Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix Essay

1. â€Å"There is no I in Team.† One for all and all for one best describes utilitarianism 2. â€Å"There is no I in team, but there is an M and a E (me).† To seek the greatest amount of pleasure for self and the majority of the group best describes Hedonism. 3. â€Å"I will do my best to do my duty†¦Ã¢â‚¬  To strive for excellence in everything you and others do and say best describes   Deontology. Multiple Choice 4. According to the Executive Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix, is an executive characterized as a weak â€Å"moral person† and a strong â€Å"moral manager.† a) Unethical leader b) Ethical leader c) Ethically neutral leader d) Hypocritical leader 5. According to the Executive Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix, is an executive characterized as a strong â€Å"moral person† and a strong â€Å"moral manager.† a) Unethical leader b) Ethical leader c) Ethically neutral leader d) Hypocritical leader 6. Which of the following is false? C a) Any attempt to change an organization’s ethics must consider the entire cultural system. b) A cultural system includes both formal and informal systems. c) An effective culture change may take as long as 1 to 2 years. d) New rules and values must be reinforced via training programs and reward systems. 7. Weak organizational cultures are: B a) desirable if an organization has many subcultures. b) desirable if an organization wants diversity of thought and action. c) desirable if an organization wants behavioral consistency. d) undesirable in all situations. 8. True or False? Given the less hierarchical organizational structures that are more common place today, it is less important to have strongly aligned ethical culture to guide employees in their independent decision-making. False 9. It is sufficient for executive leaders to be ethical persons and make ethical decisions. Employees do as they see. False 10. Cognitive moral development tells us that most people are looking outside of themselves for guidance on decision-making. This means that stated organizational policy can be an important source of guidance for employees in making decisions. True 11. The more a firm demands unquestioning obedience to authority, the more likely the firm will experience higher levels of unethical conduct among their employees. True 12. Describing the decision-making process in the language of ethics does not help individuals make more ethical decisions. False 13. An ethical culture is maintained through alignment between the formal and informal systems. True 14. A 2006 study found that 82 percent of Americans would prefer to be paid less but work for an ethical company than be paid more and work for an unethical company. True Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions a) Strong organizational culture b) Weak organizational culture c) Socialization (or enculturation) 15. Standards and guidelines that are known and widely shared by all. A 16. Subcultures within divisions or departments that are more likely to guide behavior. B 17. Process promoted through formal and informal transmission of norms. C Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions a) Heroes b) Norms c) Rituals d) Myths 18. Symbolically tells employees what the organization wants them to do and how it expects them to do it. C 19. Standards of behavior that are accepted as appropriate by members of a group. B 20. Symbolic figures who set standards of performance by modeling certain behaviors. A 21. Anecdotes about a sequence of events drawn from an organization’s history. D True or False? 22. It is unethical for managers to â€Å"control† employees’ ethical behavior through direct management and the organization’s formal and informal cultural systems. False Multiple Choice 23. Students may need more ethics training because research has found that they rank lower in moral reasoning than other students. a) Philosophy b) Political science c) Business d) Medicine 24. Ethical behavior can be influenced by a) an individual’s religion b) an organization’s culture c) ethical training d) an individual’s personality e) all of the above 25. According to the authors, ethical behavior is defined as: a) a set of moral principles or values that guide an individual b) rules of behavior set by the Federal government c) principles, norms, and standards agreed upon by society d) none of the above True or False? 26. According to the authors, most people are guided by a strict internal moral compass and will False 27. When employees come to an organization, they have already developed into â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad† apples. Therefore, there is little a manager can do to impact an employee’s ethical behavior. False 28. Federal laws define what is ethical. Therefore, all unethical behavior is considered unlawful. False 29. Discarding the few â€Å"bad apples† will usually solve all of the ethical problems within an organization. False Multiple Choice 30. of the following statements about the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention (the â€Å"Convention†) which are untrue. a.Participating countries include countries in Western Europe and North America b.The Convention requires signatories to make it a crime to bribe foreign public officials c.The Convention includes the application of criminal penalties d.The Convention bans gifts to political parties e.The Convention outlaws tax deductibility for bribes f.All are statements are true g.Statements d and e are untrue Bonus Questions: IBriefly describe and provide examples of three steps involved in changing an organization’s culture. 1. Diagnosis of the current state of the organization’s culture 2. Implementing a plan of change 3. Evaluating the state of the organizational culture after a plan has been implemented. IIIs there a difference between ethics, and morals? Explain your answer. Ethics is what is considered a right course of actions. (The Norm) Morals are what you consider a right course of action. (Personal Belief) IIIExplain why ethics without religion appears beneficial to the Theist as well as the Non-theist (Atheist)? Ethics without religion is an acceptable norm for theists and non-theists. An example of ethics without religion may include traffic lights. They are created for the greater good of society without regards to religious beliefs.

To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay

To Kill A Mocking Bird the character Tactics is a major role model to his children. During the novel Tactics teaches his children many Important values. The main values include: everyone is equal, to put yourself in other peoples shoes, and not to Judge others before you get to know them. Everyone is equal Is a major value that Tactics teaches his children. He wants to teach them that no matter what color, social status or appearance people are people and they should be treated politely and fairly.An example of this Is where Tactics chooses to defend a Negro, he shows his children that although this man Is a Negro (despised by the white community) he Is going to defend him Like any other person. â€Å"If I TLD I couldn't hold my head up In town, I couldn't represent this country In the legislature, I couldn't tell you or Gem not to do something again. † This shows that If Tactics were to refuse to represent Tom, Just because he Is a Negro, he would utterly ashamed of himself. He teaches his children that It Is wrong to treat someone Like badly Just because of their different colored skin. L don't see any harm in letting her go out there. Called look after her there as well as she does here. † This quote shows that Tactics trusts this person. It shows that he considers her as an equal adult and see's her fit to look after his children out of work hours. This sends a hidden message to his children that everyone is equal no matter what status they have. Equality is a big value that Tactics teaches his children and as they grow up they learn this valuable lesson. Understanding others is another important value that Tactics wants to teach his children.He wants them to put themselves in other peoples shoes so they can better understand people and accept them for who they are. An example of this is when Scout starts talking about her first day of school and the topic comes to Miss Caroline â€Å"-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. †˜ Tactics said that I had learned many things today and Miss Caroline had learned several things herself. She had learned not to hand something to a Cunningham, but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we'd have seen it was only an honest mistake on her part†¦. By telling Scout this, Tactics is getting his values across to his daughter. Tactics is teaching her to ‘put herself in other people's shoes'. Another example of understanding others is when Mr.. Lowell insults Tactics. â€Å"Gem see if you can stand in bib Ell's shoes for a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me will save Male Lowell one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take†¦.. Once again Tactics Is teaching his children this Important value. In the end Gem and Scout have a better understanding of people because of their fa thers values. Do not Judge other's before you meet them Is another Important value to Tactics. Tactics wants his children not to Judge people because of gossip. An example of this Is Tom Robinson. Everyone In the town assumed he was guilty straight away, Just because he Is a Negro. â€Å"that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women,†¦You know the truth and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some is a truth that applies to the human race and not one particular race of men. † This is an important message as it is not only for Gem and Scout but for the whole community. It teaches them not to Judge on the color of skin. It also teaches them that although one may do wrong not all are like that. Another example of Judgment is Boo Raddled. He is portrayed as a evil person through rumors and gossip. As children Gem and Scout are terrified of Boo.They listen to all the gossip and stories and make up a mental picture that he is a horrible person. But as they grow Tactics teaches them not to Judge others before you meet them and they find out that Boo is actually a kind person. â€Å"†¦ Tactics, he was real nice†¦ â€Å"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them. † It is at this stage that Scout learns this important value and starts understanding others. Tactics eventually teaches his children this extremely important value and it makes them better people.Tactics is an important role model for his children. He teaches them many important values to get them through life. The main focus of Attic's values relates to people and how you consider, understand, and Judge them. He teaches his children all of these values and they soon have a better understanding of people. As an important role model Tactics is partly responsible for their future, and by teaching his children these values he has given them a bright one. Word count: 905

Carl Sandburg Biography Essay

Carl Sandburg Biography Essay Carl Sandburg was unique compare to many other poets. All of the poems that he wrote were short and straight to the point. You would not find any poems that he had written that are over a page, yet still; his poems are very easy to understand. Sandburg lived through a lot of historic events, so all of his poems were about those historic events. As you know, history isnt always exciting or easy to learn. Yet, Sandburg was able to write about those times in a way that an average high school student can understand, unlike other poets like Emily Dickinson or Edgar Allen Poe. Carl Sandburg should be included in an anthology of American poetry because of his writing technique and experience. Sandburg used a lot of the generalization methods to make his poems simpler to understand. Even though we know that sometimes-generalizing things are not good, Sandburg did a great job of it and was still able to write out everything he wanted to. Like I said, Carl Sandburg lived through some of the most famous historic events in the United States of all time. He had seen events like World War I, the roaring 1920s, the Depression, World War II, the New Deal, and the Cold War. The anthology of American poetry needs more poets with his kind of experience. Ill bet you that he never had trouble trying to figure out what to write about. The poem I chose by Carl Sandburg was a poem called JAWS. Its a poem about World War I, and it talks about how the countries that were involved in the war had a chance to prevent war, but they ignored it. This poem should be included as an example of the poets work because its saying what we think and feel. When we learn about how World War I was started, we would be thinking dont these countries realize what theyre getting themselves into and dont they have consciences. The poem JAWS talks about all these things so we can relate to it. Another reason why I think this poem should be included as an example of the poets work is because its short and straight to the point. If you were to give a high school student a choice of either reading a page long poem or a paragraph long poem, most chances are that student will pick the paragraph long one. And just because the poem JAWS is short doesnt mean its not well written or incomplete with information. It has enough information for that certain type of poem and probably even an elementary student can understand it. This poem can be included in the canon because its about history and history is being taught on for all generations. It also should be included in the canon because not many poems in the canon are as short yet still contains so much information.

