Computational Complexity and the Origin of Universals :: Mathematics Mathematical Philosophy Papers

Computational Complexity and the Origin of Universals Unique: This paper sets up cozy connections between crucial issues in the philosophical and scientific hypotheses of brain. It audits the scientific ideas of knowledge, including design acknowledgment calculations, neural systems and rule frameworks. Numerical challenges show as combinatorial intricacy of calculations are identified with the jobs of from the earlier information and versatile learning, similar issues that have molded the multi year old discussion on the causes of the all inclusive ideas of brain. Joining philosophical and scientific investigations empowers following current numerical challenges to the inconsistency between Aristotelian rationale and Aristotelian hypothesis of psyche (Forms). Aristotelian rationale is demonstrated to be the guilty party for the current numerical challenges. I will likewise talk about associations with Gã ¶del’s hypotheses. The end is that fluffy rationale is a central necessity for joining adaptivity and apriority. Relating the numerical and philosophical helps explaining both and helps dissecting future exploration bearings of the science of insight. I. Presentation: Mathematics and Philosophy The multi year old discussion on the sources of all inclusive ideas of psyche was about the jobs of adaptivity or gaining as a matter of fact versus the from the earlier information (the inherent or natural). It is firmly identified with the epistemological issue of the sources of information. The issue of consolidating adaptivity and a-need is principal to computational knowledge just as to understanding human insight. There is an interrelationship among ideas of brain in science, brain research, and reasoning, which is a lot nearer than as of now suspected among researchers and rationalists of today. From the contemporary perspective, the inquiries regarding mind presented by old rationalists are incredibly logical. A focal inquiry to crafted by Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, Maimonides, Aquinas, Occam, and Kant was the subject of the roots of general ideas. Is it true that we are brought into the world with from the earlier information on ideas or do we obtain this information adapti vely by gaining as a matter of fact? This inquiry was key to crafted by antiquated thinkers, medieval theologists, and it was similarly critical to speculations of Freud, Jung, and Skinner. The various answers they provided for this inquiry are fundamentally the same as the appropriate responses given by McCulloch, Minsky, Chomsky and Grossberg. At the point when 2300 years back Plato confronted a need to disclose our capacity to conceptualize, he reasoned that ideas are of from the earlier root. The way of thinking dependent on the supernatural, from the earlier truth of ideas was named authenticity. During the accompanying 2000 years the idea of a-need was hugely reinforced by the improvement of monotheistic religion in Europe, to the degree that it meddled with experimental examinations.

Character, Nature, Spatial Distribution of World Cities Essay

The nature character and spatial dispersion of world urban communities: Increasing globalization has impactsly affected the world urban framework. Accordingly a gathering of urban areas has risen as key hubs in the association and working of the world, known as World Cities. World urban communities, for example, London and New York are a result of social and financial globalization and go about as nodal focuses for the assortment of linkages and interconnections that support the working of the world economy. These urban areas have created particular qualities because of their dynamic nature, and are spatially disseminated far and wide. Nature: The rise of World urban communities has been because of the globalization of financial action, which includes the advancement of more grounded connects between different nations. There has been an extraordinary quickening in globalization and the development of world urban areas †due to: †¢Technologic improvement in transport and correspondence †¢Deregulation of exchange and money related markets †¢The development of and pretended by Trans National Corporations (TNC’s) †¢New methods of experiencing business tasks and monetary movement †¢Emergence of a worldwide market for way of life related products This procedure of globalization and the development of world urban communities have had various effects: †¢Economic rebuilding †A fast extension in world exchange and migration of work escalated producing procedures to creating countries (megacities) with less expensive work. World urban areas are rising up out of the internationalization of financial movement. TNCs are a key player in this fast extension as they have an expansion in monetary impact choosing what to create as well as where to deliver and circulate it. †¢Spatial rebuilding designs in created zones †the move from private and business interest in rural areas to greater expense downtown lodging and ‘edge cities’ or ‘technoburbs’ which are particular urban hubs with bigger metropolitan zones. This frequently targets low salary zones which pushes low pay individuals further away from these hubs. †¢Social rebuilding designs in created territories Urban social orders have gotten more spellbound with more noteworthy measures of neediness and riches. The white collar class is deteriorating as far as riches in spite of the fact that there is a parting into a lower working class with low paid assistance division occupations and an upper working class who are multiskilled, for example, in the data based enterprises. The modern work class is declining in expectations for everyday comforts. The result of this rebuilding is an expansion in divergence regarding social preferences and impediments. Character: World urban areas are hubs in the worldwide economy which hold national and global importance because of their monetary and social impact; World urban areas have this financial and social authority through different attributes portrayed underneath. Monetary: - They are order focuses in the association of the worldwide economy - Key areas for a full scope of money related administrations - Markets for a tremendous scope of products and ventures Social: - Existence of social framework that encourages contact between individuals eye to eye - A middle for a scope of social offices - Provides the chance to carry on with a particular social way of life Spatial Distribution: World urban areas are spatially scattered, for the most part over the created world, yet all inclusive incorporated through frameworks of trade and creation. Inside the worldwide system of world urban communities exist a few sub frameworks: †¢Western European subsystem †focused on London and Paris. This contains the most noteworthy convergence of world urban areas as it is the it is the underlying site of the modern unrest prompting the interconnection of these urban areas to one another. †¢North American subsystem-focused on New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. This is the second biggest convergence of world urban areas as its modern upheaval prompted it being a main assembling district of the world and afterward the main help locale of the world. †¢Asian subsystem-fixated on Tokyo, Singapore and all the more as of late Shanghai. The Asian world urban communities above all interface local assembling territories, for example, India and China through Mumbai and Shanghai separately into the world economy. Different focuses, for example, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong are likewise world urban communities because of their past industrialisation following World War II. †¢Southern Hemisphere-connected by Sydney, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo. The southern side of the equator is to a great extent disengaged as quite a bit of South America and Africa is still in a creating state yet key urban communities, for example, Sydney and Sao Paulo interface the individual districts of Australia and Brazil into the worldwide economy. Because of proceeded with globalization, various anticipated spatial patterns likewise exist: †¢An increment in African urban communities into a worldwide system might be found later on. Africa is an asset rich region, particularly in crude minerals and it likewise has a huge populace accessible. These regions are presently underestimated from the worldwide framework as there is an absence of foundation which considers the development of these economies on a worldwide scale. Regardless of this underestimation they do at present have network to Europe trading products, for example, oil. †¢A move of capacity to Asian urban areas The Asian district has been industrializing since the finish of World War II and urban communities, for example, Tokyo have significant network and impact as world urban areas. The financial development seen territories, for example, China and India may prompt a high centralization of world urban communities in this locale and a move in worldwide social and monetary force. †¢An increment in South American urban communities into the worldwide system. Through nations, for example, Brazil, which has kept up GDP development paces of around 10%, just as this different nations have territorial significance which can be connected to the worldwide system through urban communities, for example, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. †¢An increment in Middle East urban communities into the worldwide system. Nations, for example, the United Arab Emirates have continued high monetary development rates because of oil exportation which has then been put into framework, for example, for the travel industry. A case of this is in Dubai with significant interest in lodgings. This new arrangement of world urban areas dependent on the existences of data based exercises is a basic piece of the worldwide progressive system.

Email COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Email COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Along with processing applications a major job these days is answering email.   Email is actually our preferred method of communication because it offers us a digital trail to follow.   While you might be tempted to call, and calling is okay, in the long run an email might be more effective when you have questions regarding your application. In addition to providing us, and you for that matter, with a traceable communication chain, we can answer emails at all hours of the day and you do not have to wait for us to get back to you via voice mail.   We certainly check our voice mail and respond as quickly as we are able, however on the efficiency scale voice mail is far below email. Let us say you call and leave a voice mail.   Let us also say that our phone is ringing non-stop.   What this means is that we will answer the phone as quickly as we are able and we will likely not check voice mail until after or before business hours.   This means that if you call and get voice mail, you are likely to receive a delayed response due to the fact that is impossible to keep up with voice mail when the phone is ringing all of the time. Unlike the phone, our email box is always open and ready for your message.   Many people in the office can view the same box and it is much more efficient for us to deal with.   Those of you that have emailed us know that we have an auto-response that indicates we will try to respond within five days.   Our goal is to respond must faster than five days, especially during the time around the application deadline. On this topic, the University I.T. department scheduled maintenance on the email servers for January 3rd.   The message to us stated that systems updates, hardware repairs, and general maintenance would leave email unavailable for extended periods of time on January 3rd. I am sure it seemed like a good time for the I.T. Department because of the holiday break, but it was not the best time for our office considering the deadline is almost upon us.   So if our response has been delayed we apologize.   We will keep checking for email availability and answer questions as soon as possible. One more side note please resist the urge to copy multiple parties on the same email (this is often called CCing).   Please only send emails to one address.   Copying multiple parties on the same email can lead to confusion and slower processing time.

The importance of Integrity and Honesty in criminal...

