Professional Coaching

The integration of adult development and learning is a representation of a new era of conceptualization and study. Consequently, development and learning revolve around the vortex of environmental adaptation which consistently changes, hence giving ample potential to an individual in several quantitative distinctive ways which then enables one to become rather prepared and tough enough for the challenges that may possibly arise in the years of progression and in employment—so to speak with the perception of realism.The dynamic interaction between macro-level social change and micro-level individual change bears recognition why the need of constant development with regard to the individual in an organization is formidably a pre-requisite as a constituent and as a working member as well.Irrespective of future changes in the â€Å"battlefield† of humans, the more inclined with growth possibilities as well as with the reciprocal nature of development and learning in adultho od, the better that certain individual is able to intervene in the support of enhanced positive adaptations for the intrinsic and extrinsic demands of the societal changes that which as a matter of fact renders an immense influence in the person’s holistic character and role in the community (Hoare, 2006).Synthesis The idea of getting one’s self equipped with the flying colors of adult development does not only tackle on the perception of â€Å"literacy† but within the orbiting factor of â€Å"competence. † Undeniably, for individuals who are vested with the â€Å"responsibility† of the whole organization is but an asset to the individual’s own consumption and sense of character.Given the fact that adult development is emerging as a particularly powerful factor in explaining professional competence, the expertise and the practice will indulge into an inter-related verity of advantage for the organization to be able to meet the established go als and standards laid on the table of â€Å"hopes† for the success and the attainment of proficient organizational forecasting methods set beforehand.Nevertheless, the power of developmental learning lies in the pervasiveness of â€Å"higher† change thus establishing a professional mental framework for the organization in a cross-situational, cross-domain impact. For such reason, it points out the idea that it is crossing beyond the domains of emotions, morality, humor, intimacy, spirituality and of course—work. In the light, if development has such power, then developmental learning becomes a goal for professional education and training—a positive feature for any kind of organization.Application Given with the aforementioned perceptions on adult development, it shall serve of great help in executive coaching in the broadest sense of â€Å"the individual factor† itself. Come to think of an organization with a manager armed with the essentialities of ‘development’—leading its constituents in the most intellectual yet efficient way—it will harmoniously provide an effective state of ‘leading’ for the reason that the manager, being the ‘head’ of the organization is being able to run its members â€Å"professionally† and â€Å"rationally.† With all these in mind, the attainment of the established goals and standards of the organization will be easier to achieve and impose. There will be a harmonious collaboration of ideas from both the leader and its members. Conflicts will most likely be minimized, and the connection between parties will be enhanced into a whole new dimension of cooperation—all aims focused on the success of the organization.Moreover, there will be higher education curricula, workplace training, government programs, foundation initiatives and even the choice of the individuals will surface on clear waters. References: Hoare, C. H. (2006). Handbook of Adult Development and Learning. New York: New York Oxford University Press (US). Manville, B. , & Ober, J. (2003). A Company of Citizens. New York: Harvard Business School Press. Stober, D. R. , & Grant, A. M. (2006). Evidence Based Coaching Handbook: Putting Best Practices to Work for Your Clients. New York: Wiley.

Analytical review of the financial position and reporting

This is what the University of Bradford policy on academic integrity says about plagiarism: â€Å"A dissertation, thesis, essay, project or any other work which is not undertaken in an examination room under supervision but which is submitted by a student for formal assessment must be written by the student and in the student's own words, except for quotations from published and unpublished source, which shall be clearly indicated and acknowledged as such†¦ † If you copy work for assessment, it defeats the whole purpose of the exercise.When work that you have copied is marked it is not your progress that is being evaluated but that of somebody else. And if it is someone else's work, the feedback you receive will not help you improve your own potential. Plagiarism is an issue that the University of Bradford takes very seriously and is treated as a form of Academic Misconduct (or cheating). There are four main forms of plagiarism: 1. Copying or using another person's work, including the work of another student (with or without their consent), and claiming or pretending it to be your own; 2.Presenting arguments that use a blend of your own and the directly copied words of the original author, with or without acknowledging the source; 3. Paraphrasing another person's work, but not giving due acknowledgement to the original writer or organization publishing the writing, including work on Internet sites; 4. Colluding with other students and submitting identical or near identical work. However it is very important that you are aware of Self-plagiarism. This is described in a document called â€Å"What is Academic Misconduct† which is available on the Legal and Governance website.You must not submit the same assignment, or the any part of that assignment, as the assessment for two modules, nor should you â€Å"cut and paste† large sections of work from one submission into another. You can refer to your own work (whether vomited for another mod ule or published elsewhere) but you must acknowledge this by citing the original work, Just like any other source that shapes your own work. How to avoid plagiarism: Applying, analyzing, criticizing or quoting other people's work is expected of you and is perfectly acceptable providing you always: 1.Attempt to summarize or restate in your own words another person's work, and give acknowledgement to that person. This is usually done by citing your sources in the text of the assignment and presenting a list of references at the back ; or 2. By always using quotation marks (or indenting lengthy quotations in your text) to distinguish between the actual words of the writer and your own words. Once again, you would cite all these sources in the text straight after the quote and present full details of these in your list of references.Using Turning: You must be very careful to ensure that your submission is free from Plagiarism before you submit it. All submissions are made electronically via Turning which is a piece of software that is able to identify â€Å"non-original† content within a submission. When you submit your work it is matched to previously submitted work both at the University of Bradford, on the web and work submitted to other Universities across the world. You will be presented with an Originality Report which will highlight any non-original content in your work.You are permitted to submit a draft version of your work to Turning before the final submission deadline. This will allow you to see the Originality Report for the draft and to address any issues that the report identifies. The report can take a few hours to generate, so give yourself sufficient time to receive and examine the report and to be able to work on your submission as necessary before the deadline passes. It is essential that you understand what is expected and how plagiarism can be avoided.The university provides a great deal of resources to help students understand their r esponsibilities. Information about these services is available at the LASS workshop site. If there are any specific issues relating to plagiarism and or Turning please contact the relevant Module Leader or your Personal Academic Tutor. Executive summary The purpose of this report is to prepare an analytical review of the financial position of BP Billion, using the ratio analysis as a financial instrument.This review is Sistine to the stakeholders (investors), based on the latest available annual financial statement, to identify and reconcile the group's profit position and identify trends in the business performance. The company's performance is analyzed more deeply using ratio analysis. In addition, we will compare the group main indicators with the respective figures of close competitors such as ROI Tint, Vale S. A. And Alcoa Inc. As well as Mining Industry and Energy Sector average coefficients (Scimitars 2014).Background Information BP Billion was set up in 2001 as a result of a Dual Listed Company (DEL) merger twine Broken Hill Proprietary Company known as BP Limited, an Australian-listed company, and Billion Pl, a I-J-Existed company (BP Billion 2013). Although the companies have preserved their separate ownership structures both are run by the almost identical committees of directors and one managing body. It is a leading global resource company and its major business units are: Copper; Iron Ore; Manganese and Nickel; Coal; and Aluminum, Petroleum and Potash.The aim of the group is to provide long-term shareholder value through the development, acquisition and marketing of natural resources. Despite the continuing recession the group has continued to retain its market position with capitalization US $147 billion at 30 June 2013, revenue US $66 billion and net profit US $11 billion for 2013 financial year and there are now 128 thousand employees and contractors working in 140 subdivisions in 26 countries (BP Billion 2013). This year the group announced t he appointment of Andrew Mackenzie as CEO who replaced Marcus Slippers.The company being a participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (2014) conducts the corporate procedures and policies in concordance with hose principles to provide security for its operations. The recent study suggested that the 90 fossil fuel marketers (Goldenberg 2013) are in charge of two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the industrial age and BP is in this list. According to the management's statement Just the tenth of the emissions are from direct operations, while the rest are from outsourced goods (Hannah 2013).In 2011 BP Billion initiated with University College London the foundation of two energy institutions aimed at teaching and research of sustainable use of the environment and resources (CUL 2011). Basis of preparation The financial information for the year ended 30 June 2013 has been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with Australian Accountin g Standards that is an Australian equivalent of International Financial Reporting Standards (FIRS) and FIRS and their interpretations as adopted by European Union effective as the reporting date.The principles of accounting for DEL merger were adopted under I-J and Australian Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAP) and the consolidated financial statement is compiled as follows: Assets and liabilities of the BP Billion PL and BP Billion Limited Group were consolidated at the date of the merger at their book value; Results for the period ended 30 June 2013 comprise the consolidated data of the both entities.A number of new standards and interpretations have not yet entered into force, and their demands are not taken into account in preparing the consolidated financial statements: FIRS 11 Ð’Â «Joint ArrangementsÐ’Â » modifications were not applied but will have an impact on financial years commencing from 1 July 2013. The company will recognize its share on a single line in entities where it does not meet with the revised definition of Joint control. AFRICA 20 Ð’Â «Striping Costs in the Production Phase of a Surface MineÐ’Â » modifies the policies for production striping and applies to annual periods starting on 1 January 2013.The company disclosed the effect of adjustments at the transitional date of 1 July 2011. Ratio Analysis External factors and trends affecting to the group's financial outcomes The major external trends and factors have had a considerable impact on the company financial position and ratios and the next section disclosures them. Commodity prices. Metal commodity prices were decreased in comparison with the previous year as a result of apply growing faster than demand. For instance the average price of Iron Ore decreased 16% from IIS$1 51 /DMS to IIS$127/DMS, Aluminum decreased from IIS$334/ DMS to US$327/DMS according to the Note 3. . 1 of the Financial Statement (BP Billion 2013). Metal products share in aggregate reven ues exceeded 63% whereas crude oil and gas totaled 20%. Metallurgical coal price decreased 31% from IIS$239/t to IIS$1 59/t mostly driven by low growth rates of global pig iron production. Conversely energy commodities' price were affected positively namely crude oil price increased by 8% driven by Chinese demand growth in the first half of the year followed by moderate improvements in macroeconomics in the United States later. In whole the price effect reduced underlying BIT by IIS$8. Billion but partially offset by increased sales volumes. Exchange rate. Other substantial risk influencing profitability ratio is exchange rate as majority of sales are denominated in US dollars as well as this currency plays major part in the group financial activities. Operating costs are primordially influenced by changes in local currencies such as South African rand, Chilean peso and Australian dollar. Overall the Australian dollar, Brazilian real and South African rand ended the financial year w eaker against the US dollar, while the Chilean peso strengthened.Product demand and supply. Global demand and supply for the products is a crucial factor of market prices, and fluctuations in commodity supply and demand influence the group performances, including asset values and cash flow. The company forecast relatively balanced growth over the long term as large developed economies, such as the US, grow despite fiscal challenges and China also shows the development of its economy. Operating costs. As the product prices are regulated by the global commodity markets controlling production costs is a key task of the management.The company could reduce external services by IIS$2 billion and third party purchases by IIS$O. 7 billion, government royalties by IIS$O. 4 billion and exploration and evaluation expenses by IIS$O. 6 billion. But these reductions were offset by higher impairment charges of IIS$I . 9 billion, additional depreciation charges of IIS$O. 5 billion, decrease in fore ign exchange incomes of IIS$O. 2 billion as it was shown in Note 3. 4. 4 of the annual report (BP Billion 2013). Capital and exploration expenditures.This item increased almost 77% in the previous 2012 year from IIS$13 billion in 2011 to IIS$23 billion. It related to investments in project pipeline, especially in Petroleum, Iron Ore and Coal divisions. The management concentrated on monitoring capital and exploration expenses in the reporting year and it reduced by IIS$O. 7 billion. Interest rates. The company financial performances are sensitive to alterations of interest rates as the majority of company borrowings are based on floating interest rates (see the Note 29 of the financial statement).Based on the net debt position as at 30 June 2013, taking into account interest rate swaps, cross currency interest rate swaps and captions, it is estimated that a one percentage point increase in the US LABOR interest rate will decrease the company's equity and profit after taxation by US $136 million. Profitability ratio In this year Return of capital fell by 26% as against 2012 year and equaled 17% (see Appendix 3). Firstly, it associates with the reduction of Gross profit by 19% or almost IIS$4. Billion as the income fell by 9% (see Appendix 1), namely Coal unit's revenue reduced by IIS$2. Billion, Iron Ore income by IIS$2. 4 billion (see the section Ð’Â «Commodity pricesÐ’Â »). In any case it should be noted that this figure is considerably high than the close competitors' results: Vale S. E. (2014) showed 14%, ROI Tint (2014) 5% (see Appendix 3). The details of calculations are given in the Appendix 4. Gross profit margin ratio equaled 29% although that is less by 11% as compared to 2012 (see Appendix 3).This can be explained by disproportionate decrease of production costs by 4% billion (see the section Ð’Â «operating costsÐ’Â ») with respect to revenues (see the section Ð’Â «Commodity pricesÐ’Â »). But it corresponds with the respective average ratio of Metal Mining Industry (Scimitars 2014). Vale S. E. ‘s figure exceeded with 30% Gross margin (see Appendix 2) but its Net profit margin totaled Just 1% due to extremely high interest expenses (see Appendix 2) whereas BP Billion demonstrated consistent performances with 17% Net profit margin.Net profit margin for 2013 totaled 17% as against 22% for previous year chiefly due to decrease of the amount of Gross profit (see the previous paragraph) and increase of financial expenses by 60% (see the section Ð’Â «lintiest ratesÐ’Â »). In spite of this the company's result is outstanding in comparison with the industry index (2%) as well as immediate rivals (ROI Tint – 2%, Vale S. A. – 1%). Efficiency ratios Asset turnover ratio of the last year decreased by 17% and totaled 0. 6.This is due to the fact that the amount of total assets were increased as additional construction expenses were capitalized to the sum of IIS$20 billion, and decrease of t otal revenue of the group for reasons described earlier (see the section Ð’Â «Commodity pricesÐ’Â »). At the same time the group continues to use its assets efficiently in comparison with lose rivals 0. 5 for ROI Tint (2014) and Vale (2014) 0. 4 (see Appendix 3) as well as the average industry figure (0. 4). The details of calculations are given in the Appendix 5.With respect to Receivable turnover ratio it has not been changed and equaled 9 that is in the middle of ROI Tint and Vale's coefficients (10 and 7 respectively). The decrease in Trade and other receivables correlated with the same trend in the revenues of the last two years (see the section Ð’Â «Commodity pricesÐ’Â »). Interestingly, the industry average ratio did reach 12 (see Appendix 3). Inventory turnover has slightly en decreased by 6% and totaled 11 that is twice better than industry figure (5) and close rivals (8 and 10 respectively).The number of employees increased by 7% and totaled almost 50 thous and. It together with the revenue reduction resulted to Revenue per Employee ratio that decreased by 14% and equaled IIS$I ,332 thousand per employee. At the same time this performance significantly exceeded the industry average ratio (IIS$486 thousand) as well as close competitors (ROI Tint with IIS$775 thousand and Vale S. E. With IIS$583 thousand). It can be explained by diversified cuisines structure of the group as the average Energy sector Revenue per Employee totals US$1,896 thousand at the same period of time (see Appendix 3).Liquidity ratio The current ratio totals 1 that indicates that the group has enough short-term assets to cover its short-term debt. It is advisable to improve this performance further (0. 9 for previous 2012 year) as for instance the industry (1. 9) and major market players (ROI Tint 1. 4, Vale S. E. 2. 5) demonstrated better short-term financial health. The details of calculations are given in the Appendix 6. Quick ratio also remains worse Han competit ors. But it corresponded with the industry average figure 0. 6 and seemed enough (see Appendix 3).Financial gearing The Gearing ratio has slightly been changed and totaled 39% and it indicates relatively prudent attitude of the management and low degree of creditor's funds (see Appendix 1). For example the same coefficient for both of close rivals' equaled 44% whereas the industry average figure exceeded 150%. The details of calculations are given in the Appendix 7. The performance of interest cover ratio was felt by 56% due to impact of interest rates (see the section Ð’Â «lintiest ratesÐ’Â »). Even so it showed due to low gearing and high gross profit of the group (see the respective analyses).Investment ratio Price per earning for 2013 equaled as 12 and became worse as against 8. 8 for previous period. It associates with the reduction of earning per share by almost 30% (see Appendix 1). But dividend yield with 8% is positive as compared to rivals (ROI Tint 4%, Vale S. E. 1%) and average industry ratio (2%). Conclusion Based on the review above we can see that BP Billion is a highly profitable company that provided consistently strong operating performance during the analyzed period of time. The total dividend for 2013 was increased by 4% to IIS$116 cents per share (BP Billion 2013).The low gearing ratio in comparison with rivals indicates the group's financial strength and invulnerability to downturns in the business cycle that is important particularly in the last years. The high efficiency ratios witnessed how well the group used its assets and liabilities internally relative to the others. Also we saw its importance because an improvement in these ratios translated to improved profitability. Though the current ratio is relatively lower than he industry average likely the group will not experience any difficulty meeting current obligations.

