Business Intelligence Solution

Question: Discuss about the Business Intelligence Solution. Answer: Introduction: The Business Intelligence is the umbrella term including all the infrastructures, tools, best practices and applications (Chang 2014). The Facebook is a for-profit corporation based in America. It is the social media and social networking service via online (Ellison et al. 2014). Rather than depending upon social collaboration, the company has needed to inundate the impatient employees. This was done with proper training utilize the Business Intelligence tools in the Microstrategy-based portal. The following report explores the tools and techniques used by Facebook for its business operations. In addition to the improvements, the values and influencing factors are also discussed. Tools and techniques used by Facebook to support business operations: Facebook has been useful for various reasons, but the most important feature of it has been the gathering of information. The data business has been able to help in monitoring of the SEO metrics, setting the tone for the business personality and improvement in understanding of the customer experience. Hence, the approaches in which the Business Intelligence and Facebook has been going hand in hand has been important to realize (Liao, Hsian and Wu 2014). The various tools used by Facebook have been discussed below: Facebook Insights: This tool has been available to the admin of the company once they acquire more than thirty fans. This provides analytics by the platforms insights. LikeAlyzer: It is the free-to-use-tool allowing in entering to any page without any authorization in measuring its performance. Simply Measured: It has 4 distinct free report offering real insights. The first one is the insight report repurposing the data in Facebook insights into attractive graphs. Next is the competitive analysis report. It has been showing the comparative metrics in charts, response rates, top posts and so on (Laursen and Thorlund 2016). Lastly, the in-depth fan page report helps in sorting of posts and comments and the content analysis report help in breaking down of contents. Sociograph.io: Once authentication is done the analyzing of Facebook fan page could be done for free. Agorapulse: Allows in benchmarking the page and running sweepstakes and competitions. Cyfe: This dashboard integrates large range of widgets covering aspects of business. The techniques supporting business operations used by Facebook are: Researching and Analyzing Events: Facebook has been often made use to promote the online events. In the avenue, there has been lots of intelligence found. By observing the conversations, locations and times on pages, the companies have been able to collect information regarding customer preferences and demographics. Advertising more accurately: No advertisements could act better than the targeted ones. Since, Facebook came up with targeted advertisement options it became the most popular trend in the area of social networking. The Business Intelligence has made this possible foe the organization in crafting the advertisements directly (Colombo, Grech and Pace 2015). Further they have been sold to the target audiences directly. Improvements observed from Facebook as compared to other social networking sites: The Facebook Advertising has been really picking up acceleration in the world of business. It has been utilizing social activities and graphs pinpointing those who have been falling under the buyer demographics. This has made the Facebook Advertisements incredibly efficient than the other social networking sites. These advertisements have more likely brought strong leads that have been actually searching for the companys services. They have assured that the budget of the companys advertising has not been wasted (Jiang and Leung 2014). This has been done over those who have not been actually interested in the offers done by the companies. This has further helped in put the services or products into the hand of proper individuals requiring the services. Here is why the Business Intelligence should be used in Facebook: Replace the gut feelings with concrete information: While depending on the instincts has been helpful in various conditions, it has not been reliable to run the marketing campaign. The Business Intelligence replaced the maybes with the definite, assuring that every effort made has been on the basis of solid facts. Endow the employees with further knowledge: Once the team members get accumulated to the software of business intelligence, they readily get access to the detailed data. This helps the employees to become more decisive contributing to Facebook. Studying the behavior of audience: The Business Intelligence software has helped Facebook to find patters in the customer behaviors. This has offered higher visibility in the wishes of the customers. This insight knowledge has turned into profits directly. This has been done by leveraging the current information on the habits of customers and controlling valuable customers. The Facebook possesses numerous employees in various departments. Hence there has been potential