Economics essays

Economics essays In the beginning there was barter, (1) ...people learning to trade the things they had for the things they wanted. What sparked this form of trading was the fact that our earliest ancestors were self-sufficient. Occasionally there were surpluses of one commodity or another, this is how barter flourished, and the most famous example of barter was in 1626 when Peter Minuit traded twenty-four dollars for the island of Manhattan, which in 1998 was assessed at $23.4 billion. As trade became the norm, money came into use. When buyer and sellers agreed on what was acceptable payment, they then could establish a system that assigned different values to coins or other durable and easily transportable items. As early as 2500 B.C. various precious metals such as gold, sliver, and copper were used to pay for goods and services in Egypt and Asia Minor. Now days, a money cycle has been created in America to take old money out of circulation and replaced on a regular basis. The money cycle is run this way: first the Treasury ships new money to the Federal Reserve Banks, then the Federal Reserve Banks and branches distribute the new money to individual banks in their region, once it arrives there the individual banks distributes the money to their customers, including businesses and individuals. The reverse cycle is as follows: the money circulates through the economy, the money is then deposited into banks after it changes hands many times in many countries, from there the banks separate the worn bills and coins and ship them back to their individual Fed branch or bank, then the Fed banks return the old money to the Treasury to be shredded and burned into mulch. The next topic to be discussed was the Federal Reserve System. Described as, (2)...the guardian of the nations money- banker, regulator, controller, and watchdog all rolled into one. As a regulator the Fed authorizes the buying and sell...

Operations management The WritePass Journal

Operations management Introduction Operations management IntroductionReferencesRelated Introduction Strategic Focus, one amongst the most important step in the design and development of a product, enables companies to discover and explicitly commit themselves to important considerations (Ahoy, 2008). In the current case studies of Ready Materials and Zara, efficient and effective strategic focus assisted in expanding and extending the business into the narrow market or industry segment. More specifically, the super-responsive supply chain developed by Zara permitted the company in designing, producing and delivering new garments for marketing worldwide (Gattorna 1998). Ready Materials, on the other hand, possessed no clear strategic focus and witnessed complexities in meeting the volatile demand pattern. This characteristic absence of strategic focus caused a demand uncertainty, which eventually led to the emergence of buffering mechanisms (forward load, inventory and capacity). Owing to the fluctuating nature of daily demand, most of the purchasers of Ready Materials have aligned their orders with respect to a day per day operation and waited for the dispatch for an average time of 24 hours. Use of capacity buffering system in the form of annualised hours helped in managing Ready Materials at times of demand fluctuations, enabling adjustments to the working day by up to two hours, either way, without any intimation (Gattorna, 2009). Though these buffering mechanisms caused the company to witness low levels of staff morale and retention, in recent years, this has gained immense attention with the work force finishing the task early more often than late. Buffering mechanisms undertake the forms of order backlogs link with a variable extension to lead time. Inventory buffering mechanism, used by Ready Materials, compressed the customer response time by committing capacity in the advance of demand. Reducing the capital or, in other words, operating at the negative working capital helps in aligning with offsetting the investment in additional capacity. Thus, mana ging buffering mechanisms through resource alerts and effective prioritisation of resource attention assists projects in taking an advantage. It minimises the impact of Parkinson’s Law, and prevents unnecessary distraction alongside facilitating recovery planning when required, yet at a time in advance when the project or company is in trouble. Presence of high demand uncertainty necessitates the need of project and strategic management (Lake, 2010). As indicated earlier, the use of buffering and alignment mechanisms, allow the resources and companies to gain a strategic focus of resource attention besides enabling the advantage of good morale and early task finish. Much focus can be levied on time schedule management, and this automatically decreases unnecessary distraction, further enabling for the recovery planning to prevail, when needed. However, this is only necessary whenever the company witnesses extreme difficulty (Ahoy, 2008). Managing of uncertainty remained at the core of improvement of project performance for Ready Materials. Making use of highly sophisticated just in time systems could help in adjusting to the alignment and this automatically offers an efficient strategic focus. At such times, the company is required to get the projects completed both ahead of schedule and with efficient reliability of stock delivery dates that were promised. This specific approach to alignment offers mechanisms which allow a â€Å"complete system† view of projects. The mechanism of alignment recognises and safeguards the uncertainty and thereby avoids the Parkinson’s Law at the task level whilst considering Murphy’s Law at the project stage. All of these implications suggest an intimate interrelationship between strategic focus, buffering and alignment. Effective and efficient management of these three segments of operational management helps each of the companies in driving towards success (Vital e, 2002). It is the duty of project managers to shift their attention from assuring the achievement of strategic focus, task estimates and intermediate milestones. All of these are vital from the date it is required to the final promised due date. But, a grasping of the whole implication of this approach is an immense challenge. Running factories for only a single shift, sending half empty loads to other countries, which were followed by Zara, could help in focusing local efficiency at the expense of international responsiveness. Investing in the overall capital assets can eventually enhance the strategic focus and organisational flexibility (Stratton, 2008). Owing production assets can offer the company a level of control over its schedules and the companies no matter what they intend to do. Besides manufacturing of complicated products, it can enhance strategic focus and thereby minimise the incorporation of buffering mechanisms and alignment patterns. References Ahoy, K. (2008). Customer Driven Operations Management: Aligning Businesses, Processes and Systems, London: Hoffmann Publishers, pp. 90-100. Gattorna, J. (1998). Strategic Supply Chain Alignment: Best Practices in Supply Chain. London: SAGE Publishers, pp. 451-460. Gattorna, V. (2009). Dynamic Supply Chain Alignment. London: Heinemann Publishers, pp. 341-390. Lake, H. (2010). Operational Management and Control. London: Routledge Publishers, pp. 34-90. Stratton, R. (2008). Theory Building: Relating Variation, Uncertainty, Buffering Mechanisms and Trade-offs, Proceedings of the 3rd World Conference on Production and Operations Management. Tokyo: Japan. Vitale, B. (2002). Business to Business Marketing. London: Routledge Publishers, pp. 34-89.