Representation and Exploration of Gender Roles in Comrades, Almost a Term Paper - 1

Representation and Exploration of Gender Roles in Comrades, Almost a Love Story and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Films - Term Paper Example Compared to the early styles of Chinese filmmaking the issues of depiction, especially reflection of depicting gender roles in films have undergone a drastic change. Films like Comrades, Almost a Love Story, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are brilliant examples that not only reflect the impact of modernist trends in the art of filmmaking but also provided considerable focus on gender roles, contending the traditional approach. The films, Comrades, Almost a Love Story, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though have dealt with a different storyline, thematic approaches and cultural situation, however, the role of women as reflected in both these films, can be regarded as a brave shift from the traditional approaches. In each of the films, women have played interesting as well as equally commanding parts compared to their male counterparts in the context of developing storylines. The film, Comrades, Almost a Love Story while provides a sufficient reflection over development of Chin a in terms of modernism and neo-Marxian perspective and consequently provides a detailed impression of the contemporary socio-political and economic situation of the nation and how the characters, especially women are responding to such metamorphosis, on the other hand, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon develops its thematic approach over socio-cultural situation of early 18th century China. While Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can be regarded as a sincere attempt to reinterpret the 18th century social history of China according to the principles of modernist context, however, special emphasis on roles of women as emergence of â€Å"women warriors† can definitely be regarded as a bold initiative that emphasizes the theme of contending conventional refection of gender roles in films in terms of radical modernism.  

Global operations management - multiculturalism and diversity Essay

Global operations management - multiculturalism and diversity management - Essay Example There are back office, front office, retail and wholesale operations as part of the operations management. Customer service is another area focussed by the operations managers. Customer service determines the success and failures of a business. It is aimed at building active relationships with the customers. Because of the highly globalized business environment at present, operations managers of modern era forced to interact with diverse customers and hence the success of operations managements at present depends on how well the operations managers are able to manage the multiculturalism and diversity in business. This paper briefly analyses the current operations management issues with respect to multiculturalism and diversity management. Some of the issues the host foreign country could face as a result of the expansion   The major issue in internationalising a business is the issues with respect to diversity and multiculturalism. No two individuals are alike; same way no two cou ntries are alike. Countries may differ socially, economically, politically, legally and culturally. All these aspects have a big say in operations management and hence success of international business depends on how well a country deal with these issues. ... ternational business (Victor, 2009) Communication is one of the vital segments of every business activities and language barriers often spoil effective communications. Communication may occur between the organization and its customers and the knowledge of a common language is necessary for effective communication. The business environment in different countries is different because of the economical, political, legal and social differences. For example, America and China are two entirely different countries politically, economically and socially and hence while doing business with China, America should consider the issues related to diversity and multiculturalism seriously. Social organizations in America and China are entirely different because of the cultural differences. In America, religion is a big entity whereas in China, it may not be the same. It is not necessary that two parties in a communication process may have similar knowledge or level of information (Contexting) in the topic of negotiation, especially when they happen to be of two different cultures. In other words, Americans and Chinese may have different levels of contexting and the knowledge of these differences is essential while conducting business negotiations. Authority and leadership styles are other areas in which America and China may differ. Americans are more dominating types compared to Chinese people. â€Å"The view of authority in a given society affects communication in the business environment significantly as it shapes the view of how a message will be received based on the relative status or rank of the message's sender to its receiver† (Victor, 2009). Non verbal communication, and the understanding the importance of time etc are also different in different countries which should be