for the communication breakdowns. The beauty of the business intelligence has been the integration of information from various departments and then synthesizing that conveniently (Gupta, Khanna and Kim 2014). Factors influencing the success of business intelligence in Facebook: Good Strategy: The sound business strategy has tied to Facebooks core competency. Good employees: They have been empowered to perform amazing jobs. Outstanding leaders: They have been motivating, inspiring and handling the changes brilliantly. The healthiness of the corporate culture: The employees have been able to brainstorm, collaborate and share knowledge. Facebook has been able to handle constant changes: Facebook has been agile due to the not over done or under done of the standards, procedures and processes (Isik, Jones and Sidorova 2013). Facebook has been proactive and not reactive. Issues have been anticipated. Risks have been managed. There have been no silos. The functional areas have been working together. Conclusion: The Business Intelligence has been enabling in passage and assessment of data in the company called Facebook. It has been improving and optimizing performances and decisions. Rather than depending upon social collaboration, Facebook has needed to inundate the impatient employees. This was done with proper training to identify and utilize the Business Intelligence tools present in the underpinning Microstrategy-based portal. As the business data amount has been growing constantly, it has turned important for Facebook to concentrate on analyzing of data with the self-serviced Business Intelligence. The visualization of data on actionable and clear dashboards has helped Facebook fetch the contexts and reasons behind every decisions of business. Moreover, viewing the situation of the present business has also been done from various angles. References: Chang, V., 2014. The business intelligence as a service in the cloud.Future Generation Computer Systems,37, pp.512-534. Colombo, C., Grech, J.P. and Pace, G.J., 2015, June. A controlled natural language for business intelligence monitoring. InInternational Conference on Applications of Natural Language to Information Systems(pp. 300-306). Springer International Publishing. Ellison, N.B., Vitak, J., Gray, R. and Lampe, C., 2014. Cultivating social resources on social network sites: Facebook relationship maintenance behaviors and their role in social capital processes.Journal of Computer?Mediated Communication,19(4), pp.855-870. Gupta, V., Khanna, S. and Kim, I., 2014. Personal Financial Aggregation and Social Media Mining: A New Framework for Actionable Financial Business Intelligence (AFBI).International Journal of Business Intelligence Research (IJBIR),5(4), pp.14-25. Isik, ., Jones, M.C. and Sidorova, A., 2013. Business intelligence success: The roles of BI capabilities and decision environments.Information Management,50(1), pp.13-23. Jiang, F. and Leung, C.K.S., 2014, December. A business intelligence solution for frequent pattern mining on social networks. InData Mining Workshop (ICDMW), 2014 IEEE International Conference on(pp. 789-796). IEEE. Laursen, G.H. and Thorlund, J., 2016.Business analytics for managers: Taking business intelligence beyond reporting. John Wiley Sons. Liao, S.H., Hsian, P.Y. and Wu, G.L., 2014. Mining user knowledge for investigating the facebook business model: the case of Taiwan users.Applied Artificial Intelligence,28(7), pp.712-736.

The Effects Of Race On Sentencing In Capital Punishment Cases Essays

The Effects of Race on Sentencing in Capital Punishment Cases Sam Houston State University, Huntsville CJ 478W-Introduction To Methods Of Research The Effects of Race on Sentencing in Capital Punishment Cases Throughout history, minorities have been ill-represented in the criminal justice system, particularly in cases where the possible outcome is death. In early America, blacks were lynched for the slightest violation of informal laws and many of these killings occured without any type of due process. As the judicial system has matured, minorities have found better representation but it is not completely unbiased. In the past twenty years strict controls have been implemented but the system still has symptoms of racial bias. This racial bias was first recognized by the Supreme Court in Fruman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). The Supreme Court Justices decide that the death penalty was being handed out unfairly and according to Gest (1996) the Supreme Court felt the death penalty was being imposed ?freakishly' and ?wantonly? and ?most often on blacks.? Several years later in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the Supreme Court decided, with efficient controls, the death penalty could be used constitutionally. Yet, even with these various controls, the system does not effectively eliminate racial bias. Since Gregg v. Georgia the total population of all 36 death rows has grown as has the number of judicial controls used by each state. Of the 3,122 people on death row 41% are black while 48% are white (Gest, 1996, 41). This figure may be acceptable at first glance but one must