Integrity and Honesty Integrity can be defined as an uncompromising adherence to a code of moral, artistic or other values, utter sincerity, honesty and candor, avoidance of deception, expediency, artificiality or shallowness of any kind (Websters 3rd New International Dictionary 1174). In simpler words this means to maintain high standards and follow the rules, even when no one is watching. Integrity is very important in our everyday life if we wish to be good people. The sad thing is that if you ask some people what integrity means to them they will probably tell you that it doesnt mean much and some may not even know what integrity is. Certain people feel that in order to get ahead in life they need to break certain rules. It is†¦show more content†¦Having a high standard of personal integrity and honesty will really help prepare one for employment in the justice field in many different ways. Integrity and honesty is one of the most important requirements for any criminal justice career. It is extremely important to know what is right and wrong and to be honest no matter what the consequences if you are planning on entering the justice field, especially a police officer. Police officers must commit to the highest moral and ethical standards, they cant be prejudice or favor someone without knowing every single detail, must show good personal conduct, have high integrity on and off duty, and plenty more. One major reason to have a high standard of integrity and honesty at all times is because if you are a person who has ever been in trouble for something that showed you had been dishonest (such as theft, cheating, lying, and more) and you apply for a job in the justice field, they will most likely find it no matter how off your record it supposedly is and you will not be hired. In their minds they are most likely thinking that if you could be dishonest once then you can be dishonest again and they dont want someone likely that employed with them. Another reason to have a h igh standard of integrity and honesty at all times would be because if you were ableShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesan HRM Skill: HR Certification 53 Enhancing Your Communication Skills 54 PART 2 THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONTEXT OF HRM Chapter 3 Equal Employment Opportunity 56 Learning Outcomes 56 Introduction 58 Laws Affecting Discriminatory Practices 58 The Importance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 59 Affirmative Action Plans 59 Demonstrating Comprehension: Questions for Review 80 Key Terms 80 81 HRM Workshop Linking Concepts to Practice: Discussion Questions 81 Developing Diagnostic and Analytical Skills

The Real Shape of Raindrops

Much like the snowflake symbolizes all things winter, a teardrop is a symbol of water and rain. We see them in illustrations and even on weather maps on TV. The truth is, a raindrop assumes several shapes as it falls from a cloud—none of which resemble teardrops. What is the true shape of a raindrop? Lets follow it along its journey from cloud to ground and find out! Droplets Raindrops, which are collections of millions of tiny cloud droplets, start out as small and round spheres. But as raindrops fall, they lose their rounded shape thanks to the tug-of-war between two forces: surface tension (the waters outer surface film which acts to hold the drop together) and the air flow which pushes up against the raindrops bottom as it falls.   Sphere to Hamburger Bun When the drop is small (under 1 mm across), surface tension wins out and pulls it into a spherical shape. But as the drop falls, colliding with other drops as it does so, it grows in size and it falls faster which increases the pressure on its bottom. This added pressure causes the raindrop to flatten on the bottom. Since the air flow on the bottom of the water drop is greater than the airflow at its top, the raindrop  remains curved on top, the raindrop resembles a hamburger bun. Thats right, raindrops have more in common with hamburger buns than falling on them and ruining your cookout—they are shaped like  them! Jelly Bean to Umbrella As the raindrop grows even bigger, the pressure along its bottom increases further and presses a dimple into it, making the raindrop look jelly-bean-shaped. When the raindrop grows to a large size (around 4 mm across or larger) the air flow has pressed so deeply into the water drop that it now resembles a parachute or an  umbrella. Soon after, the air flow presses through the raindrops top and breaks it apart into smaller drops.       To help visualize this process, watch the video, Anatomy of a Raindrop, courtesy of NASA.    Visualizing the Shape Due to the high speeds at which water droplets fall through the atmosphere, it is very difficult to see the variety of shapes it takes in nature without the use of high-speed photography. However, there is a way to model this in the lab, the classroom, or at home. An experiment you can do at home represents an analysis of raindrop shape through experimentation. Now that you know about raindrop shape and size, continue your raindrop exploration by learning why some rainshowers feel warm and others are cool to the touch.   SourcesAre Raindrops Tear-Shaped?  The USGS Water Science School

Manistique Inc. Free Essays

Manistique Inc. devised a safety compliance program within the organization whose aim is to train and monitor employees inducing low injury rates and higher safety compliance standards. Manistique offers rewards to employees with lower injury rates. We will write a custom essay sample on Manistique Inc. or any similar topic only for you Order Now The program was implemented on a large-scale throughout the organization amongst 83 plants. Without any statistical analysis it would be impossible to reach a conclusion as to whether the program has improvised the injury rates or not; however, individuals remark that there has been a slide in the injury rates depicting a favorable influence of the training program. The objective at Manistique is to standardize the program across the board so that there is ample saving on administrative costs incurred due to workplace injuries. Before this can be done so, the terms of the program have to be decided which will come in handy in convincing the management of the worthiness of this program. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the terms of the safety program and the most two important measures of safety rates: 1. Safety attitudes 2. Time lost due to injuries. Making use of historical information as well as data available from the last quarter, this paper will use statistical techniques to reach a conclusion as to whether the safety program has been successful in lowering injury rates. Analysis The report is attached with the original dataset provided for the analysis of this report. We shall begin by analyzing the correlations between the different variables in the dataset to ascertain a conclusion as to whether the program has really improved safety attitudes and improved the time lost in injuries or whether the change is statistically insignificant Correlation between safe training attitude (safetrain) i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low positive value of the correlation co-efficient suggests that there is no significant relationship between the safety attitude and the actual number of workplace injuries i. e. the attitude has not helped the practical level of injuries incurred at Manistique. For a significant cause-and-effect relationship the value of the correlation coefficient should have been positively larger. i) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should not have been the case). The value is not significantly high (very close to 0), which suggests that safety standards have hardly any influence in lowering the number of deaths at Manistique. On the other hand it has slightly increased the number of injuries (correlation co-efficient is slightly positive). Thus, safety attitudes have not at all been effective in reducing the number of injuries. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: Again the negative value suggests that there is a negative relationship between safety attitude and disability days (the lower the attitude, the lower the disability days). However, the value of the correlation co-efficient is very small which negates any strong relationship between the two variables. Correlation between safety support from co-workers (safesupport) i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation coefficient is positive. This suggests that the increased safety support from co-workers actually has a positivee influence as it results in a drop in number of injuries at Manistique. However the low value of the coefficient suggests no strong cause-and-effect relationship for the program implemented at Manistique. ii) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should not have been the case). This negates all possibilities of a favorable influence of the coworker safety in reducing the number of deaths at Manistique; in fact, the relationship is quite the opposite with a very small magnitude. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low negative value again brings the conclusion that there exists a negative relationship but the degree of influence is very meek. This brings about the conclusion that there is no significant influence of the co-worker support attitude on the number of disability days; it is quite the opposite. Correlation between safety support from co-workers (feelsafe) i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should have been the case). However, the highly negligible value of the co-efficient suggests no significant relationship between a feeling of safety amongst the workers and the actual injuries at Manistique. ii) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation coefficient is positive (as should not have been the case). Increasing confidence held by a worker that he/she is safe does not decrease the number of injuries at Manistique; rather it increases it weakly. This is ample evidence for a lack of good relationship between the two variables. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low negative value again brings the conclusion that there exists a positive relationship but the degree of influence is very meek. This brings about the conclusion that there is no significant influence of the belief of safety held by a worker on the number of disability days. Conclusion Based on the calculations made in the above section, the conclusion that can be formed here is quite obvious and brief: the new safety compliance program at Manistique has no significant influence upon improving the number of injuries, fatalities or disability days at Manistique. The training program, co-worker support regarding the safety program or even the belief held by the workers that their safety has increased as a result of the program have no cause-and-effect relationship good enough to reduce the number of worker injuries, deaths and the number of disability days at Manistique. Moving barely above the 0. 1 correlation level, there is no need for statistical hypothesis testing methods to be employed in reaching the conclusion. At any confidence level, these values are sufficiently weak enough to conclude that the safety compliance program is of significant importance in saving administrative costs for Manistique by reducing the number of injuries, deaths or disability days at Manistique. How to cite Manistique Inc., Papers

