Thorstein Veblen Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Thorstein Veblen Paper - Essay Example In his first, famous book, the theory of Leisure Class, he coined the system of spending as being â€Å"conspicuous consumption†. He was intensely critical of businessperson concerning their greedy and the tendency of spending money for things, which are not even productive. Thorstein Veblen described the wealthy class using hyperbole and some humours in order to show hierocracies of people who are wealthy. This paper will try to analyze the impacts of economics that Thorstein Veblen has contributed to, in the field of the economics (Peil, 2009, p.121). Impact of Thorstein Veblen in the field of economics Veblen in the field of economics makes his readers aware of American small-scale, which was intensely competitive was giving its ways for the large-scale monopoly trusts. He further explained by emphasizing that the monopolistic practices administered prices, which meant that, there was a charge in what the traffic will bear; as well as, the limitations of producing high qual ity for the sake of raising the prices and maximizing the profits. However, the case of the emergence of the leisure class which led to wasteful as well as, conspicuous consumption for status. ... While technological knowledge to be the common stock that is held as well as, carried forward by the community collectively, but it is not a creative achievement of the individuals who are working in isolation of self-sufficiently (Veblen, 2004, p. 103). Veblen continued to argue that every new invention in addition to innovation comes in, to a given degree, which is made by individuals. However, he is a social individual because every change made must always be made by individuals who are immersed in a community plus exposing to disciplines of the group life because it runs in the community and all life are group life. Subsequently, welfares that are generated by the social wealth are substitutes to the material output; however, it is a necessary condition, which is suggested to be for the long-term developments of the material output (Krugman, 2009, p.124) The bonds of interaction may be fragile, while the human society may be at a lower level of development if there fails to be st ructures of the community as well as, trust. Technology knowledge has become a common theme that is used in economics today. However, the study shows that, in some states for example Kerala, which is in India, the social wealth provided a foundation for high standards of living but less Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. A similar notion that seemed to have the same meaning to that of Veblen was developed. The notion was all about the social structures of schools accumulations. The institution is that to be suitable for providing a reproductive foundation for the growth and accumulation, since social wealth is able to promote growth at the same time to be essential to dimensions of the quality life. He explains further by analyzing that when

Communication and Patient Safety Research Design Paper

Communication and Patient Safety Design - Research Paper Example The paper "Communication and Patient Safety Research Design" looks at how samples can be taken without any discrimination. The paper discusses various ways to collect and analyze data before coming up with a strong conclusion based on the research findings and results. The conclusion of this paper is very important to nurses and caregivers as they realize the importance of effective communication in the healthcare facility. Effective communication is vital to the safety of every patient and every nurse is aware of that. For a patient to have a positive outcome, nurses are expected to understand their problems and to effectively communicate with them, noting critical areas that mostly affect the patient. With communication, the nurse is able to identify problems and come up with various ways to solve the problems that the patient might have. It is, however, a common scenario to find that nurses do not provide effective communication to patients and, as a result, cause complications. M ost nurses believe that there is no mathematical proof to evidence that effective communication is vital to positive patient safety and as a result, end up ignoring this very important concept of communication. This paper critically analyzes a sample population of patients to come up with a statistical proof that effective communication is vital to a positive safety outcome from the patient. Is there a mathematical proof that effective communication is vital to patient’s safety? There is a correlation between effective patient communication.... Literature Review For many years, professional nurses have tried to link effective communication to positive patient feedback. Many articles written on this topic bring out varying importance of effective communication to the positive outcome of the patient. One article by Frankel identified that for a patient to show positive results, it was necessary for all parties to have an effective communication with each other. Nurses and caregivers have to understand the patients by involving them in various clinical procedures. Factors that influence communication were also identified. The key factor that was identified was the system that the entire hospital used. Some hospitals and healthcare facilities have large and complicated systems that make it hard for patients to effectively communicate with healthcare providers. The larger and more complex the system of the hospital, the harder it is for the patients to effectively communicate with the healthcare providers. Due to this factor, it is necessary for healthcare facilities to ensure that their systems are simple to understand and that the hospital or healthcare facility is organized into departments that allow effective communication between the patient and the caregiver. Another factor that influenced communication between the patient and their caregiver is the nature of the patient. There are patients who are hard to understand. They are complicated and in most cases would not communicate effectively with the caregiver. This is one of the major communication challenges that a caregiver might face. When faced with any hostile patient who is not willing to provide any useful information that may help in their case, it is common for errors to occur. Thus, nurses should ensure that they fully understand their

Strategic managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic managment - Essay Example In emergent strategy the organization evolves as it learns through experiences. Robin Hood’s group had advanced from the emergent strategy and in the second year his band grew. The increasing band size was of concern as the discipline became difficult to maintain and expenses did not commensurate with the loot. According to Cook and Macaulay (2007) as the team grows the focus of team effectiveness starts to dull. The new members do not share the same sense of understanding the purpose of the group and the mission, and the objectives are no longer clear and relevant. Strategic drift started occurring because Robin’s lieutenant’s resisted the idea of a transit tax on the travelers. Lorsch and Tierney (n.d.) contend that professionals develop their own perspectives irrespective of what the leaders might think. Looking through the lenses dissolves the dilemma in strategy (Scholes, 2005). The lenses are different ways of viewing the strategy development. In the Robin Hood case, the strategy has been viewed through the lens of experience. It is adaptation born through the political process. It cannot be through the lens of design as it was not planned or logical and it has not been perceived through the lens of ideas because it has not emerged from diversity or variety. It was out of a vengeance and conflict. Here the individual and collective experience is central and culture and history strongly influence the strategic thinking and choices. Strategy developed with time and there high chances of strategic drift, which has occurred in this case. Negotiation also influences the strategic direction when seen through this lens. Hence the analysis of this case shows that the experience element has determined the strategy. In times of strategic drift, organizations can either experience performance problems or opt for strategic management development programs. There is an increased commitment to strategic management and leads to