take into account the fact that only 12% of the U.S. population is black (Smolowe, 1991, 68). Carolyn Snurkowski of the Florida attorney generals office believes that the disproportionate number of blacks on death row can be explained by the fact that, ?Many black murders result from barroom brawls that wouldn't call for the death penalty, but many white murders occur on top of another offense, such as robbery? (As cited in Gest, 1986, 25). This may be true but the Washington Legal Foundation offers their own explanation by arguing that ?blacks are arrested for murder at a higher rate than are whites. When arrest totals are factored in , ?the probability of a white murderer ending up on death row is 33 percent greater than in the case of a black murderer? (As cited in Gest, 1986, 25). According to Professor Steven Goldstein of Florida State University, ?There are so many discretionary stages: whether the prosecutor decides to seek the death penalty, whether the jury recommends it, whether the judge gives it? (As cited in Smolowe, 1991, 68). It is in these discretionary stages that racial biases can infect the system of dealing out death sentences. Smolowe (1991) shows this infection by giving examples of two cases decided in February of 1991, both in Columbus. The first example is a white defendant named James Robert Caldwell who was convicted of stabbing his 10 year old son repeatedly and raping and killing his 12 year old daughter. The second example is of a black man, Jerry Walker, convicted of killing a 22-year-old white man while robbing a convenience-store. Caldwell's trial lasted three times as long as Walker's and Caldwell received a life sentence while Walker received a death sentence. In these examples, it is believed that not only the race of the victims, but also the value of the victims, biased the sentencing decisions. The 22-year-old man killed by Walker was the son of a Army commander at Fort Benning while Caldwell's victims were not influential in the community. In examples such as these, it becomes evident that racial bias, in any or all of the discretionary stages, becomes racial injustice in the end. Smolowe (1991) also makes the point that Columbus is not alone: ?A 1990 report prepared by the government's General Accounting Office found ?a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty.? In an article by Seligman (1994), Professor Joseph Katz of Georgia State ?and other scholars have made a separate point about bias claims based on the ?devalued lives' of murder victims.? Seligman also asserts that those claiming bias believe that it is in the race

Understanding Place Value Decimals, Large Numbers, and Easy Charts

Understanding Place Value Decimals, Large Numbers, and Easy Charts SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips How do you read 4,349,394.382? What does each digit mean? How do you know what number means what? With place values, that’s how! If you don’t understand how decimal place values work, a number like that can look like a bunch of nonsense. In this article, we’re going to cover what place value is, why you need to know it, and how to work through place value problems to better understand large, complex numbers with ease. What Is Place Value? Let’s start with the basics. Place value refers to the meaning of a single digit in a specific position in a number. Unfortunately, that definition doesn’t make a whole lot of sense without an example, so let’s look at a number: 14. We know that number is fourteen, just as we know that 14 is the number that comes between 13 and 15. We can even break it down further- 14 is 4 more than 10. 10 + 4 = 14. Clearly, the different digits- the individual numerals that form a number- mean something. The 1 doesn’t mean 1, it means 10. That’s because the 1 in 14 is in the tens place. It tells us how many tens are in a number. So in the number 14, there is one ten and four ones- 10 + 4 = 14. If we change that 1 to a 2, we get 24, or twenty-four. The number 2 in the tens place tells us there are two tens. Each place value is 10 times larger than the place value to the right of it. So when we look at a number like 4,349,394.382, our example from earlier, we can see that there are: 4 ones 9 tens 3 hundreds 9 thousands 4 ten-thousands 3 hundred-thousands 4 millions That gives us a better idea of how to read the number aloud. It’s four million, three hundred forty-nine thousand, three hundred ninety-four. But what about all those digits to the right of the period, or decimal point? Those digits represent parts of one. Imagine this number represents the number of leaves on a particularly big tree. The .382 might represent a fraction of a leaf- perhaps one that’s been nibbled on by bugs. So how do we read those numbers? In the same way we read all the others, except the digits represent fractions of a whole. The digits to the right of a decimal point work almost exactly the same way, except there is no â€Å"ones† equivalent. We end the place values representing fractions with â€Å"th,† so instead of tens, hundreds, thousands, the numbers to the right of a decimal are tenths, hundredths, thousandths. More