Oxford Guide to British and American Culture Essay Example for Free

Oxford Guide to British and American Culture Essay I would like to talk about the culture dictionary, more specifically about the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. The importance of such dictionaries became unquestionable when the culturological approach to the study of languages appeared. This approach means the unity of the language and culture. To acquire a language, a person should have the knowledge of special features of communication, behavior, people’s mind, habits, values, traditions in the country which language he/she learns. Surely, the history and specific features of the particular country are embodied in its language. A language is a part of a culture. So the more you know culture of a particular country, the more you understand its language. In the most of dictionaries you can find cultural information and culture words. For example, â€Å"Whitehall† and â€Å"fly-fishing† in the Macmillan Dictionary and Thesaurus online, â€Å"Big Ben† in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English online. КÐ °Ã'€Ã'‚Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ºÃ ¸ Ð ºÃ °Ã'€Ã'‚Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ºÃ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. But if we compare these words with the same words in the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture, we will see that the second dictionary gives us more information and explanations about particular words and even gives us a lot of illustrations. So I would like to talk about this dictionary. It is published by the Oxford university press. This is the most up-to-date Guide to British and American culture that gives us an insight into what’s important in both countries today, what’s popular, and what people feel strongly about. It’s written for learners of English, in language that’s easy to understand. This Guide includes 10 000 entries of such areas as history, monuments, legends, festivals, music, food, shopping, literature and so on. It also includes special entries with extra vocabulary on topics such as advertising, football, beer and soap operas. This vocabulary is highlighted in dark type. So let’s look at entries of this dictionary and find out what information we can find there. Entry words or phrases are in dark type. Almost Each entry has grammar information. ( a part of speech, if it is a noun (countable or uncountable, plural or single, if it is a verb, transitive or intransitive), information about the usage of this word or phrase. Many words have the derivatives section which is marked by the special symbol. Many words have a transcription and in some entries we can see both British and American pronunciation. And we can see the information bout a stress. Many words have subject, regional or stylistic labels. If we look at some entries we can see the number in round brackets. It indicates what sense this meaning refers to. For example, the word Manhattan in this entry has the number one. It means that this word is given in the first sense. Many entries have words that are marked by the special symbol ( a star). It indicates an item with its own entry. In this dictionary there are special notes that can help to find out not only the meaning of a particular word but also offer the vocabulary on this topic. The vocabulary is highlighted in dark type. Above some head words we can see numbers. They distinguish separate entries for people, places, etc with the same name. In entries that give the information about people we can see numbers in round brackets that indicate birth and death dates or birth of a living person. In this dictionary there are a lot of â€Å"dummy† entries referring to main entries elsewhere. It can help to find a particular word if you know only its abbreviation. Also the entry gives information about an abbreviation. In some entries there are variants of head words (entry words) and explanations of uncommon words used in entry. There are a lot of examples of their usage in italic type. Many words have many senses. So in entries we can see separate numbered parts. In entries there are cross-references to contrasted entries and related entries. Also this dictionary is very good because it has a lot of illustrations and well-known quotations associated with a character or a person and extracts of famous poems. In this Guide there are boxes with additional information. In entries we can see cultural connotations. Inside front cover we can find information about abbreviations, symbols and labels used in the Guide. Inside back cover there is information about pronunciation and phonetic symbols. In this Guide there are colour pages on history and institutions of Britain and the USA (Maps, history, political parties, education, the Legal System and so on) Using this Guide you can get ideas of what to read. You can choose from lists of books that won the Booker and other prizes plus suggestions for further reading. In conclusion, Id like to say that the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture is a great choice for people who want to find out as much as possible about the culture of Great Britain and the USA without visiting these countries.