The American System of Criminal Justice - Death Penalty Should be Abol Research Paper

The American System of Criminal Justice - Death Penalty Should be Abolished - Research Paper Example According to this view, the death penalty has been proved, over and over again, as a flawed machine, riddled with errors, besmirched officials, and defective practices. As Jeffrey H. Reiman maintains, the death penalty, in principle, is a just punishment for murder, but it is an unjust penalty in practice, especially in the American context, where it is applied in arbitrary and discriminatory ways. Thus, he makes a strong argument maintaining that â€Å"it is good in principle to avoid the death penalty and bad in practice to impose it.† (Reiman, 1998, p. 68). Therefore, it becomes evident, in a profound analysis of the research evidence, that death penalty should be abolished, sooner or later, because it is morally unjustified and uncivilized practice of punishment today. This paper makes a reflective exploration of the topic in order to identify the major arguments in favour of the view that death penalty should be abolished. Why Death Penalty should be abolished The debate concerning whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been a long one, and the idea of abolition of death penalty gained momentum across the globe over the last five decades. It is important to recognize that death penalty or Capital Punishment has been practised by almost all the societies of the world during the different stages of their history and it is still observed as the essential form of punishment in various societies across the globe today. Significantly, there have been varied opinions on the subject of Capital Punishment, some for it and others against it. Unquestionably, the question relating to the death penalty has become one of the most engaging issues of debate in the world in the present day, and the world is divided into two parts on the same question. Whereas the supporters of the death penalty argue that the practice of death penalty is essential to maintain decorum and to discourage future crimes, a stronger plea has been made by the critics of d eath penalty according to whom it is an infringement of the basic human rights. According to the supporters of the abolition of death penalty, it is a barbaric act of murder which is not morally, ethically, religiously, or democratically acceptable practice. Citing the declaration by the American Civil Liberties Union, Hugo Adam Bedau argues that â€Å"the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the guarantee of due process of law and the equal protection of the laws. The imposition of the death penalty is inconsistent with fundamental values of our democratic system.† (Bedau, 1992). As Hugo Adam Bedau maintains, the death penalty should be realized as an excruciating refutation of civil liberties to the citizens of a state which does not have the right to kill human beings. Therefore, it is essential to â€Å"seek to prevent executions and to abolish capital punishment by litigation, legislation, commutation, or by t he weight of a renewed public outcry against this brutal and brutalizing institution.† (Bedau, 1992). In a reflective analysis of the arguments for the abolition of death penalty, it becomes lucid that several nations of the world, including Portugal and the United Kingdom, have outlawed the death penalty. The process of abolishing the death penalty around the world started as early as the mid-1800s, and the ethical dimensions of the question have been widely cited as the major reason for the abolition of death penalty.     

Individual Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual Report - Assignment Example The GDP growth rate of the Czech Republic is quite moderate taking into consideration the recent economic downturn. Inflation rate is also moderate, and indicates that the economic environment in the country is favourable for international development. Exchange rate is subject to regulations on behalf of the national government. Taking into consideration projections that the national currency will gradually appreciate, the decision to enter the Czech Republic market should be reviewed. The limitation of this report can be referred to lack of some specific facts about the US-company’s operations, and understanding of the industry in which it operates. Due to this limitation, further research is required. There should be carried more detailed analysis of external environment, including: political, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. The large US-based multinational company that manufactures and sells its products in a number of other countries, including China and the UK is evaluating opportunities of international expansion, namely to the Czech Republic. The aim of this report is to provide the Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors with analytical overview of the economic situation in the Czech Republic and provide recommendations regarding expansion of the business to this country. The remainder of the report is comprised of several sections, whereas the literature review section provides theoretical overview of key macroeconomic indicators and how these indicators can be used in order to evaluate economic health of a specific country or region. The next section provides overview of the current economic situation in the Czech Republic based on the macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, inflation rate and exchange rate. Section â€Å"Interpretation† presents analysis of the historical and actual macroeconomic

Edite Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Edite - Essay Example ce increase is in keeping with the rising costs of printing, along with the expenses related to paying textbook writers, graphic designers and fact-checkers. But students, parents and even colleges and professors say that those are all just excuses being made by large publishing houses who want to â€Å"gouge us,† as one student put it (Bruno 6D). They want lower priced books – or at least more affordable options and fewer instances of books being revised and republished every two to three years. The federal government has even involved itself in the issue by passing a recent law that forces publishers to tell professors how much required texts will cost their students, and colleges must inform students during class registration what books they will need to purchase for each course. The best and most fair solution for everyone when it comes to textbook pricing is to move away from physical printed and bound books to electronic and downloadable texts. Publishers have every right to make money, but students should have the ability to save themselves money wherever possible while working towards their diplomas. Students today spend a lot of time and effort when it comes to buying textbooks. Once their class booklists are in hand, the students have a few options as to where to buy their books. There’s the school bookstore, which will usually carry new and used copies of required books, and will buy back some books from previous purchases. Students may also look for their books online, at sites like Amazon.com or eFollet.com, which often offer a larger selection of used copies than the campus bookstore and often at a lower price (Bernard B5). Yet there are a lot of roadblocks when it comes to finding a cheaper, used copy of a textbook. According to a national survey conducted by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) of required college texts, the books are revised and issued as new editions â€Å"every three to four years regardless of changes to subject†

Student Perceptions of Reflective Practice in Online Reading Courses Research Proposal

Student Perceptions of Reflective Practice in Online Reading Courses - Research Proposal Example Reflective thinking is analyzing current patterns of thinking in order to change and grow (Gutek, 2004). It means critically thinking and analyzing about learning. Reflective practice in education focuses on developing the students’ minds with regards to critical analysis and autonomous learning (Gutek, 2004). This concepts entails the view that when students peruse their work and reflect on it, it will lead to greater learning and critical thinking skills (The Higher Education Academy, 2010). Self and peer assessment, group work, personal development, and problem solving are techniques utilized in reflective practice. Reflective practice with regards to teachers is also an important concept, as instructors can improve teaching methods and improve effectiveness (The Higher Education Academy, 2010). The critical reflection of a person’s own work improves significance (Armstrong, 2000; Bain, Ballantyne, Packer, & Mills, 2002; Laskey & Hetzel, 2010; Schon, 1983, 19 87; Wagner, 2006). Activities that are used to foster reflection have been used to help students discover themselves in the context of life in a more meaningful and practical way (Laskey & Hetzel, 2010). Researchers, for this reason, have suggested the use of reflective practice in an online environment (Logreco, 2008; Sivyer, 2007; Wagner, 2006). However, the examination of student perceptions of reflective practice in an online learning environment has been researched by different academics focusing on reflective writing (Palmer, 2008; Wright, 2010). Reflective learning is a major tool used in experiential learning (Guthrie, 2010). In order for students to use experiential learning, teachers and instructors are encouraged to use critical thinking techniques. When media, such as the internet are used, these instructional techniques can be put to greater use by addressing a group of diverse students. With the advent of technological tools, such as the Internet, it is vital that instructors use tools that are current and relevant and make the most use of these developments (Held, 2009). In 2009, Allen and Seaman in their survey report of 2500 United States institutions reported a double digit growth for online enrollment in post secondary schooling. This shows that students have clearly started to prefer online educational methods to a great extent. Due to the increases popularity of online courses, it has become vital that online courses be assessed for their effectiveness. However, the focus of this paper is the use of reflective practice in online education and how students perceive its effectiveness. Reflective practice is a pedagogical tool that develops a higher level of thinking and enables students to learn from experience (Guthrie, 2010). Reflection in education focuses on preparing students to become problem solvers and idea generators, and not just rote learners (Held, 2009). Many scholars have advocated reflective practice in traditional c lassroom settings (Dewey, 1933; Schon, 1983; Laskey and Hetzel, 2010). However as online education is relatively a new phenomenon, it has been a source of debate with high number of dropouts in

Strategic Management Analysis Managing change Essay

Strategic Management Analysis Managing change - Essay Example In the case studies under consideration, we will look at two types of organizations - one local public sector organization and the other a private one. Both these organizations have been facing issues on account of the changing environment based on the factors discussed earlier. Let us have a macro level picture of the issues faced by each. In our later sections we will also discuss the various theories related to change management and analyze the two organizations and their strategies in the light of these theories. The public sector organization under discussion is the Haram Commune. A commune is the basic level of the local government in Norway. Haram is an area of one of the counties of Norway, which is faced with a changing demographic profile of its population. As the area does not have sufficient career opportunities, it is faced with the exodus of young population seeking better career prospects outside Haram resulting in shortage of young, highly educated and skilled manpower. The future local job market is expected to be more knowledge-based and hence requires highly educated workforce. The commune, which was so far a public service organization, needed to change its way of functioning to make Haram an attractive business destination. We will analyze the various strategies and their outcomes in our later discussion. Our second organization, Marks and Spencer, had been very successful till 1998. However since then it started facing losses on account of increased competition, lack of abil ity to change with time and risk avoidance strategies. The case later analyses the various strategies employed by two CEOs, Holmes and Rose, with the aim of turning the company around. We will analyze the various strategies in our later sections and also try to see what could be a sustainable change management approach. Literature review Looking at the importance of change for today’s organizations, change management has been an important subject of study and a lot of research has been done in this regard. Some researchers suggest a transition change model whereby â€Å"four interlocking management processes lead to† implementation of sustainable change in an organization (Paton, Paton and McCalman 2008). These processes are described as – trigger layer, vision layer, conversion layer and maintenance and renewal layer (Paton, Paton and McCalman 2008). Sustainable change management requires organizations to identify and open for change to encash upon opportunitie s rather than to overcome crises. They need to have leadership with a vision which establishes and tracks the future course of an organization. (Pettigrew and Whipp 1991). This vision should be converted to actual actions by gathering support within the organization. And