Performer Driver’s

Questions: Describe the project, the approach that was taken at the time and the lessons learnt through reflective practice of Performer driver isn project management capacity. Refer to specific reflective tools and techniques using the guide book attached. Demonstrate a focus on the reflective aspect of how the project was managed and using performance drivers methodology, be able to demonstrate an improved outcome if this approach had been applied to the project selected. Also see additional paper Writing on Project Management supplied by the Editor of the Project Manager for additional requirements. Answers: Abstract This report is constructed with an aim of understanding how performance based metrics as a method for measuring of performance can be used in combination with project management principles and methodologies so as to improve the project performance. The report covers the basics of one of the chosen method that is widely used by organization for measuring performance in business and the same is called Balanced Score Card. The perspectives of balanced score card are bring applied to the project management framework so as to develop a methodology that empowers project management practice by enabling comprehensive performance control process through the use of strategic metrics in addition to traditional performance measurement methods used in practice. For a practical understanding of how BSC can be used with project management, a customized methodology called Adjusted Balanced Score Card that was identified and the same was used for planning the performance control for an identified IT project. The project involves development of an ecommerce learning portal for which ABSC was used as the measuring tool for project progress such that the same could be used for monitoring project progress in an efficient manner. The report contains details of a real project with step by step process that was used for development of project balanced score card. Further, the report would present reflections on what was learned when the theories of BSC were applied to the real project case in a company for the management and monitoring of an IT project. The reflection would also include an understanding of the practical aspects of ABSC and how the same could be utilized in future projects. Introduction As per the Wall Street Journal, around 42% of IT projects are abandoned before they could be completed. Every year, American organizations together face over $105 of losses because of project failure. While traditional project success was measured only considered only the operational outcome, the success is actually affected in other ways as well. Some major barriers that lead to such high rate of failure of projects are lack of understanding of strategy, management impacts and of people but they were not been a part of assessment in tradition methods of project success measurement. While project managers can talk about the ability of a project to get deliveries within schedule and within allotted costs, they struggle to identify if the project has delivered its strategic value to the company. Main reason behind this challenge was that strategy was an intangible object and thus, could not be measured in monetary terms and this inability to convert strategic perspective into measureab le dimensions was making it difficult for project managers to assess the strategic performance of a project. (Norrie, 2014). In the discipline of project management, as assessment of project with respect its performance is traditionally done by exploring the impacts of and on its triple constraints including time, cost and quality. However, over the years of development project management principles, a need has been realized to have an added dimension of project management when considering its outcome. This suggested use of performance based measures for analyzing the outputs of a project. The traditional performance measures including triple constrains only measure the product outcome of a project. However, there is more to a project than a product. It is more of an experience that is delivered to the stakeholders of a project. Thus, stakeholder management has become a widely used practice wile assessing a project methodology. Stakeholder benefits lead to customer satisfaction which can build upon competitive advantage for the brand and the goodwill can then convert into financial rewards for an organization or a brand. This has led to a surge in demand for measurement of stakeholder satisfaction which can be done by using certain performance based measures like Balance Score Card which allowed measuring of not just the tangible assets in terms of money, which was done in traditional methods for measuring project outcome, but also made way to including tangible outcomes in assessment by attaching monetary value to the same. Figure 1: On Strategy With the use of BSC, an organization can assess its project form multiple perspectives including financial, customer specific, process and growth. It also allows for determination of the cause and effect relationships between different dimensions of a project. This is possible as the method allows a company to have an established measure for every goal of the project as well as all the initiatives that lead to development of the project. Also, the use of BSC modifies the triple constraints triangle by including strategy as one deliverable such that a project is considered successful only when it delivers good quality, on time, within budget and on-strategy. Balance Score Card Balance Score Card is a framework that is used for translating the vision and strategy of an organization into operational terms and provides a balanced measure of all the perspectives that exist on a project including financial, customer, internal and growth perspectives. When applying the principles of Balance Score Card, a P-BSC may be prepared addressing all key issues of project and needs of its stakeholders with objectives to reduce risks and assure alignment of project to organizations strategic outcome. BSC deals with four perspectives of a project that include customer, financial, internal business processes and learning growth. Customer perspective deals with understanding of customer who is made the focus of business processes that are practiced with an aim to satisfy their needs. When considering this perspective, performance of a project can be measured using customer centric metrics such as lead time and quality of project outcome. Financial perspective explores data on risk assessment, funding, cost-benefit, cash flow, market share, growth, revenues, operational expenses, asset turnover and so on. Internal perspective involve managers into the working of the project and usually involves checking if higher level targets are successfully decomposed to convert to clear targets for decision making and actions for lower level of the staff. Learning and growth perspective involves learning of employees, their training provisions, corporate culture, communication, self-improvement strategies and so on. Success of project would be measured by ability of a company to innovate and learn continuously(KAZI, RADOSAV, NIKOLI, CHOTALIYA, 2011). To understand how BSC can be used for specific projects, a discipline of IT project management can be chosen to build focus for a better understanding. In case of IT projects, several researchers in the area of project management including Alleman (2003) and Brock (2003) have suggested integration of BSC and PM to create a balanced approach to project management. A framework called Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (CObiT) is been widely used on software and IT projects for linking business goals to IT goals and obtaining performance measurement metrics based on BSC framework. Several project management methodologies have been combined with BSC principles this way to create modified methodologies such as Agile Balanced scorecard that puts emphasis on measurement of teamwork, reliability, performance and velocity of key business metric categories. Another approach for using BSC in IT projects is taken in the Adjusted BSC Framework which adjusts the components of BSC to make way for improvement of performance of an IT project. This modified the perspectives including Finance to consider project costing, customers perspective to stakeholder perspective, learning including focus to specific areas like quality and risk and internal processes referring to project processes. This added some metrics to project management performance measurement such as Lag Indicators like Earned Value Management (EVM), Budget Variance analysis, lead indicators and so on. Figure 2: Strategy Map Example When using BSC in combination with the Project management disciplines, a strategic value can be added to the project which improves the shareholder value of a project. A stakeholder value can be created with improvements in revenues and in productivity at the same time. Various perspectives of BSC can add to this value creation process at each stage. As per the strategy map model defined by Kaplan and Norton, learning and development provide the key inputs to internal processes that are made to work in alignment with the customer value proposition to achieve operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership which in turn affects the financial performance of the organization. The involvement of different perspectives defined in the BSC methods reveal the importance of intangible elements like employee competencies, leadership skills, corporate culture, and so on and also allows create metrics for each of these to measure the performance of a project through conversion o f the intangible elements into numeric value metrics allowing an efficient and clear monitoring of progress of the project. A balance scorecard on one side adds four perspectives of a project in its monitoring process, on the other side it defines specific objectives, measures, targets and strategic actions required for each of those perspectives. This allows a project manager to understand how a strategy can be formulated for specific perspective, how the progress could be measured in order to achieve specific objectives, what are the target values that can be used for measurement of the progress and what specific actions are required to achieve set objectives in a project. Some examples of the measures include ROI which is a financial measure, market share which is customer perspective, on-time delivery makes internal process perspective and employee turnover deals with learning and growth perspective(Snapka Copikova, 2011). Guiding Principles of BSC Kaplan also defines some guiding principles for using best practices of BSC in case of projects. These include: Translation of strategy into operational terms: For an organization to perform, the value it provides must exceed the sum of the value provided by its specific parts that are linked through an organizational strategy. In the reporting structure on a project, thus, strategic themes must be embedded. The BSC does not act as a strategy formulation tool but only makes a presentation of the complete view of strategy and thus, these steps have to be completed before a BSC can be made. Organization to be aligned with strategy: To be able to use the BSC efficiently, a number of strategic themes may be developed that may be complementing or supporting other themes in a way to create a balance in the organization. Themes can be identified by identifying strategic outcomes and by dividing the strategy into general categories of different projects. Every strategic theme must have own hypothesis and cause and effect relationships. With strategic themes, corporate roles involving creation of value for each business unit must also be identified. Strategy must be responsibility of everyone and not just strategy or project manager: Scorecard allows cascading of lower level departmental scores but it would not serve the purpose if the employees do not buy in and thus, for BSC to deliver successful results, employees have to understand the value and importance of BSC for the project. Further, to keep them motivated and interested in the use of BSC, personalized balanced score cards can be prepared to be a part of their proposal. Before a strategy can be practically launched, these employees need to be trained as well as be used for testing of specific strategies. Strategic objectives must be embedded into various aspects of organization: Strategic objectives can be embedded into individual personal and team objectives of a project to able to make them aligned with the BSC key objective of the project. This can be done in several ways such as by using super bowl approach which involves creation of awareness about the importance of achieving targets for employees, strategic initiatives alignment through linking of routine jobs with projects, integration with planning, integration with Human resource, and so on(Murby Gould, 2005). BSC in IT Project: Case Study For the purpose of practical understanding of use of BSC with Project Management practice, an actual IT project that involved development and implementation of ecommerce learning portal for B2C business has been studied. The project life cycle had 7 major phases including requirement gathering, designing and portal development, content development, e-learning portal establishment, pilot testing, production strategy and continuous improvement. ABSC framework was implemented to manage and assess the performance of the project that began with defining of project objectives and linking of the same with every phase of the project life cycle. The identified objectives for the development of e-learning portal included: Increasing the penetration of deliveries by reaching out to a wider audience Facilitation of online learning for skills upgrading in ecommerce domain Making learning affordable by reducing costs by 50% Based on these objectives, performance indicators were identified. For increasing delivery penetration, activities that were required to be done included requirement gathering which could be completed by taking sign-off, development of multi-language capability, and set of an easy interface that could be measured for its performance through testing. For improving availability of services for learning skills, designing were to be done next and specific features that were to be implemented were scheduled. For continuous development of ecommerce knowledge base in the field of ecommerce, the infrastructure that was to develop was required to be both robust and scalable with a content management system with capability to manage updates with ease. For reduction in learning cost of the customers using the portal, the project manager decides to use fixed price per participant model using shared services. For the measurement of the above mentioned objectives for understanding their achievement and performance of the project, a traceability matrix with respect to major project phases including requirement gathering, design and development and testing could be prepared as follows: Project objectives Requirement Gathering Portal Design and development Testing Increasing delivery penetration Project Sign off Multi-lingual capabilities User testing Availability of features for anytime learning Multiple indicators Reduction in costs of learning Multiple indicators Once, the objectives were clarified with understanding of their relationships within each phase, the next step of project management in the ABSC approach was to develop Lag Indicators. These indicators could be identified for each perspective of ABSC including finance, stakeholders, process and learning. Lag indicators would be used for defining if the project went as per planned schedule or within budget. The lag indicators that were identified were considered for measurement of performance through the use of certain target measures for these specific knowledge areas including cost and risk as described in the table below: PM Knowledge areas Objectives Indicator Target Measure Cost Less than 5% of cost overrun CPI Less than 1.05 Risk Less than 5% of risk impact High risk items with over USD10,000 cost to be monitored Less than 3 such items facing risks Just as lag indicators identified problems in the project related to cost and schedule, lead indicators were used for understanding achievements of the project. This involved an understanding of requirements of all business users, assurance of sign off with requirements of each process owner incorporated, conducting training sessions for e-learning and limited iterations. Objective Lag Indicator Target Measure Responsibility Requirement Gathering Sign off with all requirements of process owners included Within 5 working days after submission Process owner All team members participated and all requirements obtained 100% Project Management team No incomplete or partially complete information Forms, templates and user reviews collection Project Team and end users Just as the lag indicators were mapped against each perspective of ABSC, lead indicators could also be mapped using same technique. Once all indicators were identified, the next step that was followed was combining of these indicators for establishing a cause and effect relationship between each of the measures, perspectives and project knowledge areas. This included understanding of how these indicators related to each project phase. For instance, sign off requirement which is one of the indicators in the requirement gathering phase could result into scope creep if not management properly affecting other project knowledge areas such as time, cost and risks. Based on these relationships, the indicators with high impacts on project, in case the indicators are not managed well, can be tracked as identified in the following table: Lead Indicator Effects (Impact) Impact Objectives Sign off Time overrun Incomplete requirements Incomplete information Quality; testing; high risk items Service delivery Cost of delivery Once, all the above steps were fulfilled, it enabled project manager of the e-learning portal project to monitor the project progress against each of the identified objectives, performance indicators and targets in an integrated manner that allowed them to track progress with full understanding of relationships between different elements which allowed good management of stakeholder expectations(Vasudevan, 2012). A comprehensive Adjusted Balanced Score Card can be prepared by using each of these measures including all perspectives, objectives, measures, and targets. This comprehensive scorecard would then make it possible for a project manager to have a complete strategic view of the project and use the same for monitoring its progress. Update strategy with revision Strategy BSC Feedback Vision Goals Themes Financial Perspective Minimum Expenses and Maximum return Objectives Minimum expenses Measures: CPI Targets: Minimum CPI Stakeholder Perspective Resource Availability Stakeholder expectations Objectives: Requirement gathering Measures: Requirement sign off Targets: all member participation Input to decision Making Internal Perspective Management of processes Objectives: Reduce risks; ensure compliance; manage change Compare results Measures: Scope creep; High risk items; compliance, planned iterations Targets: Less than 5% scope creep, cost overrun, schedule overrun; less than 3 high risk items; OPA compliance; less than 2 iterations Learning and Growth Perspective Continuous learning Objectives: Knowledge base Measures: Lessons learnt database for future use Targets: record quality issues, lessons learned, lead practices Operational Decision Making Conclusions This report was created for studying performance based measurement methods used in business context by applying the same to the project management practice and understand the impact or improvements that can be brought about with this combination of the two disciplines. IT was found that major project failure were caused because of incapability of project organizations to achieve strategic results as there was a lack on the methods that could be used for measuring strategic performance as it was an intangible measure. It was found that BSC, a widely used method in the area of strategic management provide this capability of measuring intangible areas of a project and thus, the same was applied to a specific case of IT project to understand how BSC could be used for making project monitoring and performance measurement process more efficient. The case was studied with the use of Adjusted Balanced Score card, a method defined for the use of BSC in project management practice. There were other performance based methods as well other approaches to incorporation of BSC perspectives on project but ABSC provided a simplified learning which is why it was chosen to understand a specific case of the project. References Bonham, S. (2008).Actionable strategies through integrated performance, process, project, and risk management. Boston: Artech House. Julian, J. (2010).Facilitating project performance improvement. New York: AMACOM. Kerzner, H. (n.d.).Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards. Lal, H. (2008).Organizational excellence through total quality management. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers. Malathi, E. (2014).Balance Score Card. Saarbrucken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. Muller, R. (2009).Project governance. Farnham, UK: Gower. KAZI, L., RADOSAV, D., NIKOLI, M., CHOTALIYA, N. (2011). BALANCED SCORECARD FRAMEWORK IN SOFTWARE PROJECT MONITORING. JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVENESS (JEMC), 51-56. Murby, L., Gould, S. (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard. London: CIMA. Norrie, J. (2014). Using the Balance Score Card to Enhance PPM Methodology. PMI. Snapka, P., Copikova, A. (2011). Balanced Scorecard and Compensation. International Conference on Business and Economics Research (pp. 43-46). Singapore: IACSIT Press. Vasudevan, I. (2012). Project performance management using balanced score card (BSC) approach. PMI global network.