specifically, in our example, .382 equates to: 3 tenths 8 hundredths 2 thousandths Or, read aloud, three hundred eighty-two thousandths. The same rule holds true of numbers to the right of the decimal: each place value is ten times the place value to the right of it. Ten thousandths equal one hundredth, ten hundredths equal one tenth, and ten tenths equal one whole. Put the whole number together, and you get four million, three hundred forty-nine thousand, three hundred ninety-four and three hundred eighty-two thousandths. It may sound confusing, but once you’ve spent a little time with it, it’ll become second nature. Just remember that a digit’s place value represents the meaning of a single digit and that every place value is 10 times larger than the place value directly to the right and you’ll be on the right track. Why Do You Need to Know About Place Values? All of this can seem pretty complex. Why do we even need to know place values? Place values become increasingly important as you work more frequently with decimals and large numbers, because without understanding place values, you’ll have a really difficult time understanding how to read them. Place value is also really important in solving word problems. If a word problem says that somebody bought one thousand and four tacks, you might write that number as 1,400, 1,040, or 1,004 if you don’t understand place values. Only one of those answers can be correct, and you’ll have a much easier time of understanding those kinds of problems with a solid grasp on place values. Place Value Chart One of the best ways to learn place value is using a chart. You can write the different place values along the top and line the digits of numbers up with their correct position on the chart. Here’s what a place value chart might look like, though you can include more or less columns depending on the number you’re working with. Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 0 Hundreds 0 Tens 0 Ones 0 Tenths 0 Hundredths 0 Thousandths 0 Ten Thousandths 0 Let’s try filling out a chart with an example number, like 156,412.5485 Hundred Thousands 1 Ten Thousands 5 Thousands 6 Hundreds 4 Tens 1 Ones 2 Tenths 5 Hundredths 4 Thousandths 8 Ten Thousandths 5 We took each digit and wrote it into its proper place. Now if we have a question about what any digit represents, we can answer it quite easily. For example, the 6 in this number represents 6 thousands. This is especially useful when dealing with numbers that contain zeroes. Let’s take this chart and turn it into a recognizable number: Hundred Thousands 3 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 3 Hundreds 0 Tens 0 Ones 5 Tenths 0 Hundredths 0 Thousandths 3 Ten Thousandths 0 Remember, having a 0 in the place value of a number doesn’t mean that you skip it- it means that there are zero of that particular value in the number. 104 means that there are no tens, just one hundred and four ones- you can’t write 14 instead of 104 just because there’s a zero in it. So in this case, the number would be written 303,005.003. We can drop the last zero since nothing follows it. It might be tempting to write 335.3, but, as you can see, that’s a very different number from 303,005.003. Understanding place values helps us hold a place for the value that goes into that spot! Place Value Example Problem Let’s work through some example place value problems to get a better handle on how place value works. What Is the Place Value of the 4 in the Number 1,459.235? First, we have to write the number into our place value chart. The decimal will always fall between the ones and tenths place, so we write the nine in the ones place and the 2 in the tenths place, and fill the rest out from there. Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 1 Hundreds 4 Tens 5 Ones 9 Tenths 2 Hundredths 3 Thousandths 5 Ten Thousandths 0 The question asks the place value of the 4. We look at the digits in the chart to find the 4 and see that it’s in the hundreds position. That tells us there are 4 hundreds, so the place value is 400. What Digit Is in the Thousandths Place in the Number 6,872,485.495? This one is a little different. The number is larger, so we’ll have to extend our chart a bit to fit it. Once again, you can start with the numbers on either side of the decimal, so 5 goes into the ones box and 4 goes into the tenths box, then fill out the rest of the chart from there. Millions 1 Hundred Thousands 8 Ten Thousands 7 Thousands 2 Hundreds 4 Tens 5 Ones 5 Tenths 4 Hundredths 9 Thousandths 5 This time we need to figure out what digit is in the thousandths place. Find the box labeled â€Å"thousandths† and see what number is next to it. It’s 5, and since we’re only asked for the digit rather than the place value, that’s our answer. What Number has 4 Thousands, 0 Tens, 3 Hundredths, 0 Ones, 5 Hundreds, and 6 Tenths? Notice the zeroes in this question- that’s where things start to get difficult. We’ll use a chart to help us figure it out! Fill the proper columns, but pay attention, because the numbers are out of order. Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 4 Hundreds 5 Tens 0 Ones 0 Tenths 6 Hundredths 3 Thousandths 0 Ten Thousandths 0 Now that we have the numbers placed, we can write it out properly. Remember that the decimal goes between the ones and tenths place. Write it out, and you’ll get 4,500.63! Practicing place value probably won't make you better at dogsledding, but it can't hurt. Practice Problems Here are a few more practice problems you can work through to work on your own, with solutions down below! What Is the Place Value of 7 in 1,508,005.078? HINT: Pay attention to the question. Is it asking for place value or digit? HINT: Remember, zeroes still take up a place! Answer: First, we need to fill out our chart. Millions 1 Hundred Thousands 5 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 8 Hundreds 0 Tens 0 Ones 5 Tenths 0 Hundredths 7 Thousandths 8 Next, we need to find the 7. It’s in the hundredths position, so there are 7 hundredths, or .07! What Digit Is in the Ten-Thousandths Place of 1.284681? HINT: Is the question asking for place value or digit? HINT: Does the place value end in s or ths? Answer: Let’s start with a chart. We’ll have to make some adjustments, because there are a lot more numbers to the right of the decimal this time. Ones 1 Tenths 2 Hundredths 8 Thousandths 4 Ten Thousandths 6 Hundred Thousandths 8 Millionths 1 Next we look for the ten-thousandths column, since that’s what the question asked for. The number in that column is 6, and since it’s asking specifically for the digit and not the place value, 6 is our answer! What Is the Place Value of 3 in 3,042.28? HINT: Are we looking for place value or the digit? HINT: Pay attention to zeroes! Answer: As always, we start with a chart. Millions 0 Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 0 Thousands 3 Hundreds 0 Tens 4 Ones 2 Tenths 2 Hundredths 8 Thousandths 0 We’re looking for the place value of the 3, so we need to find that first. It’s in the thousands place, which means the number has 3 thousands, so our answer is 3,000! What Digit Is in the Thousands Place of 32,734.426? HINT: Is this question about digits or place values? HINT: Are we looking for a number to the left or right of the decimal? Answer: Start with a chart! Millions 0 Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 3 Thousands 2 Hundreds 7 Tens 3 Ones 4 Tenths 4 Hundredths 2 Thousandths 6 The question asks us the digit in the thousands place, so first we’ll find the thousands row. The number in that row is 2, and since the question asks for the digit, that’s our answer! What Number Is Made up of 2 Hundreds, 0 Thousands, 6 Ten Thousands, 4 Tenths, 9 Ones, and 3 Tens? HINT: Remember, zeroes still take up space! HINT: The decimal always goes between the ones and tenths place. Answer: Let’s make a chart! Millions 0 Hundred Thousands 0 Ten Thousands 6 Thousands 0 Hundreds 2 Tens 3 Ones 9 Tenths 3 Hundredths 0 Thousandths 0 Once we’ve filled in all the blanks, we can write out the number: 602394. However, we’ll need to add a comma and decimal. The decimal goes between the ones and tenths place, so we’ll get 60239.4, and commas go between every third digit starting from the decimal and working to the left. Following that, we’ll end up with 60,239.4! 3 Key Tips for Decimal Place Value Problems Place value is an important skill to develop; once you understand it, you’ll have an easier time understanding large numbers. Understanding it can be tricky, though- it’s a concept that requires a lot of practice and memorization. Use these tips to help you improve your place value understanding until it becomes second nature! Memorize Ths Versus S Whole numbers versus fractions are an easy place to get tripped up when working on place values. Remember: numbers that end in â€Å"ths† are part of a whole- that means tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and so on. Numbers that end in â€Å"s† are whole numbers, so tens, hundreds, thousands, et cetera. Always double-check to make sure that you’re looking for the right number. Thousands and thousandths are very different from one another! Draw a Chart Though you will likely eventually develop the ability to tell place values without one, when you’re first starting out it’s wise to use a chart. It’s way easier to line the numbers up that way than to rely on counting and potentially get them wrong. Don’t Forget Zeroes Zeroes are the nemesis of people just learning place values. Remember, a zero in the middle of a number, such as 104, doesn’t literally mean nothing- it’s a place holder telling you there are no tens. If you skip the zero when writing the number, you’ll end up with an incorrect answer, so be sure that you fill every place! What’s Next? One of the places you'll be needing place value most is in understanding decimals. Check out this guide to converting decimals to fractions to learn more about how decimals and fractions are related to one another! Want to boost your math understanding? This guide to adding and subtracting fractions will walk you through everything you need to know about numerators, denominators, and how they work. Brushing up on math before you take the SAT? Check out this guide to prepping for SAT Math, including strategies, tips, and practice problems!