Visual arts Essay Example for Free

Visual arts Essay Visual arts which make use of unusual media and technique, such as collage or origami, tend to both benefit from and be challenged by the medium and technique involved. A viewer is apt to react first to the medium and technique and perhaps, because of this, thematic or expressive ideas may be perceived as secondary to the impact of a given work. For example, a piece from the Origami NOW! exhibition such as Eric Joisels Pangolin is very effective at eliciting a response of admiration and even surprise of wonder at the technique involved in sculpting (or more properly: folding) paper into the shape of a convincingly realistic animal form which suggests an armadillo. On the other hand, although the animal offers a meaningful gesture, as though it is eating or drinking, the overall impact of the piece fails to gain any truly expressive or meaningful energy. It is simply a technically admirable piece. By contrast, Joel Coopers Gemini, is a deeply expressive piece which evokes stone relief carvings in origami. The faces are, themselves, primitive and expressive, but the thematic impact of the piece is much deeper than the surface level facial expression of the pieces central figures. The piece derives important impact from its sub-text of transference: ancient stone to ephemeral paper, which makes a statement about human civilization and history and the ephemerality of human monuments, and arty itself, while simultaneously elevating the ephemerality of the medium and technique (origami) to a sympathetic relationship to ancient art and antiquity. Yet another piece, Spike Sphere, by Thomas Hull, straddles the line between expressiveness and technical precision without ever falling precisely on one side or another. In effect, Hulls piece is the most harmonious of those examples of origami on exhibition at PEM. The overt impact of Hulls piece is that of geometrical expressionism, using a complex geometrical shape to express theme. In my opinion, Hulls Spike Sphere is meant to represent no less than the entire human cosmos in a single figure of origami. I said human because the piece reflects a particularly human concept of wholeness as in other geometrical abstractions: globes, the atom, stars, galaxies and even some scientific models of the multi-verse. Hulls figure is spherical and colored like a budding flower, but spiked suggesting pain, danger, emotional response. This precise configuration of human emotion and abstract form, coupled with organic coloring and an holistic gesture elevates Hulls piece to the highest levels. This work is a masterpiece which reveals the origami, as a medium, embodies much more than the stunned admiration for technique and cleverness associated with folding paper creatively and expressively. Reference Anonymous, PEN. Origami Now! www. pwm. org, 2008. accessed 6-12-08 http://pem. org/exhibitions/exhibition. php? id=65

Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction

Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction This report is about the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the evaluation and consideration of building a new airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. The proposed new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is in Sepang, Selangor. This report is prepared by consultant group from Syaszee Co. appointed by the government for carrying out studies on the EIA for new airport projects in Malaysia. The report is following the Malaysian Government EIA guidelines and methodologies as described in the Environmental Assessment Requirements and Environmental Review Procedures of the Asian Development Bank (1993) and Environmental Guidelines for Selected Infrastructure Projects (1990). The preparation of this report consist of various discussion with the stakeholders, academicians, local government, policy maker and private consultants to give opinion and overview regarding the impact and viability of this new airport project. In order to proceed with the studies, various methods are being used to gather the information as follows: (i) review of available literature, (ii) meetings with National and local government officials, (iii) site visits to the new airport and surrounding areas, (iv) discussions with inhabitants near the site, (v) ambient noise and air quality and surface water quality sampling and testing in the field and in the laboratory, and (vi) application of professional knowledge and experience. The requirement of conducting the Environmental Impact Assessments in any project by the countries has been reflected in the: (i) Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (ii) Article 5 of the Legal Principle for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (iii) Principle of Environmental Impact Assessment developed under the UNEP. Besides that, an EIA generally includes the following aspects which are: Project definition Screening of the project and scoping of the assessment Stakeholder identification Identification and gathering of social and environmental baseline data Impact identification and analysis Development of mitigation and / or management measures and actions Public Disclosure (a) Project Definition Project definition is detailed description about the proposed project. It describes the existing airport facilities and its operation along with the proposed construction of new facilities and the plans for operation following the construction of the new facilities that are needed for the convenient of the users. The proposed facilities must meet the standard of the international airport requirement and can accommodate more aircraft at the airport. (b) Screening The project was reviewed against applicable legal requirements and government policy imposed to the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur. The results are finally used to identify the impacts and any further assessments that need to take into consideration before proceed with the project. (c) Stakeholder Identification The appropriate organizations and individuals should been interviewed to identify environmental impacts. They were requested to identify any issues or concerns with the project, identify appropriate standards and identify further parties for consultation. For example, representatives from various department and agencies such as Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Town Planning Department and Airport Authority. (d) Identification and Gathering of Social and Environmental Baseline Data Baseline data was gathered to describe the existing physical, biological and socio-economic