Work-Related Project Analysis, Part I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Work-Related Project Analysis, Part I - Essay Example This systems analysis includes a research into the supply chain system instated by Audi. The research methodology is primarily based upon a secondary research or more specifically a literature review of magazine article, press release, case study, and a textbook. The research design follows an empirical analysis based on qualitative sources that aims to analyze the working of its supply chain as the chosen system or project. Information is gathered from these sources as mentioned which will form the theoretical base in analyzing, assessing, and evaluating the efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of its supply chain system in delivery value to its consumers. The supply chain operations are important to any company for delivering its outputs and meeting its goals. Hence, this work related project analysis is to follow a literature review of secondary sources so as to gather the relevant information and knowledge regarding the system in place. The research design specifically invo lves use of germane sources so as to allow a rigorous analysis. Audi has now merged with the German based auto company Volkswagen AG after the company acquired 99 percent of its shares (Diaz, 2006). Having its head offices in Germany, Audi is a highly renowned automobile manufacturing company that produces high quality cars. The company’s supply chain system is a very important component of the supply chain which helps in delivering customer satisfaction and value to consumers. The production of its cars and the assembling of the various car components require seamless functioning of the supply chain. Production is aided by inbound and outbound logistics that helps to connect the transported raw materials with the production line. For many other car manufacturing firms, the supply chain department serves an important line function. Hence, I have chosen to base this research on the supply

The events leading to the Monroe Doctrine Essay Example for Free

The events leading to the Monroe Doctrine Essay After Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated and exiled, the old monarchies of Europe acted quickly to reassert their old power. They crushed the democratic rebellions and restored dethroned monarchs to their thrones. Rumor had it that they wanted to destroy the new Latin America republics and restore the lands to colonial rule by Spain. Britain did not want this to happen because the monopoly-free ports of the new Latin American republics were profitable so the British minister at that time, George Canning, suggested that the United States and Great Britain jointly declare the Americas off limits to the European powers. At that time, Russia was expanding its territory from Alaska down the west coast of the North American continent and the people in the United States was afraid that the Russians would cut the Americans off from its window to the Pacific Ocean. This, combined with the fact that the Americans were also profiting from the monopoly free ports of Latin America motivated the United States to make some kind of declaration. There was opposition to a joint declaration with Great Britain because they didnt want to be morally held back from acquiring Spanish lands in the Americas. John Quincy Adams correctly saw that even if the United States did not join Britain the British would still protect the ports so he advocated a declaration by the United States without the British. President Monroe announced to the world during his regular annual address to Congress that the era of colonization was over in the Americas and that the European powers were not to interfere in the new Latin American republics. Since Monroe said it, this doctrine was named after him. The Monroe Doctrine could be said to be a self-protection doctrine because the noncolonization part was mainly directed at the Russian who were expanding down the west coast and if they were stopped, the United States would be guaranteed access to the Pacific Ocean. The noninterference part was another way that the United States protected itself. If a European nation took control of any land in the Americas the United States would be in danger of invasions. The Monroe Doctrine was an isolationist document because it prevented the  interference of any European nation in the Americas. In the terms of the Monroe Doctrine, Monroe warned the European powers away from the western hemisphere and in return the United States wont interfere with the war between the Greeks and the Turks in Europe. In short, the United States said that if Europe wouldnt interfere with American affairs then the United States wouldnt interfere with European affairs. By rejecting the British hand in partnership, the United States also followed the policy of isolationism because they did not accept European help even though their military was no match for European armed forces.

Life Of Rodin :: essays research papers fc

Auguste Rodin was born November 12, 1840 in Paris and attended the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris at age 14. Rodin had a special gift for modeling human figures and faces; therefore sculpting humans is all he did. Decorators and commercial sculptors exploited Rodin at a very young age. It was some 20 years before he could sculpt for himself, under the commercial sculptor Albert Carrier-Belleuse. (Auguste, 19) Rodin sculpted ornamental figures for several major buildings in Brussels, such as the Bourse and the Palais des Academies. He then worked on the monument to Jean-Francois Loos, the former mayor of Antwerp. Rodin did not start this monument, but he work on it. Rodin acquired a sufficient amount of money to travel to Italy, which was an important step in his career. In 1877 he returned to Paris with his first major sculpture, The Age of Bronze. This piece of work showed a young man coming out of misery and depression to a state of heightened awareness. Critics and fellow artists thought and also accused Rodin of making this piece from a plaster cast taken directly from a living person. This deeply hurt Rodin. (Auguste, 19) In 1880, Rodin was contracted by the French government to make a door for the projected Musee des Arts Decortifs. Rodin worked endlessly on the sketches for the bronze door, now titled The Gates of Hell. In 1883 Rodin met Camille, this is when he had reached his â€Å"decisive stage† in preparations for The Gates of Hell. This aspect of Rodin’s work and ideas has to be borne in mind considering the beginning of his relationship with Camille Claude. (Auguste, 21-22) Camille and Rodin had, at first, an intimate attraction for each other. Rodin met Camille when he was an instructor correcting the work of a group of young ladies. This man was the master who could finally teach Camille a proper set of artistic bearings. Rodin could knead the clay â€Å"at lightning speeds† and instantly create the most complex and expressive form. (Auguste, 22) In 1884, Rodin made his first portrait of Camille, an â€Å"austerely beautiful head with large eyes, short hair and sharply defined features†. And by 1886, Rodin was so obsessed with Camille that he followed her to England where she was staying with her friend Jessie Lipcomb and her family in Peterborough. (Auguste, 24) In the fall of 1884, he was commissioned to design the monument to The Burghers of Calais, which was to become one of his major works. Life Of Rodin :: essays research papers fc Auguste Rodin was born November 12, 1840 in Paris and attended the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris at age 14. Rodin had a special gift for modeling human figures and faces; therefore sculpting humans is all he did. Decorators and commercial sculptors exploited Rodin at a very young age. It was some 20 years before he could sculpt for himself, under the commercial sculptor Albert Carrier-Belleuse. (Auguste, 19) Rodin sculpted ornamental figures for several major buildings in Brussels, such as the Bourse and the Palais des Academies. He then worked on the monument to Jean-Francois Loos, the former mayor of Antwerp. Rodin did not start this monument, but he work on it. Rodin acquired a sufficient amount of money to travel to Italy, which was an important step in his career. In 1877 he returned to Paris with his first major sculpture, The Age of Bronze. This piece of work showed a young man coming out of misery and depression to a state of heightened awareness. Critics and fellow artists thought and also accused Rodin of making this piece from a plaster cast taken directly from a living person. This deeply hurt Rodin. (Auguste, 19) In 1880, Rodin was contracted by the French government to make a door for the projected Musee des Arts Decortifs. Rodin worked endlessly on the sketches for the bronze door, now titled The Gates of Hell. In 1883 Rodin met Camille, this is when he had reached his â€Å"decisive stage† in preparations for The Gates of Hell. This aspect of Rodin’s work and ideas has to be borne in mind considering the beginning of his relationship with Camille Claude. (Auguste, 21-22) Camille and Rodin had, at first, an intimate attraction for each other. Rodin met Camille when he was an instructor correcting the work of a group of young ladies. This man was the master who could finally teach Camille a proper set of artistic bearings. Rodin could knead the clay â€Å"at lightning speeds† and instantly create the most complex and expressive form. (Auguste, 22) In 1884, Rodin made his first portrait of Camille, an â€Å"austerely beautiful head with large eyes, short hair and sharply defined features†. And by 1886, Rodin was so obsessed with Camille that he followed her to England where she was staying with her friend Jessie Lipcomb and her family in Peterborough. (Auguste, 24) In the fall of 1884, he was commissioned to design the monument to The Burghers of Calais, which was to become one of his major works.