Candles Essays - Catholic Liturgy, Candle, Cinnamon,

Candles My science Report My science question is: Do the different types of candle scents affect the amount of time the candle turns into liquid? I am going to take four different scents of candles, strawberry, cinnamon, pear, and honeydew, all the same size, and do my experiment. My dad, mom, brother and I will all light the candles at the same time and wait to see how long they take to burn. I will record all of the information. I think that all of the candles will burn in the same length of time regardless of the scent. The scent is only there for the smell. I think that the candles will burn in a period of one hour and 45 minutes. The candles will all be burning under the same conditions. Why I chose this experiment is because I love candles. It interests me how there are so many different types of waxes such as beeswax, paraffin, cerumen, and tallow. Also all the different sizes, they go from the height of 2cm. to the height of maybe a foot or two. It is also weird how some candles burn in minutes and others is seems like hours. I love all of the different scents like, strawberry, cherry, plum, orange, pear, lemon, apple, honeydew, cranberry, grape, and cinnamon etc. And this is why I want to know if the different scents of the candles change the amount of time they take to burn. I took four candles, all the same size, but in four different scents. I measured the candles and the height is 5 cm., the width is 3.5 cm. and the wick is 1/2cm. Then I asked my family to help me light the candles. When we lit the candles, my dad lit the honeydew candle, my mom lit the cinnamon candle, my brother lit pear candle and I lit the strawberry candle. When we first lit the candles, my dad thought his was going to win because it dropped the first dot of wax. But I wasnt so sure because it appeared like it was slowing down. After my first test was completed the results were as follows: Cinnamon came in first at a time of 1 hr. 48 min., Strawberry came in second at a time of 2 hrs. 40 min., Honeydew came in third at a time of 2 hrs. 48 min. and Pear came in fourth with a time of 5 hr 31 min. I was amazed at the big time difference. I never would have thought it was possible. My family helped me to start my second try at this experiment again. We all lit a candle, and I started the timer once again. The results were as follows: Honeydew came in first at a time of 2 hrs. 48 min., Strawberry came in second at a time of 3 hrs. 02 min., Cinnamon came in third at a time of 3 hrs 24 min. and Pear came in fourth with a time of 4 hrs 30 min. Again there was a big difference in the time it took each candle to burn. My dad and I looked up information on the Internet about candles. We found out that candles have different flash points. A flash point is the temperature in which a candle can ignite with a type of open flame. The flash point should be at least 170 degrees. My dad and I think that if it is higher then 170 degrees it should burn faster and if it is under 170 degrees then it should burn slower. Although it didnt make sense that honeydew, cinnamon, and pear are at 200 degrees and strawberry is at 150 degrease. Pear should have the lowest degrease according to the flash point. The first time pear took 5 hours and 31 minutes and the second time it took 4 hours and 30 minutes. Cinnamon, strawberry, and honeydew took in between 1 hour and 48 minutes and 3 hours and 24 minutes. This experiment has shown me that there is a lot more to learn about candles than I expected. It is very interesting, and I think I am going to do a little more experimenting! Tests Scent Time Test one