Americas post civil was growing pains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Americas post civil was growing pains - Essay Example But during this period, a lot of people who entered America suffered a lot of pain because of discrimination. The treatment of whites and blacks were different, and it took a long time before everything in immigration was smoothed out. Two questions loom on this topic: Could events have been different if President Lincoln had not been assassinated, and how industrialization affected the lives of the American citizens during this period. To the first question: Could events in the Reconstruction period have been different if President Lincoln had not been assassinated. Yes, I believe it would have been because he had a lenient plan of transformation. The period of 1865–77 was called the Reconstruction Period in the U.S. history because it was a time when the federal government reinstated the states that had seceded during the war. It was a time when President Lincoln had to face many political and social issues such as â€Å"how to deal with the states when they were reunited, how to deal with the freed slaves, and how should Southern whites be treated† (Kelly, n.d.). If President Lincoln had it his way and if he had not been assassinated, he would have had lenient proposals for the seceded states. First, he wanted to consider those states that seceded on or at the outbreak of war as if they had not seceded. He wanted to grant pardon to southerners who participated in the war if they pledged allegiance to the United States. Second, President Lincoln would allow readmission of the state if it formed a government that would guarantee freedom of slaves, and if 10% of white voters in that state took an oath of allegiance to the US (Kelly, n.d.). His political opponents did not agree with this and after his death, made the reintegration difficult. To the second question: How industrialization and urbanization affected the life of the average working American during the period. It was significantly affected in many ways: economically, socially and cultura lly. The industrialization that started in early 1800s continued to grow steadily amidst the Civil War, although the American industry at that time was described to be typically small. However, after the war, when reforms were introduced, industrialization grew more tremendously as machines replaced hand labor, railroad network allowed marketing and distribution of goods in many areas, and inventions made work processes easier. Machines produced a greater number of goods, gave jobs to more people, and created specialization and labor division. As industrialization grew, the life of the average American was affected. Since businesses were situated in cities, people began to flock the cities in droves to look for work. The availability of jobs in cities attracted people from the farms to the cities. This situation, according to the website of theusa.online.com (n.d.), created an economic division of the rich and the poor, which was widely resented by the people. It had created the wea lthy, middle class and the underprivileged class of society. Immigration caused the population of America to grow by more than double, from 40 million to 100 million from 1870 to 1970 (theusa.online.com, n.d.) This period also depicts different pictures of an era. The South was economically behind the North because of the war while the frontier life of the West ended. The South remained to be an agricultural area all throughout the period of industrialization. The farming

Establishment of Slavery in English Colonies Research Paper

Establishment of Slavery in English Colonies - Research Paper Example ough one should not excuse the men and women who started slavery in the colonies on the basis of cultural relativism, one also should not ignore the causes of slavery in the first place. First, understanding the origins of slavery is important for preventing the institution from ever returning. Second, it is important to scholars to understand the social and economic conditions of the early English colonies, and the perspective of slaves (and slaveholders) provides an excellent perspective on that history. Common belief in our day is that slavery itself began as an expression of racist ideologies against the African continent (Williams). However, it seems more likely that slavery took its origins in the English colonies with economic factors and the growing capitalist ideology sweeping across Europe and her farthest outposts. Slavery on the British Isles was nearly nonexistent throughout the kingdom’s history; nevertheless, the institution of slavery spread like wildfire throughout its colonies, and was common operating procedure by the 17th century. In her seminal work The Origin of American Slavery, historian Betty Wood addresses the question of social and economic causes for slavery in the English colonies. She ascribes the origin of slavery to both factors: racism and economics. She writes, â€Å"Albeit with the benefit of hindsight, it would seem from the outset American slavery was characterized by an awareness of ethnic differences that over the course of a century hardened into an overt racism† (Wood 7-8). But this does not answer the crucial question of whether racist ideologies or capitalist ideologies played the crucial role in the very beginning of slave trade. There are arguments to be made for either case. A Marxist historian, for instance, might blame capitalism more readily than a historian of African history, such as William Dillon Piersen in his Afrocentric From Africa to America. To consider both sides of the debate, one must analyze the

The Social Contract Theory and Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Social Contract Theory and Animals - Essay Example This essay stresses that human beings have no known form of direct duty to the animals. Only an individual who has a moral duty cannot be able to have a moral obligation. From the above understanding, animals have no moral duty and hence, no moral obligation. Both human beings and animals would have interest but the interests of human beings in the social contract theory override those of the animals. As such, if the human beings have an interest to kill and eat animals, that interest would be morally justified and it would override the interests that animals have to stay alive. No morals would have been broken in this case. This paper makes a conclusion that only rational beings can be in a position to enter into a social contract. Those beings that are not rational, that is the animals, lack this standing. The rational beings have moral duties and responsibilities that they are required to adhere to. On the contract, animals lack these moral duties and responsibilities. It would, therefore, be proper to argued that animals have no moral standing whatsoever and they cannot take part in a social contract. The form of protection given to human beings under the social contract by the government cannot possibly be given to the animals as well. The animals are still in a state of nature and they have no moral values guiding their day to day activities.

Human Right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Right - Essay Example The forces of telecommunication and economic development revolutions have been working in democratization process in the region, hence bringing about a political change. Through this, discrediting of the communist ideology has enabled people conduct their business out of the control of Chinese Communist Party. The approach of China towards human rights starts mainly out of the domestic concerns. Unlike the US, China’s concept of human right is parallel to the definition of basic rights such as security from violence (Wenjiang 425). Conversely, the US has always attached little importance to economic rights as a legal concern of human rights. For the Chinese government, political rights are there in place to serve social utility since making a strong nation is the utmost priority, hence the state collectivism (Wenjiang 425). Both US and China are in conflicts because of the different political systems for the respective governments have but the profound reason is basic values and different cultures between them. Due to these differences, the US seems not concerned of the pressing needs of the Chinese population in meeting their rights and needs (Kim 42). Over the years, the republic of China has had significant changes on in its social, political, and economic domains. These changes together with policies in China have left imprints on various human right issues in both dimensions of international and domestic. The most controversial policy in China is the One Child Policy and it has raised an array of human rights concerns like sex selective abortions and sterilization (Lee & Lee 88). Such policies are in practice under their traditional gender norms that see boys being in favor than their counterparts the girls. The N. Korean republic is an authoritarian nation under dictatorship where even citizens have no right to change the government. The government has denied its

CHEM 121 pre-lab Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CHEM 121 pre-lab - Speech or Presentation Example (Hints: volume = area x thickness. 1 mL = 1 cm3) Express your answer in cm2 and in miles2. 7. Let’s assume that your secondary education has led you to rob armored cars. In your latest heist, if you were faced with bags of coins that weighed the same, which bag would you take: pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters? Which bag contains more money? Important data: a penny weighs 3.09 g, a nickel weighs 4.88 g, a dime weighs 2.25 g, and a quarter weighs 5.68 g. (Naturally, show your work for full credit.) Hint: calculate the monetary density of each coin. Clearly monetary density of dimes is the highest and therefore, I would take the bag containing dimes as it contains more money. However, if I can afford to take one more bag I will not like to leave the quarters bag as well. 8. What would be the effect on your calculated value of the density of water if there was an air bubble in the pipet when you transferred the water into the empty vial? Would the value be higher or lower or would there be no change? Explain your answer If there was an air bubble in the pipet while transferring the water in the vial for density measurement, the measured value of density will be lower than the actual value as the volume has been measured on higher side erroneously due to entrapped air bubble. 9. What would be the effect on your calculated value of the density of water if â€Å"empty† vial had not been completely dried before weighing? Would the value be higher or lower or would there be no change? Explain your answer The measured value of density of water will not be affected in this case as the mass of empty vial is deducted to calculate the mass of the measured volume of water. Therefore, whether the vial was completely dry or not will not affect the

Air Pollution in Beijing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Air Pollution in Beijing - Essay Example Notably, PM2.5 is most usually associated with cardiovascular deaths as shown by most cohort studies. Notably, the focus on the above statement of PM is basically correct. Automatically, air emissions in conjunction with PM2.5 particles are generally responsible for cardiovascular diseases which causes health hazard to human being. Coal consumption is another huge factor that constitutes the challenge of air pollution in Beijing. In order to manage this pollution, the government of China must control the regional total coal consumption; replace urban coal consumption with another energy source and treatment of coal pollutant. Therefore, in order to cope with the severe air pollution brought about by coal combustion, pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emission should be piped. In this regard, the state has come up with a DE-Nox subsiding scheme that releases thermal power industry pollution emission standards (GB3096-2012) that require all existing power plants to me et tighter pollutant emissions limits by 2014 (Greenpeace, 2012).In addition, it has recommended the shutdown of coal-fired industry boilers or their replacement with a more cleaner-energy industries. Disregard to environmental laws by citizens is another cause of the air pollution in Beijing. Currently, China`s charges for atmospheric pollutants are far much lower than the set costs of end of pipe contamination control. This has, to some extent, disheartened many enterprises from creating changes, and made it difficult to clearly define lawful and illegal pollutant discharging. A hike in pollution emission charges and strengthened supervision hard work could help make unlawful... This essay focuses mostly on air pollution levels in the capital city of China, Beijing, that has overtime become an ever increasing issue among environmentalist and residents in China. As the researcher states, any hopes of resolving this national calamity seems like just a mere dream. According to Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, the current quality of air is reported to be above 300, which is considered hazardous by the World Health Organization. This is because dense smog hangs down the atmosphere affecting the people of Beijing. The monitoring stations also observed that atmospheric particulates known as PM 2.5 are mostly responsible for air pollution in Beijing. The researcher explaines the PM 2.5 can be described as small, invisible particles which affect and damage respiratory system. In conclusion it is summed up that, Beijing is a city powered by coal-fired electricity stations, which are responsible for air pollution and which continues to have potentiall y lethal impacts on China`s urban population. Polluted air consists of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, which affect the respiratory system. When inhaled, they adversely affect the body by contributing to numerous respiratory problems, certainly for people susceptible to allergic reactions and asthmatic condition. Therefore, the researcher reccomends that the Chinese government should work on a plan on how to reduce air pollution more and make the atmosphere clean for all citizens.