The Lively Earth: Important Features Make the Earth Unique

EASC 2112 Earth System The lively Earth: important features make the Earth unique Name: Leung Ho Nam, Banson UID: 2011712579 Introduction: The Earth is one of the eight planets in the solar system. The planet Earth is emphasized as â€Å"the rare Earth† in numerous literatures because of its unique physical conditions and the complicated interactions among all biotic and abiotic systems. Isotope dating indicates the earth was formed approximately from 4. 53 to 4. 568 Ga, according to isotope used (Allegre et. al. , 1995).Despite the precise formation time of the Earth, there is no exact planet formation model that is generally accepted except the minimum mass solar nebula model, MMSN (Canup, 2008). The MMSN model suggested the planetary accretion of the Earth and other terrestrial planets begins with a disc of hydrogen abundant gas and dust, circulating around the sun. Following by a series of collision, small particles combine and collapse repeatedly. The runaway growth slows down until reaching a certain mass (Canup, 2008). The formation process is crucial to the evolution of the Earth because it determines the source of materials which the Earth contains.The formation of the Earth, indeed, is not specific enough to comprise â€Å"the rare Earth† because all solar planets were grown within a circumsolar disc of gas and dust suggested by Canuo (2008). When we look at the solar system from the outer space, the Earth is probably the only shiny blue planet because of water surface reflection. 70 percent of the Earth surface is covered by the ocean. There is approximately 1. 4 billion km2 of liquid water by mass on Earth (Oak & Kanae, 2006). The existence of permanent liquid water responsible to create a mild temperature and a stable environment.Liquid water is an important element implicates the emergence and evolution of life on Earth after a few million years from the latest collision (Baross & Hoffman, 1985). The distinct blue colour of t he ocean and the green colour of the terrestrial land is obvious on the Earth surface. Nevertheless, it is hardly to observe the entire view of the surface because of the scattering effect (Adams, 1934) and screening effect of the cohesive cloud in the atmosphere. Differences between the earth’s atmosphere and other planetary atmosphere including the presence of oxygen and relatively low carbon dioxide concentration.The atmosphere is extremely important to the biosphere. Without atmosphere, organisms nowadays would probably remain in the simple form or single celled. Furthermore, the ozone layer in the atmosphere absorbs and reflects part of the solar radiation incoming from the sun. This reduction of solar radiation lowers down the atmospheric temperature dramatically which allows organisms to survive. The Earth would not be so unique among the solar system when missing either one of the systems. The Gaia hypothesis links this concept and indicates the Earth is a giant self- regulating system.The interactions of the organisms with their abiotic environments modified the condition of the Earth such as oxygen content and atmospheric temperature, making the Earth more habitable terrestrial planet (Lovelock, 1973). Evolution of the Earth: Allegre and the research team (1995) suggested that the Earth was formed 4. 53 to about 4. 7 Ga. The age range of the earth was estimated by means of a series of isotope dating so the results are relatively valid. The Earth queues the third planet from the sun and its average radius is 6371 km (Lide, 2000).Because of specific distance from the sun and the size, the Earth prevents some of the very light elements, such as hydrogen, from escaping, by gravitational force (Adams, 1934). Moreover, the Earth has a gravitational force of 10 g (Yoder, 1995). Gravitational force is an inconspicuous pull generated from the Earth core. The Earth self-spins once it is formed. The rotation period of the earth is 23 hours and 56 minutes (Gold, 1967). This spinning effect creates centrifugal force which differentiate substances by mass. Heavy metal tends to migrate toward the Earth core and leaving the light materials outside.When time passes, the surface of the earth cools and the first land formed. Although land also appears in other planets such as Mars, the crust of the Earth is different. Interestingly, unlike Mars, the Earth surface is not covered by a concrete sphere but a few tectonic plates. Since the Mars is much smaller than the Earth so the cooling effect of Mars is much faster than the Earth. By now, the crust of the Mars has not been renewed for a certain long period. The plate tectonic moves with three strategies, convergency, divergency and transformation. The movement of the plates driven by the underneath semisolid magma (Courteny, 2008).Surface morphology is determined by the way which the tectonic plates move and density of the plates. Tectonic activities, earthquake, mountain-building, volcanic eruption and subduction zone, are restricted along plate boundaries (Courtery, 2008). Volcanic activities and oceanic subduction are extremely important processes to deliver materials from the inner core and renew surface materials respectively. These recycling processes keep providing accessible resources for the living organisms. Atmosphere and ocean formation was also suggested to be related to volcanic activities (Morbidelli, 2000).Aforementioned that self-spinning of the Earth differentiate substances on Earth. Iron, as a metal that can be magnetized, and with accordingly high atomic mass, moves inward and forms the core. After 60 million years after the late Heavy Bombardment, the magnetic field was established (Staff, 2010). Studies from Karato (1993) implies the magnetic field may relate to the magnetizing properties of iron. No matter how the Earth’s magnetic field was formed, it â€Å"prevents the atmosphere being stripped away by the solar wind† (Staff, 2010 ). Atmosphere: The atmosphere is the outermost, thin layer enclosing the Earth.The composition of the atmosphere for example, oxygen, is imperative to the evolution of the Earth. The atmosphere of the Earth is comparable to the nearby terrestrial planet such as Mars and Venus. Given that the average distance and the size of Venus from the sun is 3/4 and 4/5 of the Earth, Venus has an atmosphere (Adams, 1934). Spectroscopic studies indicate that the atmosphere of Venus does not show any markings representing the presence of oxygen and water vapour, even if these elements, once, had been appearing on Venus, they were consumed by the crust.Another result in the same spectroscopic concluded that the Venus atmosphere contains a high concentration of carbon dioxide, triggering a sever greenhouse effect (Adams, 1934). In addition to Venus, the Mars with only one tenth by the mass of the Earth also has an atmosphere. Spectrograms studies raised significant markings on ? 8300 and ? 8700 reco gnizes the appearance of water and carbon dioxide respectively on the Mars atmosphere(Kaplan et. al. , 1964). The presence of water on Mars is obvious with the ice cap present in the polar region of Mars (Adams, 1934).Not surprisingly, oxygen absents in Mars atmosphere and was proofed by the light frequency relative to carbon dioxide was not absorbed by the Mars atmosphere (Kaplan et. al.. 1964). From the example of Venus and Mars, it clearly shows that containing such a high concentration of oxygen, 21%, with extraordinary low carbon dioxide concentration, 0. 03%, as the Earth’s atmosphere is uncommon in the solar system. The composition of the Earth atmosphere provides with evidences that it has been modified by some other factors. This modification, as we know, was conducted by plants.Plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale free oxygen as a by-product through the process of photosynthesis, inorganic substances were also converted into organic substances during the process (Berkner & Marshall, 1965). Free oxygen facilitates the evolution of organisms because high oxygen concentration triggers aerobic respiration, without oxygen, organisms nowadays would probably remain simple (Fenchel & Finlay, 1994). Differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration not only limit on the requirement of oxygen, the oxidizing power and good electron accepting properties of oxygen boosts energy metabolism (Babcock, 1999).Babcock (1999) also stated that aerobic respiration releases much more ATPs than anaerobic respiration, ATP can be treated as the energy storage unit in organisms. In other words, organisms undergo aerobic respiration can perform more vigorous activities or prolong the duration of the activities. Furthermore, the ozone layer derived from the excess free oxygen incubated a habitable environment for living organisms. The ozone layer with related to energy budget and the effect on human was well examined in Norway (Adams, 1934; Henriksen, 1990) .The ozone layer prevents living organisms burnt to death by screening out part of the UV-radiation reaching to the Earth surface. Hydrosphere: By the time when Earth was just formed, water from asteroids,  proto-planets, and  comets was locked in the core. Volcanic extrusion and outgassing brings magma along with dissolved gas and water vapour to the surface respectively. Extruded gas and water vapour suspended in the atmosphere therefore atmospheric pressure continuously increases. Water condenses when the atmospheric vapour pressure is saturated.Water droplets fall onto the ground and ocean formed (Morbidelli, 2000). Liquid water is an advance heat reservior because of having an extremely high specific heat capacity, 4200J/kg/?. This significantly high specific heat capacity, in other words, a large sum of energy can only result in a small extent of changes in temperature of water. The high energy absorption ability combined with the ocean current makes the ocean a good vecto r for transporting absorbed solar energy and regulating global climate (Michon, 2006). Apart from an excellent thermal reservoir, liquid water is also a good solvent.Gases in the atmosphere and minerals from the hydorthermal vents can easily dissolve into the water. Dissolved gas and minerals has planted a seed to the extensive evolution of life throughout the geological time (Morris, 2007). Biosphere: As we discussed the geosphere, atmosphere and the hydrosphere above, these systems have one thing in common. All the systems are linked with the biosphere. Although other planets in the solar system exhibit either physical feature, mostly not more than two, with Earth. The true uniqueness of the Earth raised from the presents of life which cannot be found on other planets recently.The origin of life is still a hot arguing topic among groups of scientists. However, the hydothermal vent is the most commonly and recently acceptable concepts of the origin of life (Baross & Hoffman, 19 85). The origin of life via submarine hydrothermal vent hypothesis has not been disproved yet since it was published because there are no other environment on Earth can provide a thermo-stable habitat with abundant minerals supply, for example, nitrogen and sulphur, for life establishment (Baross & Hoffman, 1985). Photosynthesis is considered as a key issue of the origin of life (Hartman, 1996).Bacteria record found in western Australia, dated as 3. 5 billion years ago, stated that cyanobacteria may be the first autotrophic organism and responsible for the later atmospheric modification (Awranik, 1992). This key process opens the window of free oxygen, hence considerably boosted the evolution of organisms. The GAIA Hypothesis: Every system discussed above has its own features and contributions within the system boundaries. There is no doubt that every literatures when emphasizing the planet Earth, it can hardly find any paper just put the focus on a single system.The same situat ion can also be observed in this article. For example, in the discussion part of the origin and development of the atmosphere, the tectonic activities and outgassing processes were mentioned. Moreover, a similar case was obtained when investigating biosphere. Although the whole part is bias towards living organisms, the effect of atmosphere to the biosphere can hardly be eliminated. The above situation is not due to the habit of the authors or the regulations of the publishers but it is the real case of the Earth.All systems on the Earth, including geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere or even self-defined systems, are interdependent. These systems interact with each other to create a more habitable planey. This complex interaction has long been observed by James Lovelock (1973) and explained in the GAIA Hypothesis. GAIA hypothesis suggested early life form achieve some sort of ability to control the global climate and the effect is still active. Lovelock (1972) stated that once the life exist on Earth, the physical environment and the chemical states had resulted a dramatic change.For example, the solar radiation level had increased dramatically since life exists. The Earth surface temperature, nevertheless, has only changed for a few degrees, throughout billion of years, compared to the current temperature. More interestingly, the rate and the extent of temperature change during the past billion years is so slow and mild respectively that the environment always permit the persistence of living organisms or provide long enough time for organisms to adapt. Without life, the atmosphere of the Earth will be similar to that of Mars and Venus.The above example, therefore, proved that the atmosphere we are now breathing is â€Å"biological contrivance† (Lovelock, 1972). The terms â€Å"Spaceship Earth† (Lovelock, 1972) was used to represent the planet where we are living. When astronauts were sent into the space, all the requirements for survi val can only obtain from the storage in the spaceship. If either system in the spaceship fails, astronauts will probably die. Conclusion: Doubtlessly, the Earth has many physical environments that absent in other planets. For example, liquid water and living organisms.However, what really makes the Earth rare is the interaction between different functional systems with unknown complexity. These interactions connected to the terminology of the â€Å"Spaceship Earth† meaning the Earth has the ability to self-regulate to adjust its own environmental condition that result in a harmonious giant system. Reference: Awramik, S. M. (1992). The oldest records of photosynthesis. PhotosynthesisResearch 33 (2): 75-89 Claude J. Allegre,  Gerard Manhes,  Christa Gopel, (1995). The age of the Earth. David R. Lide. (2000). Various. Handbook of Chemistry and Physics  . 1 Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59 (8):1445–1456 Gerald T Babcock. (1999). How oxygen is activated and reduced in respiration. PNAS. 96(23):12971-12973 Henriksen, Thormod, Dahlback, Arne, Larsen, Soren H. H. Moan, Johan. (1990). ULTRAVIOLET-RADIATION and SKIN CANCER. EFFECT OF AN OZONE LAYERDEPLETION. Photochemistry and Photobiology. 51 (5):579-582 Hyman Hartman. (1996). Photosynthesis and the origin of life. Origins of life andevolution of the biosphere. 28:515-521 James E. Lovelock, (1972). Chapter 25: GAIA as seen through the atmosphere.Atmospheric environment. 6 (8):579-580 James E. Lovelock, (1973). Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: thegaia hypothesis. Tellus. 26 (1-2):2-10 John A. Baross & Sarah E. Hoffman. (1985). Submarine hydrothermal vents andassociated gradient environments as sites for the origin and evolution of life. Origin of life and evolution of the biosphere. 15 (4):327-345 L. V. Berkner & L. C. Marshall. (1965). On the origin and rise of oxygen concentrationin the earth’s atmosphere. Journal of the atmospheric science. 22(3):225-261 Lewis D. Kaplan, Guido Munch, Hyron Spinrad (1964). An analysis of the spectrum ofMars. The astrophysical journal. 139 (1): 1-15 Morbidelli, A. et al. (2000). Source regions and time scales for the delivery of waterto Earth. Meteoritics & Planetary Science  35  (6): 1309–1320 Morris, Ron M. (2007). Oceanic Processes. NASA Astrobiology Magazine. P. D. Moore. (1983). Plants and the palaeoatmosphere. Journal of the GeologicalSociety of London, 140(1):13-25 Robin M. Canup, (2008). Accretion of the Earth. Philosophical Transactions:Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 66:4061-4075 Scott, Michon (2007). Earth's Big heat Bucket. NASA Earth Observatory Seligman, Courtney (2008). The Structure of the Terrestrial Planets. OnlineAstronomy eText Table of Contents. URL: cseligman. com. Accessed: 6thNovermber,2012 Shun-ichiro Karato. (1993). Inner Core Anisotropy Due to the MagneticField—induced Preferred Orientation of Iron. Science,  262 (5140):1708-1711. Staff. (2010 ). Oldest measurement of Earth's magnetic field reveals battle betweenSun and Earth for our atmosphere. Physorgnt. news. T. Gold. (1967).Radio Method for the Precise Measurement of the Rotation Period ofthe Earth. Science. 21 (3786):302-304 Taikan Oki & Shinjiro Kanae, (2006). Global Hydrological Cycles and World WaterResources. Science 313 (1068. ) Tom Fenchel & Bland J. Finlay. (1994). The evolution of life without oxygen. Americanscientist. 82 (1):22-29 Walter S. Adams, (1934). The Planets and Their Atmospheres. The Scientific Monthly. 39 (1):5-19 Yoder, Charles F. (1995). Global Earth Physic. A Handbook of Physical Constants. Washington: American Geophysical Union. p. 12