Division of Labor and Gender Roles in the Society Essay

Division of Labor and Gender Roles in the Society - Essay Example This essay declares that culture refers to a way of life of society. It entails the society's behaviors, beliefs, values and symbols the society accepts to govern itself. Men have the tendency to conform to the views of society and how they are expected to deliver their roles. With women's nurturing nature more so towards children, there begins a close relationship with them. This in the view of men is sensitive and fragile, making them feel stronger and dedicate themselves to technical activities.This paper highlights that  child care and homemaking are part of the works considered to be for women. This makes them closer to home than men as they have to care for people in the homestead. Men take public jobs to be away from home. This makes them more respected as providers than women who are rarely seen in the society. The third theory describes the division of labor with respect to the objective relationship and the family life of people. At the age of three children tend to know themselves hence the task of becoming comfortable, aware and responsible for your gender and its roles and. They begin to find ways of being emotionally secure with who you are and hence be happy. Women's nature to nurture begins to develop in girls, and they slowly progress and assume the role fully.  For the little boys, they love their mothers' way of care learns soon that they cannot grow up to be like them but to be like their fathers.

Religion8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religion8 - Essay Example ove and caring for all the members of the church, but on the church as an institution love and caring is lost to the achievement of it believed mission. Practices within the church as a community through love and care looks to build up each member of the community. This is essentially through greater focus of sharing of the resources within the community to build every member of the community. In the church as an institution the building up of the individual through love, care and sharing is lost. Instead the resources are used to build the institution called the church. The concentration of practices is on increasing number of individuals that are members. This means there will be greater emphasis on activities on the show of the religion, like increase in the visibility of prayer and hymns to the world, as against the activities of caring, in a community like charity and service of the community. Building of churches, expansion of parishes, and growth of the church would be the mor e prominent practices in the church as an institution, instead of practices aimed at the building up of each member, when the church is a community. (2). Providing a simple meaning to the concept of the sacrament to the church is not easy, for it is a very significant aspect of the Christian church. It can be looked upon as the receiving of the greatest gift of Divine Grace, or restoring it when it is lost, or increasing it, depending on the sacrament. (3). The sacraments offer in them celebrations relating to Christian celebration, Christian life, and Christian hope. The meanings associated with these sacraments lie in the past, present and future providing the import to these celebrations. This makes sacraments no ordinary celebrations, but occasions to remember and experience the saving presence of God. This makes it important for receiving of the sacraments to be accepted in a meaningful manner. The sacraments are the means to remember and celebrate several elements of the Divine

Online Resort Reservation and Billing System Essay Example for Free

Online Resort Reservation and Billing System Essay 1. Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius (AD 354 – AD 420/440), although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special Divine aid. This is still sometimes called Limited Depravity. Thus, Adams sin was to set a bad example for his progeny, but his actions did not have the other consequences imputed to original sin. Pelagianism views the role of Jesus as setting a good example for the rest of humanity (thus counteracting Adams bad example) as well as providing an atonement for our sins. In short, humanity has full control, and thus full responsibility, for obeying the Gospel in addition to full responsibility for every sin (the latter insisted upon by both proponents and opponents of Pelagianism). According to Pelagian doctrine, because humans are sinners by choice, they are therefore criminals who need the atonement of Jesus Christ. Sinners are not victims; they are criminals who need pardon. 2. Arianism was a Christian heresy first proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. It affirmed that Christ is not truly divine but a created being. The fundamental premise of Arius was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self-existent and immutable. The Son, who is not self-existent, cannot be God. 3. Donatism was a Christian sect within the Roman province of Africa that flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries. It had its roots in the social pressures among the long-established Christian community of Roman North Africa (present-day) Algeria and Tunisia, during the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian. The Donatists (named for the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus) were members of a schismatic church not in communion with the churches of the Catholic tradition in Late Antiquity.

Automation Technology for Food Processing and Manufacture :: Industrial Manufacturing Technological Essays

Automation Technology for Food Processing and Manufacture Industrial manufacturing technology is constantly changing. In the 1700's, we first really saw the concept of "specialization of labor" in which an individual specialized in one aspect of an item's production. With the Industrial Revolution the 1800's, people began using machines to do their work for them. Through the 1900's to today, we are seeing electronics make even more sophisticated machines possible. It seems with each new step of technology, industry is becoming more and more automated, completely changing the role people play in production. The average "worker" is nearly extinct, having been replaced by engineers, technicians, and the machines originally created to make their jobs easier. Automation technology is used in every large scale production industry. I chose to learn about automation technology with regards to food processing in particular because it is a field I am familiar with, and it will continue to exist and evolve as long as people and animals need to eat. Overview Large scale food production is more involved than one may think. The following are illustrations of a generalized food processing plant, such as one used to make cereal: Food Process Packaging Process These processes are automated using technology created by companies such as Rockwell, Siemens, and Texas Instruments. For the sake of example, I will talk about Rockwell, because it tends to be the leader in the industry. The Technology PLC's (Programmable Logic Controls) - actual sensor inputs are called tags . speed sensors . counters . thermocouples . photo sensors . scales . density sensors . on/off switches . anything that can measure the change of the state of something - each sensor is connected by hardwire to the PLC - PLC's are connected by Ethernet to a central hub, making data available to all stations on the network - form elaborate logic trees - offers near infinite flexibility