conditions. The following technical studies were conducted to collect additional baseline data: Baseline Assessment establish baseline conditions and compliance with requirements Site Assessment establish nature and extent of contamination within the Project area Flora and Fauna Assessment identify any risks within the Project area and collect information to support the development of a wildlife and habitat management plan to reduce the risk of wildlife and aircraft interaction Hazardous Building Materials Assessment identify risks of hazardous building materials in the existing buildings Stormwater Considerations / Alternatives identify opportunities to improve existing drainage and accommodate additional drainage loads from the Expansion Project (e) Impact Identification and Analysis All potential risks and impacts will be documented and analysed. All phases of the project including design, construction, operations, and decommissioning will be considered. The following table is extracted from Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency as a guidance material on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to determine if an impact or risk is adverse or significant. Table 1. Factors in Determining Adverse Environmental Effects Changes in the Environment Effects on People Resulting from Environmental Changes Negative effects on the health including plants, animals, and fish. Negative effects on human health, well-being or quality of life Threat to rare or endangered species Increase in unemployment or shrinkage in the economy. Reductions in species diversity or disruption of food webs Reduction of the quality or quantity of recreational opportunities or amenities Loss of or damage to habitats, including habitat fragmentation. Detrimental change in the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by aboriginal persons. Discharges or release of persistent and/or toxic chemicals, microbiological agents, nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), radiation, or thermal energy (e.g., cooling wastewater) Negative effects on historical, archaeological,  paleontological, or architectural resources Population declines, particularly in top visual  amenities (e.g., views) Decreased aesthetic appeal or changes in  predator, large, or long-lived species Loss of or damage to commercial species Loss of biodiversity The removal of resource materials (e.g., or  resources; peat, coal) from the environment Foreclosure of future resource use or production Transformation of natural landscapes Obstruction of migration or passage of wildlife Negative effects on the quality and/or quantity of the biophysical environment (e.g., surface water, groundwater, soil, land, and air) (f) Development of Mitigation and / or Management Measures and Actions The development of new airport basically already outline in the long term National Plan. The plans outlines things need to be consider including the environmental effects and impacts to the society. Besides that, the airport project is already assigned to the respective Ministry to appoint contractors responsible for building this mega project. All the plan outlines and progress report should be handled to the respective Ministry which is Ministry of Works and Ministry of Transport. Besides that, the contractor will be required to develop and implement an environmental management plan (EMP) in accordance with contract documents to ensure the mitigation outlined in this EIA is performed. An independent environmental consultant will be retained to perform regular site monitoring to ensure compliance with the contractors EMP and this EIA. Reports should be submitted to the monitoring committee set by the Government every month throughout the construction period. (g) Public Disclosure Once the project is completed, a public meeting will be held and advertised in local newspapers. Questions raised and the responses are welcome while the project os being evaluated by the authority or government. 2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN MALAYSIA The Malaysian EIA procedures are comparable to the National Environmental Policy Act 1969 (NEPA) model in the United States. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987 was gazetted as a project planning tool for new projects or the expansion of existing ones. Section 34A of the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 1985 requires anyone who intends to undertake a prescribed activity to first conduct a study to assess the likely environmental impacts that will occur from that activity and the mitigating measures that need to be undertaken. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (EIA) Order 1987 specifies some 19 categories of activities requiring EIA reports prior to implementation. The EIA procedure is shown in Figure 1. The project initiator will prescribed the activities that will be carried out during the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Once it is completed, the report will be assessing by the re spective department before send to the Department of Environment (DOE) for further reviewing. If the DOE still need further information regarding the project, they will called for further assessment before proceed to the panels. After reviewing the report, if the panel satisfied with the report, they will request for detailed report which consists all the details about the airport project before the report is send to the approving authority. Once the Authority is satisfied and the government also satisfied, therefore the project will be initiated by the respective contractors. 2.1 EIA Procedures In July 1987, Malaysias Department of Environment (DOE) published the first edition of the Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines (hereafter EIA Guidelines). The EIA Guidelines state that: The aim of environmental impact assessment in Malaysia is to assess the overall impact on the environment of development projects proposed by the public and private sectors. To achieve this overall aim, the EIA Guidelines list the following five objectives of environmental impact assessment: To examine and select the best from the project options available; To identify and incorporate into the project plan appropriate abatement and mitigating measures; To predict residual environmental impacts; To determine the significance of the residual environmental impacts predicted; and To identify the environmental costs and benefits of the project to the community. 