Conflict of Interest

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY Article I Purpose The purpose of the conflict of interest policy is to protect Diamond Cut Loyalty Canine Rescue and Pit Bull Rehabilitation, Inc. ’s (herein â€Å"Organization†) interest when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement that might benefit the private interest of an officer or director of the Organization or might result in a possible excess benefit transaction. This policy is intended to supplement but not replace any applicable state and federal laws governing conflict of interest applicable to nonprofit and charitable organizations. Article II Definitions . Interested Person Any director, principal officer, or member of a committee with governing board delegated powers, who has a direct or indirect financial interest, as defined below, is an Interested Person. 2. Financial Interest A person has a financial interest if the person has, directly or indirectly, through business, investment, or family: a. An o wnership or investment interest in any entity with which the Organization has a transaction or arrangement, b. A compensation arrangement with the Organization or with any entity or individual with which the Organization has a transaction or arrangement, or . A potential ownership or investment interest in, or compensation arrangement with, any entity or individual with which the Organization is negotiating a transaction or arrangement. Compensation includes direct and indirect remuneration as well as gifts or favors that are not insubstantial. A financial interest is not necessarily a conflict of interest. Under Article III, Section 2, a person who has a financial interest may have a conflict of interest only if the Board of Directors decides that a conflict of interest exists. 3. Board of Directors The directors, collectively, of the Organization. Article IIIProcedures 1. Duty to Disclose In connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an Interested Person must dis close the existence of the financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the Board of Directors relating to the proposed transaction or arrangement. 2. Determining Whether a Conflict of Interest Exists After disclosure of the financial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, he/she shall leave the Board of Directors meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon.The remaining board members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists. 3. Procedures for Addressing the Conflict of Interest a. An interested person may make a presentation to the Board of Directors, but after the presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. b. The chairperson of the Board of Directors shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate al ternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. c.After exercising due diligence, the Board of Directors shall determine whether the Organization can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. d. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under circumstances not producing a conflict of interest, the Board of Directors shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in the Organization’s best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable.In conformity with the above determination it shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement. 4. Violations of the Conflicts of Interest Policy a. If the Board of Directors has reasonable cause to believe a member has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it shall inform the member of the basis for such belief and afford the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. . If, after hearing the member’s response and after making further investigation as warranted by the circumstances, the Board of Directors determines the member has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action. Article IV Records of Proceedings The minutes of the Board of Directors’ meeting shall contain: a.The names of the persons who disclosed or otherwise were found to have a financial interest in connection with an actual or possible conflict of interest, the nature of the financial interest, any action taken to determine whether a conflict of interest was present, and the Board of Directors’ decision as to whether a conflict of interest in fact existed. b. The names of the persons who were present for discussions and votes relating to the trans action or arrangement, the content of the discussion, including any alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement, and a record of any votes taken in connection with the proceedings.Article V Compensation a. A voting member of the Board of Directors who receives compensation, directly or indirectly, from the Organization for services is precluded from voting on matters pertaining to that member’s compensation. b. A voting member of any committee whose jurisdiction includes compensation matters and who receives compensation, directly or indirectly, from the Organization for services is precluded from voting on matters pertaining to that member’s compensation. c.No voting member of the Board of Directors whose jurisdiction includes compensation matters and who receives compensation, directly or indirectly, from the Organization, either individually or collectively, is prohibited from providing information to any committee regarding compensation. Article VI Annu al Statements Each director, principal officer and member of a committee with governing board delegated powers shall annually sign a statement which affirms such person: a. Has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy, . Has read and understands the policy, c. Has agreed to comply with the policy, and d. Understands the Organization is charitable and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. Article VII Periodic Reviews To ensure the Organization operates in a manner consistent with charitable purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, periodic reviews shall be conducted.The periodic reviews shall, at a minimum, include the following subjects: a. Whether compensation arrangements and benefits are reasonable, based on competent survey information, and the result of arm’s length bargaining. b. Whether partnerships, joint ve ntures, and arrangements with management organizations conform to the Organization’s written policies, are properly recorded, reflect reasonable investment or payments for goods and services, further charitable purposes and do not result in inurement, impermissible private benefit or in an excess benefit transaction.