Half A Day

What does the middle-aged man say to the narrator when they meet? 4. What changes does the narrator notice as he walks home? 5. What happens at the end of the story? 6. Based on the narrator's thoughts and comments as he walks with his father, describe the kind of upbringing you think he has had. 7. What do you find unusual about the narrator's description of his day at school? 8. How does the middle-aged man address the narrator? 9. What does the narrators reaction to the changes in the city suggest about him? 10.What does the boys remark to the narrator at the end of the story reveal to you about what has happened? 1 1. A symbol is an object or action that stands for something else in addition to itself. What does the narrator's half a day at school symbolize? 12. Why do you think that Manful included only unpleasant details of modern urban life in the story? 13. A story told from the first-person point of view is narrated by one of the characters in the story. Why do you think tha t Manful chose to use a first-person narrator for â€Å"Half a Day†? 4. Describe an experience in your life when time seemed to pass more quickly than usual. Define the following words: Unmarred – Throng – Avail Horde – Refuse – Conjurer – Setting – Cairo, Egypt The narrator contrasts the landscape on the way to school with the school building itself. How does the narrator's description of the land contrast with that of the school? What do you know about Cairo, Egypt? What do you want to know? Research to find answers to your questions and other facts about Cairo, Egypt.Include information about the history and culture. Author Research information about Nagging Manful. Record five facts in the table below. Surprise Ending A surprise ending is an unexpected plot twist at the end of a story. The ending might surprise readers because the author provides ambiguous clues or withholds important information. A surprise ending is most effecti ve when it adds to the meaning of a story rather than merely overturning the readers expectations. Such writers as O. Henry and Guy De Unpleasant are famous for their surprise endings. 1.Is the ending of â€Å"Half a Day† a complete surprise, or does Manful provide some clues earlier in the story to suggest how much time has passed? Explain. 2. Do you think that the ending of â€Å"Half a Day† is effective and interesting? How else might Manful have ended the story? Find two quotes about time that are relevant to Mafioso's story. The quotations can come from literary, philosophical, scientific, or religious works, or they can be traditional proverbs. Use Google to search quotations or aphorisms about time. Explain how the quotes are relevant.

Self-image is a big problem for many women

Self-image is a big problem for many women, including myself. Many nights are spent at the gym, working out for hours, trying to sculpt the body into what society considers â€Å"attractive†. After running for thirty minutes and 500 crunches, you stand in front of the mirror in the women's locker room in disapproval. Then you say to yourself, â€Å"I'll be back tomorrow. † Sound familiar? That's because it is! Many women face problems about their bodies because of Britain's unrealistic stereotype of what is desirable. Forms of media such as childhood toys, magazine advertisements, and television have made a negative impact on girls and women (in particular) of all ages. Some of the anxieties that come with the entertainment industry's perception of â€Å"what is attractive† have the tendency to lead to serious problems such as low self-esteem and eating disorders. From a young age girls have faced the pressure of achieving physical perfection even from the toys they play with; the unrealistic body-perfect measurements of the popular childhood toy Barbie. Little girls love from Britain to Brazil love Barbie. Barbie is one of the best-selling toys in the world and could explain why Barbie has been accused of setting a negative stereotype for children in society. The big dilemma seems to be Barbie's current figure-long legs, skinny waist, narrow hips, and ample bosom. Not only does Barbie depict what society considers attractive but She has everything little girls dream of, a perfect house, figure and boyfriend, Sending a subconscious message to society; If you get the body you can get The guy, the Malibu beach house, with a pink convertible in the garage. As girls grow older they put their Barbie dolls to rest and, along comes a new and more extreme age of what they are exposed to new forms of media. Such as the teen magazines featuring articles about boys, beauty, and fashion. But They are sandwiched between glamorized advertisements for beauty Products, messages once again being sent of the body perfect and ‘lifestyle perfect' Previous childhood messages of the infamous Barbie doll once again being thrusted into the faces of adolescent girls. But this time Britney Spears is the new Barbie and she's real. Running around in her skimpy crop tops and perfect pop star boyfriend; she has it all, doesn't she? Young woman (under 25) are increasingly tuned in to a celebrity culture where the models' and actresses' bodies are considerably thinner than they've ever been in the past, and is seductive and appealing for young girls to resist. Since these actresses, pop stars are role models for girls nation-wide, they influence the way girls think, behave, and try to look, Scary thought†¦ Britney may well be the new Barbie†¦. Has the consequent pursuit of thinness become a new religion? And is the media responsible for low self-esteem and eating disorders? That may well be a contributing factor but inevitably it will always be down to the individual themselves. 2003 a year where there is no definite body shape or lifestyle, we should just aspire and embrace being ourselves, not want what the likes of Victoria and David Beckham have, or want Britney's ‘perfect body'. The only person that you will have to live with all your life is you, not Posh! It is important for women, including myself, to realize society's standards of what is desirable are unrealistic as well as unhealthy. So, the next time I go to the gym and stare into the full-length mirror in the women's locker room, I will accept myself for who I am. I may not be as thin as a magazine model or as attractive as a television actress, but be happy with your self as the inner beauty always shines through.