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT : NEW KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KLIA) Malaysia is one of the famous destinations to visits around the world. With the rapid economic growth and expansion of good facilities and also infrastructure has attracted many visitors and investors came to Malaysia. According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, from January to November 2009 it is recorded that 25,575,774 foreigners had came to Malaysia. From January to June 2010 it is recorded that 11,868,103 visitors compared to the same period in 2009 which recorded only 11,346,444 people. As the number of visitors shows an increasing trend every year, therefore it is the right time for Malaysia to build new airport which can accommodate more air craft all over the world in order to equip with the demand and number of visitors came to Malaysia. As the project initiator, this paper will give appropriate guidelines that need to take into account before airport project can be taken off. All aspects and opinions from the government and publics are needed before the new airpor t can be built. Therefore, this report will discuss about the background, security measures and environmental impacts for the development of the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The purpose of this Environmental Impact Assessment Report as an evaluation and consideration of Malaysian government for the development of New Kuala Lumpur International Airport to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur is located in Subang Jaya which is 17.2 km from the Kuala Lumpur City. The airport started the operation on August 30, 1965. It had the longest runway with 3.7  km long, 45m wide and runway 15 33 in the Southeast Asia. The airport basically had three terminals which are Terminal 1 for international flights, Terminal 2 for Singapore KL shuttle flights by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, and Terminal 3 for domestic flights. By the end of 1997, Subang Airport handled 15.8 million passengers. KLIA is proposed to develop in the area which is situated in Sepang, in the south area of state of Selangor. The proposed site spanning almost 100  km2 and it is built on a piece of agricultural land owned by the Government. The building of the new airport is already highlighted in 10th Malaysia Plan. The cost of building of the new airport is about RM8.5 billion or US$3.5 billion. It is expected that the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) can handle 35 million passengers and 1.2 tonnes of cargo a year and this figure is expected to increase in the future. Besides that, the wide area can accommodate and handle more international aircraft. The new airport or Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang is strategically located to serves the need of people from the Klang Valley, Shah Alam, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. Besides that, the development of Multimedia Super Corridor with the new township area such as Cyberjaya and Putrajaya as the Governments Office Centre will encourage more passengers using the facilities in the KLIA in Sepang. In order to improve the quality of services to attract more people using the KLIA, high speed train will be used for transporting passengers fr om KL Sentral to KLIA in more easier and convenient way. It is hopes with the proper plan and implementation of the development of new airport will encourage more people used the facilities in the new airport. Local and foreign expertise will be responsible for the development of new airport for Kuala Lumpur. The master plan of Kuala Lumpur International Airport involves constructing five runways and two terminals accompanied by two satellite terminals. Phase One of the development includes construction of one main terminal accompanied by one satellite terminal to accommodate 25 million passengers and dual full service runways. Under the implementation of Phase One, sixty contact piers, twenty remote parking bays with eighty aircraft parking positions, four maintenance hangars and fire stations will be built. Implementation of phase two and three will be expansions of the airport to include increasing number of passengers. As all three phases is completed, it is expected that the airport can handle 100 million passengers per annum. 4.0 ENVIRONEMNTAL ISSUES According to the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines produce by International Finance Corporation from World Bank group, all projects that need to develop are required to follow these guidelines according to the policies and standards set by the organization. For the purpose of develop an airport project, the following environmental measures should taken into consideration. (i) Noise and vibrations (ii) Storm water and waste water (iii) Hazardous materials management (iv) Solid waste (v) Air emissions (vi) Energy and water consumption 4.1 Noise and vibrations Noise can be significant during the construction and development of the airport project. A widely used standard for measuring the noise is for LA10, the A-weighted level in decibels that is exceeded for 10% of the time. The noise measures standard usually relate to the impact on human being. Therefore, the most significant sources of noise and vibrations from airport operations are aircraft during the landing and takeoff (LTO) cycles. The noise also can come from ground operations equipment including aircraft taxiing, operation of ground support vehicles for example passenger buses, mobile lounges, fuel trucks, aircraft tugs, aircraft and baggage tractors, aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) and aircraft engine testing activities in airports with aircraft maintenance activities. Other indirect sources of noise include ground vehicle traffic from access roads leading to the airport. In order to control the noise, preventive measure should be taken into consideration which is hardly depends on land-use planning and flight management activities. Recommended noise management practices that can be carried out are as follows: (i) Strategic location for airport development which is far away from the communities and residential and also business premises. Therefore, it will minimize the disturbance of the surrounding area. (ii) For aircraft landing and take off (LTO), the implementation of preferred procedures and routes is essential to minimize noise especially in noise-sensitive area. These procedures may include instructions on the use of descent profiles or noise preferential routes (NPRs), such as the continuous descent approach to avoid noise-sensitive areas, the use of Low Power / Low Drag (LPLD) procedure to fly the aircraft in a clean condition such as no flap or wheels deployed as long as possible to minimize airframe noise, and instructions on minimizing reverse thrust on landing. An alternative approach may include the dispersion of noise through equal use of multiple flight tracks as opposed to a preferential flight track. (iii) Restrictions of the nighttime and operation of aircraft activities should be controlled. (iv) Reducing noise in flight operations and activities or use the sound barriers and deflectors to eliminate and reduce noise. 4.2 Air Emissions Another source of pollution that is expected from the development of new airport is from the air. This pollution include combustion exhaust from aircraft during landing and takeoff and ground operation, from ground service vehicles, vapors from fuel storage and handling and emissions from local ground transportation activities servicing the airport. Other sources of emissions may include fuel combustion during fire training activities, combustion emissions from on-site electricity and heat generation systems and emissions from solid waste incineration activities. Therefore, in order to reduce the air emission pollution from the aircraft, various steps can be taken as follows: (i) Optimizing and improving the ground service infrastructure to reduce aircraft and ground vehicle movements (ii) Try to minimizing fugitive air emissions from jet kerosene and other fuel storage and handling activities. (iii) In fire-fighting drills, select the cleaner fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas to be used and choose firefighting drill locations and atmospheric conditions that best avoid short-term impacts to the air quality of nearby populated areas. (iv) The use of the incinerators can help reduce pollution. In controlling air emission pollution, incineration of wastes activities can be continued. 