Biometrics Identification Attendance Monitoring System Essay Example for Free

Biometrics Identification Attendance Monitoring System Essay Technology plays an important role in our society because of modernization. One that makes the daily activities of organizations more convenient is the use of technology. The internet that is really abundant today for handling information, web-based applications are some example of this and Information Technology (IT) is a big help to many companies. To resolve the problems encountered in the daily processes as well as to make their company effective and competitive. â€Å"Business Analytics† is a continuous iterative exploration that refers to the technology, application, processes and a fact based management to driven decision making. Philippine Auto Components, Inc. was established in the Philippines in 1995. The company is a part of DENSO Corporation Japan, which is the leading company in automotive technology components in the world. The products are car air-conditioning and heating systems, electrical automotive and electronic control products, filters, fuel management systems, instrument panel clusters and radiators. PAC is certified as ISO 14001 in August 1998 for it regards the preservation of natural resources and international and environmental standard. The company have the mission to contribute to the better world by creating value together with a vision for future. It’s Vision to become the top design engineering who totally develop Electronic automobile technology. Its philosophy, such as Customer satisfaction to quality products and services, Global Growth through anticipation of change, Environmental Preservation and harmony with society and Corporate vitality and respect for individuality. The organization works the spirit of having teamwork, as One for All, All for One†. The policy in the manufacturing as 3M- Minimum space, stock, investment; 3N- No defect received, produced, delivered; 3S- speed, simple, s. o. p and 3Z- Zero emission, variance, accident. The principles of HR to their employees to motivate them to work with encouragement by fully concentrating with their capabilities, to recruit, assign, retain, and develop competitive workers with creative power and fair HR management policies to gain for DENSO recognition in both community and associates. Since they expanded last year, they will focus on recruitment of new employees and maintaining the performances of their current workers. Because of this they exceed more time and focus for the HR Personnel to generate reports about the employees, the applicants as well as the supervisors. In the recruitment process, there are applicants that will have an exam once they submitted their resume in the company; applicant wait hours while screening of their resume which is checked by HR Personnel. Applicants who passed the exam will be informed through phone for scheduled interview and requirements. Usually applicants wait months with the result. When an employee requests a sick leave, he/she is required to fill up explanatory form. Before request leave acceptance, he is required to submit medical certification for the updating signed by concerned Officers for HR archiving and verification. Ailing personnel is considered unfit to work. Meanwhile, the supervisors have several tasks to accomplish also and the top priority is the work for the flow of the production. They should go to the designation area of the supervisors and employees to update records correcting inconsistencies accomplishing this with given deadline. HR has other reports to be done apart from this. Through cooperation and time management the process with the HR, it should be easier for them to handle. We focused our study on the HR department about their current process in the recruitment, evaluation and filling leave by the employees as well as the reports for the HR. The researchers want to contribute to the improvement of the processes through this study. The Philippine Auto Components, Inc. is one of the companies that want improvement, in their office because they encountered inconveniency. The main objective of the study is to develop efficiently the current process of Human resources of Philippine Auto Component, Inc. Specifically, the study aims to achieve the following: 1. To determine the problem with regards to data rendering of Human Resources. 2. To determine the issues with regards to generating reports of Employees Information. 3. To address accurately the information for the Human Resources related decision. 4. To speed up the process of monitoring the records in recruitment, job evaluation and performance, leave request and employees’ information. 5. To provide a system that can be effective, accurate, reliable, user friendly and secure. 6. To improve the reports and employees information being mishandled that leads to the lost of data and errors in records. Conceptual Framework The researchers used a paradigm structure to support the fundamental principles of the study. A paradigm is a pattern or a model that corresponds to the real world of processes on what the researchers have gathered. It guides the development of the study regarding what the proponents want to improve for the satisfaction among the persons involved in this study. The figure shows the paradigm that is based upon the process in the Human Resource Department or the office. The paradigm has the Input, Process and Output that will guide the researchers for the development of the automation in some HR processes. INPUTPROCESSOUTPUT Figure 1. Conceptual Framework The figure shows the process inside the HR that the information about the employee, applicants and even the supervisors are being recorded. The employees information like their leave request, their performances in their designated jobs including the personal information and which the department they belong to. The applicants’ information with the flow of recruitment and their training are also being input. The supervisors are also being evaluated by the employees. This will be processed and have an output of the reports in evaluations of three, the absence calculations and the lists of the current employees and newly hired as well as the applicants’ information and list. Significance of the Study Prior to the advent of computerization, data is processed manually. However, in the past few decades, the computer and electronic technology has been incorporated into almost every aspect of our lives. They now play a big role in the lives of people and assist them in taking care of files and documents. Today, there is probably no better indication of how technologically advance is the society than a computerization process. Nowadays, computers have become the base technology that enables the people to tap information resources as the fast growing industry of the internet. Great help will be provided for the company Philippine Auto Components, Inc. in terms of trends in Information System, thus, improving the HR functions and benefits as the delivery of services within the organization. The following are the beneficiaries: Company. The Philippine Auto Components, Inc. will benefit because they can save materials like papers and inks as part of their cost in the operation of the company, especially they can now have strategic planning to be more competitive advantages instead on focusing to the manual process that HR has. The company will remove the barrier between the branches or other department. HR Personnel. Can give less effort in the report, target deadlines are being done before the date, eliminates human errors, save time, the leave and absences made by the employees are monitored as well as the communication between the applicants and employee is more convenient. The possible loss of information is less. Supervisors. Accurate and up to date leave reporting and a real-time tracking of leave will generate the system. They are easily informed about the leave request and handling of approval and disapproval will not disturb their other work activities within the company. Employees. Can easily file a leave request without filling up many forms like explanation slip, and they can monitor and aware of their allotted leave such as sick leave and vacation leave. They can work in a fair environment. Their performances are also shown for they will be in the sense of improving their jobs and have a goal to do task well managed and be an asset to the company. Applicants. Hiring within the company is easily being known by the applicants and they will prefer online applications than traditional walk-in job hunting which is time consuming and costly. The announcement online will benefit them, for they can easily apply for what exact job they are looking for. The follow-up Interview schedule through email would be better than waiting for a phone call. Researchers. This will help the future researchers to use this as their reference in their study as well as the programming language being used. This will aid them in enriching their study and will serve as a source of their related literature. Scope and Limitation This study will focus on the HR functions in the company, Philippine Auto Components, Inc. and is intended to eliminate the common problems encountered by the current process of the organization. The information about the current employees, applicants as well as the supervisors will be input to the system. The employees can request a leave which is being approved by the supervisor with the use of the system. Employees can also monitor their allotted leave and performances in their jobs. Applicants can follow-up scheduled interviews through the notification in the HR admin who uses the system. They can also view hiring position within the company. HR can monitor the training of the newly hired employees. The information list of employees in their classification belonged to like contractual, under probationary, regular employees and on the job trainees are also being monitored. The allotted or remaining absence or leave will be monitored by the employee. The performances of employees being evaluated by the supervisor and the applicants’ information are being updated by the HR Personnel. The system offers reports like list of employees, list of applicants, leave monitoring and evaluation reports among the employees. There is a communication between the employee and the HR department and employees can also suggest some ideas to the management. The system does not cover the inventory of all the materials inside the company, cannot compute the sales of the company, do not monitor the prices of the product, cannot monitor trucking and shipping of the products and cannot make purchase order. Definition of Terms Online. A computer-related application that uses an internet connection to be access by the users of the system to communicate easier and faster among the people involved in the institution. It helps the organization to gain more competitive advantages. Company. This is the working environment that has one goal in achieving their vision in terms of business and customer services depending on their products. Organization. It is the groups of people in the company that are involved in the process of Human Resources and needed to have the full attention with regards to the data handling. I. S. Information System. System that help the current process to be more accurate, efficient, secured, user friendly and make their work and day to day operation be more convenient. HRIS. Human Resource Information System. System that develop to collect, process, store and distribute information applying to the policies and process of the Human Resource Management. HRM. Human Resource Management. It encompasses the recruitment, records, leave reports and other information that provides a safe and fair environment in the company. HR Personnel. Person who are responsible in the Human Resource in the current process. HR Department. The persons who are involved in the data reports, recruitment, evaluation and the whole Human Resource process in the company. Supervisors. The head officer of each department in the company that implement the rules and regulations of the company, communicating to the HR for the better flow of the employees’ job, be motivated and guides them for their leave request. Employees. The persons who work within the company’s premises. Applicant. The people who seek job vacancies in the company to have a work and be stable to the day to day life. Leave Request. The employees need to file when in sick, emergency, even maternity and paternity leave covered on period of the date. Computerization. It is the process of applying technology in the paper handling materials for betterment of the organizations’ tasks in the company. Paradigm. A pattern that will help the researchers to overview the covered processes of the HR on what are should be the input data and the accurate output of the system. Quantitative Data. It express the data’s certain amount or range. It makes sense to set boundary limits to such data and it is also meaningful to apply arithmetic operations to data. Quantitative research. This is a technique like surveys whose findings may be expressed numerically and can be computed through mathematical manipulation. That will help the researchers to estimate the future events or quantities. Lickert Scale. It is the way to measure the mean figure responses and evaluate a study through questionnaire using decrement value (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither, Disagree and Strongly Disagree). Iterative Waterfall. The focus is on delivering a sprint of work as opposed to a series of valuable/shippable features.