Malaysian stock market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Malaysian stock market - Essay Example Using Duncan & Etebari's (1990) method, an initial sample of five securities firms in the KLSE which posted the largest price gains for each of the 49 trading weeks of 2005 will be obtained, all of which were queried by the KLSE during the same period as well. From the price data, initial raw returns will be calculated which in turn will be used to estimate average and cumulative average returns. Conversely, a measure of 'unusual' trading volume will be obtained from the samples by still using Duncan & Etebari's method in measuring abnormal trading volume. A t-test will be applied to determine if behaviour of the average and cumulative returns and positive abnormal volume results are significantly different from zero. Information disclosure is one of the most crucial ingredients for the effective operation of stock markets. Yang and Wu (2002) cite that the financial crisis in Southeast Asian countries that broke out in 1997 and the Enron bankruptcy case in the United States capital market in 2001 provide negative examples that teach about the importance of information on the stock market. Inadequate and even fraudulent information disclosure would bring tremendous negative effect on the effective operation of the whole capital market (Yang and Wu, 2002). As a listed company making full disclosure reduces information asymmetry and enables the public to have information necessary to make informed decisions (Hwa, 2004), Bursa Malaysia demands and requires issuing listed company for explanation when it observes unusual share price or trading volume changes for that company. As stated in the Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements, paragraph 9.02(2), "a listed company is required to make immediate public disclosure of any material information." When information is voluntarily withheld, the company must closely monitor the share price of the company during the period. A company must make immediate announcement to Bursa Malaysia upon detecting unusual circumstances such as heavy share transaction volume, unusual market activity, surfacing rumours or news and signs that insider trading are happening. The company under these situations must immediately publicly clarify, confirm or deny the rumour or report (Hwa, 2004). Such a response may have i nformation content and thus market impact. The role of informational content of companies' responses to unusual market activity observed by the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange is the prime component of the study. The theory of efficient capital markets provides that stock prices will respond to announcements only when the information being announced is new and unexpected. Because changes in stock prices are unpredictable, when information is announced that has been expected by the market, the stock price will remain unchanged (Mishkin, 2003). Studies done by Teitenberg and Wheeler (2001) on information disclosure strategies write that public announcements do seen to affect the market valuations of firms. Effective information disclosure also entails the reduction or the control of insider trading in the stock market. In

Discuss the writers use of the supernatural Essay Example for Free

Discuss the writers use of the supernatural Essay The two stories resemble each other with the idea they communicate with the reader, that people should respect the supernatural. In the Withered Arm, Thomas Hardy develops why we should fear and respect the supernatural by showing that by mocking Gertrude about her medicines and counter curses, Farmer Lodge ended up with a dead son and a dead wife. He also ended up selling all his land because he could not endure staying in the village with everyone gossiping about him. Also by keeping the tempo of the story fast and building up to all the supernatural events keeps us tense. In the Monkeys Paw, Sergeant Major Morris warns the White family about the consequences of the wishes the paw grants. However the White family do not take heed of the warning and take advantage of the paw and in doing so, they end up with their son dead, Mrs. White acting senselessly to try and bring back her son and Mr. White having to wish his son back to the grave. The author is trying to tell us that if you do not respect the supernatural and take advantage of it, you will feel its wrath. The two stories are alike in other ways. Both stories involve young innocent people suffering. In the Monkeys Paw Herbert died for his familys foolishness. Whilst in the Withered Arm it was Rhodas and Farmer Lodges son that was innocently sent to the gallows. Another similarity is that people that were selfish earlier on in the stories are punished in the end. Mr. White is self-seeking at the start of the Monkeys Paw and does not take Sergeant Major Morris advice and his son dies as a result. In the Withered Arm Farmer Lodge is punished for his negligence shown to his son and his failure to accept the responsibility for his son. The consequence for this is the eventual hanging of his only son. Also both stories have ironic twists. In the Monkeys Paw the family wishes for two hundred pounds and after the money doesnt appear straight away, Herbert says Well I dont see the money, and I bet I never shall. The wish eventually does come true and the money is handed over to the family but only as an insurance payout for Herberts death at the factory. So the irony is that Herbert will never actually see the money. In the Withered Arm the ironic twist is that when Gertrude was waiting for a hanging she got so desperate that she used to pray for a hanging O Lord, hang some guilty or innocent person soon! It turned out her prayers were answered but the man seen to be in the wrong turned out to be Farmer Lodges and Rhoda Brooks son but it seemed the boy was wrongfully charged with arson. At the hanging, Farmer Lodge and Rhoda were present in the crowd and once Gertrude had realized the hung man must be their son, she entered a sense of shock. This proved too much for her and she died. The irony is that she prayed for a man to be hung, so that she could cure herself but the man in the end was her husbands son and this did the opposite of curing her and the shock of it all ended her life. In conclusion, the writers use the supernatural to show the reader that if you ridicule the supernatural, it will backfire on you and you will feel the consequences greatly. Also they try and make you scared of the supernatural by making the paranormal events happen to normal people. Meaning it could have been you instead.

Only in America Essay Example for Free

Only in America Essay â€Å"Only in America† was written by Leiber, Stoller, Weill, and Mann (1963) as a song to propagate the American dream. After more than four decades of American dream to own a house, a car, and to have a good-paying job one can see that it is not enough any longer for many ‘new’ Americans. Hard work and determination perhaps were good enough tools to â€Å"take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars†¦Ã¢â‚¬  four decades ago (that is if you were the right skin color) but not any longer. It does take a genius of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to become wealthy using their own talents as leverage. Or it takes a sheer luck and some intuition to participate in real estate speculations at exactly the right time. Either, that precludes honest working folks who work their given hours a week and get enough to pay the bills. More (2003) compared such to a drug â€Å"first prescribed to us as children in the form of a fairy tale. † Certainly, it happens for some, for a very few. It does seem that those very few knew exactly what they were doing – either investing into the right stock, buying properties when they still cost in low 100s in California, or get on the tip of the wave of progress, like Bill Gates did. Well, for the few it worked but not for the majority of us. It is not difficult to figure out the reasons. A rational thought would suggest that American government is able to render every citizen rich – not necessarily with the money distribution but with the controlling the purchase power of an average citizen. If to eliminate the political agenda and change the status quo to people-centered market, it is not difficult to see that one carrying President of the country can do so by a) eliminating unnecessary government agencies and departments and b) removing political and financial limitations to the free enterprise. The latter action by itself can be very powerful for business owners not having a need to compensate for the high rents and other costs to run a business will keep their products of low cost. Everything, from energy to communication services, to the infrastructure will cost less, much less as the result. Any business owner understands that selling products by the quantity will bring more financial result than doing so by higher cost and selling by the lesser numbers. As the result, people, even those with meager incomes, will have more purchase power by being able to afford much more than they can do today. That would raise the daily comfort of people. They would become content for their minds would not be preoccupied with the sheer necessities needed by their families. Material things and services, like houses, cars, food, clothes, education needs, health needs should not cost so much of a fortune that people must get into the life-time debt to be able to afford it. If the necessities are met and people do not have a difficult time to find an appropriate for them job, the content should become widespread. As of now, most people live in fear, in fear of loosing their jobs, in fear not being able to pay the mortgage and the car notes, for fear not being able to meet their responsibility to their families. People who live by such fear cannot experience content. I once knew a family, good solid one. He was a teacher working in the same district for over a decade. She worked at the bank. They had a nice house, two cars, good-looking furniture, but could not save enough to pay their financial obligations sooner. They lived a nice life, but in debt. And then, the tragedy stroke. He lost the purpose, feeling stagnated he left to his home country that he came from originally. Looking for happiness, he left his wife and children. To avoid gossip and talk in their community, she moved to another state with 50K dollars that came from his retirement plan. Because she could not afford to continue paying for the house, the house was foreclosed. The same happened with one of the cars. Her credit was in ruin, and now she had to start anew. She was afraid to touch the money, whatever left from moving and initial expenses. After three months, she found a job at the bank. The income was just enough to cover rent and monthly bills. What did happen to such a strong family who used to have everything: each other, nice house, cars, two wonderful kids, and ability to buy things they wanted†¦? One could say they lived American Dream, but did they? Does material things constitute the Dream most people strive to in their lives? It is apparent to me, that people who do not have material comfort around them, whose life is difficult because they have to calculate whether they have enough money to purchase oranges or grapes but cannot afford both, they would think that the end to their means would be living like that couple lived. And yet, my friend, being a nice and decent man felt trapped and not content. Once people obtain the material means around them they soon realize that their American Dream was not fancy cars or bigger homes – it is the opportunity to do what their heart desires: self-expression in the least amount. That would not happen if he had an opportunity to change a job that he was doing for 26 years, or at least to take a year of sabbatical. That would not happen if they were not in debt paying $ 2500 for the house and $ 1000 a month for their two cars. That would not happen if financial obligations did not overload him conflicting with his inner desires. Here, I believe I came to the root of the question whether this great country can give a feeling of being at home. Obviously, having enough income is not enough. Eliminating the need to obtain debts to rise economically perhaps would do for some. To my opinion, however, the concept of American Dream was neither of that: it had nothing to do with the financial part of it. If one looks deeper perhaps it can be seen that the fulfillment of personal dreams through the structure’s support to each family’s happiness can render people happier, and if happy they feel the more at home they would consider the country they live in. When people have to struggle thinking about their family economics and knowing that they cannot change their occupations because the discontinuation of income would bring their family to the financial ruin, they cannot think of their personal development through the change of direction in their life. They grow more and more discontent and discontented people are bitter people, people who can at the brink of a move quit their country and go looking for the happiness elsewhere. In conclusion, more and more people understand that described is not enough to be happy in life, that doing the job for the only purpose to get the money to buy the house and a nice car causes stagnation, and as the result unhappiness and discontent. An opportunity that was promised as a part of all American dream is waning and harder to grasp. That is because people understand more and more that to be called Home, the society must offer something else: as in the promise to personal fulfillment – whatever it be. The idea of a home can be different from different perspectives. Certainly, living in a house with the backyard, driving a brand new car, and having a respectable income can make characteristics of a home for many people who had never had such before. Yet, for others these are not enough for they seek something else, perhaps certain characteristics of the society that increase the degree of their satisfaction from living this life. Yet for others the dream is to become wealthy just to discover (in case if they achieve it) that even that was an illusion. The idea of a home cannot be objectified for it is unique to the subjective perception of every person who lives within the society. References More, M. (2003). Dude, where’s my country? (publisher? ) Jay and the Americans (1963). Only in America. Song written by Leiber, J. , Stoller, M. , Weill, C. , and Mann, B.