Providing Fresh Water To Arid Regions Environmental Sciences Essay

Providing Fresh Water To Arid Regions Environmental Sciences Essay From 1950-2000, there was a huge rise in the demand of the water (Smallwood, 2010). The reason for this massive increase in demand can be due to the massive increase in the worlds population towards the later years of the century. Between the years 1940 to 1960 worlds population was roughly around 2500 millions of people (U.N, 2004). This number increased to 6000 millions of people in year 2000 according to United Nations projections in 2004 (ibid). In order fulfil this huge demand of water different countries in the world started using large scale water management techniques. These techniques were very useful at the beginning however these large scale water management techniques are now considered to be in decline (Smallwood, 2010). The focus is now on the small scale water management techniques, however these small scale techniques such as traditional techniques are sometimes not considered to be sufficient enough (ibid). The arid and semi arid regions are those parts of the where there is very little or no rainfall. These areas are largely in central and south eastern parts of Asia, Africa and some parts of America. Pakistan is a developing country in south eastern region of Asia. Pakistan is a semi arid country with the problem of water management in the country. Therefore as an example of semi arid region this report will focus on the feasibility techniques for managing fresh water in Pakistan. Furthermore, this report will look at the dams as large scale water management technique and water desalination and use of ground water as small scale water management techniques. Pakistan 2.1 Background of water management through the use of large dams in Pakistan As a developing country Pakistans economy is mainly dependent on agriculture. Nearly one quarter of Pakistans GDP is contributed by agriculture sector (Ali, 2004). In order for agricultural sector to flourish Pakistan needs to manage water very carefully. A great amount of water for irrigation comes from 5 main rivers of Pakistan (Ali, 2004). These rivers are Indus, Ravi, Jhelum, Sutlej and river Chenab (ibid). Canal water is generated from these five rivers (ibid). This canal system is the largest canal system in the world (ibid). In addition to this there are 2 main dams build in order to manage water more properly. These dams are Mangla and Tarbela dams. Among these dams there are many other small dams build in order manage water for agriculture and electricity generation purposes. The researchers have however argued that these dams are not sufficient enough for Pakistans power and agriculture needs and there is a need to build more dams in order to manage water more sufficiently. 2.2 Current situation Dams can provide cheap electricity and dams can also help in scenarios of natural disaster. Pakistan is currently facing an electricity shortfall of 3000 to 6000 megawatts (Khan.2010). Furthermore recent floods in Pakistan have destroyed thousands of villages and hundreds of cities. According to United Nations floods in July 2010 has affected more than 20 million people in Pakistan. These floods have not only affected the people but floods have also destroyed the crops, which were the main source of income for the people in Pakistan. The arguments have again taken a rise that a controversial KalaBagh dam should be built and if that dam would have been there this flood would not have affected as much it has affected now. The KalaBagh dam is the largest proposed dam to be built in the northern areas of Pakistan. However due to being controversial the work on this has not been started. 2.3 Kalabagh dam, a controversial proposed large dam Kalabagh Dam Project proposed to be located near Islamabad on Indus River (Alvi et.al.N.D). The proposed dam is a multi-purpose project, it would have a live storage capacity of 6.1 million acre feet (ibid).it will fill the capacity loss in reservoirs, it would make contribute very much to irrigation supplies not only for new projects but provide additional water which was agreed by the provinces under Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) of 1991 (ibid). Furthermore, it would add a large amount of cheap hydropower to the National Grid through its 2400 MW (Ultimate 3600 MW) installed power (ibid). This can solve the energy crises of Pakistan and the electricity shortfall can be finished. However this project is opposed by three provinces of Pakistan. Other than Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa all are against the project of Kalabagh dam. According to the Sindhi point of view Kalabagh dam would turn sindh into desert (Alvi et.al.N.D). There would be no additional water to fill Kalabagh reservoir (ibid). However recent floods in Pakistan prove that there are enough surpluses of water. Sea water intrusion in Indus estuary would accentuate (ibid). Building of Kala bagh dam will destroy the mangrove forests, which are already threatened (ibid). KalaBagh