Tourism in 21st Century

Tourism in 21st Century Tourism in the face of 21st centurys challenges. 1. Introduction It is difficult to pin-point in a short publication all the problems which will determine the direction of tourisms development in the twenty-first century. This difficulty results from dynamic transformations which are in our modern civilisation. Twenty years ago in his book entitled „The Third Wave†, A. Toffler wrote that humanity will stand in the face of new challenges, and it appears that these processes are in the future. According to the author the title „The Third Wave†, like the previous two indicate, „will squeeze out previous cultures and civilisations bringing its morals into effect, which was inconceivable for people who had been born earlier†1. The speed of our everyday life was considerably slower, as the first wave, the agricultural revolution, needed one thousand years to run its course. The Industrial revolution, or the second wave, needed only three hundred years from the beginning to the end. However, these prior transformations are incomparable to the speed and progress of our modern civilisation. This third wave has been dubbed the technological revolution and is now in process. Some of the more visible processes in our modern life include; the quick development of the technology, the revolution in genetics, the conquest of outerspace, the rapid development of cities, and the changes in our jobs and lifestyles. With this information we can state that A. Toffler was correct in saying „The third wave will burst into history within a few decades time. Thus we will feel the effects of the third wave in our lifetime†2. Tofflers vision of radical changes in economics accompanied by worldviews of new â€Å"liberal opportunities† will create the disintegration of the industrial society. Traditional industries will be replaced with new industries based on modern technology, causing transformation between the relationships of our home and work place, working time and free time, and prosperity ve rsus poverty. The meaning of the natural environment will become more important as the world will be seeking new values resulting in changes of cultures and ideologies. Lifestyles and family functions will change, taking on new meaning with concepts such as science, careers, and unemployment. However, the question remains, what impact will these new changes have on tourism? Will tourism use these opportunities, or will it be an enclave in which we can rest from civilisation? Tourism is a dynamic discipline and is affected by these processes previously discussed. The analysis of trends in the modern tourist market show there are many changes suggesting that tourism in the future will differ from present day affairs. The complexity of tourism will bring about many difficulties throughout its development. J. Krippendorf stated, „ it is possible that tourism, an antidote for the industrial world, has become an industry and predacious devourer of the environment†3. The more difficult challenge of the twenty-first century will be the protection of the environment. Fortunately the tourism industry has begun using modern technology in the fields of computer science, communications, and the building of transportation to preserve the environment. The development of tourism is also known to be an asset to social economics, however, there tends to be strong speculations to the overall benefits in this aspect. Toffler A., The Third Wave, Bantam , New York 1981. Toffler A., Trzecia fala [Tlumaczenie E. Woydyllo], Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1997, p. 44. Ibidem. 2. The Conditions and Prognosis in the Development of Tourism at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Consider the further of tourism and the challenges it will face at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The prognosis is very optimistic as suggested in publicised rapport4. The rapport talks about quick development and states that during the next twenty years tourism will be one of the fasts growing departments in the worlds economy. However, tourism is far from the end of its development, as for now it consists of a small percentage of the worlds citizens. The main hazards in development are problems with the political situation in the world, especially conflicts within the Balkans, the instability of the Arab world, and the disorganisation between authorities and conflict in the former territory of the Soviet Empire. Slightly less hazardous factors deal with economics such as recession and the increase of gas prices. Nevertheless the outlook on tourist development remains optimistic5. The quantitative development of tourism is accompanied by multi-aspects including qualitati ve and structural transformations. The recent geopolitical changes made in different regions of the world has had a great influence on the scale and structure of tourism. The downfall of communism and democratisation of societies in former socialist countries are events which have an impact on modern tourism, and other parts of the world have witnessed similar processes within their societies. The development of international tourism will take on new dynamic and important changes in spatial structures. Generally speaking an increase in share of the tourist structure shows no connection with an increase in share of the profit structure. There is no guarantee of an even distribution in the benefits of tourism. A good example is Africa, which last years shares in total scale of tourist arrivals increased while the total scale of shares in receipts from tourism rapidly decreased. The forecasts about the tourism development are made by using econometric models. So, very important to remember is that a basic variable is time. Therefore, forecasting quick develop of tourism, on a base of fast develop of countries like in nineties is risky. A lot of these countries achieved so-called market maturity. The best opportunities for development of tourism are in areas (e.g. China) where its develop is depended on stabilised political situation, what is very far in the future. We cannot forget about that organisations (e.g.WTO) which make forecasts are not impartial. They have got a good interest in forecasting of increasing tendencies. Some interesting changes in the quality of the tourist market are connected with the supply and demand. These aspects of needs, motivations, and demands lead to new directions in tourist firms. A quick tempo of bringing modern technologies into tourism may herald a real revolution in the organisation of the tourist system. These examples show that tourism, like all repeats of civilisation, odder-go changes and the question remains; what tasks will tourism face in the beginning of the new century? There are many factors which will shape the future of the tourist market and it should be noted that some are out of the control of the market. In an attempt to answer some of these questions there must be an analysis of the trends involved with tourism. Some of the more important conditions in the development of the tourist system with the influence of some components are presented in the figure 1. Figure 1. Forces of change in the tourist system. Source: Cooper Ch., Fletscher J., Gilbert D., Wanhill., Tourism Principles Practice, Pitman Piblishing, Surrey 1993, p. 266. The diagram presents two basic groups of factors which will decide about tourism in the twenty-first century. The first group are exterior factors called megatrends. The second group are interior factors connected with the tourist market. Because of the limited frames in this publication the developing megatrends are on table one, while the factors from the second group are in the complex tables. For more convenient analysis they are split into two groups, one concerned with the demand and one the supply. Tables two and three respectively. Krippendorf J., Nieskazona przyroda jako podstawa istnienia turystyki, in: Problemy Turystyki Nr 2/4, Instytut Turystyki, Warszawa 1986, p. 89 and Krippendorf J., The Holiday Makers Understending the Impact of Leisure and Travel, Heinemann Publishing Ltd, Oxford 1987. For example: Travel and Tourisms Economic Perspective A Special Report from The World Travel Tourism Council, WTTC 1995;Tourism 2020 Vision. A New Forecast from the World Tourism Organization. Execxutive Summary, WTO, Madrid 1998;Future Trends in Tourism Executive Summary. Presentation Handout by Karl Obermair, AIT, Stockholm, June 1998. 3. Megatrend Influences on the Tourist Market. The end of the twentieth century was a time of great transformation in all fields of life. There were many fast paced changes throughout social conditions, the economy, and technology, which brought about many transitions within tourism. The constant tendencies to observe and gain knowledge about the markets basic condition are needed to succeed with each activity and the trends within tourism can change quickly. The ability to forecast and stimulate these developmental processes is the key to making the correct decisions for the future. The fluxuation and competition within the tourist market not only requires constant observation and the ability to anticipate change, but also being able to react to the new trend before it becomes the norm. This shows the importance of knowledge in the action of these megatrends, which can be classified into six basic groups; demographics, politics, social and cultural, economics, technology, and ecology. In each of these groups there are positive factors, which will either stimulate or deter the development of tourism, each with variability in strength and effect. These constituents will decide about the dynamics and expansion of tourism with the difficulty being verification. These megatrends, especially demographics, social, cultural, ecology, and technology hold such a strong influence on the maturation of tourism that such events as a political crisis or economic recession (in some regions) would be unable to hinder such progress. Demographic factors, especially: age of societies; tendencies to set up home late; a smaller number of households; a dominant model of family 2+1; increasing number of lonely people; increasing number of childless couples; increasing number of working women. Political factors, especially: changes in Central-West Europe; integration of the European Union; liberalisation of international migrations; convenience passports, foreign currency; unstable political situation in many regions of the world; international terrorism; increased importance of safe travel Social cultural factors, especially: shortened time of working, more free time and longer vacations; increase of time for additional work; earlier retirements; increasing number of two-income households; which were thought of as a healthy life; a family crisis; conflicts between identity and modernisation, especially in developing countries a radical demands and increases of importance of ethnic movement etc. Economical factors, especially: continuation of moderate economical increase in the world scale; a bigger disproportion between rich and poor countries; a bigger financial crisis in a number of countries (especially, among â€Å"economical tigers in South Asia and Pacific); a stable price of petroleum; liberalisation and development of an international trade; capital concentration in worlds economy; globalisation of economical activity; Technological factors, especially: automation and computerisation; developing of telecommunication developing of computing systems; developing of transport and infrastructure (airports, motorways); Ecological factors, especially: smaller environmental resources a greater ecological awareness in society; governments concern with environment; conflicts causes by developing of a big agglomerations ( in developing and use of modern technologies in everyday life (household articles, sport, tourist equipment); developing of soft technologies; developed countries ); development of the ecological movement international collaboration in field of natural and cultural environment protection; 4. The Main Trends in Tourist Demands There are many interesting publications about change within the field of tourist demands and many studies, which analyse the direction of these changes in development, have been publicised recently. The majorities are unanimous regarding the expansion and direction on the transformations of demands, so much so that there is even an accepted concept known as â€Å"Hard and Soft Tourism†. It is based on the observational changes within the sphere of former and actual clients in travel agencies and set the standard characteristics of two opposite kinds of tourism: the traditional tourist and the modern tourist. These are presented in table 2. Table .2. Tourist demand changes. Conception of â€Å"Hard Soft Tourism. Hard Tourism. Characteristic of so far tourism† Soft Tourism Characteristic of future tourism† Package tours; Individual travelling ; A lot of time, short-term residences; A lot of time, long-term residences Model of one big travel during holidays; Model of two shorter travels during a year Everything organised earlier from a to z (sights, a route, program etc.); Program decisions made individually and spontaneously; Comfort and passivity; An activity and effort; Expectation of number of travels and attractions; Expectation of new experiences and higher quality; Sense of superiority, demonstration effect; Respect and relationship with hostess; Lack of knowledge about attractions, culture and tradition in visiting areas; Knowledge about countries we want to visit; Imported life style and behaviour; Lifestyle following to an example of local population Purchases; Gifts Noise; Silence; Freely available souvenirs (e.g. a mass production of Eiffel Tower figurines; Individual souvenirs (e.g. photo and picture took individually, private video film) Lack of interest in language of visiting country; Studying local language (at least a few words); Fast transport and frequent moves; Less importance of moving speed; Curiosity; Tact; Expectation of comfort; Comfort is not essential; A distance between client and tourist staff; A good relationship with tourist staff; Source: Ostrowski S., Josta Krippendorfa wolanie o nowa swiatowa polityke turystyczna, in: Problemy Turystyki Nr 3, Instytut Turystyki, Warszawa 1983, p. 146.   In table three there is a vision of which tourism will dominate the future, characterised by a more active tourist and less interest in passive tourism. The prediction is that traditional tourism, refereed to as 3 X S (sun sea and sand) will be squeezed out by tourism based on a new formula involving 3 X E (entertainment, excitement, and education). During recent years there has become intensified interest in travelling to historical cities, the so-called green tourist with additional concern for a tendency in business tourism. Nevertheless it could be halted through the development of telecommunications and shorter but more frequent trips consisting of sightseeing and holiday could become more popular. The useful system of â€Å"bridges† between a national holiday leading to the extension of weekends has brought about a prognosis for a renaissance in national tourism. V.T.C. Middleton claimed that for tourists, who quite often may be ‘experienced, a trend in national to urism may become more attractive now then ever, including the sixties. The smaller interest in international tourism is in the neighbouring countries, or places where many Europeans have had vacation. In 1990 European travel represented about seven percent of all international travel, although this number was up to about ten percent in 1996, and Europeans are not the only ones concerned with these numbers. A poll conducted recently by the Travel Trade Gazette concerning international tourism showed these tendencies in change also pointed to the tourist industry representatives. One director of a travel agency was quoted saying ‘a person who was in Spain ten years ago at present is probably in Penang†6. The quick increase in numbers of individual trips along with package tours is the prediction of the future. Today Individuality has a strong influence on cars, clothes and other daily needs as well, and the gaining interest of individual travel is one of the most important tendencies in todays tourist demands. 6. Conclusion The evolution and transformations in tourism during the last one hundred years must be considered one of the most interesting processes in the recent history of humanity. The changes and evolution of the tourist in the next three decades of the twenty-first century are presented in a table which was made by H.Kahn almost a quarter of a century ago. This shows the unfolding of tourism as we see it today and as the table shows it is gaining momentum.