Socio

Socio Introduction This assignment is a discussion on the topic of giftedness and talent development. The discussion explores the topic by defining giftedness and how it’s related to talent. It archives this through looking at the socio- affective characteristics and personalogical development of the gifted child, and how they interact to assist or hinder the development of talents by the gifted children.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Socio- Affective Characteristics and Personalogical Development of the Gifted Child specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the assignment therefore, the argument is that both socio- affective characteristics and personalogical development of the gifted child may have positive or negative effects on the gifted child, depending on how the parents, teachers and guardians respond to his or her needs. Those children, whose giftedness is properly nurtured, are able to develop the relevant ski lls and vice versa. The discussion is based on Francoys Gange’s model of giftedness as well as on various other readings. Discussion.  The Gifted Child Many scholars have for some time been grappling with the question of who really is a gifted child. Giftedness has usually been confused with talent, with some scholars like Joseph S. Renzulli, and Robert Sternberg using both giftedness and talent as synonyms (Rensuli, Smith, White, Callahan, Hartman, 1976). Some of the pioneers of the field of giftedness in education include Terman and Hollingworth. These two are believed to have been the first to notice the remarkable differences between the gifted individuals and the general population (Hollingworth, 1926). After the pioneer work by the above scholars in mid 1920s, other scholars like Tannenbaum Witty, Benbow and Stanely took the discussion on the topic a notch higher by establishing the differences between the gifted individuals and the general population in terms of apt itudes, temperament, family backgrounds and ability levels (Witty, 1930) and (Benbow Stanley, 1983). In recent years after the works of these scholars, psychologists developed some scales to measure and rate these characteristics in an attempt to quantify the most prominent behavioural indicators of giftedness.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As recent as 2000, Francoys Gange developed what was referred to as Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) which is also referred to as the developmental theory. In the theory, Francoys Gange argues that giftedness is a pre-requisite of talent development and therefore a person may not become talented without being gifted in the first place. However, according to him, a person may just retain his or her giftedness without developing a talent but the reverse is not true (Gange, n.d). In DMGT, giftedness is simply defined a s a natural ability which is not necessarily innate, but has some genetic linkages. However, scholars are yet to unravel the mystery of the linkage of giftedness to genetics. Giftedness may also refer to an above average intellectual ability among the peers as well as a high cognitive ability than that of the peers. Talent on the other hand is defined as skills, competencies and expertise acquired through the process of learning. Talent may or may not emanate from giftedness; with talent emanating from giftedness being more versatile than the one emanating from normal learning. Talent may also refer to various forms of excellence like in technology, sports or arts. In the words of Francoys Gange giftedness and talent may be differentiated as follows; ‘GIFTEDNESS designates the possession and use of outstanding natural abilities, called aptitudes, in at least one ability domain, to a degree that places an individual at least among the top 10% of age peers’ (Gange, 2005. pp. 98-119). ‘TALENT designates the outstanding mastery of systematically developed abilities, called competencies(knowledge and skills), in at least one field of human activity to a degree that places an individual at least among the top 10% of age peers who are or have been active in that field’ (Gange, 2005. pp. 98-119).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Socio- Affective Characteristics and Personalogical Development of the Gifted Child specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Francoys Gange goes ahead to conclude that as, I quote, ‘talent development corresponds to the progressive transformation of gifts into talents. According to the DMGT theory, talent development constitutes of five components namely gift, talent, talent development, intrapersonal and the environment catalysts designated as G, T, D,I and E respectively. The interaction of these five components may either assist or hinder the transfor mation of giftedness into talent(s). In the following section, I will discuss in brief these five components of talent development (Gange, 1998. pp.87–95). Components of Talent Development The gift (G) component This component constitutes of other six sub components namely the creative (GC), intellectual (GI), social (GS), perceptual (GP), motor control reflexes (GR) and muscular (GM) abilities. According to Francoys Gange, these natural abilities may be observed in children as they perform various tasks like understanding mathematical concepts, reading and learning a foreign language, speaking, composing a song or a poem, writing a story, social abilities in interactions as well as physical and perceptual abilities like dancing, doing crafts and sculpture work (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). Francoys Gange argues that these gifts manifest themselves in young children mainly because at that age, systematic learning is usually absent. It therefore follows that the more the children ar e exposed to systematic learning, the more these gifts are transformed into various talents during adulthood (Van Tassel- Baska, 1983. pp.139-144). The Talents (T) Component The World-of-Work classification of occupations classifies talents into nine sub-components, six of which are based on John Hollands well-known Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC) classification of personality, with the other three namely games, academic (K-12) subjects, and sports serving as complements of the other six in RIASEC. In DMGT, most of these talents are easily measured using various scales like exams, standardized achievements as well as various assessments in various occupations and fields of excellence. In the DMGT model, there is no room for elitism, which attributes talent development on learning, education and qualifications, but rather, a presence of giftedness and talents in many individuals in the general population (Sternberg, 2004. pp.79-95). Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Talent Development Process (D) Component This process is believed to begin as soon as an individual, either a child, an adult or an adolescent enters a systematic talent oriented development program mostly through the process of identification. This component is composed of other the sub- components namely progress (DP), activities (DA), and investment (DI). The main components of talent development activities include the curriculum offered in a specific format (DAF) and specific content (DAC). The learning environment or format may either be structured, for example in school or unstructured, also known as autodidactic learning. In the DMGT model, the development of a talent takes place in a gradual and progressive manner, moving from novice, advanced, proficient and expert (Colangelo Davis, 2003). During this process, which is mostly a longitudinal one, the teacher or coach is able to note the peak of the talentee during various activities or occasions like death of a loved on e, manifestation of love and excellent performance in various fields by the talentee which becomes outstanding and unique. Talentees may also be unique in the manner in which they spend their money, time and psychological energies, with most of them recording outstanding and unique approaches to these issues (Gange, 1999.pp.109-136). Intrapersonal (I) component This component is also referred to as the intrapersonal catalyst and constitutes of two other sub-components namely the physical and mental traits and the goal oriented process. The physical traits include things like race, ethnicity and chronic illness while the mental traits include things like personality and temperament. These traits, both physical and mental may positively or negatively impact on the individual’s ability to develop talents from natural giftedness (Heller Kurt, 2000.pp.67-79). The goal oriented process constitutes of three other sub-components namely motivation (IM), awareness (IW), and volition ( IV). Awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses enables the talentees to adequately plan the development of goal identification activities. The talentees are also motivated by the achievement of some goals, which