dam would affect the fish production and water supplies in the southern areas of Pakistan (ibid). It is feared that historic flooding of Peshawar Valley including Nowshera town would be aggravated in the event of recurrence of 1929 record flood (Alvi et.al.N.D). Drainages of surrounding area of Mardan, Pabbi and Swabi plains would be adversely affected by the reservoir thus creating water logging and salinity (ibid). Operation of Mardan SCARP would be adversely affected (ibid). Fertile land would be submerged (ibid). Large number of people would be displaced (ibid). The claims that are mentioned above are the fears of the provinces and it remains to be seen that these claims do really have any reality behind them.Other than the above controversial reasons the Kalabagh dam is a mega project. In other words the Kalabagh dam is considered to be in the large scale water management technique. As it is argued by the Smallwood (2010) that the world is generally moving from using the large scale water management techniques towards the small scale water management techniques. The reason for this is that large scale water management techniques have many disadvantages. When the water is stored on a large scale there is a high risk of water born diseases (Smallwood.2010). Large dams are the combine resources so it is difficult manage the water as everybody would require more water (ibid). In addition to this, large dams causes large amount of displacements of the people (Ibid). Water desalination and small dams used as small scale fresh water management by other arid or semi arid countries Due to the exploitation of natural sources of water, as the water demand has increased, there is a great stress on alternate sources of fresh water (Fritzman et.al, 2006). The sea water can be used to fulfil the demands of the water (ibid). The water is desalinated through thermal technology (ibid). Through this technology the salt is evaporated from the water to make it able for daily use (ibid). The Middle East areas of the world are the main user of the water desalination technology (ibid). These areas are arid and it has a great demand of fresh water (ibid). In order to fulfil the water demands the thermal water desalination technology is being used (ibid). The arid and semi arid regions of Europe are also using the water desalination technology (ibid). The greatest example is the Spain which has the largest water desalination capacity (ibid). This demand of the desalinated water will grow further with Middle East being the greatest user of this technology (ibid). This is due to the rapid increase in the population of Middle Eastern areas (ibid). The Asia will become the rapid growing market of water desalination as there is large increase in population and conventional water resources are becoming insufficient to fulfil the demand of the water (ibid). The water desalination can fulfil the water demands very easily however the cost of installing the water desalination plants are high. However as compared to large dams the cost of water desalination plant is low, meaning water desalination can provide water very cheaply. Through water desalination the water can only be provided to the areas which are near to the sea (Smallwood, 2010). In order to provide fresh water to the areas which are away from the sea and the areas are arid small scale dams can be built to fulfil the demand of the fresh water. A small scale or micro dam if it is designed properly can provide many benefits to the areas near the dam (Ersado, 2005). The micro dams can provide water for irrigation, water for cattle and might even provide water for fishing purposes (ibid). In the areas where there is scarcity of water, usually in developing countries the micro dams can provide water for domestic purposes (ibid). The micro dams are less expensive as compared to large dams and these dams are less controversial. These dams however have many side effects (Ersado, 2005). The standing water can be the source of malaria (ibid). Moreover the standing water provides a good environment for disease transmission (ibid). Conclusion As it argued by Smallwood (2010) that the world is now moving away from the large scale water management. The developed nations such as U.S.A have stressed upon small scale water management techniques (Smallwood, 2010). The arid areas such as Middle East is using water desalination method in order fulfil the demand of fresh water (Fritzman et.al, 2006). The developing countries can also use their costal line in order to fulfil the demand of fresh water. For example Pakistan has a long costal line starting from south of Sindh till the end of south of Baluchistan. This costal line can be used for water desalination and it can fulfil the demand of fresh water of the southern arid areas of Pakistan. As it already predicted by Fritzman et.al (2006) that the water desalination method would be the fastest growing method of providing fresh water, the developing nations such as Pakistan should consider this method and fulfil its water demands.