Dss Analysis And Decision Support System Information Technology Essay

Dss Analysis And Decision Support System Information Technology Essay Abstract During our study and research on DSS we came to mutual agreement that DSS is an ever evolving domain. Lot of research has been carried out on the usage of DSS in many different domains especially in Clinic. But we found that research on the DSS System as a whole (regardless of which domain) has not been conducted many times in the past. Based on the initial study we have identified the following problems 1. There is no universally accepted definition for DSS, 2. There have been a many reports of failure of DSS systems. In the research paper below we have tried to define DSS system based on the Characteristics and the Targeted users. Paper also covers the decision making process, the decision analysis cycle, Framework of DSS which form the base of the DSS. We have also made an attempt to formulate the Critical success factors of the DSS and Reasons for the failure of DSS. We have tried to collect most of our data through secondary research which involves collating of data from existing research documents and books.   In 1960 J. C. R. Licklider wrote a paper on his observation of how the interaction between man and computer can improve the quality and competency in recognizing and problem solving. His paper proved to be like a guide to many future researches on DSS. In 1962 with use of hypertext online system helped in storage and retrieval of documents and creation of digital libraries. SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment) built by Forrester is probably the first data driven computerized DSS. In 1964 Scott Morton built up an interactive model driven management decision system which could help managers make important management decisions. In 1970 John D.C. Little noted that the requirement for designing models and system to make a management decision was completeness to data, simplicity, ease of control and robustness, which till date are relevant in improving and evaluating modern DSS. By 1975, he built up a DSS called Brandaid which could support promotion, advertising, pricing and product r elated decisions. In 1974 the focus was on giving managers with information which was from accounting and transaction processing system with use if MIS(Management Information Systems) but MIS was found to not helping out managers with making key decisions. Hence in 1979 Scott Morton and Gorry argued that MIS just primarily focused on structured decisions and hence the system which also supports unstructured and semi-structured decision should be termed as Decision support systems. Gorry and Scott Morton coined the phrase DSS in 1971, about ten years after MIS became popular. (David Arnott, An Analysis of Decision Support Systems Research, p.1) Decision support system now-a-days are critical for the daily operation and success of many organizations. Due to which there is a huge investment being made on development, customization, implementation and upgradation of these systems. Despite the rapid growth of information technology over the past decade, the success of Decision Support System remains questionable due to the lack of insufficient studies on the outcomes. As David Arnott and Gemma Dodson stated in Decision Support System Failure (David Arnott, Gemma Dodson, p.1) The development of a decision support system is a risky affair. The Volatile task environment and dynamic nature of managerial work means that DSS Projects are prone to Failure. As per David Arnott and Gemma Dodson definition above its very important to understand why organization take such a big risk and invest in a Decision support system. (Efraim Turban, Ramesh Sharda, Decision Support and Business Intelligence Systems, 8th Edition, p.12) Some of the factors why company use DSS Systems suggested by Efraim and Ramesh are: Speedy Computation Improved Communication and Collaboration Increase Productivity of group members Improved data management Managing Giant Data warehouses Quality Support Agility Support Overcoming cognitive limits in processing and storing information The paper here deals with the study of how decision analysis happens in DSS, Problems and there types, Why DSS are required or implemented by organization, Decision making process, Types of DSS, Reason for the failure of DSS, Critical success factor of DSS. Activities that require decision making form a set or a group of problems, varying from structured problem to unstructured problem. As Simon States The boundary between well structured and ill structured problems is vague, fluid and not susceptible to formalization.  (The structure of ill structured problems, 1973, Herbert A. Simon) the Decision making process, decision made and the style of making decision can be influenced by the personality of the individual and their cognitive style, and which is one of the major reasons for different decision aids being sought. (Management Information System 8/E Raymond McLeod, Jr. and George Schell) Decision types in terms of problem structure: Structured problems can be solved with algorithms and decision rules. A structured decision can be defined as one in which three components of a decision-the data, process, and evaluation. Structured decisions are made on a regular basis in business environments. If a rigid framework is placed for the decision making process it helps to solve the problem. Unstructured problems have no structure in Simons phases. These decisions have the same components as structured ones-data, process, and evaluation- but there nature is different. For example, decision maker use different set of data and process to reach a decision or goal. In addition, as the nature of the decision is different a few numbers of people within the organization are even qualified to evaluate the decision and to confirm one. Semi structured problems have structured and unstructured phases. Most of the DSS System is focused on Semi Structured decision. Characteristics of this type of decisions of this type are Having some agreement on the data, process, and/or evaluation to be used, Efforts to maintain a level of human-judgement in the decision making process. To determine which Support system is required it is necessary to analyze thoroughly and understand the limitations and ill effects, which the decision maker are manifested with. Apart from which it is also important to understand the objectives of the system. (Management Information System 8/E Raymond McLeod, Jr. and George Schell) Decision Support System Objectives: Efficiency of the system. Making decisions. To support managers, not to replace people. Used when the decision is semi structured or unstructured. Incorporate a database. Incorporate models. It is also important that like any other computer based system the DSS should be: Simple Robust Easy to Use Adaptive Easy to communicate with. Now that we have a brief idea about the type of problems that are faced by the managers and the qualities that the DSS system should pertain understanding the decision making process would give an insight to the how a decision is made. Decision Making: (Administrative Behavior, Herbert Simon, 1947) Herbert Simon in 1947 defines decision as the behavioral and cognitive processes of making rational human choices, that is, decisions. It states that any decision making is a behavioral and cognitive process of making choices from a set of options available. So, it is important for the DSS, to be accurate enough for making a choice from many different options available. To make accurate choices from the options available DSS takes help from constrains defined and the goals that it has to achieve. (Administrative Behavior, Herbert Simon, 1947) Simon states in his journal The human being striving for rationality and restricted within the limits of his knowledge has developed some working procedures that partially overcome these difficulties. These procedures consist in assuming that he can isolate from the rest of the world a closed system containing a limited number of variables and a limited range of consequences. By this Simon mean that people with limited knowledge about a particular task or domain will develop some technique that will help the person to overcome these difficulties. This in a sense defines the basic purpose of DSS system to make help managers with making decision. It is also important to understand the term isolated from the rest of the world, by this Simon meant that the decision should be purely be based on the goals to be obtained and based on the criteria defined it should not come under any other influence. He also formulated a model of decision making. (David Arnott, An Analysis of Decision Support Systems Research, p.1) Simons model of decision-making has been used in DSS research since the fields inception and was an integral component of Gorry and Scott Mortons seminal MIS/DSS framework. (Image Taken from Wikipedia, Figure 1) In Simon model of decision making (Figure 1) there are several phases through which an individual goes through to reach his objectives or goal. Phases of Decision Making as per Simon Model are as follows: Intelligence: Identify reality. Get problem/opportunity understanding. Obtain required information. Design: Make decision criteria. Make decision alternatives. Look for related unmanageable events. Identify the links between criteria, alternatives, and events. Choice: Logically assess the decision alternatives. Make recommended actions that best meet the decision criteria. Implementation: Consider the decision  analysis  and assessment. Evaluate the cost of the recommendations. Have confidence in the decision. Make an implementation plan. Secure required supplies. Set implementation plan into act. Based on the Decision making process by Simon and the problem structure described above we can define the accuracy of decisions can be measured by the following criteria: The methods or technique with which it achieves the desired results or goals; and The efficiency with which the goals and sub goals are obtained. By this we mean members of the organization may focus on the method and technique used to reach to the result or goal, but the administrative management must pay attention to the efficiency with which the desired result was obtained. To understand the efficiency of the decision made it is necessary to analysis the decision made. Decision Analysis in itself is a vast field and deals with many methodologies to measure the efficiency of the decision. Decision Analysis: (Ronald Howard, 1965, Decision Analysis: Applied Decision Theory)Decision Analysis is a discipline which was developed to deal with the challenges of making important decisions which involved handling major uncertainty, long-term targets and complex value issues. Decision Analysis comprises the philosophical, theoritical, methodological, and professional practice necessary to formalize the analysis of important decisions. (Ronald Howard, 1965, Decision Analysis: Applied Decision Theory) Decision analysis is a logical procedure for the balancing of the factors that influence a decision. The procedure incorporates uncertainties, values, and preferences in a basic structure that models the decision. Typically, it includes technical, marketing, competitive, and environmental factors. The essence of the procedure is the construction of a structural model of the decision in a form suitable for computation and manipulation; the realization of this model is often a set of computer programs. Decision-making consists of assigning values on the outcomes of interest to the decision-maker. Thus, decision analysis evaluates the decision-makers trade-offs between monetary and non-monetary outcomes and also establishes in quantitative terms his preferences for outcomes that are risky or distributed over time. Ronald A. Howard in his paper Advances: Foundations of DA Revisited goes on to discuss the Pillars of Decision Analysis The First Pillar: Systems Analysis Systems analysis grew out of World War II and was concerned with understanding dynamic systems. Key notions were those of state variables, feedback, stability, and sensitivity analysis. The field of systems engineering is currently in a state of resurgence. Decision analysis and systems engineering have many complementary features (Howard, 1965, 1973). The Second Pillar: Decision Theory Decision theory is concerned primarily with making decisions in the face of uncertainty. Its roots go back to Daniel Bernoulli (Bernoulli, 1738) and Laplace. Bernoulli introduced the idea of logarithmic utility to explain the puzzle called the St. Petersburg paradox. In the most influential book on probability ever written (Laplace, 1812), Laplace discusses the Esperance mathematique and the Esperance morale. Today we would call these the mean and the certain equivalent. The Third Pillar: Epistemic Probability Jaynes taught that there is no such thing as an objective probability: a probability reflects a persons knowledge (or equivalently ignorance) about some uncertain distinction. People think that probabilities can be found in data, but they cannot. Only a person can assign a probability, taking into account any data or other knowledge available. Since there is no such thing as an objective probability, using a term like subjective probability only creates confusion. Probabilities describing uncertainties have no need of adjectives. This understanding goes back to Cox (2001), Jeffreys (1939), Laplace (1996) and maybe Bayes, yet somehow it was an idea that had been lost over time. A famous scientist put it best over 150 years ago: The actual science of logic is conversant at present only with things either certain, impossible, or entirely doubtful, none of which (fortunately) we have to reason on. Therefore the true logic for this world is the calculus of Probabilities, which takes account of the magnitude of the probability which is, or ought to be, in a reasonable mans mind. (Maxwell, 1850) The Fourth Pillar: Cognitive Psychology In the 1960s few appreciated the important role that cognitive psychology would play in understanding human behaviour. At the time of DAADT, we just did our best to help experts assign probabilities. In the 1970s the work of Tversky, Kahneman, and others provided two valuable contributions. First, it showed that people making decisions relying only on their intuition were subject to many errors that they would recognize upon reflecting on what they had done. This emphasized the need for a formal procedure like decision analysis to assist in making important decisions. The second contribution was to show the necessity for those who are assisting in the probability and preference assessments to be aware of the many pitfalls that are characteristic of human thought. Tversky and Kahneman called these heuristics methods of thought that could be useful in general but could trick