Civil War Unavoidable essays

Civil War Unavoidable essays Was the Civil War un-avoidable? Was there another solution, or was it inevitable? These questions have one definite answer. The answer is Inevitable. What were the causes of the Civil War? Most people think of slaver when that war is mentioned. Even centuries later, we still debate the cause of the Civil War. With most wars, there isnt just one problem, but several complicated issues. The main issue was slavery! President Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery altogether. There was a tremendous amount of political opponents to this. In a speech made by president Lincoln I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.1 The only problem was: the south needed slavery for their economy. They felt that without slavery, their economy was doomed to fail. Although, slavery was the main cause; some states w anted to secede. They wanted to secede because of two reasons: slavery was needed for the southern economy, and the southern were pro states rights. They thought the federal government and president Lincoln- had too much power. When Lincoln came to office, the confederate states thought they were doomed; although, all Lincoln really wanted to do was stop slavery from expanding into free territories. In 1793, a man by the name of Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin. This made it easier to mass produce separated cotton. This invention made southern crops very profitable; all they needed were hands to pick it. This led to increase in slave labor, which perpetuated more civil disobedience in the southern states. The confederate states couldnt just give up slavery outright. They felt it would have ruined the southern economy. They would no longer have the people to pick cotton, and white people thought they were too good for that. The north industrialized, and didnt see the need for slavery anymore. The democratic party was mostly made up of slaveholders. W...

Free Essays on David

â€Å"Ignorance is bliss,† my grandfather advised as we sat reflecting on the front porch. Like wine I felt my grandfather had aged to perfection. He too became more cherished with age. Our topic of discussion was one we did not talk of often. Death. Death and how unexpectedly and swiftly it can change lives. Specifically, however, we were discussing David, my mentor, my neighbor, and my friend. At the ripe young age of nine one does not have many worries, of course if Barbie is missing a shoe the world will end, but other than that one would say life is pretty easy. I, as a child, could play all day and destroy my toy bin. I would revamp my bedroom by turning it into a fort and miraculously end up in my bed the next morning with the room clean and toys straightened only to do it all again that day. Such luxuries as these left little to no room for stress and worrying. However, anytime the folks caused a little disruption in my calm homeostasis I would trot my way right over to my neighbors. David seemed to know everything. From Barbie’s Malibu Playhouse to elementary math, nothing was too large of a dilemma for David. At the conclusion of every school day the remainder of my day would be spent explaining to David every explicit detail to what knowledge I had acquired. When summer came, my visitations were surprisingly fewer being that pools needed to be swam i n and barbeques needed to be had. Never the less at least twice a week David would get the scoop. David, at age thirty-five, was a handsome man. With no former children from any previous marriage one would expect him to be lonely. However not until now could I read the sure tell-tale signs of his loneliness; David always making time for me was more time he didn’t have to spend by himself. In retrospect I see now that I was always the one talking in all of our conversations. Never did I take the time to listen. Granted I was young and ignorant, listening wou... Free Essays on David Free Essays on David David, who was destined to be the second king of Israel, destroyed the Philistine giant Goliath with stone and a sling. Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Bernini each designed a sculpture of David. However, the sculptures are drastically different from one another. Each one is unique in its own certain way. Donatello, whose David was the first life-size nude statue since Classical times, struck a balance between Classicism and the realism by presenting a very real image of an Italian peasant boy in the form of a Classical nude figure. Although Donatello was inspired by Classical figures, he did not choose a Greek youth in his prime as a model for his David. Instead, he chooses a barely developed adolescent boy whose arms appeared weak due to the lack of muscles. After defeating Goliath, whose head lies at David's feet, he rests his sword by his side, almost to heavy to handle. It seems almost impossible that a young boy like David could have accomplished such a task. David himself seems skeptical of his deed as he glances down towards his body. Apparently, David's intellect, faith and courage made up for his lack of build (Fichner-Rathus 331-332). Verrocchio, who also designed a sculpture of David, was the most important and imaginative sculptor of the mid-fifteenth century. This figure of the youthful David is one of the most beloved and famous works of its time. In Verrocchio's David, we see a strong contrast to Donatello's treatment of the same subject. Although both artists choose to portray David as an adolescent, Verrocchio's brave man "appears somewhat older and excludes pride and self-confidence rather than a dreamy gaze of disbelief" (Fichner-Rathus 334). Donatello balanced realistic elements with an idealized Classically inspired torso whereas Verrocchio's goal was absolutely realism in minute details. The sculptures also differ in terms of technique. Donatello's David is mainly a closed-form sculpture. The objects an... Free Essays on David â€Å"Ignorance is bliss,† my grandfather advised as we sat reflecting on the front porch. Like wine I felt my grandfather had aged to perfection. He too became more cherished with age. Our topic of discussion was one we did not talk of often. Death. Death and how unexpectedly and swiftly it can change lives. Specifically, however, we were discussing David, my mentor, my neighbor, and my friend. At the ripe young age of nine one does not have many worries, of course if Barbie is missing a shoe the world will end, but other than that one would say life is pretty easy. I, as a child, could play all day and destroy my toy bin. I would revamp my bedroom by turning it into a fort and miraculously end up in my bed the next morning with the room clean and toys straightened only to do it all again that day. Such luxuries as these left little to no room for stress and worrying. However, anytime the folks caused a little disruption in my calm homeostasis I would trot my way right over to my neighbors. David seemed to know everything. From Barbie’s Malibu Playhouse to elementary math, nothing was too large of a dilemma for David. At the conclusion of every school day the remainder of my day would be spent explaining to David every explicit detail to what knowledge I had acquired. When summer came, my visitations were surprisingly fewer being that pools needed to be swam i n and barbeques needed to be had. Never the less at least twice a week David would get the scoop. David, at age thirty-five, was a handsome man. With no former children from any previous marriage one would expect him to be lonely. However not until now could I read the sure tell-tale signs of his loneliness; David always making time for me was more time he didn’t have to spend by himself. In retrospect I see now that I was always the one talking in all of our conversations. Never did I take the time to listen. Granted I was young and ignorant, listening wou...