4.3 Stormwater and Wastewater Other preventive measures in reducing the pollution, effluents from rhe airport also need to be control. The effluents from airport operations basically consist of stormwater runoff from paved surfaces and sanitary wastewater from public and employee services and from airplanes. This situation happened can be associated with leaks and spills of oil, diesel, and jet fuels during operation and maintenance of ground service vehicles, and fuel storage and handling aircraft activities. Therefore, the proposed strategies to control the impacts associated with stormwater and wastewater are as follows: (i) Improve the drainage in strategic location that are potentially facing with the leaks and spills of chemicals and fuels problem such as fuel and chemical storage, transport and dispensing facilities, fire training areas, airplane maintenance hangars, and ground service vehicle maintenance facilities by using an oil / water separator to discharge from the surface. (ii) The managing of collection of sanitary sewage for aircraft and airport should be carried out efficiently in order to control the wastewater effluents. (iii) Monitoring of effluents is essential in order to avoid aircraft accidents. 4.4 Hazardous Materials Management The operations of any airport in the world will be facing with dangerous items or easily contaminated. These includes the storage and handling of fuels such as jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline primarily associated with aircraft fueling activities as well as with ground support vehicles. Fuels may be stored in aboveground or underground storage tanks and conveyed to dispensing locations via aboveground or underground piping systems that may be subject to accidental releases during transfer or leaks due to tank and piping containment failure. Hazardous materials which are dangerous to human health and environment should be managed efficiently in order to prevent accidental releases, fire, or explosions. Training in handling with the hazardous waste should be carried out more frequent as the preparation if something happened. The knowledge about the chemicals handling is a must for the operators. 4.5 Waste Management Basically, an International Airport will receive different types of aircraft landed in the airport. All these aircraft will produce waste that need to be handled by the airport operators. For instance, passengers in the commercial airports may produce solid, nonhazardous, waste food from food establishments, packaging materials from retail facilities, and paper, newspaper, and a variety of disposable food containers from offices and common passenger areas. Food waste from international flights is considered a potentially infectious material by some national jurisdictions. Some airlines may also dispose of pillows following the completion of every flight. Airport operations may also generate liquid or solid hazardous wastes such as used lubricating oils and solvents from aircraft and ground service vehicle maintenance. Recommended waste management strategies include: Encourage a recycling program or use biodegradable materials that will be dispose easily especially food container, plastic bags and so forth. Besides that the food waste can be use as agricultural fertilizer and animal feed. Airline crew members and cleaning operators can segregate all the waste by separating the collection through recycle program according to the characteristics such as papers, plastic and metallic container. Used pillows also can be recycled. The cleanliness and hygiene of food preparation is a must to avoid diseases. Food catering waste should be managed according to the rules and regulation set by the health organization in order to protect human being. 4.6 Energy and Water Consumption The operation of the airport may need significant levels of energy for running the machines, ventilation, space cooling and heating in terminals, lighting and the operation of luggage conveyance systems. Water consumption may depend on the types of passenger and airplane maintenance services offered and may include the operation of sanitary facilities for large numbers of transiting passengers or cleaning activities in general. Recommended strategies and methods for energy and water conservation are presented in the General EHS Guidelines. 5.0 COST BENEFIT ANALYSES Finally, before the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport started, we also have to look at the cost benefit analysis. First, is to identify and take into consideration of all geographical impacts of the project without limitation of the surrounding areas. We have to consider the impact to the local community, other local community within the same state and finally other states in the country as describe in the figure below. (i) Internal Rates of Return It is expected by the development of new airport will give economic return to the country. By encouraging more investors and tourists throughout the world come to Malaysia, it is belief it will increase the demand for local industries especially in hotel and resorts, restaurants and so forth as the new interesting place to visit. A large postion of investment is required to develop this airport. Therefore, the margin rate of return also should be high. (ii) Economic Benefits The new airport also will give economic benefit to the country. According to economic analyst, the major benefits will be (i) incremental net visitor expenditures, (ii) time savings of passengers, and (iii) the value of foregone passenger and cargo traffic. Besides that, the cost savings in domestic aircraft operation and time landed in the airport will also included in the analysis. (iii) Project Costs The allocation of the project cost will be approved by the government. This cost should include (i) civil works, (ii) construction, (iii) equipment and its installation, and (iv) consulting engineering design and supervision. Besides that, the abatement cost also should take into consideration in order to reduce the pollution which will harm the community and human beings. (iv) Monitoring and Reporting Costs During the construction period, the monitoring process should be required in order to make sure that the construction of the airport is according to the schedule and the quality of the building is according to the world standard. Therefore, it will incur some cost that should be borne by the contractor. The minor cost of the equipment required for monitoring environmental impacts is also included in the project cost. (v) Nonquantified Environmental Impacts The construction of the new airport also will produce the non quantified environmental impacts from airport development and increased other development off-site, including noise pollution, air pollution, and surface water pollution, were considered marginal, and additional economic assessment. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, the abatement cost also should be included in the project cost. 5.0 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, the development of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is one of the mega projects that government should initiated. Supports from all are needed in order to make sure that the project implementation is successful. However, various aspects especially in the environmental impacts need to be considered before the projects can be proceed. With the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur it is expected that it will give more benefits to the country in respect of diplomatic relationship, economic improvement and rapid growth in all aspects of economy.