makes them specialize on such areas thus developing specific talents. Failure in some areas leads to less interest and lowered motivation in those fields, thus a low probability in developing talents in those areas (Gross, 2004). The Environmental (E) component This component is also referred to as environmental catalyst and constitutes of three other sub-components namely the individuals (EI), milieu (EM), and provisions (EP). EI sub-component constitutes the talentees’ social environment, and more so, the influence of the significant others like siblings, parents, teachers, public figures, mentors, and trainers as well as peers on the taletees. The actions of these significant others may influence the talent development by the gifted individuals either po sitively or negatively (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). The EM constitutes of physical, social and economic environments in which the gifted individual find himself or herself in. Physical environment may include things like climate and the nature of the neighbourhood which may be either a rural or an urban setting. The social environment may involve things like the social and cultural environment of the general population in the place where the gifted child grows in while the economic aspect may include things like the financial status of the parents and family of the gifted child (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). EP sub-component constitutes the talent development programs and services and is sub-divided into two sub-categories namely administration and enrichment , with enrichment referring to some specific talent development curriculum while administrative provision referring to the part time or full time grouping, grade skipping, early enrolment in schools as well as the advanced placement progra ms (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). Chance Apart from these five components of the development process, psychologists have identified another component referred to as chance and the role it plays in the development process. According to Francoys Gange, chance ‘represents the degree of control that talentees have over environmental influences’. According to John William Atkinson, chance becomes relevant in the DMGT model in that we are not able to control the backgrounds in which we are born as well as our genetic make-up, yet, these two greatly influence the G and I components in the DMGT model. Chance therefore plays an important role in talent development because giftedness is influenced by genetic makeup, as well as the social, cultural, physical and economic backgrounds in which we find ourselves in (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). After discussing the talent development process, I will now turn to the socio- affective characteristics and personalogical development of the gifted chil dren and how they influence their talent development. I would like to mention at the outset that giftedness is a natural ability, which may positively or negatively affect the gifted individual depending on the environment in which he or she grows in (Gange, 2003.pp.60-74). Many scholars in gifted education have argued that gifted children have special needs, which must be addressed so as to enable their natural abilities to be transformed into useful talents, as well as mitigate any negative effects of their giftedness. Many countries, led by the United States seem to have recognized the needs of the gifted children, and have thus established specialized schools and training for the gifted children with a view of nurturing their natural abilities so as to transform them into very useful talents. These countries also believe that there are many gifted children and if well nurtured, their natural abilities may be transformed into excellent talents which may put them well ahead of oth er countries in various fields like technology, commerce, sports and the fight against crime (Mills Jackson, 1990. pp. 410-422). Before discussing the characteristics, I would like to point out some of the issues which must be born in mind when discussing these characteristics. One of them is that it is not all gifted children who will portray these characteristics, meaning that some will exhibit specific characteristics but not others. It is also important to bear in mind that these characteristics are developmental, meaning that some children may show them as early as during childhood while others may show them during later stages of development. Also important to note is that some of these characteristics only appear when the gifted children are engaged in an aptitude or some areas of interest (McMillen, Eckert Little, n.d). The Characteristics of Gifted Children and How They Assist or Hinder Talent Development Preference of independent work Many gifted children prefer working alone in many activities, even those which require partnership with other children. This may be attributed to their ability to manage their issues properly without any assistance. It shows their exceptional ability to come up with appropriate solutions to problems or challenges as well as their ability to think abstractly, so as to come up with solutions to many challenges which may need group efforts to solve (Neither,Reis,Robinson Moon, 2002). This characteristic may affect the child in a positive manner in that if the child is assisted and guided by a mentor or instructor, he or she becomes motivated to come up with solutions to his or her personal problems, thus becoming an independent minded person. Such nurturance may also lead to enhanced creativity, which is a pre-requisite of innovation. When they are left to work in groups, this may inhibit their ability to think independently and come up with new and independent ideas. It may also inhibit their reasoning by the fear of a ppearing too exceptional among their peers (Silverman, 1993). If gifted children are not properly nurtured, they may develop antisocial behaviour, which may lead to their isolation by their peers. This is because their ability to develop and carry on with the unique behaviour of working alone may lower their self-esteem through perceiving themselves as abnormal instead of exceptional to others. There is therefore the need for care givers to motivate the gifted children to be more independent by informing them that they are not being deviant, but rather, are doing very constructive and important work for themselves and the society at large (Cox, Daniel Boston, 1985). Multiple interests Gifted children are unique in that they are able to have multiple interests at the same time unlike the other children who usually have their interests in a prioritized manner. This is attributed to their high cognitive abilities, which enables them to have the energy to pursue and concentrate in seve ral areas of interest at the same time. In situations where the gifted children are given the opportunity to explore various aspects of life, they are able to develop and master multiple talents. On the other hand, the lack of enabling environment for exploration may lead to frustration of the children, which may in turn lead to slowed development in their various aspects of life. Emotional intensity Usually, children are not supposed to have emotions like love, grieve or embarrassment. In contrast, gifted children portray emotional intensity at very early ages in life. They are able to have emotional feelings triggered by death or the absence of something which they adore. Their emotional sensitivity makes them suitable for theatre activities which is itself a talent. However, if other children realize that they are overly sensitive to various emotions, this may become a problem because the other children, out of ignorance would often disturb the gifted children by evoking such emo tions in them, which may hinder the development of the respective talents in them due to lack of the enabling environment to do so. Perfectionism Many gifted children are overly concerned about being perfect in everything instead of being excellent. They like to be perfect in academics, social life as well as in their decision making. They feel very angry when they make a mistake no matter how slight it might be. This tendency may be a resource especially because it makes the child work hard so as to be perfect. This may result in his or her excellence in various fields which in turn develops into various skills and talents. However, perfectionism may lead to anxiety and fear of failing to accomplish what they want in the way they want it. This may in turn lead to developmental challenges among the gifted children in that it leads to a feeling of guilt, which interferes with their maximum development. The gifted children therefore need to be nurtured and made to understand that whil e it is a virtue to work hard, it is good to understand that it is unrealistic for them to be perfect in everything they do, and therefore, the goal of being perfect should be replaced with the goal of