Are You About To Get Fired, Or Are You Just Paranoid 8 Ways to Tell

Are You About To Get Fired, Or Are You Just Paranoid 8 Ways to Tell It’s easy to think you might be on the chopping block, but sometimes you’re just jumping at shadows. How can you tell if you’re just being paranoid or if you really should be worried? Here are a few signs that your worry is justified. 1. You recently screwed up.A screw-up isn’t necessarily the harbinger of doom. But if you did have a big mistake in your recent past, that’s probably one thing to consider.2. You’ve been iced out.You suddenly find yourself no longer in the loop. You’re hearing about company news from people well below your pay grade. Not a great sign. And if your supervisor or mentor recently left the department? Even worse.3. No one will look at you.None of your colleagues are making eye contact. You’re being ignored. People go out of their way not to cross you in the halls or meet you in the break room. And you find people seem to be whispering when they’re in your ear shot. You could just be a pariah, but it’s more likely that they know something you don’t know.4. There have been mergers and acquisitions.Your company just merged or got bought out. Layoffs are probably to be on the table at some point in the future. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be fired, but if it’s one of many of these symptoms, then you should probably start looking for another job.5. You’re being set up to fail.The last task you got assigned was actually impossible. Or maybe your responsibility has been completely curtailed. Either way, you can perceive that you’ve been fully written off.6. You’ve been downsized.Has your office just been moved somewhere pretty subpar? Or your cubicle split in half to accommodate another employee? They don’t value your space, they probably don’t value you all that much either. Or maybe your pay has just taken a cut- or been frozen.7. They’re hiring your replacement.You found a posting that matches your job description on a job search site or the company boards. That is†¦ well†¦ not a good sign.8. There’s a clear paper trail.Your boss doesn’t have any conversations with you now in either passing or about work. There’s always an email chain. As if they’re trying to cover their bases. Or perhaps your relationship is just getting weird. Either way, weird boss behavior is never a good sign.

Finaince for mangers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Finaince for mangers - Essay Example They are considerably relevant and helpful to properly and fully assess the divisional financial and economic performance. After the critical evaluation, the relevant improvements are recommended accordingly. Quality Products Division The quality products division deals in furniture items made by hand and the raw natural materials are made part of it. Due to its quality products, this division has significantly contributed into the exports, especially in the Middle East. However, to critically understand the actual financial position of this division, the financial position and the audit comments are taken into account. Financial position 2007 2008 2009 Gearing (TL/TL+SC) 100% 53.98% 52.65% 52.32% Return on investment [PBIT / (TA – L)] x100% (Loss) 16.24% 18.96% Gross profit (gross profit/turnover) 100% 38.89% 40.43% 41.36% Profit before interest (profit before interest/turnover) 100% (loss) 5.70% 6.37% Profit after interest (PAI/Turnover)100% (Loss) 1.97% 3.34% Overseas Turno ver (overseas turnover/turnover) 100% 53.79% 44.51% 36.59% These are fundamental indicators of financial position of any corporate entity. ... Gross profit and profit before interest, profit after interest figures are slightly improving and on yearly basis, they provide 2 to 3% growth in these figures. With so much potential in the markets, local and foreign markets, this division’s gross profit and profit before tax are not increasing as they should be. In addition, this division has been more stable and in demand in the markets of Middle East, however, its recent decreasing overseas turnover highlights some of worrying signs for this division. This is negatively affecting the gross profit and profit before tax figures as well. Additionally, there are no positive audit comments for this division; the audit management letter clearly highlights that some quality control problems with a new range of adjustable chairs for senior citizens. As this industry considerably depends on the quality, such kind of quality control problems may reduce the number of customers. Additionally, the audit management letter points out tha t in every month 20 boxes of flat-packed chairs and desks are disappearing from the one of the division’s outlets. Improvements Profits can be improved by entering into the contract segment of the industry. This segment accounts for 29% of the entire furniture industry. For achieving that aim, the division is required to more concentrate on quality issues which are recently highlighted in the audit management letter. In addition, the disappearance of chairs and desks must be reduced by introducing some physical controls such as only authorized persons should be allowed to enter into the internal parts of the outlets and each incoming and outgoing shipment of desks

Bringing extinct animals back to life Assignment

Bringing extinct animals back to life - Assignment Example This project involves withstanding painstaking research and consumption of large sums of money in the project. It also involves fighting back ethical issues raised by environmentalists concerning the undertakings. Novak and Brand represent the group of new generation who are passionate about having the extinct animals back in the global ecosystem. The author is biased in the way he present the project Revive and Restore as the solution to the extinction problem. The mission and vision of the organization trying to launch the de-extinction program which would ensure the extinct birds and animals are restored back into the ecosystem. The underlying value is down to giving conservation measures a different approach as well as the restoration of beauty of having those birds and animals around. However, the writer fails to address the issues that lead to extinction in the first place. The project Revive and Restore will consume a lot of funds which can be channeled to more conservation measure to guards the animals which are already being faced by extinction. In addition, the author fails to address the repercussion of the extinct animal regenerate upsetting the current ecosystem balance as they struggle to adapt themselves to an environment tat have changed over the decades. It is worth mentioning that the article present some valuable information about the importance of conservation. It highlights how human negligence over animal conservation can lead to a very expensive and time consuming reversal process. So what ought to be done to conserve the existing endangered species should be put in place to avoid the expensive and unproven de-extinction

The Australian Government and Reserve Bank Assignment

The Australian Government and Reserve Bank - Assignment Example The main purpose behind the development of such type of an economy is to ensure the availability of opportunities for every Australian citizen for their future success (Key Achievements, n.d). The Reserve Bank of Australia started operating as the central bank of Australia on 14th January 1960. The main purpose of the Australian Reserve Bank is to â€Å"conduct monetary policy,† maintaining a strong economic system and issuing currency of the nation (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2011). The paper seeks to examine the performance of the Australian government and Reserve Bank of Australia in the past two with emphasis on their macroeconomic policies. How successful have the Australian Government and the Reserve Bank of Australia has been in running the Australian economy over the last two years? The time when most of the major powers like UK and USA were suffering due to the recession, the Australian economy was growing at a rate of 0.4pc in the first quarter of 2009 according to t he Australian Board of Statistics. There was even a rise in its GDP. Source: Keep Australian Government The only thing that might put the Australian economy at the backseat was the growing rate of unemployment and it needed immediate attention (Malkin, 2009). Thus when the Labor Party came into power it was expected from them to design their policies in such a way so as to bring more improvements for the economy and also reduce the rate of unemployment. In the department of health, the Gillard Government had signed a number of health reforms with all the States and Territories in order to secure the health of the Australians in the future. This agreement will be a boon for the economy as it will provide the funds required for the public hospitals, one can expect greater levels of â€Å"transparency and accountability† and less waiting for the patients. As a result of the above health reforms one can see that hospital funding has increased by over 50 percent. Around $ 1.5 bill ion have been injected in the emergency departments. Plans for the aged section of the population have increased by 10,000. In order to ensure availability of medical facilities in the rural areas incentives and bonuses are being given to the doctors (Health Reform, n.d). Though the health reforms were meant for the whole economy yet it lacked a â€Å"common architecture binding policy† attitude. Increasing health care costs have proved to be a factor responsible for lack of health care facilities among the indigenous Australians. Apart from that there has been the problem of lack coordination and content (Gillespie, 2011). The Gillard government has made efforts to make every school a great school because they believe that proper education is very important for increasing a person’s potential and also for increasing the wealth of the nation in future. Accordingly policies were designed in such a way so as to ensure uninterrupted flow of quality education. Funding for education continued, existing Education Tax Rebate was expanded; $3.1 million was to be spent in the next two years in order to establish National Trade Cadetships and many more (Schools Policy Analysis, 2010). As global warming as become an important issue all over the world, the Gillard Government has taken steps to ensure a safer environment for the Australians. The government’s Clean Energy Future Package is considered to be an important economic