Alexander The Great Essay -- World History Biography Alexander Great

Few historical figures stand out in the same degree as that of Alexander the Great. He was a warrior by 16, a commander at age 18, and was crowned King of Macedon by the time he was 20 years old. He did things in his lifetime that others could only dream about. Alexander single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in just over a decade. There were many attributes that made Alexander â€Å"Great.† He was a brilliant strategist and an inspired leader; he led by example and was a conqueror at heart. In looking at his early childhood, accession to the throne, conquests, marriage, and death one can see why Alexander the Great is revered in historical contexts as one of the greatest figures of all time. Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of Macedon, on July 20, 356 B.C. He was the son of King Philip II and his fourth wife Olympias, an Epirote princess. Alexander was bred to be a warrior; his father was a great commander and king, and his mom’s second cousin, Pyrrhus of Epirus, was a celebrated general. So there were noteworthy examples of military genius on both sides of his family. As a child, Alexander’s mother would tell him stories of how he was a descendant to Achilles and Hercules. Achilles was his favorite hero growing up, as he read of his adventures in Homer’s Iliad. From an early age Alexander was practically raised by everyone but his parents. He was originally educated by a strict teacher named Leonidas. Alexander’s father wanted Alexander to become a great man, so he acquired the famous philosopher Aristotle to become his tutor. Aristotle trained him in rhetoric and literature, and stimulated his interest in medicine, science , and philosophy. Aristotle is credited for Alexander’s fasci... ... to develop a system of administration for his vast realm of power. Alexander the Great [database online], 22 October 2004. Accessed 21 May 2008. Available from http://www.hometheaterinfo.com/alexander_the_great.htm; Internet. Burke, Edmund, M. â€Å"Philip II and Alexander the Great,† Journal of Military Affairs (April 1983): 67-69. Heckel, Waldemar. The Wars of Alexander the Great. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. Heckel, Waldemar; Yardley, J.C. Alexander the Great. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004. History of Western Civilization [database online], Edited by E.L. Skip Knox. Boise State University, 6 December 2002. Accessed 2 June 2008. Available from http://history.boisestate.edu/WESTCIV/alexander/15.html; Internet. Robinson, C.A. â€Å"The Extraordinary Ideas of Alexander the Great.† The American Historical Review 2 (January 1957): p. 53-72.

A Case Study About Google Essay

DECLARATION The work contained in this assignment is my own and that all materials and sources used have been acknowledged. I/We have not copied or colluded in part or in whole, or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students. This assignment has not been submitted for previous assessment in any other subject or to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other unit, module, degree or diploma of a university or any other institute, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. I/We confirm that I/we have read, understood and followed the guidelines for assignment submission and presentation provided by the lecturer. I/We understand that this assignment may be retained on the database and used to make comparisons with other assignments in future. I/We have made a copy of my assignment This work may be photocopied and/or communicated for the purpose of identifying plagiarism. I/We give permission for a copy of this marked assignment to be retained by the faculty of Business Management for the purpose of course reviews by external examiners and to be used as a resource by Majan College. I/We understand that unauthorized late submission without a valid written extension will be marked as per the college policy mentioned in the students handbook page 18 section 18.5. Introduction Google was founded in 1995 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and it was the first popular search engine in the world. They created this search engine so that users can find any website or document on the web based on keyword or exact searches. Google provides free services for their users. Other than the search engine, they can also search books on Google Book Search, news on Google News, videos on Google Video (YouTube) and maps on Google Maps Google has changed the way people look at and share information. This has made them a leading search engine on the web and a global technology leader. Back in the mid 90’s Brin and Page, Stanford University graduates, worked on developing this unique technology. Since then, Google has grown to become one of the most recognized brands in the world as well as one of the top Internet destinations. As of 2013, Google has 16800 employees working in more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the globe. Their headquarters is located in Mountain View, California, USA. Strategic management has many benefits to an organization. A company’s vision, mission and future goals are set from the strategic process. In addition, strategic management gives managers an advantage in allocating resources efficiently. Moreover, these strategies help give the firm a competitive advantage in the market. Statistics show that, on average, companies using strategic management are more successful. This assignment will aim to clarify the concept of strategic management in the global sense as well as focus on Google’s strategic management. In addition, the report will identify and explain the internal and external environmental analysis of Google. This means, PEST analysis, SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces will be  explained in details. Literature Review Strategic management is defined as the process by which managers of the firm analyze the internal and external environments for the purpose of formulating strategies and allocating resources to develop a competitive advantage in an industry that allows for the successful achievement of organizational goals. Strategic management has an impact on initial goals, actions and recourses. Goals are set by managers to be completed within a certain period of time. Action plans must be clear to the group and they should start working on their targets accordingly. Recourses cannot be managed and allocated without proper understanding of goals and actions. Strategic decisions are taken by managers to help an organization reach its goals in the short term and long term development and future direction of the company. There are two processes that help the organization in evaluating their position in the market. Internal environment i.e. SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threa ts) is used to analyze the internal processes and structures of a business. Its implemented after the external environment (PEST analysis) are analyzed and clarified. External environment processes include the porter’s five forces that analyze the nature and extent of the competition within the industry. Macro environment are the changes in the industry in regards to political-legal, economic, technological, and social systems. Google’s business strategy has been proven to show that they follow the strategic