Edna’s final decision

Edna’s final decision 1) Justify Ednas final decision in The Awakening.   Ã‚  Ednas final decision of committing suicide in The Awakening is inevitably linked to freedom. She grew up in a conservative society where marriage and motherhood provided a satisfying future for the young women, no matter what their true desires in life were. Having believed this all through out her life, Edna eventually got married and had children, only to find that she wasnt suited for either lifestyle. The years that are gone seem like dreams-if one might go on sleeping and dreaming-but to wake up and find-oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all ones life (Chopin 624). Edna fully understands that she really wants nothing to do with her children when she clearly understands what she had meant long ago when she said to Adele Ratignolle that she would give up the unessentials, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children (Chopin 626). Though Edna didnt like her lifestyle, as she had made it, if any women in her society were to give up marriage and motherhood to follow their own path, she would be condemned. Therefore, she felt her only way to freedom and independence from her life was to go against nature and commit suicide, which she did so by swimming out in the ocean and not returning to shore. 2) What is meant by Roman Fever? How does it influence Alida and Grace? Roman Fever is meant to portray pregnancy in the story. People in that time period seemed to think that Roman Fever was only caught at night by women, since shortly after their night out, the signs and symptoms of pregnancy could have already been occurring. So every night when Roman fever stalked the streets the mothers would gather in the girls at the danger hour (Wharton 782). If any women came done with the illness it was assumed she was rebellious and stayed out all night long, probably chasing after boys. Roman Fever influences Alida and Grace, since Grace was assumed to have caught the Roman Fever the one night she was out with Alidas fiancà ©. No one knew she was out with him that night, since it was supposed to be a prank date planned by Alida, so no one could have questioned her about being pregnant. Only Grace knew her secret of being pregnant and it was clear that Alida didnt, especially when she says I remember how ill you were that winter. As a girl you had a very deli cate throat, hadnt you, (Wharton 783). This clearly indicates morning sickness, which is usually associated with the early signs of pregnancy. 3) Why does Crane refer to the characters (except one, late in the story) by their professions, instead of names? Crane identifies the characters by their occupations (besides one), instead of names, because he wanted to pin point the one person in the story with a name, as a threat to nature. The only one in the story who had a name titled to them was the oiler, Billie. The oilers job represents contamination and pollution to the ocean, where as the other characters jobs like the captain, cook, and correspondent did not. In the quote The black waves were silent and hard to be seen in the darkness, it seems as if it is referring to dirty black water, such as an oil spill (Crane 757). Since an oilers job is usually associated with machines and dirt, the occupation in the story is represented as darkness toward nature. Though Billie was the most hard working crew member on the life boat he was unwanted by nature due to his occupation. When the boat began to sink all the men attempted to swim ashore to the island. All but one man, Billie, made it. Even though the oiler was the strongest and fastest swimmer of the men, the waves seem to want to take him down by drowning him with the strong currents. After the oilers death, Crane made everything at the end of the story to sound peaceful. When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight and the wind brought the sound of the great seas voice to the men on the shore (Crane 763). 4) What is the determinist element in The Second Choice, how does it affect the characters and the situations that unfold, where is the influence of the element most keenly seen?   Ã‚  The determinist element in the short story The Second Choice is definitely Shirley. She grew up in a town where everything was pretty much the same everywhere she turned, especially in her own neighborhood. Bethune street, with its common place front yards and houses nearly alike, and this house, so like the others, room for room and porch for porch, and her parents, too, really like all the others (Dreiser 790). She seemed to think that the life style she was raised with is the only life style she could ever have, no matter how much she wanted to be different from everyone. Ever since she met Arthur her whole view of life changed. He lived on the wild side of life while she lived in a bubble. Since Arthurs life style seemed to fascinate her more than her own, she dropped everything that she had going for her to be with him. Shirleys changing ways really affected her fiancà © Barton, especially by the way she was sneaking around and dating both of them at the same time. Bart on seemed to have a clue that she was having an affair, but she never confessed to her behavior, since she didnt want to risk losing Barton if Arthur were to leave her. She had not mentioned Barton to Arthur because-because-well, because Arthur was so much better, and somehow (She admitted it to herself now) she had not been sure that Arthur would care for her long (Dreiser 792). Her changing ways also affected her parents. They were used to the old fashion way of life where everyone lived the same everyday life style, so they looked down on Shirleys behavior, especially her mother. After Arthur had left Shirley and Barton stopped coming around to see her, Shirley felt that she must act her position as a deserted girl was too much. She could not stand it any longer really- the eyes of her mother, for one (Dreiser 796). Shirley had no choice but to stick with her second choice of life, which was living the everyday way of life just as her parents had done. 5) Identify and discuss what you believe to be the central symbol in To Build a Fire. The central symbol in To Build a Fire is the man that is hiking through the Yukon. He is nameless to symbolize the everyday human being and so that the reader can vision anybody they want to associate with the character. The man is also symbolic of humans in their attitudes of superiority to most things in the world, such as him thinking that he has nothing to fear from the weather and his intelligence is far greater than that of nature. When an older man experienced with the climate of the Yukon attempted to give the hiker advice that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below, the hiker just ignored every bit of it completely , though it was currently seventy-five below zero: (London 811-815). The hikers cockiness even goes as far as calling the older man womanish and said to himself all a man has to do was to keep his head and he was all right (London 815). Not only does the man completely ignore the older mans advice, he also ignores the signs of his own body tell ing him that the extreme cold temperatures are just to much for the human body to handle. The mans big ego eventually leads him to death since he refused to take advice from experienced residents and even hints from his dog, who attempts to lead him to his main destination. The overall main meaning of the story is that nature is the one thing on earth that no man will ever be able to change, control, or manipulate. The man is the central symbol in the story to show human kind that no matter how invincible we think we are, inevitable things do happen.

Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness There are many themes that run through the novel Heart of Darkness. There are however two main and significant ones. These are the theme of restraint and man's journey into self. The importance of restraint is stressed throughout Heart of Darkness. In the novel Marlow is saved by restraint, while Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Marlow felt different about Africa before he went, because the colonization of the Congo had "an idea at the back of it." Despite an uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would operate there. He soon reaches the Company station and receives his first shock, everything there seems meaningless. He sees no evidence here of that "devotion to efficiency" that makes the idea work. In the middle of this, Marlow meets a "miracle". The chief accountant has the restraint that it takes to get the job done. He keeps up his apearance and his books are in "apple-pie order." Marlow respects this fellow because he has a backbone. "The cannibals some of those ignorant millions, are almost totally characterized by restraint." They outnumber the whites "thirty to five" and could easily fill their starving bellies. Marlow "would have as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield." The cannibals action is "one of those human secrets that baffle probability." This helps Marlow keep his restraint, for if the natives can possess this quality Marlow feels he certainly can. Kurtz is the essence of the lack of restraint Marlow sees everywhere. Kurtz has "kicked himself loose from the earth." "He owes no allegiance to anything except those animal powers, those various lusts, those unpermitted aspirations lurking in the darkness of his inner station. Marlow also responds to these dark callings, and he almost becomes their captive. He confuses the beat of the drum (the call to man's primitive side) with his own heartbeat, and is pleased. Yet he does not slip over the edge as Kurtz does. Marlow keeps to the track. When he is confronted with the ultimate evil where a man "must fall back on (his) own innate strength, upon (his) own capacity for faithfulness," he is able to do so,

frost bite :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frostbite occurs when skin tissue and blood vessels are damaged from exposure to temperatures below 32 degrees fahrenheit. It mostly affects the toes, fingers, earlobes, chin, cheeks and nose, body parts which are often left uncovered in cold temperatures. Frostbite can occur rapidly or gradually, depending on the temperature conditions and how long it is exposed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frostbite has three stages. They are frostnip, superficial frostbite, and deep frostbite. Frostnip occurs when you have this pins and needles sensation and the skin turning very white and soft. This stage has no permanent damage and may be reversed by soaking in warm water or breathing warm breath on the affected area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Superficial frostbite is the stage of frostbite when blistering occurs. the skin feels numb, waxy, and frozen. There are ice crystals that form in the skin cells and the rest of the skin remains flexible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Deep frostbite is the most serious stage of frostbite. The blood vessels, muscles, tendons, nerves, and bone all may be frozen. This stage leads to permanent damage, blood clots and gangrene, in severe cases. You have no feeling in the affected area and there usually isn't any blistering. Serious infections and loss of lims accur frequently when frostbite reaches this stage of its development. However, even in deep frostbite, frozen lims may be saved if medical attention is obtained as soon as possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you are in a situation where a patient can't be transported to a hospital immediately, the following rewarming techniques may help until reaching an emergency facility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Bring them indoors as soon as possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Apply warm towels or immerse the area in circulating warm water for twenty minutes. However DO NOT   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   rub or use hot water.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Do not hold the area near fire since the area may be burned due to the reduced feeling in the area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Offer the patient warm coffee or tea, but never alcohol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Keep the affected area raised.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After re-warming, a superficial frostbite will reddon and become painful as circulation resumes in the area. Blisters are likely to form within 24 hours.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While a frostbite injury is healing, do the following:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Avoid infection by leaving the blisters alone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Watch for signs of infection such as redness, swelling, fever, oozing pus, and red streaks on skin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Take all prescribed medications.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Don't expose the affected area to cold temperatures until cleared to do so by a physician.