The Definition Civil Liberties and Some Examples

The Definition Civil Liberties and Some Examples Civil liberties are rights that are guaranteed to the citizens or residents of a country or territory. Theyre  a matter of fundamental law. Civil Liberties vs. Human Rights Civil liberties generally differ from human rights, which are universal rights to which all human beings are entitled regardless of where they live. Think of civil liberties as rights that a government is contractually obligated to protect, usually by a constitutional bill of rights. Human rights are rights implied by ones status as a person  whether the government has agreed to protect them or not. Most governments have adopted constitutional bills of rights that make some pretense of protecting basic human rights, so human rights and civil liberties overlap more often than they dont. When the word liberty is used in philosophy, it generally refers to what we would now call human rights rather than civil liberties because theyre regarded as universal principles and not subject to a specific national standard. The term civil rights is a near-synonym, but it often specifically refers to rights sought by African Americans during  the American civil rights movement. Some History The English phrase civil liberty was coined in a 1788 speech by James Wilson, a Pennsylvania state politician who was advocating the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Wilson said:   We have remarked, that civil government is necessary to the perfection of society. We now remark that civil liberty is necessary to the perfection of civil government. Civil liberty is natural liberty itself, divested only of that part, which, placed in the government, produces more good and happiness to the community than if it had remained in the individual. Hence it follows, that civil liberty, while it resigns a part of natural liberty, retains the free and generous exercise of all the human faculties, so far as it is compatible with the public welfare. But the concept of civil liberties dates back much further and most likely predates that of universal human rights. The 13th century English Magna Carta refers to itself as the great charter of the liberties of England, and of the liberties of the forest (magna carta libertatum), but we can trace the origin of civil liberties back much further to the Sumerian praise poem of Urukagina at around the 24th century BCE. The poem which establishes the civil liberties of orphans and widows and creates checks and balances to prevent government abuses of power. Contemporary Meaning In a contemporary U.S. context, the phrase civil liberties generally brings to mind the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a progressive advocacy and litigation organization that has promoted the phrase as part of its efforts to protect the authority of the U.S. Bill of Rights. The American Libertarian Party also claims to protect civil liberties but it has deemphasized civil liberties advocacy over the past several decades in favor of a more traditional form of paleoconservatism. It now prioritizes states rights rather than personal civil liberties. Neither major U.S. political party has a particularly impressive record on civil liberties, although the Democrats have historically been stronger on most issues due to their demographic diversity and relative independence from the Religious Right. Although the American conservative movement has had a more consistent record with respect to the Second Amendment and eminent domain, conservative politicians do not generally use the phrase civil liberties when referring to these issues. They tend to avoid talking about the Bill of Rights for fear of being labeled moderate or progressive. As has been largely true since the 18th century, civil liberties are not generally associated with conservative or traditionalist movements. When we consider that liberal or progressive movements have also historically failed to prioritize civil liberties, the necessity of aggressive civil liberties advocacy, independent of other political objectives, becomes clear.   Some Examples If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands, they must be made brighter in our own.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt  in a 1938 address to the National Education Association. Yet four years later, Roosevelt authorized the forcible internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans on the basis of ethnicity.   You dont have any civil liberties if youre dead. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) in a 2006 interview regarding post-9/11 legislation.Manifestly, there is no civil liberties crisis in this country. People who claim there is must have a different goal in mind. Ann Coulter in a 2003 column

The balance of power between the Executive and Legislative branches Essay

The balance of power between the Executive and Legislative branches has tipped in favour of a dominant Executive with negative c - Essay Example This means that no single arm of government should control the other two arms. However, this is not the case as seen in the study of the political system of Russia, United States of America and France, (Fitjar, 2010) Russia Russia emerged after the breakup of the United Social Soviet republic. It is made up of eighty nine republics and other jurisdictions. Russia’s political system is different from that of the United States of America and France. This is because the constitution, which was adopted in 1993 provided that Russia be governed by the three arms of government. However, the constitution did not give equal powers to all the arms of government. For example, the president is both the commander in chief of the armed forces and the chair to the Security Council. Vladimir Putin is said to have used this power to strengthen his office. The executive arm of the Russian government is comprises the prime minister, other cabinet ministers and the attorney general, (White, 2005) . The prime minister is appointed by the president and is the chair of the constitutional court which is the highest court in Russia. He is also the head of the Central Bank of Russia. Russia’s legislature is made up of two houses. The first house is the Federation council which is made up of 180 members who serve four years terms. The other house is the state Duma which is comprised of 450 members who also serve terms of four years. Both houses have different responsibilities. The State Duma has more powers than the Federal council which is viewed as a reviewing and consultation body. One important role of the legislature is to check and control the executive by making sure that transparency is observed in the operations of the government. However, in Russia the executive has dominated over the executive resulting in various consequences. The executive in Russia has dominated over the legislature in many ways. The president of Russia is allowed to appoint top government offi cials without consultation with the legislature. However, this is with the exception with the appointment of the prime minister where the lower house of the legislature should confirm the nominee for the position of prime minister. Despite this being the case, the president has the power to dissolve the lower house if they do not confirm a nominee to be the prime minister three times consecutively. This has resulted in the lower house accepting nominees for prime ministers since it faces the risk of dissolution if the nominees are not passed. It is said that it is through this that presidents like Vladimir Putin have taken advantage of this political system to empire their offices so that the government can be dominated by them. Another way that the executive in Russia destabilizes the balance of the executive and the legislature is by making sure they can control the federal council. The president does this by changing the process of ex official membership into presidential appoint ment. For example, in the year 2000 President Vladimir Putin replaced ex official members with those he appointed. This made sure he could influence decisions by the Federal Council in accordance with policies of the executive. Even though, the State Duma can pass a vote of no confidence for the government, the president has the powers to ignore the vote and even dissolve the house if they take another vote within the period of three months. United States of America The

Case Study - Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Case Study - Research Proposal - Essay Example This diminishes their quality of life and increase health care costs even though early detection can either prevent or lessen or postpone some of the emotional social and debilitating physical effects that these impairments have on the older people (Parmeleet al, 1992). The major key issue that I have encountered in this field is that those who have the responsibility of taking care of the aged always have a negative opinion towards the behavior of the aged people; they claim that, the aged are too demanding and always complaining. In addition to poor memory and loss of important sense which disable them to understand, reason and act as expected and due to these complications they create an unpleasant relationship with nurses in care homes and public in general and this sometimes results in neglect, abuse and mistreatment (Lau et al, 2001). Nursing homes should be located in a serene cool environment free of any form of disturbances and pollution with access to shops public transport and most importantly close to family and friends. It should also be designed such that it contains:- These properties ease work and reduce e stressing conditions experienced by nurses. A nursing home should also contain occupational and recreational facilities for the needs of its residents (Parmeleet al, 1992). ... A nursing home should also contain occupational and recreational facilities for the needs of its residents (Parmeleet al, 1992). There should be also sufficient security to ensure maximum safety and must of course comply with the building regulations and with general fire and safety rules since the homes are required to provide the residents with comfort. A nursing home must ensure that suitable, sufficient, nutrition and a variety of food is provided since dietary restriction on medical or religious grounds must be common also involving the residents in planning meal time and choice of food will reduce the rate of conflicts (Zerhusen et al, 1991) (ii) Education and training Nurse's area very busy due to the amount of work involved in nursing homes and must be in relatively good physical shape. They should also be good in communication skills in order to deal effectively with their patients by practicing good listening and giving clear directions to both patients and aides (Zerhusen et al, 1991). This is essential in dealing with human suffering and emergencies. In addition to fostering mutual understanding between the nurses and aged, the nurses must completely undergo through training in state approved practical nursing programs, which can be offered through community based, and technical programs. Also periodic licensing renewal is essential where the nurses are interviewed and their performance scrutinized and their service record checked (McCurren et al, 1999). In the improvement of prompt service provision new technology has to be implemented and this calls for further training of the nurses in regard to new systems and equipments introduced. Educating the nurses increases their understanding; attitude and insight in

