number of categories minus oneIn this case it is 2 1 = 1.The critical value at one degree of freedom according to a standard calculated table of chi squared results is 3.84.If your chi ?à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ value is greater than or equal to the critical value then there is a significant difference between the observed and expected values.As you can see my chi ?à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ value is way above the critical value so there is a significant difference between my observed and expected values.The diagram below shows an image of stomata.From the book of where I received this image I measured the stomata to be 11 mm long. To calculate the magnification of this image youSize of image / actual size= X100DISCUSSIONThe conclusions I can gather from my results are that there is a higher percentage density of stomata on the lower epidermis and on the higher epidermis. You can see from my graphs that the lower epidermis had a density of 12769 stomata/cm2, which contained 96% of the stomata counted and the upper had a density of 499 stomata/cm2 , which contained 4% of all the stomata counted. This therefore proves my prediction correct.These results have also proved biological significance based on my research in the introduction. My results have proven that with a monocot leaf there is a higher stomata density percentage on the lower epidermis as these leaves are horizontally held and not vertically, a cuticle would have formed on the upper epidermis. This would affect the stomata density, as the main function of stomata gaseo us exchange, would be disturbed by the cuticle, so the stomata are located on the lower epidermis to prevent excessive water loss, as they have no waxy cuticle to protect them, also monocot leaves are relatively thin so the exchange of CO2 and O2 can occur relatively quickly and easily through the stomata of the lower epidermis.The sources of error in my investigation could have been:The micrometer scale took a lot of time to focus on the eye, and kept on disappearing so it was hard to take an accurate measurement of anything underneath the microscope, also the scales can be badly and easily scratched making taking accurate measurements difficult.I would perform tests on leaves of which I know the name of so I can do background research of the leaf so I can make a precise prediction of stomata densities.Different people counted the number of stomata an error could have occurred if someone did not know what stomata looked like or became subjective on if or they did not look in the s ame field of view. To try and overcome this error everyone was shown what stomata looked like before the investigation.Although magnification was kept constant someone may have adjusted it. When peeling the nail varnish, it was difficult to peel it off completely with the twisters and was a chance of mixing up slides.Another similar experiment, which could be carried out, is using cobalt thiocyanate. In the anhydrous state cobalt thiocyanate is blue, but when hydrated it turns pink. A piece of cobalt thiocyanate paper is placed on each side of a leaf and sandwiched between two glass slides clamped together, and then a stop watch is to measure the time it takes for the cobalt thiocyanate to go pink as this indicates that water has escaped out of the leaf which would be through the stomata. The time varies in which the colour change takes place depending on the temperature and humidity. Generally at room temperature the pink colour develops more rapidly on the lower epidermis of the l eaf than upper surface, the reason being there are more stomata placed on the lower epidermis.Further investigations to do with the topic are to carry out tests on a greater variation of leaves, of different shapes, sizes, thickness and leaves (maybe dicot leaves) from different habitats to see what affect this would have on the densities of stomata on a leaf.

Ghost Soldiers essays

Ghost Soldiers essays Hampton Sides, the author of Ghost Soldiers, did an amazing job detailing the special operation to rescue the prisoners of war at the Cabanataun camp. The Cabanataun camp was a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Sides tells two stories throughout the book, he tells the story of the prisoners of war and then he accounts in detail, the story of the men who were performing a special operation to rescue the prisoners of war. The stories that are told in Side's book are absolutely heart-wrenching and also heart-warming. One side of the book discusses the cruelty that man will inflict upon another man. The other side discusses the risks that man will take to help another man. The story begins with the raid that occurred at Puerto Princesa Prison Camp. On December 14, 1944. American prisoners of war were ambushed by Japanese troops, they tortured these men, beat them and set them on fire among other torture tactics. Out of all of the POWs only 11 survived. Fortunately these men were able to give the United States the heads up on the Japanese treatment of POWs. Luckily for the POWs at Cabanatuan, this was not the first time that POWs had been tortured in Japan, and there were men who were able to rescue the tortured. It all began on April 4, 1942. Major General Edward King went to surrender to the Japanese, they were not faring well, food supplies were scarce and the soldiers were suffering from health issues. King knew that they could not continue. He therefore went to talk to the General Hommu about surrendering. He did this without the consent from officials. He sacrificed himself rather then lead 78,000 soldiers to their death. Not only were there American Soldiers but the Filipinos were fighting along side the United States. When he got to the headquarters to talk to General Hommu, he met with Colonel Motoo Nakeyuma, who was filling in for Hommu. King presented some requests and Motoo denied them. King knew no matter wh ...