achieving excellence. This can go to great lengths in transforming their hard work into useful talents in their areas of interests. Altruism and idealism Gifted children have strong passion in helping and working for others at early ages in life. They are very interested in helping their parents and friends as well as peers. They also like doing volunteer work in hospitals or in various humanitarian organizations or initiatives. This rather puzzling passion forms a basis for a career in various humanitarian fields like advocacy, charity work, philanthropy and diplomacy. However, if the goals of the parents and significant others are not compatible with those of the gifted child; they may not be collaborative and supportive to the child. Similarly, in social cultural environments which do not embrace altruism and idealism, the child may inhibit such a talent and may as well develop the opposite, thus becoming rebellious, cruel and in extreme cases, a sadist. Good sense of humour Many gifted children are able to play around with their social environment, using words, gestures or actions which transform a painful or tense situation to a friendly and humorous one, thus defusing any tension either within themselves or in others. This ability comes from their natural ability to understand various situations and their opposites, thus able to construct jokes, talks and actions which echo the painful or harmful situation, but in an opposite or less painful or harmful version. This ability, if well nurtured, especially in environment which encourages theatre and comic satires may help the gifted children excel in theatre work. However, if the socio cultural environment does not embrace humour, the child may not develop this particular talent. The other negative side of a good sense of humour is that it can sometimes lead to more developmental problems, especially if the child uses it to cover up his or her developmental challenges or weird personality traits. This is because the weird personality traits or developmental challenges are camouflaged, and continues to build up without being discovered as early as possible, so that the necessary steps are taken to deal with it. Strong attachments and commitments Many gifted children usually form more intense friendships and attachments to people who are order than them than with their peers. This may be attributed mainly to their natural ability to emulate others and excel in various fields or areas of interest. They are also overly committed to their work, more so during adulthood. This characteristic is useful for them, especially if they grow in environments which value mentorship of young children by their older counter parts. If assisted to attach themselves to people who are respectable and who hav e excelled in career or in some talents, the gifted children may develop good talents at their adulthood. However, in environments where there are few or no good role models to emulate, gifted children may end up emulating or attaching themselves to people with poor and undesirable characteristics, thus acquiring and perfecting bad behaviours, morals and values. The power of concentration Many gifted children display an exceptional ability to concentrate and an ability to deal with a specific problem for a long time than their peers. If they are given an ample time to concentrate without inference, they are able to excel in that specific field(s), be it science, mathematics or technology, which may form a strong foundation for their future career in those areas of interest. However, if disrupted or denied the time to learn how to concentrate at early age, this may hinder their later excellence in these areas of interests. Ability to generate original ideas The gifted child is able t o come up with original ideas, which are free from any external influence either alone or in partnership with others. The ideas may be in one field, like in technology or in multiple areas, like in technology, mathematics or social studies. This ability is useful in that it may lead to the specialization of the child in a single or multiple fields. However, there is the need for the parents, teachers and siblings to support the child psychologically so as to reinforce the ability to generate these ideas. If the gifted child grows in an environment where nobody seems to recognize his or her ability, this may compromise his or her abilities to excel in these areas of interests in future life. Conclusion In conclusion, this discussion has explored the topic of giftedness and talent. It has emerged that giftedness leads to the development of various talents. The talent development process has also been discussed whereby it has emerged that it is composed of five main components namely g iftedness, talent, talent development process, intrapersonal and environmental catalysts. Various characteristics of giftedness have also been discussed and how they interact with the socio cultural environment to either assist or hinder the development of talents by gifted children. What has emerged in all the characteristics is that giftedness is not a guarantee of talent development, but rather, it can lead to the acquisition of good or bad talents depending on the manner in which the gifted child is brought up and whether giftedness is nurtured so as to develop into the respective talent(s). If gifted children are left alone without guidance and nurturance, their natural abilities may be reduced to burdens to themselves or to the society, but if they are properly nurtured, such natural abilities may be tapped and transformed into useful skills and talents, which can help many countries in their development. It is for these reasons that many countries have established specialized schools and trainings for gifted children, so as to identify various natural abilities at the very early ages, and nurture them into useful talents through giving the gifted children the necessary motivation and setting the necessary learning environment for them to fully develop such talents. However, research is still going on in order to identify relationship between genetics and giftedness so as to adequately understand the needs of the gifted children in order to reap the maximum talents from them (Terman,1925). References Benbow , C.P Stanley J.(1983). Academic precocity. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press. Colangelo,N Davis, G.A.(2003).Handbook of gifted education (3rd Ed.). Baltimore, MD: Allyn and Bacon. Cox, J., Daniel, N., Boston, B.O. (1985).Education Able Leaners. Programs and learning practices. Austin: University of Texas Press. Gange, F. (1998). A proposal for subcategories within the gifted or talented populations. Gifted Child Quarterly, 42, pp.87â€⠀œ95. Gange, F. (1999). My Convictions about the Nature of Abilities, Gifts, and Talents. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1999, pp. 109-136. Gange, F. (2003). Transforming gifts into talents: The DMGT as a developmental theory. In N. Colangelo G. A. Davis(Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd Ed.), pp. 60-74. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Gange, F. (2005). From gifts to talents: The DMGT as a developmental model. In R. J. Sternberg and J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (2nd Ed.), pp. 98-119. New York: Cambridge University Press. Gange, F. (n.d). The differentiated model of giftedness and talent (DMGT). In J. S. Renzulli, E. J. Gubbins, K. Gross,M.U.M.(2004). Exceptionally gifted children (2nd Ed.) New York, NY: Routledge. Heller Kurt. (2000). (ed.): International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (2nd Ed). Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd, pp. 67-79. Hollingworth, l. (1926).Gifted Children. New York: World Press. McMillen, R. D., Eckert, Little. C. A. (n.d). (Eds.). Systems and models for developing programs for the gifted and talented (2nd Ed.). Mansfield Centre, CT: Creative Learning Press. Mills ,J.R Jackson, N.E.(1990).Predictive Significance of Early Giftedness. The Case of Precocious Reading.Journal of educational psychology, 83(2), pp.410-422. Neither,M.,Reis,S.M.,Robinson,N.M Moon,S.M.(2002).The social and emotional development of gifted children ;What do we know ?Waco, Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association. Rensuli, J.S., Smith, L.H., White, A.J., Callahan, C.M Hartman, R.K.(1976).Scales For The Rating of Behavioural Characteristics of superior students. Mansfield centre CT: Creative learning press. Silverman,L.K.(1993). Counselling the gifted and talented.Denver: Love publishing Sternberg, R. J.(2004) (ed.): Definitions and Conceptions of Giftedness. Thousand Oaks:Corwin Press,pp. 79-95. Terman L. (1925).Genetics Studies of Genius (Vol. 1).Stanford CA: Stanford University Press. Van Tassel- Baska, J. (1983). The 1982 Midwest talent search finalists. Gifted child quarterly 27(3) 139-144. Witty, P. (1930). A study of one hundred gifted children. Lawrence, KS: Bureau of school service and research.