H.M. Scott Smiths, the Historical Houses of Prince Edward Island :: essays papers

H.M. Scott Smith's, the Historical Houses of Prince Edward Island H.M. Scott Smith's, the Historical Houses of Prince Edward Island, is a candid look into the more architecturally and historically significant buildings located on Prince Edward Island. Focusing particularly on those constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Historical Houses of Prince Edward Island, features structures from the early days of the Micmac wigwams to the elegance of the Victorian presence. His purpose is to trace the evolution of the Islands housing in their form, decor, and construction over the course of time. In addition, Smith writes of the different principal international impacts, which have shaped the architectural stature of Prince Edward Island. Hoping to set a starting point in Prince Edward Islands' architectural studies, Smith states 1"I also wish to stress that I conceived this project and these books as a beginning, in the hope that architectural historians, geographers, academics or any interested individuals might be inspired to further research and document the various aspects touched on only briefly in this book." Smith, an active conservationist, clearly shows that he believes in the importance of building history and preservation, not only in Prince Edward island, but all over the world in hoping that others will pick up where he has left off opening another door in architectural studies. Smith provides the reader with an easy to follow guide, which is set in Smith, H.W. Scott. Historical Houses of Prince Edward Island. Erin: Boston Mills Press, 1990. P.10 chronological order and provides, photographs and/or sketches with each brief, yet descriptive, explanation of the chosen dwellings. Expressive yet not overpowering, we are taken through the evolution of the selected structures by means of the change in style and heritage from that of the architectural monuments origin. In the journey of seeking architectural history, the author touches on, but hesitates to go in-depth with the true mode of building based on regional forms and materials. The lack of information covering the social and community history, building placement, along with the unique building styles (with stone and brick) formed by the adapting peoples of the Island leaves a lot out of this book. Instead, Smith focuses intensely on the inhabitants of the homes throughout time, and the strong foreign influence from Scotland, England, Ireland, and New England. The glossary, which Smith provides, was very effective as it made his work easy to understand while increasing the readers knowledge of architectural terms.

Siddhartha Vs. A Dolls House Essay -- essays research papers

Though Siddhartha and â€Å"A Doll’s House’ share a completely different storyline, they are very much similar because of the development of the main characters throughout the two stories. Nora, from the play â€Å"A Doll’s House,† changes her image after recognizing what kind of life she was living. Siddhartha, from the book Siddhartha, becomes aware that life cannot be taught, and that it had to be experienced first-hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both of the main characters seemed to have suddenly awakened from what I consider â€Å"enslavement of the mind.† I believe this because they are not free to think about things without the influence of their surrounding society. Nora notices that she is living her life in wretchedness at the end of the play, when she says, â€Å"†¦here is your ring back. Give me mine.† (Act III) This quote displays Nora’s ambition to move on in life and free her mind from the interrogations brought to her from Torvald. Siddhartha reaches this awakening while he is young. He mentions to his father about leaving the house to join the teachings of the Samanas. â€Å"†¦He moved on again and began to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer homewards, no longer to his father, no longer looking backwards.† This quote shows that Siddhartha is ready to move on and leave the everyday society, and beliefs of his parents. These quotes convey the spark of these characters’ new beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nora, appearing as the ordinary housewife, really is not what she...

The Pass Fail System of Standardized Tests Essay examples -- Standardiz

The Pass Fail System of Standardized Tests Standardized tests have historically been used as measures of how students compare with each other or how much of a particular curriculum they have learned. Increasingly, standardized tests are being used to make major decisions about students, such as grade promotion or high school graduation, and schools. More and more often, they also are intended to shape the curriculum and instruction. Students across America have had to repeat classes because of the way standardized tests are used to pass or fail students. Students have had to rely on just one test to pass them for the whole semester (FairTest). Although the tests require students to retain information until the end of the semester, I believe it is wrong to allow just a single test to decide whether an entire semester’s work will be rewarded will the credit that may have been well earned. Even general standardized tests such as the SAT, which almost every high school student has taken, are not fair to students who may come from a poor educational background (Standardized Minds). Students are at a disadvantage if they have test taking anxiety, a condition that many students suffer from. If a student is having a bad day or going through a rough time on a test day, this may also determine their entire semester’s work. Standardized tests are often based on one topic, giving the student little room to express their strong points. Tests are called "high-stakes" when they used to make major decisions about a student, such as high school graduation or grade promotion. Tests are called "standardized" when all students answer the same questions under similar conditions and their responses are scored in the same way. Research has shown that high-stakes testing causes damage to individual students and education. It is not a reasonable method for improving schools. Test-taking anxiety is common among high school and college students. The anxiety can be quite stressful and sometimes weakening, both personally and academically. It is a condition that thousands of students suffer from and it is something that they cannot help or overcome by the time of a test. Students who suffer from this often get very panicked by exams, and most of the time they draw a blank during a test, even though they know the material... ...n a test score. High-stakes testing punishes students, and often teachers, for things they cannot control. It drives students and teachers away from learning, and at times from school (FairTest). Assessments of educational strengths and weaknesses can be useful at the individual, classroom, school or district levels. However, information the needs to be sufficiently timely, accurate, meaningful, detailed and comprehensive for the kind of diagnosis being made. Even outstanding students with high grade point averages are highly capable of failing a final exam due to anxieties and other conditions that almost every student experiences. Although standardized tests will still be given to students everywhere, the pass fail system must stop. There are alternatives that may be taken to give every student a fair chance while still keeping the effectiveness of the tests. One possibility could be to make the final exam a large part of the student’s grade but not a determinant of whether the student passes or fails. A student who understands and learned the material over the entire semester should not have to repeat a course just because of one bad test result.

Deviation from Social Code: Analysis of Characters and Theme of The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (1920) is a detailed depiction of social conventions and decorum of the high society of New York during the late 19th century. One of the central themes of the novel is the struggle of an individual inside a rigid society. Order, loyalty, tradition and duty are the values upheld by the society where Newland Archer grew up. He is a lawyer, engaged to be married to May Welland, raised to be a perfect wife and mother according to society’s standards (Wharton, 1998).These same rules and standards dictate that she pretends to be ignorant of her fiance’s feelings toward Countess Ellen Olenska. For a long time, Newland and Ellen had to sacrifice their desires and feelings in order to maintain order in society. Society in The Age of Innocence shapes and directs the life of an individual, sacrificing what they truly want and truly believe in. Society’s forms and conventions decide how one should think and behave. Society’ s primary agent of its laws is the family, specifically the old money families belonging to the high society New York.These are the families with inherited wealth which separates them from the lower class. Their wealth is an important dimension in stratification because it ensures the financial stability of the future generation of the family. Their â€Å"old money† allows them a luxurious lifestyle without having the need to work. The greatest manifestation of the importance of order is seen in family. It is the foremost duty of the individual to promote and protect the harmony of his/her blood and marital relationships.The family disapproved Ellen’s decision to divorce his husband despite his being abusive and cruel to her. For them, it was just natural to endure little sacrifices to maintain the family. By going against their principles, she became an outcast; someone who is pitiful. At first, Newland was hesitant to be associated with Ellen. She has a bad reputatio n and he wanted nothing to do with her. However, the family expected him to help bring Ellen out in the public so he was forced to enter the Mingott’s opera box and introduce himself.And of course eventually, they hide their true feelings in fear of hurting their family. Following this duty to the family and society, a code of morality dictates the actions and thinking of the individual in whatever aspect of his/her life. May informed Newland of her passion by letting him guess that she â€Å"cares† for him as this is the only way a love of a young unmarried woman should be declared. She must conform to society’s perfect portrayal of a young maiden ? sexually innocent and ignorant on matters about affairs and passion (Barker-Benfield, 2000).She was fist seen with white lilies in the valley, unaware of sexual implications of the scenes in the play she is watching. Later in the book, it was established that from the start she was aware of Newland’s feelings towards the Countess but she chose to remain silent and follow the code of ignorance. Despite this knowledge, her wedding at Grace Church must continue to maintain the order on how things should be done. Newland has his own list of socially mandated duties according to Lawrence Lefferts and Sillerton Jackson, expert on manners and expert on family matters, respectively.Order in society is maintained through these rarefied practices to continue the continued existence of the civilization. The social code is strictly enforced by society which compromises the personal freedom of the individual (Charles, Davies & Harris, 2008). Sometimes a family member has to let go of his/her personal wants and follow the decision of the family to avoid economic and political sanctions. Newland and Ellen could not pursue each other in order to maintain their social integrity. Even a simple walk together cannot be done without arousing suspicion.To be divorced to a husband is frowned by society eventh ough that husband treats you badly, go out with other women even men. Her family wanted her to seek reconciliation with her husband in order to reaffirm the values of society. When she refused to do so, they cut off her allowance as a consequence for her decision. In the end, Ellen chose to maintain her individuality by leaving America, a price she had to pay. She was forced out of New York, condemned by her own family, who believed that she and Newland are having a secret affair.Newland defended the right of Ellen to be with another man: † ‘I'm sick of the hypocrisy that would bury alive a woman of her age if her husband prefers to live with harlots†¦ Women ought to be free – as free as we are,' he declared, making a discovery of which he was too irritated to measure the terrific consequences. † (Wharton, Book One, Chapter 5, p. 35) He condemned the double-standard prevalent in the society where a man can seek sexual pleasures outside a failed marriage but the woman cannot.He may have progressive views but he was unaware of their implications in his own very traditional marriage. But these codes exist not without loopholes. Those who found these loopholes are often despised but still accepted in the society. Hypocrisy is common and rampant in Old New York high society. Families attend balls and gatherings hosted by the same person they contempt for being so common who they would gladly exile following the collapse of his business. Lawrence Lefferts claims to be an expert in Christian virtues while snubbing Ellen for being a divorcee.Newland is aware that if he leaves May for Ellen, society’s sympathy will pour for May. She told Ellen of her pregnancy despite being unsure of it to drive her away from Newland. She was aware of Newland’s passion for Ellen but did not say anything. This society, with its rigid rules and conventions, was challenged by the arrival of a new society symbolized by the Beauforts and Countess Ellen Olenska. Though they were not successful in blending and harmonizing with the old society’s tradition, they opened new possibilities of otherwise closed-minded individuals.Towards the end of the novel, it became clear that a new order has taken over with fresh ideas and movements. They began to consider and attribute importance to different things such as interesting and artistic people. There was an obvious change of attitude to people like the Beauforts. Beaufort’s illegitimate daughter, Fanny, and her marriage with Dallas Archer were not objected by society. In fact they were fond of her bright personality. Society did not post any obstacle to Newland and Ellen being together but Newland was so stuck in the past that he failed to recognize that time has changed.