management process and they are extremely successful at it. High brand value, high market share and complete control over the market show that Google’s business strategy should be a role model to all other companies. PEST Analysis of Google Inc. PEST analysis is used to determine the political, economical, social and technological factors in an external environment of an organization. These factors affect an organizations activities and performances. After researching Google’s macro economical factors using the PEST analysis model, the following was concluded: 1. Political Factors: Government stability is one of the major aspects in Google’s strategy. If the  market is stable, governments help businesses and so these businesses advertise more on Google, hence, benefitting Google. In addition, most of the governments do not have identified laws for online information sharing, thus, giving Google the opportunity to manipulate laws. However, China has created a barrier for Google by adding regulations that forbid Google from operating on their terms. For example, according to UKessays (2013), â€Å"Chinese Government launched a surveillance system called Golden Shield for monitoring civilian use of Internet.† On a positive note, most of the political factors affect Google negligibly. Some of these factors are taxation polices, employment laws and environment protection laws. 2. Economic Factors: Gross domestic products (GDP) have been on the rise since a very long time. They are increasing annually at the average rate of 3.20% reaching a high level of 17.20% at times. Countries like South Africa, India, China and United Kingdom have had increases in their GDP each year since the 70’s and this is a positive factor on Google. With the stable and continued growth of those countries, Google’s internal and external investments will always be high in numbers. Users search more; hence more advertisements are put on Google’s search engines. The amount of users around those counters can impact on Google positively and lead them to establish better services and more products for their users leading the it being a strength to Google economically. Interest rate can have a positive or negative impact on any organization. These impacts are decided depending on a company’s dealings. Google is a company that relies on investments, this means when interest rates i ncrease gradually in a country, Google benefits. In UK, the rate average is set to about 8.2%, in USA it stands at 6.1%, in South Africa at 13.3%, in India at 6.6% and in China at 6.4%. These numbers mean that companies in that region of the world will be able to take out loans and invest or support their company. The more companies have money, the more they will be willing to spend on advertisements; hence doing that through Google. This increases opportunities for Google in these markets. Inflation rate is a problem for the customers or buyers. However, companies benefit from it and it increases their overall income. In the past few years, USA, UK, India, China and South Africa have all recorded an average increase in  inflation rate of 2.5-9.5% annually. This means that raw materials in these countries are becoming more expensive every year. This causes the companies to increase the prices of their products and getting more cash out of it. This causes Google’s advertisements to increase as well as the number of clicks for each ad. The result is more profits for Google from these countries. 3. Technological Factors: In analyzing the technological factors affecting Google, the key aspects to consider are the level of basic infrastructure, rate of technological change, new discoveries and development, government spending on research, access to newest technology, technology incentives and technology legislations. Google is described as a technological company that helps innovate and improve the world with its new development. Technological factors play a major role in a company like Google and it is part of the company’s competitive strategy. Google is not only a search engine; it also provides many services, tools and products free of charge through www.google.com. Google’s IT infrastructure is a closely guarded secret because it is one of the company’s competitive advantages. Google has up to 450,000 servers spreads over at least 25 locations and it uses a customized version of Linux operating systems to give them control and flexibility in finding new discoveries. The success of Google is mainly due to its innovative concepts and technologies such as Pagerank in their search engine, Adwords as advertising system, AdSense program, Gmail, Google Spreadsheets & Docs, Google Map, Google Froogle, Google Analytics, Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Gear, Google Page creator, Google groups, Google talk, Picasa and more. All these services and tools are proposed for free with the aim to make a users life easier, efficient, practical and entertaining. In order to remain the best in the field of technology, Google has bought a great number of start-up companies (131) that allows it to benefit from the dynamism and creativity that these companies bring. These companies range in variety of fields such as security, advertising, video, file sharing, shopping, mobile technology and many more. 4. Socio-Cultural Factors: Knowledge and information is a key factor of human development. Google is a  leader of society that is more and more global because its mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to everyone. Socio-cultural factors for Google’s PEST analysis include traditions, values, societal trends, and society expectation of businesses. These society expectations can be grouped into: population demographic, income distribution, lifestyle change and level of education. Google is not limited to a certain demographic population; Google is a global company that offers global users with global services and global knowledge for free with only one condition of being connected to the Internet. Therefore there is no restriction on any specific demographic, culture or specific income distribution. This gives Google a very strong advantage in the market. Its tools are offered to everyone and hence anyone, anywhere in the world can advertise o n Google and increase their profits. Majority of third world countries that are prevailing with extreme poverty have access to Google through their mobile applications. Google’s culture is to offer users access to the world through a simple finger tap and this information offered by Google does not have a culture or a tradition to follow. This information can be good and helpful to one person while useless or offensive to others. This could be a negative aspect for Google. Google always strive to keep up with the social trends and lifestyle changes of its users in order to entertain and capture their attention with its services and tools while promoting customized advertisement. Google’s infrastructure is built to identifying its users’ trends and habits as well as the use of information to customize their search experiences with related results based on their habits and history. Google’s application memorizes all the data entered when searching for a something and saves personal information for 24 months. In reality, Google sells some information to advertising companies. Globalization of information has a negative impact on societies