Project management and strategic planning Essay

Question: Language style: English (U.K.).   Write strategic planning and implementation steps involved in any project within IT department. Mention the Total quality management steps followed. What are the problems faced? Which problem solving and decision making methods would you suggest to be utilized? Explain. References: Any 2 Sources from the Internet, or Textbooks or journals. An organisation’s IT Strategic planning should combine some amount of tactical planning.   An IT department would require a strategic planning policy to ensure that the staff members and students can use the network on the campus as and when required.   As per the university requirements, all the schools should have a functional IT system, with certain criteria and specifications.   The IT planning would also help the school to share and receive technology from other schools and in this way be of immense help to the students. An IT Department should form a part and parcel of the education policy and processes of the educational institute.   It should be considered as a very important educational and information tool, for the students and staff members.   Let us now look at the actual strategic planning process and how it can be implemented in an educational institute. Strategic Planning is a process of making important decisions in the organisation so that a link between the present and the future trends is formed, choosing the organization’s goals, establishing the policies needed to meet specific objectives and recognising the means of assuring that policies are implemented in an appropriate manner. In a nutshell strategic plans are the â€Å"action plans† (Majdà ºchovà ¡, 2003 & Strategic Initiatives, 2007). STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS: Considering an example of a Management institute with special reference to the project to be carried out in the IT department, the following detailing a manager in the unit will have to accomplish and organize (ICFAI). A Manager who is responsible for strategic planning would convert the intentions or objectives of the organisation concrete and measurable strategic plans, policies and budget allocations (Majdà ºchovà ¡, 2003 & Strategic Initiatives, 2007). Step one: Defining the mission of the organization Based on the above work assignments, companies change their mission over a period of time to reflect changes in the external environment. The IT unit should address three important issues: What is the business supposed to do? Who are the customers? What goods or services does it offer? An IT department targets the various problems and issues, which are normally faced in a laboratory system of an organisation.   The IT department would provide services to the staff and the students and not merely provide goods alone to the audiences mentioned above (Kotler, 1999). Step two: Drawing up organizational objectives The strategic planning process in an IT department will broadly comprise of the following main objectives to be achieved.   This would help to determine the means of accomplishing the mission: – Students online exams / reports / marks, Laptop management (Wi-Fi connection), Internet control, LAN Connections, PC Maintenance, AMC – annual maintenance contract, Software and hardware troubleshooting, UPS, Vendor management, Requisition and procurement of PCs, UPS etc, Intranet management, ERP package connectivity, and Server support  Ã‚   (Kotler, 1999 & ICFAI) Step three: Assessing and Analysing SWOT The mangers need to analyse thoroughly the organisation’s current situation in order to develop an effective strategy to gain a competitive edge: – Availability of KRA’s Availability of E-commerce technologies and processes Availability of skills in management of the supply chain or the vendor Management of Proprietary technology, superior technological skills, IP, Patents, and the issues concerned with them (Kotler, 1999 & ICFAI) Step four: Formulating strategy Michael Porter has described three strategies which can help a firm / unit to gain competitive edge over others. Overall Cost Leadership: An IT firm has to consider the capital investment and access to it, the engineering skills required, intense supervision of labour, products designed for ease in manufacture, etc in order to achieve the its objectives (Kotler, 1999). Differentiation: The IT department may differentiate its products and services into technical and engineering support, strong capability in identifying the LAN, vendors, ERP, Wi-Fi, Internet, skills of the staff members needed, Intranet, etc (Kotler, 1999). Focus: All the above mentioned policies should be directed towards meeting the strategic target of fulfilling the staff’s and the student’s requirements (Kotler, 1999). Step five: Implementing strategy According to McKinsey et al, the best-managed companies exhibit the following 7 elements, known as â€Å"McKinsey 7-S framework for business success†. These include strategy, structure, and systems (known as ‘hardware to success†); and style, skills, staff and shared values (known as â€Å"software to success†) (Kotler, 1999 & ICFAI). In an IT department, style refers to the common ways of thinking and behaving of the staff members.   