us in particular settings. We can think of these as the optical illusions of the mind. An important distinction here is that between descriptive and normative decision-making. Descriptive decision-making, as the name implies, is concerned with how people actually make decisions. The test of descriptive decision-making models is whether they actually describe human behaviour. Normative decision-making is decision-making according to certain rules, or norms, that we want to follow in our decision-making processes. The underlying premise of decision analysis is to distinguish between a good decision and a good outcome. A good decision is termed as logical decision which is based on the information, values, and preferences of the decision-maker. A good outcome is one that benefits the end user. The aim is to arrive at good decisions in all situations which would go on to ensure as high a percentage of good outcomes. But at times it may be observed that even a good decision has achieved a good outcome. But for majority of the situations we may face making good decisions is the best way to ensure good outcomes. A decision can be defined as a choice among alternatives that will yield uncertain futures, for which we have preferences. To explain the formal aspects of decision analysis the image of the three-legged stool shown in Figure 3.1 (Howard, 2000). The legs of the stool are the three elements of any decision: what you can do, the alternatives; what you know, the information you have; and what you want, your preferences. Collectively, the three legs represent the decision basis, the specification of the decision. Note that if any leg is missing, there is no decision to be made. If you have only one alternative, then you have no choice in what you do. If you do not have any information linking what you do to what will happen in the future, then all alternatives serve equally well because you do not see how your actions will have any effect. If you have no preferences regarding what will happen as a result of choosing any alternative, then you will be equally happy choosing any one. The seat of the stool is the logic that operates on the decision basis to produce the best alternative. We shall soon be constructing the seat to make sure that it operates correctly. Decision Analysis provides a formal language for communication for the people involved in the decision-making process. During this, the basis for a decision becomes clear, not just the decision itself. The views may differ on whether to adopt an alternative because individuals possess different relevant information or because they may value the consequences differentlly. Decision analysis Cycle: The professional practice of decision analysis is decision engineering. Creating a focused analysis requires the continual elimination of every factor that will not contribute to making the decision. This winnowing has been a feature of decision analysis since the beginning (Howard, 1968, 1970). Since DAADT, the process has been described as a decision analysis cycle, depicted in Figure 3.4 (Howard, 1984a). The application of decision analysis can be modeled in form of an iterative procedure called the Decision Analysis Cycle. Decision Analysis Cycle: The procedure is divided into three phases: Deterministic phase: the variables affecting the decision are defined and relations between the variables established, the values are assigned, and the importance of the variables is measured upto a acceptable level of certainity. Probabilistic phase: the associated probability assignments on values are derived. We also take into account the assessment of risk preference, which identifies the best possible solution in the face of uncertainty. Informational phase: the results of the first two phases are reviewed to determine the economic value of eliminating uncertainty in each of the important variables in the problem.It is the most important phase among the three because it evaluates in monetary terms to have the perfect information. Decision Support System: There is no universally accepted definition for the DSS system as of now. It is the major reason we have to rely on the Characteristics and Objectives of the DSS to understand the system. Below are a few famous definition for the DSS we would refer to formulate a definition for the system. (Decision Support Systems: An Organizational Perspective, Keen Scott-Morton, 1978) Keen and Scott define DSS as Decision support systems couple the intellectual resources of individuals with the capabilities of the computer to improve the quality of decisions. It is a computer-based support system for management decision makers who deal with semi structured problems. If we correlate the definition from Keen and Morton and Simons definition stating The human being striving for rationality and restricted within the limits of his knowledge has developed some working procedures that partially overcome these difficulties. These procedures consist in assuming that he can isolate from the rest of the world a closed system containing a limited number of variables and a limited range of consequences. We understand that the base of the DSS system is to support the manager. But one of the drawbacks of the definition from Keen and Morton is that they state that the system deals with only semi structured problems but the present DSS system also handles Unstructured and Structured issues. Peter Keen in 1980 defined DSS as Personal System to assist Manager must be built from the Managers perspective and must be based on a very detailed understanding of how the manager makes decision and how the manager organization functions. (Donald R. Moscato, 2004, p.1) In the above definition Peter Keen tries to define DSS in terms of the implementation and customization of DSS and states that it should be done based on Managers perspective, styles of decision making and the organizations function. Drawback with this definition is that it defines DSS as a personnel system and with the introduction of Group DSS and Communication DSS the definition becomes obsolete. Bonczek, Holsapple and Whinston (Foundations of Decision Support Systems, Bonczek, Holsapple and Whinston, 1981, p.19) argued the system must possess an interactive query facility, with a query language that is easy to learn and use. The above definition tries to explain that DSS systems should be interactive and should have a language of its own so that constrains of the decision and the goals can be addressed to the system and is easy to understand and use. (We have stated in the section objectives of DSS). (Daniel J Power, 2001, p.1)Sprague and Carlson (1982) define Decision Support Systems broadly as interactive computer based systems that help decision-makers use data and models to solve ill-structured, unstructured or semi-structured problems. Sparague and Carlson explained the DSS system as an interactive system and which can help managers solve ill-structured, unstructured and semi-structured problem. If you observe the definition is a co-relation of definition provided by Peter Keen, Keen Scott-Morton 1978 and Bonczek, Holsapple and Whinston-1981 by removing there drawbacks. A few more definition that we thought explains DSS are as follows: Marakas in 2002 (Marakas, 2002, p.4) stated the following is a formal definition of DSS: A decision support system is a system under the control of one or more decision makers that assists in the activity of decision making by providing an organized set of tools intended to impose structure on portions of the decision-making situation and to improve the ultimate effectiveness of the decision outcome. Importance of Marakas definition is that it takes into consideration the tools that a manager can use to work with DSS system (can term it as third party tools in some cases) other that the query language or the normal interactive screen of the DSS. From the above example it is pretty clear that to define a DSS not only we will have to study the characteristics and the tools, types of DSS but also the framework of the DSS to select a definition or to define one. (Ralph H. Sprague, Hugh J. Watson, Decision Support System Putting Theory into practice, 3rd edition, 1993, p.4) Characteristics of DSS: They tend to be aimed at the less well structured, underspecified problems that upper level managers typically face. They attempt to combine the use of models or analytic techniques with traditional data access and retrieval function They specifically focus on features which make them easy to use by non-computer people in an interactive mode They emphasize flexibility and adaptability to accommodate changes in the environment and the decision making approach of the user. Framework of DSS: From (Daniel J Powers, 2001, p.1) we come to know that the framework for the Decision support system should be based on the following factors: (by this Daniel J Power meant System should be discussed and explained in terms of four descriptors to maintain better communication:) Dominant Technological Component The Targeted Users Purpose Deployment Technology (Daniel J Powers, 2001, p.1) And the Five generic categories of DSS are: Communication Driven Data Driven Document Driven Knowledge Driven Model Driven decision support system. (Daniel J Powers, 2001, p.1) DSS Deployment technology can be: Mainframe Computers A client server LAN Web Based Architecture Marakas (2002) meant that it is important to understand the type of DSS to determine the best design and approach of a new DSS. In 1976 Steven Alter, a doctoral student created a taxonomy of seven DSS types on Gorry and Scott-Morton framework based on a study of 56 DSSs. In 1980, Steven Alter (Daniel J Power, 2001, p.2) proposed his taxonomy of Decision Support Systems. Alters seven category typology is still relevant for discussing some types of DSS, but not for all DSS. Alters idea was that a Decision Support System could be categorized in terms of the generic operations it performs, independent of type of problem, functional area or decision perspective. His seven types included: File Drawer Systems Data Analysis Systems Analysis Information Systems Accounting and Financial models Representational Models Optimization Models Suggestion Models. Alters first three types of DSS have been called data oriented or data driven; the second three types have been called model oriented or model driven; and Alters suggestion DSS type has been called intelligent or knowledge driven DSS. Importance of Alters Study was: Supports concept of Developing Systems that address particular decisions. Makes clear that DSS need not be restricted to a particular Application Type. Based on Alters study Daniel J Power formulated an expanded framework. The purpose of expanded DSS framework is to help people understand and apply the framework to integrate, evaluate, implement and select appropriate means for supporting and informing decision-makers. Expanded Framework suggested by Daniel J Power (Daniel J Power, Expanded DSS framework, June 2001, p.5) Dominant DSS Component Target Users: Internal / External Purpose: General /Specific Deployment Technology Communications Communications- Driven DSS Internal teams, now expanding to external partners Conduct a meeting or Help users collaborate Web or Client/ Server Database Data-Driven DSS Managers, staff, now Suppliers Query a Data Warehouse Main Frame, Client/ Server, Web Document base Document-Driven DSS Internal users, but the user group is expanding Search Web pages or Find documents Web or Client/ Server Knowledge base Knowledge- Driven DSS Internal users, now Customers Management Advice or Choose products Client/Server, Web, Stand-alone PC Models Model-Driven DSS Managers and staff, now customers Crew Scheduling or Decision Analysis Stand-alone PC or Client/Server or Web (Ralph H. Sprague, Hugh J. Watson, Decision Support System Putting Theory into practice, 3rd edition, 1993, p.4) Three Technology Levels: Specific DSS System which actually accomplishes the work might be called the specific DSS. DSS Generator This is a set of related hardware and software which provides a set of capabilities to quickly and easily build a specific DSS. DSS Tool These are hardware or software elements which facilitates the development of a specific DSS or DSS Generator. Based on the details above we would like to define DSS as DSS can be defined as use of computer application that can help managers, staff members, or people who interact within the organization to make decisions and identify problems by using available data and communication technology. It is also very important to understand the reason for the failure of DSS. And what are the factors that could cause the failure of system and which factors are to be termed as the success factors of DSS. Reason for Failure of DSS System: Despite the benefits that DSS offers the implementation of such system has been limited. Some of the reasons can be the following: Proper evaluation of the DSS preceding and during DSS development. DSS output does not fit the producers decision-making style. Complexity involved while operating the DSS. Post Implementation support. Benefits from these systems are not always realized Other than the above reason few disadvantages of the DSS system are: Over dependency for Decision making Assuming it to be correct. Unanticipated effects Deflect personal responsibilities Information overload. Considering the above reason, to increase the rate of success of DSS implementation and customization, the following factors should be considered and managed. Critical Success Factors of DSS: Hartono (Hartono et al, 2006, p.257) uses the following words to describe their interpretation of Critical Success Factors: Success antecedents are those key factors that organizations can manage so that the management information system is favorably received and the implementation is deemed as successful (Johannes Johansson; Bjorn Gustafson, Critical Success Factors affecting Decision Support System Success, from an end-user perspective,2009, p.1)Johannes Johansson and Bjorn Gustafson identified three factors that significantly affect end-users perceived net benefits, namely Data Quality, Problem Match and Support Quality. (S. Newman1, T. Lynch, and A. A. Plummer; Success and failure of decision support systems: Learning as we go, p.1)The case study HotCross, a DSS under development to evaluate crossbreeding systems in northern Australia, provided evidence of a shift in the development process because greater emphasis was put on the learning process of breeding program design by end-users rather than emphasis on learning how to use the DSS itself. Greater end user involvement through participatory learning approaches (action learning, action research, and soft systems methodologies), iterative prototyping (evolving development processes), as well as keeping DSS development manageable and small in scope, will provide avenues for impr