Quality Improvement essays

Quality Improvement essays Goodyear is the leading tire manufacturer in the U.S. With a number of different brands, Goodyear has a tire for almost all types of cars, trucks, agricultural vehicles and off-road vehicles. This paper evaluates the need for quality improvement in the raw-material supplier, distribution and marketing of the tires in the U.S. Production and manufacturing are important areas where traditionally quality management has been emphasized and stressed. In recent times however there is an increasing trends by organizations to also improve the quality of their supply and distribution channels with the aim of improving customer satisfaction. In the organizational setting, quality is often defined based on the need of the customer and how an organization meets this need. Product performance and perception play an important role in identifying the perception of quality that a customer might have. Satisfying customer needs has created a new need for managing customer relationship and providing the desired service. The customers for Goodyear Tire Company are identified as follows: The Original Equipment Tire Customers (OEM): This includes the car manufacturers who constitute approximately 25-30% of the total tire consumption. (Kerin and Peterson, 2004) The tires manufactured by the company are used on a variety of cars manufactured by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda and Toyota to name a few. The demand for tires from this type of customer depends on the automobile industry, which in turn depends on the volume of cars sold. Goodyear considers the OEM customer very important, as, if customers were satisfied with the quality and the performance of tires on their vehicles they were more likely to replace their tires with replacements from the same company. Auto manufacturers also prefer...