Analysis of Gryphon by Charles Baxter

Analysis of Gryphon by Charles Baxter Charles Baxters Gryphon originally appeared in his 1985 collection, Through the Safety Net. It has since been included in several anthologies, as well as in Baxters 2011 collection. PBS adapted the story for television in 1988. Plot Ms. Ferenczi, a substitute teacher, arrives in a fourth-grade classroom in rural Five Oaks, Michigan. The children immediately find her both peculiar and intriguing. They have never met her before, and we are told that [s]he didnt look usual. Before even introducing herself, Ms. Ferenczi declares that the classroom needs a tree and begins drawing one on the board an outsized, disproportionate tree. Though Ms. Ferenczi executes the prescribed lesson plan, she clearly finds it tedious and intersperses the assignments with increasingly fantastic stories about her family history, her world travels, the cosmos, the afterlife, and various natural marvels. The students are mesmerized by her stories and her manner. When the regular teacher returns, they are careful not to reveal whats been going on in his absence. A few weeks later, Ms. Ferenczi reappears in the classroom. She shows up with a box of Tarot cards and begins to tell the students futures. When a boy named Wayne Razmer pulls the Death card and asks what it means, she breezily tells him, It means, my sweet, that you will die soon. The boy reports the incident to the principal, and by lunchtime, Ms. Ferenczi has left the school for good. Tommy, the narrator, confronts Wayne for reporting the incident and getting Ms. Ferenczi dismissed, and they end up in a fistfight. By the afternoon, all the students have been doubled up in other classrooms and are back to memorizing facts about the world. Substitute Facts Theres no question that Ms. Ferenczi plays fast and loose with the truth. Her face has two prominent lines, descending vertically from the sides of her mouth to her chin, which Tommy associates with that famous liar, Pinocchio. When she fails to correct a student who has said that six times 11 is 68, she tells the incredulous children to think of it as a substitute fact. Do you think, she asks the children, that anyone is going to be hurt by a substitute fact? This is the big question, of course. The children are enthralled enlivened by her substitute facts. And in the context of the story, I frequently am, too (then again, I found Miss Jean Brodie pretty charming until I caught on to the whole fascism thing). Ms. Ferenczi tells the children that [w]hen your teacher, Mr. Hibler, returns, six times eleven will be sixty-six again, you can rest assured. And it will be that for the rest of your lives in Five Oaks. Too bad, eh? She seems to be promising something so much better, and the promise is alluring. The children argue about whether shes lying, but its clear that they especially Tommy want to believe her, and they try to produce evidence in her favor. For instance, when Tommy consults a dictionary and finds gryphon defined as a fabulous beast, he misunderstands the use of the word fabulous and takes it as evidence that Ms. Ferenczi is telling the truth. When another student recognizes the teachers description of a Venus flytrap because hes seen a documentary about them, he concludes that all her other tales must be true as well. At one point Tommy attempts to make up a story of his own. Its as if he doesnt just want to listen to Ms. Ferenczi; he wants to be like her and create his own flights of fancy. But a classmate cuts him off. Dont you try to do it, the boy tells him. Youll just sound like a jerk. So on some level, the children do seem to understand that their substitute is making things up, but they love hearing her anyway. Gryphon Ms. Ferenczi claims to have seen a real gryphon a creature half lion, half bird in Egypt. The gryphon is an apt metaphor for the teacher and her stories because both combine real parts into unreal wholes. Her teaching vacillates between the prescribed lesson plans and her own whimsical storytelling. She bounces from actual wonders to imagined wonders. She can sound sane in one breath and delusional in the next. This mix of the real and the unreal keeps the children unsteady and hopeful. Whats Important Here? For me, this story is not about whether Ms. Ferenczi is sane, and its not even about whether shes right. Shes a breath of excitement in the childrens otherwise dull routine, and that makes me, as a reader, want to find her heroic. But she can only be considered a hero if you accept the false dichotomy that school is a choice between boring facts and thrilling fictions. It isnt, as