Essays on The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:Tthe Missing Female :: Love Song J. Alfred Prufrock

The Missing Female in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock For Eliot, poetic representation of a powerful female presence created difficulty in embodying the male. In order to do so, Eliot avoids envisioning the female, indeed, avoids attaching gender to bodies.   We can see this process clearly in "The Love Song of J. Prufrock." The poem circles around not only an unarticulated question, as all readers agree, but also an unenvisioned center, the "one" whom Prufrock addresses. The poem never visualizes the woman with whom Prufrock imagines an encounter except in fragments and in plurals -- eyes, arms, skirts - synecdoches we might well imagine as fetishistic replacements. But even these synecdochic replacements are not clearly engendered. The braceleted arms and the skirts are specifically feminine, but the faces, the hands, the voices, the eyes are not. As if to displace the central human object it does not visualize, the poem projects images of the body onto the landscape (the sky, the streets, the fog), but these images, for all their m arked intimation of sexuality, also avoid the designation of gender (the muttering retreats of restless nights, the fog that rubs, licks, and lingers). The most visually precise images in the poem are those of Prufrock himself, a Prufrock carefully composed – "My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, / My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin" -- only to be decomposed by the watching eyes of another into thin arms and legs, a balding head brought in upon a platter. Moreover, the images associated with Prufrock are themselves, as Pinkney observes, terrifyingly unstable, attributes constituting the identity of the subject at one moment only to be wielded by the objective the next, like the pin that centers his necktie and then pinions him to the wall or the arms that metamorphose into Prufrock's claws. The poem, in these

The Life & Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche :: Biographies Biographical Essays

The Life & Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Philosophy Class Essay Born: 1844. Rocken, Germany Died: 1900. Weimar, Germany Major Works: The Gay Science (1882), Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885), Beyond Good & Evil (1886), On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), MAJOR IDEAS Self deception is a particularly destructive characteristic of West Culture. Life is The Will To Power; our natural desire is to dominate and reshape the world to fit our own preferences and assert our personal strength to the fullest degree possible. Struggle, through which individuals achieve a degree of power commensurate with their abilities, is the basic fact of human existence. Ideals of human equality perpetuate mediocrity -- a truth that has been distorted and concealed by modern value systems. Christian morality, which identifies goodness with meekness and servility is the prime culprit in creating a cultural climate that thwarts the drive for excellence and self realization God is dead; a new era of human creativity and achievement is at hand. -- Great Thinkers In The Western World. By: Ian P. McGreal, 1992 PREFACE Much information is available on Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche, including many books that he wrote himself, during his philosophical career. I took this as a good sign I would find a fountain of enlightened material produced by the man. I've had to go through a bit of my own philosophical meditations to put my own value judgements aside, and truly look for the contributions Nietzsche gave to philosophy. Much of my understanding came only after I had a grasp of Neitzsche's history; therefore, I encourage you to read-up on his history before diving into his philosophy (see Appendix I). The modern Westerner might disagree with every aspect of his philosophy, but there are many things one must unfortunately admit are true (only if you put your morality aside). So, from here, I will present his contributions to philosophy, and do my best to delete my own opinions, other than to say that he was not the chosen topic of this paper out of any admiration. THE PHILOSOPHY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE Sometimes philosophy is called "timeless," implying that it's lessons are of value to any generation. This may be hard to see in Nietzsche's work; but, we are assured that it was appropriate thought for his time. However, even Nietzsche's critics admit that his words hold an undeniable truth, as hard as it is to accept. Perhaps this is why his work is timeless, and has survived 150 years in print.