The Concept Of Moral Panics

The Concept Of Moral Panics Societies generally appear to be the subject of moral panic now and then. Moral panic is a condition where there is a concern over the behaviour of certain group or a particular category and is a threat to the societal values and interests.(Cohen 1973). In the past it has been the drug culture of the fifties and sixties, or the disruptive behaviour of the Mods and Rockers, today we face panics over children who kill other children and also the threat to our health from outbreaks of BSE and E.coli food poisoning, teenagers gripped by a new and threatening drug epidemic, paedophile is one of the most prominent moral panic now a days( Watson 1989). To get a clear view on moral panic the essay focuses on the case study of moral panic created by the recent Paedophilia case as Craig Sweeney, 24, was jailed for life at Cardiff crown court for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a three-year-old girl in 2006. Firstly the essay discusses about how the media handles moral panic in good terms and would also explore on advantages of moral panic and the results of it. Secondly the essay expounds on the criticism of moral panic and the role of media in causing moral panic and as well as controlling it . Lastly the essay explains about the internet and in context to moral panic. Firstly the essay explains about the media handling moral panic and the advantages of moral panic. Modern moral panics are unthinkable without the media as the best way to understand the moral panics is through the media. The media used the case of a three year old girl getting sexually assaulted by Sweeney who was 24 years who was known to the girls family in 2006. The article was published in Guardian newspaper and the media issued a moral message for the nation to take on and poses that its a evil world so the nation needs strict rules. The media highlights and presents many issues and concerns to society and the public to gain awareness about the societal issues. The media played an specific role in expressing and activating hostility towards the paedophiles. Cohen ( 1973) states that the understanding the role of media becomes central . Most of the people are dependant on the media in knowing about the causes of deviance and their social reaction depends upon the information ava ilable. The media also informs about right and wrong and the boundaries beyond one shouldnt venture. Thus the media becomes central during moral panics. Furthermore, moral panics cause society to believe that the crime is worse. The path of the panic, that is in response to the growing concern and panic over child sex offences has more serious and lasting implications such as incorporation into legislation and social policy, that is the National Sex Offenders Register (Paedophile Register) in the late 1990s, However, according to Thompson(1998) there is a chance of the moral panic to either quickly die out and the intents and purpose is forgotten and also it might be that the public and media are searching for some new news. There has been criticism of moral panic and the media in the recent years. In fact according to Ben- Yehuda (1985), Moral panics serve as a mechanism for simultaneously strengthening and redrawing societys moral boundaries. The moral panic of the particular paedophilia case did not focus only on that three year old but also focused on the increasing rate of the paedophilia cases in the UK. Having looked at the g ood term of moral panic further the essay criticises moral panic. According to Watney( 1988) moral panic is criticised for implying that the state as a monolithic entity which initiates or exploits moral panics. Secondly the criticism of moral panic is in relation to the media. As mentioned above in the essay that the media is central during moral panic, However the media has been criticised in many ways. Cohen (1972) argued that the characterized press coverage of the events as exaggerated attention, exaggerated events, distortion, and stereotyping. It basically explains that the media tends to exaggerates the news and creates a greater amount of panic in the beginning of the moral panics. Thus the case of the three year old sexually getting assaulted, the media not only were the events over-reported but the coverage awarded them far outweighed their importance. Due to distorted and repeated false stories of the media seemed that the order of the day with little time or interest being given to what actually happened in fact generally the coverage of the press was seen to follow a stereotypical pattern and is a firm indicator of a moral panic taking place . For instance the case paedophilia, the media tend to cover the same stories in which the public might loose interest. The public on the other hand must show the potential to react to a particular issue in order for a media campaign to be built. For as Goode and Ben-Yehuda explain, that the media may well be infused with hysteria about a particular issue or condition but if this does not generate public concern then there is no moral panic (Goode Ben-Yehuda 1994: 26). However according to Fishman and Davis (1980) the repeated or the prolonged moral panics about the specific issues like the paedophilia cases which are a rise in UK give rise to the development of the dynamic characteristics of the social problem. On the other hand Rocheron and Linne(1989) explains that the moral panic is still criticised because it tends to attribute to the mass media which has the power to manipulate the public opinion and also fails to differentiate between what the public thinks as well as what the paper say. The new media also plays an important role in the case of moral panic. The real truth about paedophiles and the cases about paedophilia is not new to the public. What is suggested, however, is that there is now far more known about the prevalence of paedophilia. According to Curen J(1991)The news in internet are well reported, and newspapers can be browsed online on the internet which have done their bit to expose paedophile rings. Thus the public, when asked about their panic and violent fury toward paedophiles, quite understandably often point to the figures they are presented with (often by the press), figures which tell them child abuse is everywhere. However, Jenkins (1992) the internet can be the cause of moral panic, as due to the easy access now a days and the youth are exposed to the crime through the videos online and also pornography can be a reason for the increasing rate of the paedophile cases in UK. Thus the new media like the internet might be one of the causes for th e increase rate in such cases. To sum up the view of moral panic, the essay critically discussed about the concept of moral panic referring to the case of paedophilia where by a three year old girl was sexually assaulted by a 24 year old man. The essay critically analysed the concept of moral panic as it expounds on both sides of the coins that is the criticism of moral panic as well as the advantages of it. Firstly the essay discussed about the reaction of the media in context to moral panics in good terms and further more it also looks upon the advantages of moral panic like in creating awareness to the public. The essay also explains about the results of the paedophilia cases in the UK. Secondly as the essay is critically analysing the concept of moral panic, looks upon the criticism of moral panic and the reaction of the media. As the essay explains about the exaggeration of the moral panic with in the media and also states that the repeated news does not have an impact on the public. Finally the essay explain s about the new media that is the internet in context to the rise of the paedophile cases. As explained before due to the easy access to the World wide web it is possible that the youth are prone to watch pornography which might be a concern in the rise of the paedophile cases. Thus the moral panic is critically analysed. Pages: 4 Word count: 1475