many genuinely wonderful teachers prove every day. (And I should make it clear here that I can stomach the character of Ms. Ferenczi only in a fictional context; no one like this has any business in a real classroom.) Whats truly important in this story is the childrens intense longing for something more magical and intriguing than their everyday experience. Its a longing so intense that Tommy is willing to engage in a fistfight over it, shouting, She was always right! She told the truth! in spite of all the evidence. Readers are left pondering the question of whether anyone is going to be hurt by a substitute fact. Does no one get hurt? Is Wayne Razmer hurt by the prediction of his imminent death? (One would imagine so.) Is Tommy hurt by having a tantalizing view of the world held out to him, only to see it abruptly withdrawn? Or is he richer for having glimpsed it at all?

Finance and funding in travel and tourism sector Assignment

Finance and funding in travel and tourism sector - Assignment Example Such costs are therefore apportioned on the basis of any formula or any other mechanism. Such costs include administrative costs like janitorial services, utilities etc. Fixed Costs: These costs remain constant irrespective of the level of the activity. For instance, the machinery fuel consumption; this will not be reduced or increased with the level of production. Rather, the fuel expenses will be distributed over the units produced. Therefore, it is the behaviour of the fixed costs that they remain fixed in totality but reduce per unit as the production increases. Variable costs: Variable costs are such costs, which increase or decrease with respect to the level of the activity. For example, the labour cost for the production of the units of product will be nil in case the production halts and will be increased when the production starts. Such costs behave parallel to the level of the activity. Semi-variable costs: Semi-variable costs are such costs which consist of the features of variable costs also and that of the fixed costs. It implies that such costs are fixed up to a certain extent and then they get parallel to the level of the activity. Cost volumes are significant in decision-making process of the management. Things get managed when they get measured; this is the main reason why costs volumes are always monitored. Constraints are established for the costs levels so that they do not exceed the prescribed budget. Costs volumes analysis sets the direction for the controls to be applied on different components of the variable costs. In addition to this, once the cost volumes are established, they can be then compared with the costs of prior periods, competitors and other departments by way of benchmarking. Comparison with prior period assists in comparisons and variance analysis with respect to the previous years. The results of the previous year are

Careers in Math Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Careers in Math - Essay Example Multifarious are the careers in which a sound knowledge and grasp of Mathematical subjects and principles find practical daily relevance. â€Å"These range from Mathematics teaching careers, at all levels of education, to those of engineers, architects, and astronauts.† (Donald, 1995, p.58). I interviewed a few professionals on their on-the-job, daily application of mathematical knowledge. These professionals are engaged in solving pre-calculus problems connected with their businesses. One of them was a participant in the project of salvaging the famous Pisa Tower, in Italy, which had begun to tilt dangerously for a long time. He told me that trigonometrical calculations were needed to determine the least angle of deviation from the perpendicular to which the tower had to be yanked to prevent it from toppling. The other professionals are sets of archeologists, one of whom was graphing asymptotes to illustrate the data generated from carbon-14 half-life dating of fossil specimens. The equation relating the original amount of carbon-14, A, in the fossil specimen to the amount, A(t), observed at time t is an exponential one which can be written thus This equation is an exponential relationship whose graphs are asymptotes. There are two possible asymptotes for the graph. The first is produced when A is plotted against t. The other is produced when the reverse is done, that is when t is plotted against A. Both asymptotes arbitrarily approach the x and the y-axes, and both have negative gradients except that the gradient of one is greater than that of the other. The difference in both asymptotes thus lies in the size of gradient.  