Women in Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Women in Business Management - Essay Example Women’s representation has increased drastically in the labor workforce in last few years. The point to be emphasized is that despite of the fact that women are now more educated, highly qualified and more career orientated than they were ever before they still don’t reach the top most positions in the organization and are still either underrepresented on the senior positions or are stuck in the middle managerial levels only. However many researches and scholarly worked showed that women can due to their uniqueness can benefit the organization in many ways. Their different style of leadership can help organization achieve its objectives and their representation on senior level adds greater diversity and transparency in the organization. Despite of all these researches women don’t make their way to the top management level due to many reasons that hinder women growth. In this essay I shall discuss the problems faced by women in reaching the top levels in organizat ions, the sex stereotyping and misconceptions about working women, how men and women lead differently and the advantages and benefits an organization can have of women representation in the senior management. Theoretical background: Statistical Analysis: With the passage of time women all over the world are striving to become independent, the increasing number of women have joined the labor workforce in last few years and they continue to do so. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics of 2008 women constitutes about 48% of the total labor workforce in US. Despite of being almost half of the total labor workforce, women are unable to make their mark in the top position. The first article that discussed barriers for women’s advancement in the senior managerial roles appeared in The Wall Street Journal in 1986. The study and work on the subject is also referred to as ‘glass ceiling’ which blocked women to take the senior level positions. Since then many researche s and scholarly works have appeared regarding the issues. Studies revealed that women are not presented equally on the senior management positions, even if they reach these positions they remain under paid. In 2002, in the Fortune 500 companies women only acquired 15.7% of the corporate officer level position. While in recent times, according to a study released by Catalyst- a non profit organization working for the empowerment of women, the main reason stopping women to be a part of senior management in the organization is the gender stereotyping. Despite of being equivalent to men, women are often left with conflicting, unfavorable options due to such circumstances. Catalyst’s data released in 2011 showed that women hold 46.7% of total labor workforce in US out of which 51.5% of women, almost half hold professional and management occupations and according to Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) women hold 33% of top managerial positions in UK. However, even after holding su ch high percentage of total workforce women are still underrepresented in the top 500 fortune companies of the world where they hold only 6.7% of the top senior management positions that include corporate officer positions, board seats and chief executive titles. (BILIMORIA & PIDERIT. 2007; ARFKEN, BELLAR & HELMS. 2004; PICHLER, SIMPSON, & STROH. 2008; EVANS, D. 2011) With the passage of time there have been certain changes in women’s participation in the total labor work force. Initially women workers constitute more of part-time workers than full time, now with the changing trend the number of

Effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effects - Essay Example According to the Encyclopedia of Earth (2010), the average Northern American emits an average of 20 tons worth of CO2 equivalent in a year. Latin America hosts the world’s most biodiversity in its forests, the Amazon, which is currently facing a challenge due to the amount of deforestation taking place for the sake of construction projects (Global Change). The problems are not restricted to these two aspects, the industrial revolution and the government policies established to promote the industrial sector causes harmful gases to be released in the air which can be a cause of acid rain. This can cause a number of health hazards for a lot of people and even destroy structures with the passage of time. The effects of climate change and global warming is not isolated in a particular region or continent, it is a global issue and has caused numerous disasters across the world. Over the last 35 years there has been a significant increase in the number of category 5 hurricanes which has been linked to the rising ocean temperatures due to the depletion of the ozone layer (NRDC). The weather extremes have also gone over the edge of the spectrums as droughts have now a higher probability of occurring. Summer temperatures in certain regions such as Australia are already high but due to the steady rise in temperature wildfires are more prone to occurring. Such fires have cost governments across the globe millions of dollars due to the extensive damages. Rainy season is also become a threat as the recent floods in Australia, Brazil, Germany and other countries led to intense levels of flooding and caused a large number of deaths. The effects are not confined to the human population alone but according to the National Resources Defense Council (2011) there could be an extinction of about 1 million species of by the year 2050 if the current trend does not change its course. It has also brought to attention that due to the lesser number of ice floes in the polar caps th e polar bears are drowning as they cannot manage to swim the long distances from one floe to another in search of food or shelter. Forests such as Bermudas mangrove forest are also slowly disappearing as the sea levels continue to rise while glaciers that sustain life are slowly melting. In order to avoid a complete upheaval in the natural order of the world there needs to be serious rethinking in the way of doing certain things. There can be many legislative steps that can be taken to pen out laws at a national and international level to maintain checks and balances on industries and other businesses to curb their output of harmful gases. Governments also need to stop the trend of sustaining themselves on non-renewable resources and look for cleaner and cheaper ways to maintain a steady energy source. Wind, solar and hydra power are renewable and practical especially for developed countries that have the resources and the capital to be able to set up such plants. Even nuclear power would cut down on the waste that is emitted in the air by coal and gas and oil burning but that does come with hazards of its own. Fossil fuels are not only a danger when they are burned but their transportation and extraction itself can be hazardous to the

Women in Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Women in Business Management - Essay Example Women’s representation has increased drastically in the labor workforce in last few years. The point to be emphasized is that despite of the fact that women are now more educated, highly qualified and more career orientated than they were ever before they still don’t reach the top most positions in the organization and are still either underrepresented on the senior positions or are stuck in the middle managerial levels only. However many researches and scholarly worked showed that women can due to their uniqueness can benefit the organization in many ways. Their different style of leadership can help organization achieve its objectives and their representation on senior level adds greater diversity and transparency in the organization. Despite of all these researches women don’t make their way to the top management level due to many reasons that hinder women growth. In this essay I shall discuss the problems faced by women in reaching the top levels in organizat ions, the sex stereotyping and misconceptions about working women, how men and women lead differently and the advantages and benefits an organization can have of women representation in the senior management. Theoretical background: Statistical Analysis: With the passage of time women all over the world are striving to become independent, the increasing number of women have joined the labor workforce in last few years and they continue to do so. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics of 2008 women constitutes about 48% of the total labor workforce in US. Despite of being almost half of the total labor workforce, women are unable to make their mark in the top position. The first article that discussed barriers for women’s advancement in the senior managerial roles appeared in The Wall Street Journal in 1986. The study and work on the subject is also referred to as ‘glass ceiling’ which blocked women to take the senior level positions. Since then many researche s and scholarly works have appeared regarding the issues. Studies revealed that women are not presented equally on the senior management positions, even if they reach these positions they remain under paid. In 2002, in the Fortune 500 companies women only acquired 15.7% of the corporate officer level position. While in recent times, according to a study released by Catalyst- a non profit organization working for the empowerment of women, the main reason stopping women to be a part of senior management in the organization is the gender stereotyping. Despite of being equivalent to men, women are often left with conflicting, unfavorable options due to such circumstances. Catalyst’s data released in 2011 showed that women hold 46.7% of total labor workforce in US out of which 51.5% of women, almost half hold professional and management occupations and according to Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) women hold 33% of top managerial positions in UK. However, even after holding su ch high percentage of total workforce women are still underrepresented in the top 500 fortune companies of the world where they hold only 6.7% of the top senior management positions that include corporate officer positions, board seats and chief executive titles. (BILIMORIA & PIDERIT. 2007; ARFKEN, BELLAR & HELMS. 2004; PICHLER, SIMPSON, & STROH. 2008; EVANS, D. 2011) With the passage of time there have been certain changes in women’s participation in the total labor work force. Initially women workers constitute more of part-time workers than full time, now with the changing trend the number of

Engine Management Systems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Engine Management Systems - Coursework Example The FADEC controls the fuel injection and timing; hence, optimize engine power. This adds the considerable amount of wiring to the system due to the needed separate power supply for backup from the alternator. The extra weight of parts of FADEC system has to be checked and recalculated for adjustment. FADEC has cockpit controls and other extra switches added to this system to control the fuel pump. These systems are protected by the FADEC power supply (Gunston, 1990)). The ECU has a 3D memory map, which controls fuel injection under varied circumstances for instance, air pressure density and the air temperature, with respect to throttle settings and the RPM. The Electronic Control Unit can sense barometric pressure and respond by injecting fuel. The spark plug ignition timing is controlled depending on load for each throttle settings. The ignition timing variations yields faster engine starting and smoother operations with the variable loads. The FADEC engine does not need chocking d uring starting since the ECU controls fuel for every cylinder and assists in retarding the ignition. FADEC system does not use the carburetor and the ignition and does not also depend on aircraft electrical system (Guttman, 2009). On the other hand, in the hydromechanical control system, the driver is in control of the aircraft power plant using an internal combustion engine. The sensors and control are the alternator and the battery masters. The battery master activates the battery contractor that connects the battery to the electrical bus aircraft. Alternator master applies power to the field circuit of the alternator to activate the circuit. The two switches provide power to the aircraft systems. The throttle sets up the required power level and controls the massive air-flow rate in the carbureted engines that are delivered to the cylinder. Pitch control adjust the speed unit, which then adjusts the propeller pitch and controls the load required by the engine in maintaining the R PM. The mixture control will in turn set the needed fuel to add to the airflow intake. At high altitudes, the oxygen levels reduce and, therefore, volume of the fuel must readjust to the required air-fuel mixture. The ignition switch opens the ‘P’’lead circuit by activating the magnetos. The magnetron maintains the process of sending the output voltage to spark plugs and connects the engine through the gearing. Movement in the crankshaft causes the magnetrons to generate voltage for sparking (Hispano-Suiza, 2001). TASK 2: FADEC SYSTEM The FADEC system is connected to inputs and outputs as illustrated in the diagram 01 Diagram 01: INPUT AND OUTPUTS OF A FADEC FADEC system is the most current system used to control the aircraft engines. The computers form part of its components and have the ability to process more data than the hydromechanical control system. This, therefore. enables the FADEC to optimize the operation of the engine system, as well performs other f unctions. This includes fuel control, power management, Sourcing data for ECM controlling of thrust reverser, shutting down, detecting of faults for the system, monitoring all components of the engine, as well as sourcing data to be used for engine indication. In order to achieve these tasks, the FADEC has various components. These components include Electronic Engine Control (EEC) and the auxiliary components. These auxiliary components include the sensors, ignition systems the stator valves, the actuator controller, FADEC Alternator, the Reverser