Mars Attacks! Review Essay

Review of Mars Attacks! Mars Attacks! is Tim Burton’s clever thought at a martian invasion on the United States of America. After their landing, they easily took advantage of the governments trust, understanding, and compassion. Human beings, especially Americans, show just how ignorant and unpredictable they can be. However, their stupidity paves the way to their survival with a little bit of a population remaining. Source Materials: The constant struggle between war and politics makes this movie a classic bumbling mess of emgo fighting over what they consider to be right. The 1950’s science fiction focuses on how these peoples egos were created in a time of growing personalities. Genre: Parody Science Fiction portrays humility at the expense of American’s under the superior mind of the martians. Ultimately giving the upper hand to the human race for a reason that could not even be fathomed by mankind. Star Personas: The film is shown through the eyes of powerful figures from Nevada to Washington D. C. Everyone has an opinion and the best idea with how to deal with the martian invasion. A poor kid from that gets no attention within his society turns out to be the hero of the film. Technology/CGI: Used strongly throughout the entire movie, because anything that had to do with the martians was created by CGI. It was used to give a feel of abstract science fiction and not just a battle for superior intelligence. Plot: Told from a variety of different viewpoints and the advantages and drawbacks that went along with them. Everything comes together in the end to make it a bittersweet happy ending for all of those still left alive.