concerned about protecting their private data. Google has been highly criticized by Privacy International Association and accused of harmful acts towards people’s privacy. In the sense of politics, the preservation of information could lead to Google having better relationships with countries who do not like their privacy being violated; hence, more business and profits. In regards to social factors, Google’s tendency to sell out their customers may harm some of them. At the moment, Google is surviving, but the human race is  ever changing and if people are accepting the privacy violation now, they might not in the future. This could be a threat leading to a weakness in the future. Porters Five Forces for Google Inc. Porters five forces is a key model when trying to determine an organizations opportunities and threats. It is considered to be a tool when trying to analyze a company’s microeconomics. This is the internal affair related to an organization. The competition and power an organization has or can have in an industry. Porters’ five forces are heavily used when someone wants to buy a company and needs to understand the market in which the company operates. Supplier Power In this case, Google has an advantage as it operates regionally and has more than one supplier, if the relationship with one deteriorates the other can take its place. In addition, Google has eliminated competition by gaining the trust of Microsoft. All its tools are operated on its biggest competitor Microsoft systems. However, Microsoft and Apple could change their operating systems so that it does not support Google anymore leading to Google tools not working properly and causing a threat of forward integration. In this case, is it concluded that the supplier power is relatively low due to most of the information on the net being free. Barriers to Entry Niu, Zitong et al. (2012) defines the threats by explaining that in the search engine business, only hardware have switching costs while the service itself has absolutely no switch cost. In addition, Yahoo and Microsoft could stop using Google’s toolbars in their products and rather use their own. This and the fact that a better search engine could be developed and is not out of the question. However, all these negative aspects still do not change the high barriers to entry as all competitors in the market, especially Google, are in a very strong position financially. Competitive Rivalry In this type of rivalry, Zitong et al. (2012) mentions that brand identity can play a huge role in maximizing profits. Google has succeeded in this as their name â€Å"Google† has been added in dictionaries. Adding to advantages of Google, there are no defined government regulations as of yet and so  political environment can easily be manipulated to satisfy their wants. Yahoo and Microsoft are the only other major players and market shareholders. Hence, there is a rivalry between these three players. However, the UN or countries could start making trade restrictions to avoid having an oligarchy. Moreover, rivals in the search engine industry have similar technology and IT specialists in these companies and all around the world are always trying to improve search engine technologies in order to get ahead of the best, Google. Threat of Substitutes No switch costs and buyers preferences to the faster/more accurate search engines are two of the threats Google face. In addition, users are demanding more and better services for free to be loyal to Google. Advertisement revenues depend completely on number of clicks on a certain ad. If the number of loyal customers decreases, the total revenue decreases. Moreover, intelligent employees are rare in the market and losing one to the competition could affect Google negatively. However, these are all threats that are not able to affect Google because as of now all search engines have similar functions and are not considered a substitute product. Buyers Power According to Techwyse (2013), Google are the market shareholders. The pie chart below shows the market share as of July 2013. Graph 1: Search Engines Market Share/2011 The graph shows that Google have more than 75% of the market. In addition, Google is bringing to their users all their demands and for free. In this situation, however, the buying power is medium due to high demand on search engines and due to users relying heavily on search engines in their daily lives. SWOT Analysis of Google Inc. Strengths Google’s brand value stands at $55.317 million as of 2012 and they hold a high market share of 66% in the same year. These numbers, along with their various free services offered to customers, gives them a strong brand image that contributes to its strength. Google’s Strong financial position is shown in their yearly growth in revenues and cash flow. This strengthens  Google because it attracts investors to invest in the organization. In addition, they have many products that are also considered as an asset. The following graph shows the revenue growth of Google between 2003 and 2007: Graph 2: Google’s Revenue Growth Weaknesses On the other hand, in 2012 97% of Google’s revenues come from Advertisement. The lack of income diversification is considered as a weakness. Moreover, Google’s faces many lawsuits and the cost of dealing with those suits is a weakness. Oracle filed copyright infringement in 2010 and MastersObjects vs. Google in 2011 are some of these suits. These cause a decresase in the financial power of Google as well as reduce firm value. Opportunities Google practices forward and backward integration of companies. This means that Google buys out and adds companies to their portfolio. In 2011 alone, the added companies stand at around 25. Also, Google has a huge opportunity of taking over the mobile advertisement market and they have already started by buying out Motorola Mobility. Threats The high intensity of competition from Yahoo, Microsoft as well as traditional advertisement agencies like TV, radio and newspapers is considered as a threat to Google. In addition, Google could face the threat of being out casted by countries due to privacy issues. Conclusion All in all, Google has won countless awards, has maximized on profits, improved services, introduced new developments, eliminated most of the competition and dealt with their weaknesses. It is safe to say that Google’s business strategy is sophisticated but has come out with fruitful results. Although the world is not perfect, Google has more strengths and opportunities than threats and weaknesses. This is even proven on the Internet as someone has joked about Google by saying: â€Å"Only thing Google has failed to do, so far, is fail.† (N/A) References Blatstein, I.M. (2012). Strategic Planning: Predicting or Shaping the Future? Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 Issues 2, pp. 32. Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/topics/strategic-management-planning.html#benefits (Accessed on 27 November 2013) StudyMode (2009). Business Analysis of Google Co. Available at: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Business-Analysis-Of-Google-Co-191594.htm (Accessed on 1 December 2013) Cox, M. Z., Daspit, J., McLaughlin, E. and Jones III, R.J. (2012). Strategic Management: Is It an Academic Discipline? Journal of Business Strategies, Vol. 29 Issue 1, pp. 27-28. 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