Skills refer to the unique method of handling problems experienced by the organization, especially using creative solutions.   Staffing is the process of hiring, training and allocating the work by the department.   Shared values refer to the common guiding values shared by the staff members (ICFAI). During the implementation, the manager should constantly monitor the technology, staff, incentives/reward system, decision-making processes, structures and functions (ICFAI). IMPLEMENTING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT This involves selecting the right staff members and using ensuring that the services are of high quality.   The process of TQM is continuous in the organisation so that quality of the organisation would improve (through having appropriate processes, products and services).   Feedback regarding customer satisfaction is gained, and accordingly improvements are made.   The company needs to gain an insight of how the user would be using the product.   Any shortcoming should be identified and modified, as and when needed.   Some of the steps in TQM include: – Studying the current quality situation Defining the quality needs Planning for a quality control program initiated by the managers Having structures, functions and strategies for implementing the quality program Allocating and obtaining the resources Monitoring and evaluation of the quality control program (Hashmi, 2000) PROBLEMS FACED: The IT department may face several major problems in cases of IT resource troubleshooting, logistics management, customer satisfaction, changes in the vision of the organisation, leadership problems, incompetent human resources, adoption of new technologies, managing the IP, obsolete facilities, etc (ICFAI). One of the major problems faced by the organisation previously, was regarding the presence of viruses in various network systems.   This seemed a threat to the security of the network.   The organisation had to develop a policy to prevent entry and spread of such virus on its network system.   This ensured that all external connections including CD’s, pen drives, removable discs, etc, were thoroughly scanned so that any virus threat would be contained.   The users were also informed of the security measures that had to be followed whilst using the network.   A strong firewall was installed to ensure that all data entering and existing the network was thoroughly monitored.   In this way, the IT department effectively handled virus threats. A study was conducted in the Institute’s IT Department to determine the effectiveness and the efficiency of the IT department’s network system.   More than 100 individuals were interviewed, which included 80 students and 20 teachers.   It was found that when a definite plan was introduced since 2004, the quality of services provided by the IT department improved drastically.   About 75 % of the staff members and 65 % of the students agreed to this.   The IT personnel are conducting quality checks at various levels to ensure that the services are effective and can enable the organisation to achieve its goals. Services Provided Percent of Staff who felt that the services were good Percent of Staff who felt that the services were satisfactory Percent of Staff who felt that the services were poor Comments Internet 75 21 4 Internet services are very good with fast connectivity and lightning speeds Intranet 50 35 15 Intranet exists, but not updated regularly Messenger 25 13 63 Not utilised very often during instruction Mail 65 26 9 Utilised very frequently and beneficial to all the faculty members and students.   Each staff and student is given their own id and password Library 78 12 10 Services are limited (no of databases subscribed) College Database 50 24 26 Not updated for long Teleconference system 56 25 19 Although, the system is effective and very useful, frequent disruptions occur PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING METHODS: Group Decision making method may be useful in large and complex departments, as the decision adopted seem to be better. Delphi group technique brings a panel of experts together in order to identify the problem and develop solutions for them.   Responses are collected and averaged by the people coordinating the group. It is utilised more often to immediately solve acute problems faced by the unit.   