Advantage of Cng over Petrol and Diesel Cars Essay

What are the advantage of CNG over petrol and diesel engine? Answer: CNG engines create less pollution than petrol and diesel engines. As it is using compress natural gas power develops more than the others and also develops more torque in the engine. which leads to give a lower fuel consumption. | | | The Advantages of Compressed Natural Gas The Environmentally Clean Advantage | Compressed natural gas is the cleanest burning fuel operating today. This means less vehicle maintenance and longer engine life.| | CNG vehicles produce the fewest emissions of any motor fuel.| | Dedicated Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) have little or no emissions during fueling. In gasoline vehicles, fueling emissions account for at least 50% of a vehicle’s total hydrocarbon emissions.| | CNG produces significantly less pollutants than Petrol & Diesel.| | Tailpipe emissions from gasoline operated cars release carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. This is greatly reduced with natural gas.| The Maintenance Advantage | Some fleet operators have reduced maintenance costs by as much as 40% by converting their vehicles to CNG.| | Intervals between tune-ups for natural gas vehicles are extended 30,000 to 50,000 miles.| | Intervals between oil changes for natural gas vehicles are dramatically extended–anywhere from 10,000 to 25, 000 additional miles depending on how the vehicle is used.| | Natural gas does not react to metals the way gasoline does, so pipes and mufflers last much longer.| The Performance Advantage | Natural gas gives the same mileage as Petrol in a converted vehicle.| | Dedicated CNG engines are superior in performance to Petrol engines.| | CNG has an octane rating of 130 and has a slight efficiency advantage over Petrol.| | Because CNG is already in a gaseous state, CNG Vehicles have superior starting and drivability, even under severe hot and cold weather conditions.| | CNG Vehicles experience less knocking and no vapor locking.| The CNG Cost Advantage | Natural gas is cheaper per equivalent gallon than Petrol (an average of 50% less than Petrol).| The Safety Advantage | Surveys indicate that CNGVehicles are as safe or safer than those powered by other fuels. A 1992 Australian Gas Assocition survey of more than 8,000 vehicles found that with more than 278 million miles traveled, CNG Vehic le injury rates per vehicle mile traveled were 34% lower than the rate for Petrol Vehicles. There were no fatalities reported–even though these vehicles were involved in over 1,800 collisions.| The Financial Incentive Advantage | Some States offers a 50% investment tax credit for each vehicle converted to natural gas. This 50% credit on state income tax features a three-year, carry-forward option.| | A federal tax deduction is also available for the cost of conversion.| CNG Conversions Converting a Petrol-Powered car to CNG requires only minor engine modifications. To learn more about converting your car, please contact a certified CNG conversion technician. What are the major benefits of natural gas as a transportation fuel? EconomicsOn a gallon-equivalent basis, natural gas costs an average of 50 to 60 percent less than Petrol and Diesel. Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel that reduces vehicle maintenance. Many CNG Vehicle owners report that oil changes are needed only every 15,000 Km. Standard spark plugs last as long as 60,000 Km. Natural gas, unlike liquid fuels, cannot be siphoned from a vehicle. Fuel theft is an on-going concern of fleet managers. Vehicles can be â€Å"fast filled† in five to six minutes using compressed gas stored in cascades of natural gas cylinders or fueled overnight on a â€Å"timed fill† basis in about five to eight hours. Many private fleet fueling stations use a combination of fast fill and timed fill. | EmissionsNatural gas is the cleanest burning alternative fuel. Exhaust emissions from CNG Vehicles are much lower than those from equivalent Petrol-powered vehicles. For instance, CNG Vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide are approximately 70 percent lower, no n-methane organic gas emissions are 89 percent lower, and oxides of nitrogen emissions are 87 percent lower. In addition to these reductions in pollutants, CNG Vehicles also emit significantly lower amounts of greenhouse gases and toxins than do Petrol vehicles. Dedicated CNG Vehicles produce little or no evaporative emissions during fueling and use. For Petrol vehicles, evaporative and fueling emissions account for at least 50 percent of a vehicle’s total hydrocarbon emissions. Dedicated CNG Vehicles also can reduce carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by almost 20 percent. Exposure to the levels of suspended fine particulate matter found in many U.S. cities has been shown to increase the risk of respiratory illness. Diesel exhaust is under review as a hazardous air pollutant. Natural gas engines produce only tiny amounts of this matter. Greenhouse GasesPer unit of energy, natural gas contains less carbon than any other fossil fuel, and thus produces lower CO2 emissions per vehicle mile traveled. While natural gas vehicles (CNG Vehicles) do emit methane, another principle greenhouse gas, any slight increase in methane emissions would be more than offset by a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other fuels. CNG Vehicles also emit very low levels of carbon monoxide (approximately 70 percent lower than a comparable Petrol vehicle) and volatile organic compounds. Although these two pollutants are not themselves greenhouse gases, they play an important role in helping to break down methane and some other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and thus increase the global rate of methane decomposition.SafetyVehicles that run on clean burning natural gas are as safe as vehicles operating on traditional fuels such as Petrol. In fact, many school transportation managers choose natural gas to power their school buses because compressed natural gas, unlike Petrol, dissipates into the atmosphere in the event of an accident. Petrol pools on the ground creating a fire hazard. In the US a survey was taken of more than 8,000 vehicles that cumulatively traveled approximately 278 million miles from 1987-1990. The survey found that the injury rate for CNG Vehicles per vehicular mile traveled (VMT) was 37 percent lower than the rate for Petrol-powered fleet vehicles and 34 percent lower than the entire population of registered Petrol vehicles. In addition to the lower injury rate, no deaths were recorded for the CNG Vehicles in the survey. In contrast the deaths associated with the Petrol fleet vehicles surveyed came to 1.28 deaths per 100 million VMT. The US national average was 2.2 deaths per 100 million VMT for all U.S. Petrol vehicles. There are two fundamental reasons for this excellent CNG Vehicle safety record: the structural integrity of the CNG Vehicle fuel system and the physical qualities of natural gas as a fuel. The fuel storage cylinders used in CNG Vehicles are much stronger than gasoline fuel tanks. The design of CNG Vehicle cylinders are subjected to a number of federally required â€Å"severe abuse† tests, such as heat and pressure extremes, gunfire, collisions and fires. While fuel storage cylinders are stronger than Petrol fuel tanks, the composite material used to encase the tanks are fundamentally more susceptible to physical damage than metals under abusive conditions. For this reason, composite materials on CNG Vehicle cylinders must always be properly handled and protected. Incidents involving natural gas cylinder ruptures revealed that some form of chemical attack or physical damage to the composite overwrap on the cylinder was involved. CNG Vehicle fuel systems are â€Å"sealed,† which prevents any spills or evaporative losses. Even if a leak were to occur in an CNG Vehicle fuel system, the natural gas would dissipate into the atmosphere because it is lighter than air. Natural gas has a high ignition temperature, about 650  º C, compared with about 350  º C for Petrol. It also has a narrow range of flammability; that is, in concentrations in air below about 5 % and above about 15 %, natural gas will not burn. The high ignition temperature and limited flammability range make accidental ignition or combustion of natural gas unlikely. Natural gas is not toxic or corrosive and will not contaminate ground water. Natural gas combustion produces no significant aldehydes or other air toxins, which are a concern in gasoline and some other alternative fuels. The natural gas delivery system also has an excellent — and proven — safety record. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the 1.9 million Km natural gas transmission and distribution system is the safest way to transport energy in the United States. CNG Vehicles use the same energy that has safely and comfortably heated homes and cooked meals for more than 100 years.Where are CNG Vehicles used now? Approximately 100,000 CNG Vehicles are on U.S. roads today. CNG Vehicles have a long-established record in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, as well. Italy has been using natural gas as a vehicular fuel since the 1940s, with more than 350,000 CNG Vehicles. In Canada, nearly 20,000 CNG Vehicles operate with a network of 220 public fueling stations. Argentina has 680,000 CNG Vehicles, and Russia has more than 30,000. Worldwide, nearly two million CNG Vehicles are in use, in countries now including Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Mexico, the Philippines and Indonesia. How do CNG Vehicles work? The only major difference between a Petrol vehicle and an CNG Vehicle is the fuel system. Natural gas is compressed to between 3,000 and 3,600 pounds per square inch (200 bar) and is stored on board the vehicle in cylinders installed in the rear, undercarriage, or on the roof. When natural gas is required by the engine, it leaves the cylinders, passes through a master manual shut-off valve and travels through a high-pressure fuel regulator located in the engine compartment. The natural gas is injected at atmospheric pressure through a specially designed natural gas mixer where it is properly mixed with air. Natural gas then flows into the engine’s combustion chamber and is ignited to create the power required to drive the vehicle. Special solenoid-operated valves prevent the gas from entering the engine when it is shut off.What about the vehicle’s power? Petrol vehicles converted to natural gas are subject to a small power loss when running on natural gas; however, vehicles designed specifically to run on natural gas will have no loss of power and may even have greater power and efficiency. Natural gas has a 130 octane rating, compared with 87 to 96 octane rating of Petrol.How much energy does Compressed Natural gas release compared to petrol? A direct answer to your question is that the energy content of natural gas (CNG) is about 47 MJ/kg or 40 MJ/m3. (gross heating value). The values for a typical petrol are 60 MJ/kg and 44 MJ/liter. Another comparison on an energy basis is that 1 kg of CNG is equivalent to about 1.33 liter of petrol or 1.22 liter of diesel. Or on a volume basis 1 m3 of CNG is equivalent to about 1.10 L of petrol or 1.0 L of diesel. When making comparisons you may also need to take into account the relative energy efficiency of the engines that use the various fuels. Generally engines that are designed for natural gas fuel are slightly more efficient than a similar petrol engine (because they can run at a higher compression ratio). The CNG and diesel engines of similar size will have a much the same thermal efficiency.What is the miles per gallon equivalent of natural gas compared to gasoline? If the CNG Vehicle is an original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) model, it will have been designed to make the most of the excellent properties of Natural Gas – eg it will have a higher compression ratio than the petrol model and different ignition timing – and you could expect to see an improvement in performance and fuel consumption on an energy basis. This might be about 5% or more. Of course you might then drive faster, and not have any advantage. If the car has been converted from Petrol to CNG and you can choose to run on either fuel (ie a bi-fuel vehicle) then it is not possible to make the most of the higher octane rating of the CNG. In this case the change in fuel consumption will depend very much on the vehicle and engine design and on the conversion equipment used and how it is tuned. In this case you might expect an increase of possibly 5% in consumption. However the tune may be optimized to a particular power and speed range and if you can hit this you might get a small improvement. There may be more scope to achieve this on a high capacity engine with reserves of power. On a smaller engine there may be a noticeable drop in power and your consumption could increase if you try to match the old on-road performance.Cylinders in Accidents A pressurized gas cylinder is probably the strongest component on the vehicle. Vehicles that totally destroyed in collisions show the only discernible component being the intact gas cylinder. It is unlikely that cylinders will rupture due to collision impact.Regarding the danger of fire from leaking cylinders, all we have is the experience to date that indicates that such an event is unlikely to occur. In North America there was a problem with leaking type 4 designs from a particular manufacturer, but there has never been an ensuing fire. The risk of fire from leaking cylinders must be low since there are well over a million CNG vehicle installations worldwide that have not experienced such problems.It is worth pointing out that natural gas is lighter than air and in the unlikely event of a leak from piping or container the gas will dissipate upwards quite quickly. In the case of petrol and LPG the vapors given off is heavier than air and will tend to pool near the ground. This is where there is a strong risk of some ignition source. In general terms diesel ranks high in terms of safety, but most people rank Natural Gas next.What are the factors which affect the fuel efficiency of CNG? In the first place let us list the energy content of the fuels you mention. Using units of MJ per kilogram, the net heating values of petrol, diesel, LPG and CNG are about 45, 43, 46, and 44; the net heating value does not include the heat in the water vapor of the combustion products. If you look up the gross heating values – which do include this, the values are different (higher). So the differences between the fuels are not large. But the values will also vary quite a lot depending on the composition of the fuel – particularly for CNG and LPG.We now need to consider the way in which different engines use the fuels – in particular the efficiency. The engine thermal efficiency is a function of many different factors but perhaps the most important one is the engine compression ratio. The higher the compression ratio the higher is the theoretical and also the actual efficiency. The maximum compression ratio (CR) different fuels can tolerate in fact defines the ef ficiency. Since diesel used in a compression ignition engine can operate at say 14:1 the diesel will be expected to have the highest efficiency – lets say 40% as an upper limit. The next highest efficiency in the fuels comes from CNG, which can operate at say 12:1. with an efficiency of say 35%. It is possible to run an engine on CNG at 14:1 but that is the very upper limit. We would not expect to be able to run petrol and LPG engines at much more than 9:1 and an efficiency of about 30%. These efficiencies are the upper limits and at full load – in normal operation they will be lower than the values quoted, but in much the same proportion. The main reason for the differences is the variation in limiting CR for the different fuels. So here is a starting point for a discussion of the differences in efficiency.As far as fuel energy comparisons go (and this does not take into account the different engine efficiencies), 1 kg of CNG is equivalent to about 1.33 liters of petrol or 1.22 liters of diesel – but of course occupies a greater volume. Or 1 cubic meter of CNG at atmospheric pressure is equivalent to 1.10 liters of petrol and 1.00 liters of diesel.Note that there are a lot of other factors that we have not considered – for example the diesel engine will be much heavier than the other engines, and the Petrol fuels will need pressure vessels to contain them. Having established how much energy you get from the different fuels and how efficiently th e different engines can use the fuels, you will be able find out how much they cost and then work out a cost per km or mile. In many countries CNG will come out as best value and that diesel will be next, followed by LPG and then petrol. But prices do vary a great deal. Incidentally if you have a petrol engine that has been converted to use CNG you will not achieve the high efficiency quoted above because the compression ratio will be fixed at the level required for petrol – you will only get the benefit of higher efficiency in an OEM.What are the economics of small vehicle conversion? In very general terms the smaller the vehicle the longer is the payback period for the cost of conversion. This is because the fuel consumption – and therefore savings – for the smaller vehicles is lower, and at the same time the cost of conversion does not go down much with vehicle size. The cost of the fuel control system stays much the same and the price of a smaller storage cylinder will not be much lower (and in a small vehicle it is more difficult to find a space for the cylinder).It may be difficult to justify the conversion on an economic basis, but this does depend on annual mileage. Do a rough sum on the basis of saving half (or whatever the price differential is in your area) of your fuel costs in a year. You should expect better than a three year payback on the basis of economics.Environmental benefits and lower maintenance costs will be small.Check where you would be able to find space for the storage cylinder which must be sized to meet commuter needs. And of course allow something for the satisfaction of knowing that you are lowering your output of hydrocarbon emissions.Is driving around with cylinders full of gas under pressure dangerous? Thick-walled reinforced aluminum cylinders, steel cylinders or 100% composite materials are used to store compressed natural gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel. These cylinders are manufactured and tested in compliance with strict regulations, and have withstood severe abuse testing under conditions far more stringent than tanks designed for storing gasoline. Natural gas vehicles submitted to test crashes up to 52 miles per hour, which have been totally destroyed, but show little or no damage to the compressed gas cylinders (CNG). Bonfire and dynamite tests push cylinders to temperature and pressures exceeding specified limits showing that compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders are durable and safe. Of course, as with all fuel systems, these cylinders are not indestructible and should be inspected periodically to ensure that no surface damage has occurred.In which countries are natural gas vehicles popular? Natural gas as a vehicle fuel has a long and established record in Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and in the U.S.A. Other countries are recognizing the benefits of CNG Vehicle’s, and plan to expand the use of CNG Vehicle.In Europe, Italy has been using natural gas as a vehicle fuel since the 1920’s and has about 370,000 CNG Vehicle’s. The Italians have a network of 280 filling stations to support their use of compressed natural gas (CNG). Russia has about 75,000 CNG Vehicle’s and a fuelling network of some 250 stations. Outside of these countries, there are now several thousand CNG Vehicle’s in Europe and a slowly growing fuelling station infrastructure.Argentina has 700,000 CNG Vehicle’s – the largest fleet in the world – and is converting more than 3,000 vehicles a month and has over 950 fuelling stations in operation and more than 100 under development. Venezuela has a national CNG Vehicle programmers and will be ins talling 60 fuelling stations and converting vehicles.Canada has about 36,000 vehicles converted to natural gas, and the government-supported NGV programmer has created a number of incentives. The Canadian government provides cash incentives for fleets to convert their vehicles, and hopes to use CNG for 10% of the entire country’s future vehicle fuel requirements.In the U.S.A. there are now about 68,000 vehicles fuelled on natural gas. Natural gas vehicles have been in use there since the late 1960s, but comparative prices with gasoline and state-of-the-art technologies are only now making natural gas economically and technologically competitive with gasoline vehicles. There are about 1,200 private and public refueling stations.What are the conversion factors for natural gas? Methane values are fixed and can be found in any chemical handbook, while the composition of natural gas varies with source and time so try to find a local value. Approximately, 1kg CNG is equivalent to about 1.33 liters (L) of petrol or 1.22 L diesel. And 1 cu meter of CNG is equivalent to about 1.10 L of petrol or 1.00 L diesel.