Working with Communities Essay Example for Free

Working with Communities Essay Community: A common bond by which people choose to associate around. It is a very slippery idea. Sociologically it is almost meaningless. It can be based, for example, on: place, ethnicity, religious affiliation, leisure interests, work, traditions, politics, class, age. The list is almost endless. Neighbourhood: A residential area where those who live there consider it to be their locality. (Hawtin et al, 1994) The more complex answer is that it depends on the community and the issues involved. In general, a sustainable community is a geographic area and includes everything in that areahuman and nonhuman, animal, vegetable, and mineral. In some cases, political boundaries such as town, city or county limits might be most useful in delineating a community. In other cases, watersheds or other natural boundaries might be most useful. What is important is that the members of the community be involved in deciding the boundaries of their community and how to make that community a sustainable community. (Hart, 1998) Within any area, the ‘community’ is likely to be made up of many different interest groups, which will come together for a whole variety of reasons. Community groups may focus on ‘place’ – the area where they live and work; or may focus on interests, principles, issues, values or religion. Both types of group may have an interest in planning issues. Some of these groups will be well established and represented. In other cases, however, interests may not be homogeneous, for example large and small businesses. Effective involvement cannot happen without a good understanding of the make up, needs and interests of al those different groups and their capacity to engage. An inclusive approach is needed to ensure that different groups have the opportunity to participate and are not disadvantaged in the process. Identifying and understanding the needs of groups who find it difficult to engage with the planning system is essential. (Communities and Local Gover nment, 2004) The Welsh Assembly Government proposed that each local authority in Wales works collaboratively with the corresponding local health board to prepare a Health, Social Care and Well Being Strategy, the local public health director in Swansea undertook an assessment of the health and social care needs of the population living in the City and County of Swansea. Needs assessment is a method of identifying unmet health, well-being and social care needs of a population in a systematic way. It provides the information upon which decisions about tackling those unmet needs can be made. Demand is an expressed need. Separating a want from a need is not a simple task since many people may want things they do not need. (National Health Service, 2003) Needs assessment involves epidemiological, comparative and corporate methods to describe the problems and issues facing a population. Also addressing the provision of and access to services, activities, facilities and amenities, which are needed to respond to these inequalities. The needs assessment will draw on both quantitative and qualitative sources. It should inform Strategy priority setting and decision making which will need to take account of the most effective use of resources, clinical and cost effectiveness and the views of patients, service users and carers. (NHS, 2003) Each needs assessment should address wider needs in addition to health, social care and well-being needs. A good needs assessment should present information on: †¢ Mortality, disability and health-related quality of life; †¢ Education, skills and training; †¢ Income; †¢ Employment and the economy; †¢ Housing; †¢ Physical environment; †¢ Community safety and crime; †¢ Social capital/ civic engagement; †¢ Geographical access. (Welsh Assembly Government, 2003) Factors affecting the health and well-being of communities are; social, economic and environmental factors, health promotion and education, health protection and nutrition, the safety of food, community development and regeneration and sustainable development, inequalities in health and well-being, access to health and well-being services and inequalities in access to such services, the availability of and access to public and community transport, the availability of and access to education, training and employment, the standard and condition of housing. (NHS, 2003) The local authority and local health board must ensure that needs assessment covers: †¢ Children and young people, including young carers; †¢ Disabled people; †¢ Carers; †¢ The needs of core groups identified in legislation, in particular section 17 of the 1989 Children Act; †¢ Vulnerable Adults; †¢ Older people; †¢ Adults with mental health needs; and †¢ Children and young people with mental health needs. This list is not comprehensive but identifies key client groups whose needs should be included in the assessment. (Welsh Assembly Government, 2003) The Health, Social Care Well Being Strategies (Wales) Regulations 2003 also state that Local Authorities (LA’s) and Local Health Boards (LHB) have a duty to co-operate with a wide range of partners during the preparation of the strategy, including: †¢ NHS Trusts †¢ Community Health Councils †¢ County Voluntary Councils †¢ Health Commission Wales †¢ Any private, business, voluntary or other organisations with an interest in the provision of health and well being services. In co-operating with voluntary and other organisations with an interest in the provision of health and well being services, the Local Authority and LHB must include groups and/or organisations representing the interests of patients, service users and carers. The local health board, local authority and the local NHS trust, together with the community health council and the Council for Voluntary Services in Swansea are members of a Strategy Board, created to oversee the production of the Swansea Health, Social Care and Well Being Strategy. (NHS, 2003) To achieve this goal both partners had to undertake a system known as â€Å"Community Profiling†. Community profiling is recognised as a vital stage in planning a service that will meet the needs of a community it serves. Community profiling is a systematic process of collecting, organising and analysing data about a given community and its environment. The analysis of the data collected will allow services to make inferences concerning a particular community’s needs and interests, only then can customised services be designed by selecting the appropriate materials targeted to those inferred interests and needs (Hawtin et al, 1994) Community profiling involves building up a picture of the nature, needs and resources of a community with the active participation of that community. Greer and Hale (2002) suggest that it is a useful first stage in any community planning process, to establish context which is widely agreed. A range of methods are used to enable the community to develop and understanding of itself, these methods combine group working and group interaction techniques with data collection and presentation techniques (Greer and Hale, 2002) The City and County of Swansea has many contrasts. It has large rural areas, a significant urban centre, and areas of wealth and of deprivation. Most of the population is concentrated in the urban areas which are mainly focused on Swansea. The latest estimate of the population of the City and County of Swansea stands at 231,300 (Mid Year Estimate, 2009). Swansea has the third highest population of the 22 Welsh Unitary Authorities, representing almost 8% of the total population of Wales (2,999,300). The 2009 Mid Year Estimates were released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 24 June 2010. The migratory flow is relatively stable. The number of live births for the county has also remained relatively constant at 54.6 per 1,000 females and has generally mirrored the Welsh average at 56.7 per cent. (Office of National Statistics, 2010) Projections for Wales point to a 2 per cent fall in the under-16 age group share of the population and a 2.5 per cent increase in the share of the population of retirement age by 2011. It is likely that this pattern of age will be reflected in the county, an area that already has a lower proportion aged under-16 and higher proportion of people of retirement age than in the UK as a whole. 14.3 per cent of Swansea’s residents can speak Welsh which is lower than the all Wales figure of 26.7 per cent. (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales, 2009) The vast majority of the population of Swansea (97.8 per cent) is white. The local black and ethnic minority communities comprise of 2.2 per cent of the population. The largest minority ethnic groups are Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and Arabic communities. The number of asylum seekers accommodated by private providers in Swansea in December 2002 was 384, drawn from 40 nationalities with approximately 31 per cent aged between 0-16. Swansea experiences relatively high levels of homelessness. In 1997, 3.2 people per 1,000 population were reported unintentionally homeless and in priority need, compared with a welsh average of 1.5. (Office National Statistics, 2010) Using the health status rankings from 2005/2007, the rate of limiting long-term illness in Swansea was reported as 24.7 per cent. This compares with a welsh figure of 23.3 per cent. The total unemployment rate for Swansea at October 2002 stood at 3.8 per cent compared with the national rate for Wales of 3.6 per cent. The workforce of Swansea is mainly concentrated within the service sector, which accounts for almost 85 per cent of all employees. The city and council of Swansea is the single largest employer in the area with more than 11,500 employees. The lower Swansea Valley was the location of the first Enterprise Zone in the UK and as a result it is estimated that over 8,000 jobs have been created in more than 400 firms. The European Union has now granted Objective 1 status to West Wales and the Valleys. It is anticipated that in excess of  £1.2 billion in grant aid will be attracted to the area over the net five years. (CSSIW, 2009) The Better Swansea Partnership includes Swanseas main public service providers as well as representatives of the voluntary and business sectors. Its purpose is to ensure that decision makers work together to tackle the issues that matter for Swansea. The Better Swansea Partnership has two main roles; As Swanseas Community Strategic Partnership it aims to make Swansea a better place by leading the development and delivery of ‘Shared Ambition is Critical – Swanseas Community Strategy’. This is a strategic role which means ensuring that key plans are delivered and that key partnerships work as effectively as possible; As Swanseas Local Service Board it acts as a problem solver and aims to tackle a small number of service delivery issues. These are typically issues where there is a high number of providers and where citizens may find services confusing and difficult to access. These are also issues which are important to the community but which have proved difficult t o resolve. (City County of Swansea, 2010) The Youth Offending Team is strategically managed through the authority’s Chief Executive who chairs a multi-agency