Effective Team and Performance Management Essay

Effective Team and Performance Management Introduction            This is a report on the case study on team performance management of Electric Company. The report will borrow on theory and practice of both leadership and team management in order to explain the need for organisations to employ the use of employee teams which is a strategy designed to improve the performance of the employees. The report will begin with an introduction of the organisation in the case study and then proceed to the aims and objectives of the report. This will be followed by a discussion of the theories that have been used to describe team performance as well as the substitution of leaders by the teams. In this section, an empirical review on these theories will also be carried out. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations will be presented.            Electron, is a small manufacturing company that deals with the manufacture of telecommunications components. The company was established in 1997 and its headquarters is in the North of England. It should be noted that 90 out of 150 employees working at the headquarters work in the manufacturing department. The company operates using the traditional organisation structure divided into various departments such as manufacturing, finance, human resource, sales and marketing and engineering departments. The management of the company decided to group the employees in the manufacturing department into 8 teams each consisting of 10 employees in order to increase their efficiency in terms of the quality and the quantity of work done. The management of the company wanted to establish whether the teams would perform better as compared to when employees were working individually. This report therefore aims to evaluate the performance of the selected teams borrowing heavily on theory and empirical evidence to determine the appropriateness of dividing employees into teams. the report will also rely heavily on the relevant work of other researchers and academicians. The report will also make conclusions on the performance of teams as well as make recommendations on what the best practices are on employee team performance (Mueller, Procter & Buchanan, 2000).            Team PerformanceIn today’s organisations, employees are increasingly being allocated to work groups as part of the strategy to increase their efficiency and output. This is also being done in order to ensure that employees work together in a more effective way and are able to exploit their potential to grow and develop in an optimal way. These work groups are normally designed such that the employees are working together on some common activities in manner that is co-ordinated and in most occasions, these activities cannot be carried out successfully through individual effort alone. In such a case where employees are working together in group for a common goal, this is normally referred to as team work and the groups are normally referred to as teams. It should be noted that in an organisation setting, managers or supervisors can form employee teams on a temporary or permanent basis and the compositions of these teams varies with the purpose for which the te am is created in the first place. This means that there are teams that will constitute of employees from the same department while there are teams which will be made up of employees from across the various departments of the organisation. There are various attributes that will determine whether a team is successful in its activities; however, of a lot of importance is the support from senior management, training and development as well as the devotion and dedication of team members in the execution of their duties (Parker, 1990).            Teams and leadershipTeams are today required to take care of a lot of the duties that were previously assigned to supervisors and therefore various scholars and academicians have made suggestions that teams have come to be substitutes of leadership in organisations of the 21st century. They also argue that as a result of this change, supervisors on the other hand have also evolved from being foremen to mere facilitators of the activities of the team members (Huusko, 2006). In practice therefore, in a situation where the organisation employees are divided into teams, the number of supervisors greatly reduce since the hierarchical structure of the organisation is lowered and the organisation adopts a more flat organisation structure. This therefore means that the role of leadership in the organisation is faced with a new challenging situation where they no longer have a clearly laid down way of operating as their duties have been taken over by the new teams.            There are various theories that have attempted to explain the idea of the substitution of leadership and an example of such is the idea that deals with the idea of moderators that are known to influence the actions of leaders and leaders’ substitutes in different ways. The idea suggests that most of the current arrangements evident in organisations today such as teams, management from a distance and others have various effects on the roles of leaders in the organisation and can either support them or substitute them and even reduce the impact that leaders have on the employees of the organisation. This can occur in a case where the management and the employees are separated by a long distance and may therefore not understand the instructions given to them by their supervisors if proper communication channels have not been established. Researchers on leadership substitutes have also brought a legal angle into the discussion where they argue that employees may receive the needed guidance or instructions from their supervisors but take it for granted that the information comes from the supervisors as they are the primary suppliers of such information in the organisational structure (Howell et al., 1990).            In the case of Electric Company, it is evident that the older team members were given the responsibility of ensuring that the new team members understood the norms of the team and that they obeyed the rules of the team as well as ensure that they were fully and successfully integrated into the value based social order. This therefore means that the role of supervisors and other leadership persons in the organisation was taken over by the older members of the teams indicating that there was a substitution of leadership roles by the teams. This has been clearly supported by both the theories above and the empirical evidence.            Another theory that explains the substitution of leadership by team members is the theory of functional leadership. Researchers have used this leadership perspective to argue that effective team leaders are normally able to follow the activities of their team members and also normally take over any leadership roles in the team at any time when there is need for such an action (Zaccaro, Rittman, & Marks, 2001). This means that a team leader’s primary responsibility in the organisation is to plan the activities of the team and to continuously follow the activities of the team members as well as to determine the functions that are not being carried out in the right way and those that are missing in order to either perform the duties themselves or ensure that team members are made aware of them and directed to carry them out. The functional leadership theory is based on the premise that certain team circumstances normally drive the actions of the team members as well as the team leaders and they therefore call for some leadership activities to be adopted by the team leaders. This means that once the team leaders adopt these jobs then the leaders are left with no duties and therefore become useless in the organisational structure (Zaccaro, 2002).            In most organisations therefore, this theory suggests that leadership behaviours become irrelevant and ineffective in guiding the actions of the teams and therefore the success of teams does not require the involvement of leaders but the guidance of the team leaders and the dedication of the team members. The argument by this theory is therefore in line with the contingency theories of leadership which suggest that leadership effectiveness is normally influenced by the context of leadership, the situation facing the leader at a particular time as well as the organisational conditions at specific times (House, 1971). This means that the characteristics and behaviours of the team members and the team leaders are able to take the place of leadership processes thereby substituting the role of leadership in the organisation. This moves the focus of leadership functions from the person or individual leader to the functions of leadership and extends the idea that leadersh ip functions can be found from other sources other than the organisational leaders themselves.            This is the situation that was experienced by the employees at Electron Company when new members were introduced into the teams. the old team members who were already aware of the values and norms of their teams naturally assumed leadership roles and guided the new members to understand and identify with these team values as they best as they could as this is what drove the dedication of team members in general as well as the performance of the team as compared to the other teams. The result was that the older team members were exerting control over the actions of the new team members and therefore the new team members saw the need to follow the laid down values of the team. This led to a situation where the new team members also started controlling themselves in terms of their actions and behaviour towards work and other team members (Kerr & Jermier, 1978). This therefore made it possible for the values and norms of the teams to be translated into simple rules and regulations that all new employees could understand easily and therefore fit into their assigned teams with ease. The assumption of the responsibility of guiding the new team members by the old team members therefore substituted the need for leadership in the management of the company.            The new way of carrying out duties amongst the team members resulted in a situation where the common values and norms of the team members were gradually turned into properly laid down rules and regulation and it was the responsibility of each team member to follow them in order to effectively contribute to the success of the organisation at large. This therefore means that team members were no longer acting on the instructions of the team leaders but their actions were being guided by the rules and regulations that they had set up themselves. Team members found it easy to follow these rules and regulations as they had played a part in their making and therefore felt more comfortable following hem unlike in a case where these rules had been established by the management of the company without their involvement in any way. Team members found it hard not to follow the rules because of the peer pressure that they experienced from other team members and due to the fact that the rules were such that failure to follow them would lead to punitive actions against the team member. Employee effectiveness was therefore ensured through peer pressure and the fact that older members were very keen to avoid a situation where they could be seen as being too harsh to the new employees. They therefore ensured that they carried out their duties according to the laid down procedures and therefore the new team members were left with no option but to adapt to the situation and follow the actions of the older ones. This situation effectively removed the need for leadership individuals in the structure as the team members were able to control them and ensure that all employees worked for the greater good of the company (Kerr & Jermier, 1978).            Determinants of team performanceResearchers have argued that although most employee groups can be referred to as teams, it should be noted that there are several major differences that distinguish groups and teams and these are very important for anyone to understand in order not to make the mistake of confusing the two. In most cases, groups are normally made up of people who meet through the fact that they share a common interest such as past time activity or sport while a team on the other hand can still be made up of people who share a common interest but the major reason for their being in the same team is the fact that they have complimentary abilities or qualities. This means that for a team to succeed in what they do, they have to work together and combine their efforts and skills otherwise they will just be working as individuals. The main advantage of teams is that they have the energy and the power needed to complete particular tasks and activities which would have been impossible if there was no team in the first place and an individual was carrying out the task by their own. It has been argued that although each member of the team has some unique abilities or skills, they cannot be able to use them and succeed in the execution of the task if they are working alone and therefore they must be in the team for their efforts to count in the execution of the task or activity (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996).            Researchers have also argued that one of the important factors that determine the way people conduct themselves when they are in a team is self-awareness. In today’s business setting, most organisations, through the use of human resource development professionals as well as consultants, have developed various tests that are designed to help employees more self-aware thereby improving their understanding of themselves and what motivates them to act in particular ways. Researchers have however noted that the results of the assessments normally rely on the individual employee’s self-reporting and therefore the outcome of the tests may not be objective in nature and in most cases they are always positive as it is human nature not to say anything negative about oneself. The reason for this is that human beings are known to agree with their personal thoughts. Researchers therefore suggests that employees may fake their personal abilities and they may also b e unrealistic in the way they view themselves and therefore the opinion of others about our abilities or attributes may be disregarded when assuming team roles. This means that the performance of the team may be adversely affected if only an individual’s opinion is considered when assigning team roles (Belbin, 1981).            Various researchers such as Salas, Cooke, & Rosen, (2008) and Cohen & Bailey (1997) have empirically examined the issue of team performance. Traditionally, the effectiveness of a team has been measured by researchers and academicians either through the use of unidimensional models of effectiveness such as real productivity of the team and the objective measurement of team performance or through the use of multidimensional models which normally adopt a wider spectrum of measures other than productivity. These other measures could be the attitude of the members of the team, their behaviour and their levels of job satisfaction (Pina, Martinez, & Martinez, 2008). Empirical research has also revealed that there are three most common measurements that are used to measure team effectiveness and these are performance effectiveness measured in terms of the quality and quantity of the team output, the attitude of the team members measured in terms of level of trust and level of job satisfaction and finally the behavioural outcomes of team members measure in terms of employee turnover and the level of absenteeism among the team members. Researchers however point out that the three measures are used in varying degrees in each team and the degree of usage in a specific team will be influenced by the type of activities that the team engages in (Pina et al., 2008).            ConclusionsThe evaluation of the theories and empirical literature carried out above regarding substitution of leadership functions by the use of teams in organisations shows that it is clear that the future of organisations is towards the establishment of employee teams in the quest for much more concentrated efforts in delivering efficient services and in ensuring that employees are able to maximise their growth and development potential within the organisations. It is clear that using teams in organisations leads to a situation where team members tend to come up with their own norms and values that guide their actions and behaviours and these values and norms finally end up being translated into laws and regulations that all employees in the team can clearly understand and are expected to follow without being reminded by the leaders in the organisation (Mullen, et al., 1994). The emergence of these rules laid down by the team members themselves lead to a situati on where all members of the team know their exact duties and roles in the team and therefore carry out their duties without the need for supervision. This situation has effectively reduced the need for leaders in the organisation as their roles have been slowly eroded by the activities of these teams. This is exactly what happened in the case of Electric Company where the rules that were established by team members took the place of supervisors in guiding the actions of employees. These teams also influence the performance of individual employees and it has been established that individuals in teams tend to perform much better than if they were working individually.            RecommendationsFollowing the discussion above and the conclusions that have been made regarding the role of teams in the organisations and how their performance can be measured and improved, there are various recommendations to the management of companies that will lead to the better performance of teams and the organisations in general. The management of Electric Company should develop a human resource development program aimed at training the team leaders on the formal decision making process and other managerial roles in order to ensure that they are more effective in guiding their team members to better performance. The management of the company should also ensure that selection and assignment of employees to different teams should take into account the individual skills and abilities of the employees in order to ensure that they contribute to the well-being of the organisation through improved performance. Finally, employees themselves should ensure that they follow the laid down team rules and regulations and therefore ensure that they carry out their team roles without being reminded as their individual actions are what will lead to the success of the entire team. It is therefore important for organisations to consider developing various teams among their employees as this will lead to better performance and may also lead to lower costs incurred to maintain supervisors and other leaders in the organisation. References Belbin R. M. (1981) Management Teams: Why they succeed or fail. London, Butterworth-Heinemann.Guzzo, R. A., & Dickson, M. W. (1996). Teams in organizations: Recent research on performance and effectiveness. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 307–338. House, R. J. (1971). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15, 321–338. Howell, J.P., Bowen, D.E., Dorfman, P.W., Kerr, S. & Podsakoff, P.M. (1990), Substitutes for leadership: effective alternatives to ineffective leadership, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 20-38. Huusko, L. (2006), The lack of skills: an obstacle in teamwork, Team Performance Management: An International Journal, Vol. 12 Nos 1/2, pp. 5-16. Kerr, S., & Jermier, J. M. (1978). Substitutes for leadership: Their meaning and measurement, Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, vol. 22 no.3, pp. 375–403. Mueller, F., Procter, S. & Buchanan, D. (2000), Teamworking in its context(s): antecedents, nature and dimensions, Human Relations, Vol. 53 No. 11, pp. 1387-424. Parker, G. M. (1990). Team Players and Teamwork: The New Competitive Business Strategy. Oxford: Jossey-Bass Zaccaro, S. J. (2002). Organizational leadership and social intelligence. In R. E. Riggio, S. E. Murphy, & F. J. Pirozzolo (Eds.), Multiple intelligences and leadership (pp. 29–54). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Zaccaro, S. J., Rittman, A. L., & Marks, M. A. (2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12, 451–483. Cohen, S. G., & Bailey, D. E. (1997). What makes teams work: Group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite. Journal of Management, 23(3), 239–290. Salas, E., Cooke, N. J., & Rosen, M. A. (2008). On teams, teamwork, and team performance: Discoveries and development. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50(3), 540–547. Pina, M. I. D., Martinez, A. M. R., & Martinez, L. G. (2008). Teams in organizations: A review on team effectiveness. Team Performance Management, 14(1/2), 7–21. Mullen, B., Anthony, T., Salas, E., & Driskell, J. E. (1994). Group cohesiveness and quality of decision making: An integration of tests of the groupthink hypothesis. Small Group Research, 25(2), 189–204. Source document