Bloody Sunday: What Really Happened? Essay -- British History, Europe

On the 30th of January 197213 Catholics were killed by British Paratroopers on the streets of Londonderry. It was the result of an illegal but originally peaceful march led by the NICRA the civil rights movement. The march attracted 15000 people all for a similar cause, to ban Internment. The day became known as Bloody Sunday because of the terrible events that took place. Although the details of what actually happened remain undecided, because of the controversial views of the people that took part in the march. Internment was a law enforced by the government of N Ireland to try and keep the Nationalist population under control. It allowed the Government to put people in prison who were suspected of being terrorists without trial. Consequently only Catholic's were arrested. Bloody Sunday happened because of many years of conflict between Nationalist and Unionist communities. In Northern Ireland nationalists are almost all Catholics and want a united Ireland with no connections with Britain. Unionists are almost all Protestant and want to stay part of the United Kingdom, afraid that if they join the Republic of Ireland the Catholic Church would take over and their economy would break down. The street history and segregation between the communities created a further tension between the two sides. When British Troops came into N. Ireland in 1969 to bring peace between Nationalists and Unionists, peace was restored for a few months, but gradually the British troops went from being the peace makers to the peace destroyers. The British army soon clashed with both Nationalists and Loyalists. The British government handed the control of their army to the Irish government. This meant that the army was run j... ...as to what happened on Bloody Sunday, who fired the first shot, and whether the paratroopers were just retaliating. Both sides had reasons to hate the other and it would have been understandable if either of the sides shot first, when in operation in Ireland the army must have been constantly attacked making the army want to get their own back, but it was their job and this was something they should not have done. The Catholics saw the army as a force that oppressed them and they wanted freedom from that, feeling bitter about those years they also had plenty of reason to shoot. After so many years of conflict in Northern Ireland both sides can not listen to the other, they are so adamant that their own beliefs are correct. The Saville inquiries' conclusions will probably never be acceptable to either the army or the original marchers and their relatives. Bloody Sunday: What Really Happened? Essay -- British History, Europe On the 30th of January 197213 Catholics were killed by British Paratroopers on the streets of Londonderry. It was the result of an illegal but originally peaceful march led by the NICRA the civil rights movement. The march attracted 15000 people all for a similar cause, to ban Internment. The day became known as Bloody Sunday because of the terrible events that took place. Although the details of what actually happened remain undecided, because of the controversial views of the people that took part in the march. Internment was a law enforced by the government of N Ireland to try and keep the Nationalist population under control. It allowed the Government to put people in prison who were suspected of being terrorists without trial. Consequently only Catholic's were arrested. Bloody Sunday happened because of many years of conflict between Nationalist and Unionist communities. In Northern Ireland nationalists are almost all Catholics and want a united Ireland with no connections with Britain. Unionists are almost all Protestant and want to stay part of the United Kingdom, afraid that if they join the Republic of Ireland the Catholic Church would take over and their economy would break down. The street history and segregation between the communities created a further tension between the two sides. When British Troops came into N. Ireland in 1969 to bring peace between Nationalists and Unionists, peace was restored for a few months, but gradually the British troops went from being the peace makers to the peace destroyers. The British army soon clashed with both Nationalists and Loyalists. The British government handed the control of their army to the Irish government. This meant that the army was run j... ...as to what happened on Bloody Sunday, who fired the first shot, and whether the paratroopers were just retaliating. Both sides had reasons to hate the other and it would have been understandable if either of the sides shot first, when in operation in Ireland the army must have been constantly attacked making the army want to get their own back, but it was their job and this was something they should not have done. The Catholics saw the army as a force that oppressed them and they wanted freedom from that, feeling bitter about those years they also had plenty of reason to shoot. After so many years of conflict in Northern Ireland both sides can not listen to the other, they are so adamant that their own beliefs are correct. The Saville inquiries' conclusions will probably never be acceptable to either the army or the original marchers and their relatives.

Controversies of Racism Essay

The subject of racism is a continual controversial issue within everyday society. It’s inevitable. Everywhere you go, you’ll come across some sort of discrimination or racism. It’s like we’re programmed to judge instantly, it’s in our human nature. Religion, age and racial discrimination literally surrounds us and we can’t do much to stop it until we change ourselves, and let’s face it that’s probably not going to happen. So the main questions I normally ask myself are: Why are we prejudiced? Is being different that bad? And are we really that different? Hitler definitely seemed to think that we were. So did America back in the 1600’s where the first of racism and black slavery began and half the world’s population in the 21st Century think so too. It was said for many years that Hitler was obsessed with racial â€Å"purity† and spread his beliefs in speeches and writings pronouncing that his race needs to remain pure in order to rule the world. What was his definition of pure? To have blue eyes, fair skin and blonde hair. Who is to say that makes you the perfect being? Absolutely no one. When Hitler and the Nazis came to power, these beliefs became the government motto and were spread publicly in posters, on the radio, in movies, in classrooms and in newspapers. After Hitler took power, Nazi teachers in school classrooms began to apply the principles of racial science. The teachers measured skull size and nose length and recorded the colour of the student’s hair and eyes to determine whether students belonged to the â€Å"true race†. This constant negative message that was being sent out influenced the younger students to continue with racism. The Nazis also began to put their ideology into practice with the support of German scientists who believed that the human race could be improved by limiting the reproduction of people considered â€Å"inferior† such as Jews, people with disabilities, gypsies, black people, and people with skin diseases, Jehovah’s Witnesses and any other flaws humans are born with. Hitler viewed the Jews not as a religious group, but as a poisonous, disgusting â€Å"race†, which â€Å"lived off† other races and weakened them. And so began the Holocaust. Hitler threw innocent Jewish people into concentration camps letting them starve to death, gassing them, burning them alive and countless other torturous acts because they weren’t what he saw to be the ‘’perfect being’’. That may have been around sixty years ago but why does genocide still happen? After the Jewish Genocide, the cold war genocide, Rwanda genocide and just recently the genocide in Darfur occurred. Slavery is a black eye on the soul of America’s history. There has never been an excuse for one human to own another. We humans as a species should always have been treated equally. Why should people own other people? Are human beings animals? How can you hate someone so much by the colour of their skin? There simply is no answer. Slavery began around the 1600’s when the first black man was used as a servant. The slavery continued on, all the way through to the 1900’s where the servants were used to clean, cook food, babysit and do the dirty work around the house while a racist extremist group called the Ku Klux Klan that believed in Hitler’s message abused them with hate crimes and acts of domestic terrorism. Black people were treated like they were the scum of the earth; they were abused, spit on, beaten and in worst case scenario, murdered. They weren’t allowed to go to the same stores, schools, diners, and churches as the white people in America which was a huge disadvantage to the African-American race. When the racial segregation happened, which was a big milestone in history, the African–Americans were allowed to have the same facilities as everyone else, much to Americas disdain. Their freedom was limited; the African-Americans resorted to sitting at the back of the bus, or were only allowed to go to certain public areas. So why it is that racism still exists? What will it take for mankind to realize that despite the colour of a person’s skin, we are all amazing, complex people, who have wonderful characteristics that should be admired and loved? But people also need to realize that some people that were born black didn’t CHOSE to be black. I mean, I’m a black girl but that doesn’t make me hate the whites and love the blacks. Both races are the same to me. I guess equality is such a new concept within everyday American society that many raw emotions still cloud their judgment. Now in the 21st Century, racism still exists and in varying forms. Not only is there racial discrimination, religion is discriminated against also. When you see a Muslim man walking down the street or a woman wearing a burka, do you cower in fear? There is this new phobia called Islamophobia where there is hatred, prejudice or fear of a Muslim person and this term came to use fter the September 11 terrorist attack. But why be scared of only Muslim’s? Everyone is capable of causing great harm to society and just recently the Norway attack occurred and this attack wasn’t done by a Muslim. It was by a Norwegian citizen that no one suspected. This man, Breivik planned the attack to annihilate multiculturalism in Norway and to preserve a Christian Europe. His political views were to conserve his culture and promote Islamoph obia, he also urged Europeans after this attack to restore the â€Å"historic crusades† against Islam as in the Middle Ages. You could say that Islamophobia is the new form of black racism as it is a practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social and public life of everyday society. The new law that was passed down in France of not being able to wear the burka is an example. French police arrested two veiled women just hours after the country’s new ban on wearing the burka in public came into force. This law is the first of its kind to be enforced in Europe, and the French police said they will be extremely cautious as there are fears of Muslim women provoking violence while the burka. The law should not push minorities around. I believe that people should be allowed to wear what they want, free of coercion. The burka is a Muslim practice and I do not see the big deal, it is not a security risk. It is believed that Islam has no values in the Western society and is an inferior and violent religious belief. On the contrary, the violent belief is this new phobia. What do you think? Far too many of us speak of equality and hope, yet secretly have hate. Most people will tell you, that they are not racist individuals. Many of these people though, are either fooling themselves, or just don’t want to make a bad reputation for themselves. Everyone is based on little more than stereotypes and stories of that what happened years ago with Hitler and the black slavery. So we need to put aside all the things that happened generations ago. It happened out of ignorance and right now what we need to be doing is unite as one race, stop the negative attitudes and beliefs that permeate around us and try to make the future brighter. Some people believe that racism is in our human nature. Do you think so?