Intra Organization and Power Bargaining Model Essay Example for Free

Intra Organization and Power Bargaining Model Essay Intra organization is a key factor to the beginning stages of how successful a bargaining unit will be in negotiations. Intra organization is when each respective in a particular bargaining unit works towards a consensus. The inability to agree within ones bargaining unit slows down the process and can create dysfunction. Negotiating starts within each bargaining unit during pre-bargaining preparation. This is where discussion and negotiations begin within each bargaining unit to decide what is most important to least importance. Once the pre-bargaining preparation process is complete, the bargaining unit is ready to negotiate against the other bargaining unit. There were many forces that impacted our Intra-organizational bargaining. First we all had our individual perception on what was most important and what was least important. This had a lot to do with our personalities, attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, depending on our personalities, those who were shy didn’t get to fully express how they felt about their issue. On the other hand those in the bargaining unit who were out spoken would make it a point to not let up and fight for their concerns. Our bargaining unit had a variety of issues we wanted to push to get into the contract. We had to decide what we considered a must haves and what can be used as a bargaining chips. Discussions continued until we all had a good idea where our stance was as a bargaining unit with each issue. The end result of our intra-organization bargaining was difficult but successful. We were able to agree on what issues were most and least important to our bargaining members. We had a few bargaining representatives who were concerned with subcontracting and their job security. Then we have other members who felt subcontracting was irrelevant but having a flexible schedule was above all else. My concern was to allow management to keep their managing power in order to continue to be strong in this competitive market. I needed innovative ideas to create progress within the company, while building opportunity for our members. We agreed that machinist would get a 6% increase and nothing less. We wanted a wage increase across the board for all employees, but our team agreed if we can give employees other benefits outside of pay increase; we would still be in good stance. We understood that we should negotiate taking subcontracting out of the contract, and use it as a bargaining chip. While understanding that our bottom line in regards to subcontracting was the language; we wanted to make sure management doesn’t have full reigns. We would allow management the option to subcontract but at the same time put limitations to subcontracting with the language used in the contract. As a bargaining unit we knew that changing and adding into the contract different aspects such as, flexible schedules, use of vacation, adding health and safety and an apprentice program would help our overall contract negotiation process. Bargaining Power Model Bargaining Power Model a is held by both parties during negotiation process. Its Another important concept is the Bargaining Power Model. Both Union and Management have agreement and disagreement costs. Unions lower managements bargaining power when they receive financial supplements. On the other hand managements disagreements cost can decrease with the lack of need when it comes to employees. Unions and managements bargaining power can change from one day to the next. Incidents such as inventory, supply and demand, wage-price controls, economic changes along with social changes have major influences in the bargaining power model. Under the power bargaining model there are two major assumptions. The first being that â€Å"union and mangament negotiators cost issues in a similar manner and are rational individuals, and if it cost more for a party to disagree than to agree with the other, then the party will agree to the other party’s proposal. (labor relations process) As the union bargaining unit we have decieded to negotiate a win win bargaining strategy or also refered to Mutual gain bargaining. This strategy is used whern both partys negotiate in away where both needs are displayed and honesty takes the leading roll in negotiations. This strategy seemed to work well with our negotiation process considering we were able to pin point wehre we saw a common ground and dominate those areas. On the other hand we understood what was important to management and see what we can use to lower the cost of agreeing with management on specified issues. e understood that we have a lot of bargaining power considering 95% of employees are in the Union. We put that into consideration as we decided what it was we were going to negotiate and what type of resilience we were going to set for each issue. My Union bargaining member profile was Union International Representative. I had to be sure to negotiate a win-win contract. I wanted to make sure management kept their administrative rights, while implementing new programs to keep union bargaining members happy. My main objective was to make sure it was clear that a great contract is when both parties bargain in good faith. Showing to the members of the union that management is working with the and both parties want to make positive changes within the company for all employees. Implementing new programs such as apprenticeship along with health and safety article will bring positive reinforcement to union members and all members. This helped us come up with strategies to bargain an all-around good contract.