Ethnic Images in American Film and Television Essay

This literature review seeks to examine ways in which gender ethnic stereotypes in the media have been reviewed and the conclusions that have been observed regarding the negative continuance of gender ethnic stereotypes in the media. In addition, this paper includes research on the influence the media has to shape women’s attitudes through numerous resources of gender stereotyped images and language use. The term media in this research paper will be used very loosely, allowing me to cover areas in which gender ethnic stereotypes occur. The most common stereotypes are from film, television, internet and print media’s. With all the media outlets, viewers are noticeable to portrayal of what and how people of certain ethnicities act. The cultures I decided to focus on are African- Americans, European Americans and Hispanics. These ethnic groups tend to be in the lime-light for numerous accounts whether it’s positive recognition or backlash. Most often in film African- Americans characters are stereotyped as being the slaves â€Å"Djanjo and 12 Years a slave†, or being a Brash woman. European Americans on television tend to be inferior, and have leading roles, money, guns and the hot men. Lastly, Hispanics are stereotyped as Spanish speakers, and are typically the ones cleaning houses in the movies. Stereotyping occurs any time there is a need to generalize a particular group of people order to make an otherwise complex environment easy to understand (Lester, P., M., and Susan D. R., p12). A particular trait is used as the basis for stereotyping. In essence, society stereotypes humanity by race or gender. Some groups are associated with some unique traits that the society uses to generally define it. It does not matter that individuals in that group are unique and do not subscribe to the label given to them. When it comes to stereotyping, every individual in that particular group is made equal. From the ethnicity point of view, some ethnic groups are given so much value whereas others are devalued (Lester, P., M., and Susan D. R., p22). This is because of the hierarchy that the society creates to define races and ethnic groups. Stereotyping can be positive or negative. When it is positive, the stereotyped group feels good. When it is negative, the stereotyped group feels offended and may even go to an extent of retaliating. It is also important to note that repetition in the stereotyping leads to normalization of the same, because when stereotypes are repeated, they become perpetuated and ultimately validated. Stereotypes are taken to be truths because they have a connotation of some truth about the members of that particular group in general. The most dangerous form of stereotyping is negative racial stereotyping. It leads to strife and war. Gender stereotyping is also very explicit. Media has not been left behind in propagating stereotype. The media use stereotypes to define people from different backgrounds. It generalizes the complex nature of people to a one general bracket so that it is easy to understand that particular group of people. It also has helped propagate gender stereotyping. Given the cove rage of the media in the society, it can be said that stereotyping has taken another level where every person is aware of it unlike in the past. Various illustrations of how the media influences gender and ethnic stereotyping                      Television has become the key propagator of ethnic stereotyping. According to Srividya R. and Saunders, M. S., (p1), African-Americans and Latino-Americans are always undermined; underrepresented, demeaned and marginalized when it comes to the mainstream media. All this happens in the lines of stereotyping. For instance, African-Americans are portrayed in such a manner that demeans them completely. They are represented as big, mean and big-mouthed. In addition, they are portrayed as lazy and unreliable. They assume the roles that demonstrate ruthlessness to stereotype them as so. Moreover, they are represented as unintelligent and loyal slaves who submit stupidly. With regard to the Latino-Americans, the media as portrayed them with derision. They are portrayed as lazy people who are unintelligent. In addition, they are taken to be oversexed and extremely promiscuous. They are stereotyped to be very violent and always being associated with criminal activities. They assume the roles that pertain to breaking laws. The media portrays these minor groups in America so negatively. The audience is left with the impression that that is how every African-American or Latino-American. Furthermore, Srividya, R., and Saunders, M. S., (p1) explain how the news stories are covered in the America. They cut out groups ethnically against the backdrop of ethnic stereotyping. When watching news over the television, it is easy to observe how stories relating to social class are framed. The minority groups take blames for their assumed laziness and criminal activities. The Blacks and the Latinos are viewed as non-contributors in the nation economy. Television enter taining programs are also based on the stereotyping. The minority groups are used to represent the unwise characters in the name of entertaining the audience. Crime dramas also represent the Blacks and Latinos as law-breakers. The media has been so keen on recording and televising issues that pertain to the aspects of stereotyping when dealing with the African-Americans and Latino-Americans. According to Lee, M.J et al., (p4), journalists pay little attention on the problems that affect these people. They do not highlight their plight. Instead they run after them whenever issues that concern such things as drug abuse and criminal activities have been mentioned. They put keen interest to the conflicts that touch on the racial aspects as well as the surrounding controversies. They make these the breaking news and literally ignore the true nature of the lives of these people. The audience is left wondering who the Blacks and Latinos are. For the majority, the impression that they make about these minority group of people in America is that they are drug barons and criminals. The riots that happened in Los Angeles in 1992 give a vivid illustration of how the media tends to portray the Blacks and the Latinos (Lee, M.J., et al., p 5). While covering the story, the Black community was made to appear as the people responsible for the riots and the subsequent disturbances. Hispanics were also implicated at a greater degree. Most of those arrested came from the minority groups. This is a clear indication that due to failure of the media to give the true background of the conflicts, and hence generalizing the event, led to many Blacks and Hispanic arrests. The negative image painted about these people following that incident was demeaning. In addition, it is important to state here that whenever cases of riots erupt, the culprits are the Blacks, the Latinos and the Hispanics, thanks to the extensive level of media role in stereotyping. Another illustration is the films such as the â€Å"Boys in the Hood† and â€Å"Menace II Society†. These films have portrayed young blacks as criminals. As such, they have attracted a lot of audience and consequently, they have sold a lot in America (Saunders, M. S., and Sirvidya, R., p3). The audience has been tuned by the media to believe and like stories that demean the minority groups around America. Whenever a black-American is seen, he is seen as a threat to the security of the society. Considering the case of beating of Rodney King in 1991 (Miller, R.M., p32) the effects of this stereotyping is observed. During the trial, the defense team composed of four police officers said that they decided to beat Rodney because they feared that he could have been harmed. The fear in this sense signifies what every white person feels whenever they encounter a Black in America. The excuse given is the order of the day whenever the whites are defending themselves against the B lacks. In most movies, male characters have always dominated the female characters (Saunders, M. S. and Srividya, R., p35). This is an extension of gender stereotyping. The society already has a notion that a woman is subject to the man. When the media in the form of movies portray women as inferior to men, then they serve to reinforce that already existing belief. In addition, in most of the American movies where Black females appear as characters, most of the cases the women are made to use vulgar language (Jefferson, S. T., p 3). They are also portrayed as violent. Are the Black women always violent? Is it true that they use vulgar language most of the time? The clear answer is no. the reason they are portrayed as such is to serve the interests of the white audience. The society has been shaped to like stories that negatively impact the Black community at the advantage of their white counterparts. The white audience is happy when they learn that their women, for instance, are more intell igent and better than the Blacks, at least according to the movies and media in general. Moreover, the Blacks have been used in the movies and film industry to take the roles that pertain to servitude and slavery. For instance, in the movie â€Å"12 Years of Slavery† it is a Black young lady who takes the role of the slave (Jefferson, S. T., p6). She serves a white family that often mistreats her. This is not an isolated case. In most other movies, the roles that require a slave character, the directors of the movie will more often than not choose to use a black character than a white character. They back their reasoning by saying that a black person portrays the role well. Why? It is because the audience feels more satisfied by a black slave than a white slave. Even crime scenes in the movies are taken up by the black characters most of the times. The print media has also been implicated in the propagation of the stereotyping. According to Lester P.M and Susan D. R., (p65), in the advertising segment, the Blacks are portrayed as unintelligent as compared to the white counterparts. The Hispanics are used to represent comic characters in their role. The Latinos are used mostly in cases of promiscuity. The White Americans are used when referring to the wise community, and often associated with status of affluence. The minority groups are portrayed as people who are poor and uneducated. The newspapers also portray the Blacks, Hispanics and Latinos as criminals when covering acts of crime. The bias created goes a long way to victimizing innocent people on the grounds of false beliefs created by the stereotypes. The media has portrayed African-Americans, Latino-Americans and Hispanics very negatively. It is not that all African-Americans are criminals. In fact, most of them are law-abiding citizens in America. It is not true that all Blacks in America are uneducated. As a matter of fact, there are blacks in America who are highly educated compared to the white Americans. Also, contrary to the way media depicts Blacks as poor people, there are Blacks that live affluent lives with every luxury that a White person can wish for. The same truth applies to the Latinos and Hispanics as well. Therefore, the media does not give the true picture of the minority communities. In essence, the media highlights the aspects that they think will raise the eyebrows of the audience who are the whites. Since the media in America seeks to serve the white audience at the expense of other communities living in America, stereotyping forms a part in racism. The overall result is racial discrimination that has penetr ated even in the job markets so that members of the minority group are not getting employments. For the audience, it is important to realize that not all that is portrayed by the media about others is truth. References Jefferson, Shani  T. â€Å"Occupational role portrayals of African-American women on prime-time television.† Ethnicity in America 2.1  (2005): 1-7. Print. Lee, Moon  J., Shannon  L. Bichard, Meagan  S. Irey, Heather  M. Walt, and Alana  J. Carlson. â€Å"Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption?† Howard Journal of Communications 4.3  (2009): 3-6. Print. Lester, Paul M, and Susan D. Ross. Images That Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in the Media. Westport, Conn: Praeger,  2003. Print. Miller, Randall M. Ethnic Images in American Film and Television. Philadelphia, U.S.A: Balch Institute,  1978. Print. Sanders, Meghan  S., and Srividya Ramasubramanian. â€Å"An Examination of African Americans’ Stereotyped Perceptions of Fictional Media Characters.† Howard Journal of Communications 6.3  (2012): 4-8. Print. Source document