Highway traffic operations Essay

Introduction Highway traffic operations are influenced by the behavior of drivers. A highway can be used by a finite number of vehicles, and the driver perceived safe distances between vehicles determine this limit. For a given speed, as distances become shorter, more vehicles can use the highway. Both the volume of drivers choosing to use the highway (demand) and the maximum volume that can be served (supply) depend on driver behavior. Congestion results from too many people attempting to reach their destinations at the same time using the same highways. The combination of demand, capacity, and certain infrastructure features (traffic control devices) determines how drivers perceive the traffic conditions. Transportation agencies strive for economical solutions to congestion that satisfy a majority of highway users. A traffic signal installation is a power-operated device which informs motorists or pedestrians when they have the right of way at a particular intersection. The first traffic signal was installed in London in 1868 and used semaphore ‘arms’ together with red and green gas lamps. Unfortunately, it exploded, putting an end to this sort of control for 50 years. However, in 1918 the first three colored light signals were installed in New York and in 1925 they started to be used in Great Britain. At the beginning of the 1930’s an attempt at making the signals more `intelligent’, or vehicle responsive, was tried in America, using microphones at the side of the road, requiring drivers to sound their horns. This was obviously not too popular and the first traffic detectors – electrical and pneumatic were invented. Traffic signals are now used throughout the world, using the three light signals of Green, red and amber. Also, by convention, these are normally arranged vertically with the red signal at the top and the green light at the bottom. This also helps people who are colour blind – both drivers and pedestrians to identify the differences between the lights. Traffic signals are used at intersections to reduce conflicts to a minimum by time sharing of right of way. This actually reduces the capacity of the intersection, but greatly enhances safety. Conflicts at intersections shows the potential conflict points at the junction of two roads, both with two way traffic flows, at which all crossing and merging movements are permitted. With the provision of traffic signal control the number of potential conflicts can be reduced from 64 to zero. There is no doubt that signals are one of the most powerful tools for urban traffic control available to city authorities and their correct installation can improve both traffic flow and the safety of all road users. In comparison to other traffic improvements, signals are also relatively low capital intensive and in recent years the advancement in informatics and telecommunications has led to a new generation of low cost controllers and systems that have made modern signaling an even more attractive and powerful tool. Essentially, traffic signals form part of the â€Å"software† of a city as opposed to the roads and bridges that are part of it’s â€Å"hardware†. As such they have the advantage of being cheap and often the disadvantage of being so cheap that no local lobby is interested in them, especially when city mayors fail to see the  political advantages in changing an old signal for a new one. It is thus part of the traffic engineer’s task to prove to city authorities that a modern and well designed traffic signal system will bring real and visible benefits to the city. Conflict points at an intersection. HYPOTHESIS Traffic control devices contribute a great deal to accidents that occur in Zambia. GOAL: To Contribute to Reducing the occurrence of accidents in Zambia OBJECTIVES: To improve on the standard of traffic control devices and installations. FINDINGS 1- For each site where traffic signals are being contemplated, it has been discovered that normally adequate data on the traffic flows at the junction is not sufficiently collected. What has been discovered is that the local authority in most cases they do not carry out traffic count surveys as the result, they end up installing traffic lights where they are not needed. Look at figure 1, traffic lights have been introduced at the curve. They could have been placed at more convenient site to avoid accidents with vehicles that may lose breaks and at the same time file to negotiate. 2- Traffic counts are likely to be divided into two types all day counts (normally during 16 hours of a work day) usually mid block on key roads, with the objective of defining the duration of the peak periods and general vehicle composition; and, specific junction counts carried out with the objective of providing the data for evaluation and design of the junctions. Due to not considering conducting traffic surveys the objective is not clearly known hence it was discovered that most of the junctions that houses traffic devices, do not have what is referred to as† BELL MOUTH† to allow safely turning of vehicles, lack of the bell mouth has really resulted into accidents which could have been avoided at design stage. 3- The counts should be made in periods of about 15 minutes, during at least two working days. If the counts are not similar then the counts should be repeated on another working day. A simple 16 hour survey form could look like Specific junction counts are aimed at providing the data for detailed evaluation and design. This has been in most cases overlooked. In line with the same, it was discovered that where the Local Authority ought to provide a road reserve which in most cases have been given out as plots, in some instance the same â€Å"road reserve† can be used for filter lane as the road approaches the junction where traffic devices are installed. Because of that, it was discovered that usually traffic on the sides, would want to find the way out of the unnecessary congestion thereby causing an accident.(see figure 3) 4- Traffic lights not protected. It was discovered that most traffic lights  at the junctions are not secured, they are usually hit by vehicles that have lost breaking system. And again because the Local Authority takes time to repair and replace the affected device, accidents continue to escalate. Traffic lights near chawama pick & pay 5- Sub standard Quality of installation. It was also observed that most of the works are really supervised, hence contractors will normally employ cheap means of achieving the task. 6- Separators towards the junctions (or traffic devices) have been least attended to e.g the one before arcades coming from chelston (unza), many lives have been lost. Other one is the Kerb separator in Ndola along Blantyre avenue as one approaches the traffic lights at Shoprite in town centre , equally, it has not been attended to Last and not the least is the stud separator in Chingola just before Total filling station along Kabundi Road just after Musonko House approximately 250m before traffic lights,this equally is not in good shape hence contributes to accidents that occur at traffic lights. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS For each site where traffic signals are being contemplated it is fundamental to obtain adequate data on the traffic flows at the junction. Normally, surveys should be carried out during the peak hour periods. However, it may be important to have a broad view of the flows in the city throughout a normal working day, especially when Area Traffic Control or linked signaling are being considered, below is the suggested form to be used when carrying out traffic count There is need to construct what may referred to as† BELL MOUTH† to allow safely turning of vehicles, lack of the bell mouth has really resulted into  accidents which could have been avoided at design stage. There is need to protect Traffic lights by introducing steel barriers around the traffic lights, at least 3000mm away from the pole that is carrying traffic light. We cannot bargain with life and so, for the installation of traffic device, there is need for the Government for now to have one project â€Å"Design & install†. This project should be given to a deserving company which should be able to carry out installations and give guarantee in relation to : – (1) Quality,(2)level of accidents. There is need to have highly qualified personnel in Local Authorities so that Quality of work which involves :- installation of traffic lights,separators and generally all road furniture can be attained. This sign and the kerbing segregate vulnerable road users and slow local traffic from higher speed through traffic. Pedestrians clearly feel safe in the segregated lane. There is need for the Local Authority to work in collaboration with RDA. Certain works that are of low standard in towns is due to lack of supervision of the contractor by RDA and Local Authority. Attached as appendices(Apendix A & B ) are the monitoring and evaluation form which can be used for supervision of projects. There is need for the supervising Authority to come up with a Logic Framework which should critically bring out: – Goals, Objectives, measurable indicators, means of verifications and important assumptions.(see below Logic framework) Logic Framework Narrative Summary Measurable indicator Means of verification Important Assumptions Goal-To improve the standard of traffic devices Objectives 1. To have a nation with minimal accidents from the current 80% to 5% by 2020 2. Improve on the functional traffic control devices from the current 40% to 100% by 2020 3. To improve the availability of essential traffic control devices from the current 30% to 100% by 2016 1. % of personnel involved in road accident reduced. 2. % of functional traffic control devices increased. 3. % of essential traffic control devices increased 1. Recorded number of accident in a particular period , taking in consideration the traffic devices 2. Inventory or asset register/and physical check. 3. Stock records of the essential traffic control device. Government commitment, Management will(RDA & Local Authorities) and Commitment, Constant flow of funds from donors Govt commitment to release funds on time  unnecessary. To avoid this problem it is essential that the engineer or traffic department has a clear set of warrants to justify the use of signals. If possible, these warrants should be approved by the local government bodies (elected and executive) so that requests for signals on sites that do not need them can be refused according to pre-discussed rules and not just on the personalized decision of the head of the traffic department. Traffic signals may be justified if, usually two, of the following criteria are present where there is a minimum major-street/minor-street conflicting vehicle volume where there may be need to interrupt continuous flow on the major road to allow traffic to exit from the minor road without excessive delay where a minimum pedestrian volume conflicts with a minimum vehicle volume where a schoolchildren crossing is present where there is a need to maintain progressive movement of vehicles along an otherwise signaled route; and where there is a record of accidents of the type which could be reduced by the use of traffic signals. A rough and ready set of warrants might be: Traffic flows – when there is a minimum of 1000 pcu’s per hour entering the  junction during the peak hours. visibility – when drivers on the minor road have poor visibility for judging gaps. accidents – when three or more accidents (collisions or pedestrians) are registered per year. Figure 2, for example, shows the relationship between major-road/minor-road flows and the type of control recommended at a junction in the UK. For a major road flow of 20,000 pcu’s per day and a minor road flow of 6,000, a roundabout would be a good solution for eliminating the  conflicting traffic movements – if space were available. If, however, the junction is in a built-up area, then traffic signals probably represent the best solution. It should be stressed, however, Monitoring and Evaluation Form appendix â€Å"A† STRATEGIC Objective 1: Local Authority /RDA Intermediate Objective: Activities/Resources Indicators Sources of Data and Collection Methods Frequency of Data Collection Responsible Person(s) & Team Outputs Key Outputs Key Outcomes Definition of Key Outcome Indicators 1) Illustrative Timeline appendix â€Å"B† Activities to Assess Year One Year Two Year Three First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter First Quarter Second Quarter REFERENCES 1. UNIVERSITY OF AFRICA- Road Structure and Traffic Control Device module – 2013 (extract from Road maintenance Hand Book Volume iv). 2. BENT THAGESEN : Highway and traffic engineering in developing countries 3. Cannell, A. E. R. and Kaestner, C. Some Aspects of Area Traffic Control in Semi-Developed Countries. 4. Traffic engineering acrd Control. 1983. Companhia de Engenharia de Transito -CET. 5. Department of Transport. Junction Layout for Control by Traffic Signals. Highway, Safety and Traffic Advice Note TA 6. Gardner, G, Fouracre, P.R. and Jacobs, G.D. Traffic Management. 7. SCOOT: Traffic Responsive Method of Coordinating Signals. TRRL Report 1014. Transport and Road Research 8. Willumsen, L.G. and Coeymans, J.E. Research into the Value of Area Traffic Control Techniques in a Developing Country.