Such problems are time consuming and expensive to solve.   Interacting groups is the most common form of group decision making, in which the members openly discuss the problem, develop ideas, argue about each of them, and choose the best alternative. Decision Tree is a complex instrument that helps the decision-maker to consider various alternative courses needed to solve the problem and select the most appropriate alternative. The decision-maker can implement and monitor the alternative (Kotler, 1999 & ICFAI).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, I do feel that from the efforts of the management of the organisation and from the IT department itself, an effective network system has been develop which is very useful for the students and the staff members.   This educational tool helps in education, instruction, and research and even in providing information to the general public.   Regular feedback should be taken from the users, administrators, etc, in order to determine if any modification is required for the IT System, and effectively introduced into the IT strategic plan.   Over, the last four years, incorporation of an IT plan has ensured a faster network, security, greater access, and increased support.   The IT department has also certain trouble shooting devices in place to handle any situation.   This has helped the organisation to achieve its objectives. References: Hashmi, K. (2000), Introduction and Implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM), [Online], Available: http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c031008a.asp, [Accessed: 2007, November 23]. ICFAI – Introduction to management, ICFAI Center for Management research. ICFAI – Project Management, ICFAI publication of management research.    Kotler, P. (1999), â€Å"Marketing Management: the Millennium edition,† 10th ed, Prentice Hall. Majdà ºchovà ¡, H. (2003), â€Å"Strategic Management For The Nonprofit Organizations†, Electronic Library of Scientific Literature, vol. 51, no. 3. http://www.sav.sk/journals/ekoncas/ekon2003_07.htm   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Strategic Initiatives – Leading Transformative Change†, [Online], Available: http://www.strategicinitiatives.com/, [Accessed: 2007, November 23]. The University of Colorado at Boulder (2002). â€Å"2002 Information Technology Strategic Planning Report.† [Online], Available: http://www.colorado.edu/ITplan/2002itsp.pdf, [Accessed: 2007, November 23]. The University of Colorado at Boulder (2002). 2002 IT Strategic Vision, [Online], Available: http://www.colorado.edu/ITplan/vision.pdf, [Accessed: 2007, November 23]. The University of Colorado at Boulder (2002). Current Situation (Trends), [Online], Available: http://www.colorado.edu/ITplan/trends.pdf, [Accessed: 2007, November

Acid-Base Titration Lab

Acid-Base Titration Objectives: 1. To titrate a hydrochloric acid solution of unknown concentration with standardized 0. 10M sodium hydroxide. 2. To utilize the titration data to calculate the molarity of the hydrochloric acid. Materials: See handout for more info. Procedure: See handout for more info. Data and Calculations: Table 1: Volume of NaOH Required to Neutralize 10. 00mL of Unknown HCl Molarity of NaOh | Trial 1| Trial 2| Trial 3| Trial 4| Initial Volume of NaOH(mL)| 0. 0| 11. 00| 20. 85| 30. 45| Final Volume of NaOH(mL)| 11. 00| 20. 85| 30. 45| 39. 98| Volume of NaOH used(mL)| 11. 00 (Cancel out)| 9. 85| 9. 60| 9. 53| Average Volume of NaOH = (9. 85+9. 60+9. 53)/3 = 9. 66mL Sample Calculations: (9. 85+9. 60+9. 53)/3 = 9. 66mL The average volume of NaOH used. Calculations: 1. Moles NaOH = M x V = (0. 1M) (0. 00966L) = 0. 000966 moles 2. Moles HCl = moles NaOH 0. 000966 moles -> 9. 66Ãâ€"10-4 3. NaOH + HCl = NaCl + H2O Moles NaOH = M x V = (0. M)(0. 00966L) = 0. 000966 moles Moles HCl = moles NaOH [HCl] = moles/volumes = (0. 000966)/ (0. 0096L) [HCl] = 0. 1M Follow-up Questions: 1. It will have no effect because the phenolphthalein only changes color depending on the pH level. Adding substances that will not change the pH level will have no effect. 2. We rinsed out the buret with NaOH, it is to neutralize any leftover acids that may have existed from previous experiments that the buret may have been used in. 4.When we added the NaOH, it instantly neutralized the HCl but because of HCl having more moles inside the beaker, the excess HCl instantly reverting the system back into a base. 5. [HCl] = 0. 1M pH = -log[HCl] pH = -log(0. 1M) pH = 1 Conclusion: By using the titration data, we found out that the molarity of HCl is equal to the concentration of NaOH. This happens because the system is in a one-to-one relationship between the two compounds. If we use the same amount of volume of HCl and NaOH, and mix the two, it will reach to a neutral pH value.