Operations Management LongXi Manufacturing Essay

Operations Management LongXi Manufacturing - Essay Example LongXi under the management of Zhang Lin is faced with important problems in line with product quality and its team. LongXi is faced with this significant problem that specifically tries to hinder its long-term goal for the future. It is important to address this problem so that it will not hinder its potential to create high standard quality management in the future. LongXi and its quality management problem absolutely encompassed the issue of how the company should obtain its competitive advantage. In the midst of on-going competition, LongXi remarkably needs to compete with significant quality in its product offerings. The issue is not just on quality improvement of its offerings and restructuring its quality improvement team, but the problem itself boils down to how LongXi should survive in the midst of highly competitive environment with too many choices for the customers to choose from. How then should LongXi differentiate its product offerings even if it has significant qualit y improvement is the most specific issue aside from the issue of quality improvement management. Situation Analysis LongXi’s position in the Chinese small diesel engine market LongXi’s position in the Chinese small diesel engine market is heading to international scope. As the demand for product offerings within diesel engine industry increases as far as the Chinese economic reform is concerned, competition increases within the international business setting. China is competitive enough to go for low-cost production which gives the ability of the Chinese market to have at least around 25% less cost in production compared to Japan. However, prior to this significant market trend, LongXi has been creating a major market share considering that small diesel engine market particularly in the agriculture and machinery sector was pushed to pursue even more due to Chinese economic reform. This economic reform paved way for LongXi to promote product offerings that cater the nee ds and increasing demand in the market. However, competition within its industry has become too intense as the demand increases. As a result, there is a need to augment production. The capacity of production needs to be improved as the demand continues to reach an upward spiraling growth. However, LongXi is willing to invest in new improved technology to ensure quality and stretch its production. It is not going to help on its part to rely on other organizations producing duo-gear shaft (DGS) because there is just limited number of them and are already having their production over-stretched. Thus, in house management is necessary. As a result to this, LongXi has remarkable market share in China as it overstretched production. Furthermore, as the country continues to lead economically, there is a good chance to expose produced product offerings of the said company into the world. This particularly is a promising output considering that LongXi is aiming for low-cost production with hi gh standard quality. As a result, there is going to be a low-cost price of its product offerings at a reasonably high market demand. This ensures high revenue and eventually obtaining LongXi’s corporate objectives. In Comparison with Chanchai Changchai is LongXi’s ultimate competitor in China. In Appendix Table 7, LongXi and Changchai are compared based on production volume by product, revenues, proportion of export sales, profits, gross margin per unit, extent of vertical integration, external partnerships, ISO 9000 certification, and technology investment. In 1996, LongXi was able to target production of multi-cylinder diesel engines which is higher than Changchai. This is a remarkable figure and it is in this product offering that LongXi is creating a significant competitive advantage considering that there is a great market opportunity for multi-cylinder diesel engines not just in China but in the international market. This is due to the fact that the said product offering has remarkable and practical applications. However, it

The Gulf War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Gulf War - Essay Example After easily conquering Kuwait, Iraq began verbal attacks on Saudi Arabia, which forced the rest of the world to take a stern action against the stubborn Iraq nation. When Iraq defied all the warnings to leave Kuwait, a military action was the only remaining solution to cub that problem. The western world in collaboration with other wealthy nations contributed funds and security forces to fight Iraq. The gulf war negatively affected the economies of almost all nations, with the worst hit being the developing nations and it altered global democracy. The gulf war had a great negative effect on the world economy that was under pressure in recovering from the Second World War was threatened once again. Oil prices escalated at a great deal since Middle East countries are the major world oil producers because the war had interrupted oil mining and the exportation processes. The oil supply in Middle East countries reduced greatly up to a point where it could not meet global energy demands. Due to the scarcity of oil from major producers, the few Non- OPEC oil producing countries took advantage and hiked their oil prices and the customers did not have a choice but to dig deeper into their pockets. Those prices affected the budgets of various countries since a portion of money that had been set aside for other national projects had to be used to meet the rising cost of oil (Schwab 340). After the problem persisted for a long time, the global economy had taken a recession direction. Many developed nations opted to exploit on other sources of energy to meet their energy demands. Those unplanned new projects hampered development in those nations due to the increased expenditures that those countries did not anticipate. The cost of production of energy rose at an alarming rate, and the result was that the production cost of goods also rose. The increased cost of production further worsened the world economic status since most industries had reduced their production capabili ties and they faced weaker purchasing powers. Most ended up in retrenching a good number of their workers thus increasing the rate of unemployment and overdependence at the same time. Annual revenues that governments earned from those companies reduced drastically forcing them to reduce funding the national projects and development of infrastructures. Free trade markets experienced acute shortages of various goods whose prices had also risen; the nations that relied on these products had to spend more to get them (Schwab 342). Since many sovereign states had cut down on the cost of development, it implied that they produced fewer goods to trade and thus they earned less from foreign exchange markets and in local trades. The poverty levels pushed up due to the increased rate of unemployment, thus posing a great threat to the nationals’ securities since a considerable number of people had turned into theft and other criminal acts to earn their daily bread (Cashman & Robinson 11 ). The developing states faced the worst economic crisis as compared to the developed countries primarily because those nations heavily depended on the imported goods from their developed neighbors (Costigan & Perry 301). The oil crisis forced those developed states to use more money from their budgets and they had to stall some of their projects