steering group including Police, Probation and health partners. Oversight of the Supporting People Programme has been undertaken by a central Supporting People Planning team with representatives from local housing associations, large service providers, the Probation services and the Local Health Group. The Social Services Department is host to The All Wales Support Unit and has contributed significantly to a number of policy and service initiatives at national and regional levels. The Voluntary sector in Swansea ranges from very small organisations, self-help groups and associations run solely by volunteers to large agencies that employ over 80 members of staff. The Swansea health, social care and well-being strategy group claim there are over 800 voluntary organisations that work within Swansea insisting that they make a vital contribution to the health and well-being of the population as well as the economy of the city. They argue that voluntary sector organisations can tackle needs which may be beyond the capabilities and resources of public sector organisations. Both the Local Authority and the Local Health Board commission a range of services from the voluntary sector to compliment existing statutory services. Family carers also make a considerable contribution to health and well-being by providing an estimated 800,000 hours of care a week in Swansea which has been given an estimated value of 187 million a year. (City County of Swansea, 2010) In relation to this, meeting service user’s needs and addressing their concerns can be implemented by professionals through the use of empowering the service user. Malin (1999) states that empowerment is generally known to constitute a change or gain in power by the service user. Empowerment can be seen as a process of involvement, democracy, consultation, choice and independence for the user. Malin explored the forces that community services could implement to promote empowerment. They argue that user/self advocacy mandates professional/practitioner persuasion, legal and policy imperatives are required. (Malin, 1999) The review found that some people in the City and County of Swansea are served well by Social Services and the prospects of services improving in the future are judged to be promising. The authority has made good progress in children’s services, where there have been improvements in social work practice and in the overall quality of services provided. Child protection services are diligently delivered and there is a wide range of responsive and imaginative family support services. Looked-after children are receiving better services although improvements are needed in their educational attainment. The authority needs to speed up the time taken to complete assessments on children and address the number of children without an allocated social worker. (CSSIW, 2009) Social services for children are led by the Head of Service (child and family) who reports to the corporate director of social services within a discrete social services directorate. The child and family senior management team comprises four principal officers, the safe-guarding children’s coordinator and the business manager. The manager of the multi-agency youth offending services also reports to the head of service. Child and family services share, with adult services principal officers for staff training, personnel and communication and strategic management. Teams for assessment, care management and service provision are located over ten sites within the city of Swansea. There are 378 employees within the children’s division. (CSSIW, 2009) The authority continues to provide directly an extensive range of well-regarded family support services. All referrals for the authority’s family support services go to one source, so that support may best be targeted to the identified need and to avoid duplication. The increasing demand for support services means that it is not always possible to offer the amount of support a family might truly need. There is a continuing tension in family support between early intervention/ prevention and child protection and services have to be offered to families in greatest need. Core services have to be targeted to children on the child protection register or who have recently been de-registered and are sometimes required 2 or 3 times per week. There were concerns at the time of the last review that some families were missing out on services because they did not have an allocated social worker. This has changed somewhat because of the reduction in the amount of unallocated work and because of an easing of requirements for some services – services from the Child and Adolescent Support Team (CAST), community day care and flexi care home support can all now be offered in the absence of continuing case management. CAST provides a range of groups for young people and a considerable amount of their work is with schools; the team can work with the whole family and make links to the children’s education. CAST workers can negotiate with schools to put a package together to keep a child at school or return a child to school. There has been an increase in referrals and PARIS ICT system has assisted in this. CAST team can see the initial assessments on the system and the referral form to the team is self-populating. Social workers and service-users praised the flexi homecare service, in particular, for its speed of response to a request for service. Services’ staff records their involvement with families and the advent of the electronic recording system has meant that social workers can have speedy access to these records. (CSSIW, 2009) Good quality services for children and families are provided by partner agencies and the following are some examples. Barnardo’s runs a Children Matter service in Penlan. This is a tier 2 service, based around parenting and emotional literacy. Swansea Young Families is a tenancy support project, set up by funding from Cymorth and Supporting People Revenue Grant. Three new Flying Start schemes are up and running. This is a combined service with health visitors and includes skills and language development. The authority has 161 approved foster carers providing 305 placements, including short breaks. The One-to-One specialist fostering service has not been as successful as had been hoped and this is being reviewed, alongside all family support and residential services, as part of a new prevention and placement strategy. The authority is still making extensive use of independent fostering and residential placements although it has not formalised any arrangements for preferred purchasing or block contracting. Because of the high demand for foster placements for looked-after children, it is difficult to provide a service for respite care for children in need, where shared care with parents may be an alternative to the children becoming looked-after by the authority full-time. The authority owns and manages three small community homes on sites at Cockett and Blaenymaes, the latter having opened since the last review. Both CSSIW and the authority have had concerns about these establishments, particularly relating to behaviour by young residents, the inappropriate mix of residents, breaches of the statements of purpose and incidents of self-harm by young residents. (Welsh Assembly Government, 2003) The authority does not lose many carers to private agencies; and approaches are made by carers from outside Swansea to join the service because of its reputation for support. There has also been a high profile recruitment campaign which has had some success in recruiting enough new carers to keep overall numbers stable. This needs to be sustained and recruitment further developed to achieve a net increase in both the numbers of carers and the choice and skills they provide. Although the overall percentage of looked-after children in family placements is equal to the Wales average too many children are waiting for respite care or being placed out of the county through lack of local specialist and choice. A review of Children’s Social Services in March/April 2007 concluded that; â€Å"Swansea is a large city, with the diverse range of challenges usually present in such communities. Social services have enjoyed the support of council members including financial support. The authority’s social services have traditionally relied on a staff culture of good professional practice. Like all local authorities it has experienced the growing demands of expectations of vulnerable people in a complex modern society. Like others it has also seen the leach of skilled and experienced staff to the growing service sector and the fragility of the newer inexperienced childcare workforce. The authority has perhaps been slower than some in recognising the impact of these changes. It can no longer rely on culture but must establish robust systems to ensure sound practice and processes. Wherever families live within the city boundary they are entitled to a similar and satisfactory standard of service from the local authority. There is still a core of good staff employed by the authority and they are the key resource for change. They need to e engaged in a process of re-establishing safe and sound childcare services and the previous â€Å"sparkle† which one staff member said had been lost.† (CSSIW, 2009) Social services have benefited from competent management and stronger corporate leadership is now emerging across the council. There are some excellent partnerships, a healthy level of planning capacity and an established business planning culture. Swansea has a major asset in the quality and commitment of its workforce. The authority is strengthening its consultation with service users and has positive plans to modernise its information technology systems. Swansea’s overall strengths, however suggest that a faster pace of change could be achieved in some key areas to ensure that aspirations are more quickly turned into results. References City County of Swansea, (2009). Population Statistics for Swansea. {Online} Available: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=28567 City and County of Swansea (2010) Better Swansea Partnership. {Online} Available:http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=11034 Communities and Local Government (2004) Community Involvement and Planning: The Governments Objectives. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister CSSIW (2009) Review of Children’s Social Services in the City and County of Swansea. Cardiff: Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales Greer, Roger C. and Martha L. Hale, (2002) â€Å"The Community Analysis Process.† Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Hart, M (1998) Sustainable Measures. West Hartford: Subject Matters Hawtin et al, (1994). Community profiling: auditing social needs. Buckingham: Open University Press Local Vision, (2008) Developing and Delivering Community Strategies: Statutory Guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government. Cardiff: Community Strategies Malin, N (1999) Community care for nurses and the caring professions. Buckingham: Open University Press National Health Service, (2003) Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategies (Wales) Regulations. Swansea: National Health Service Trust Office for National Statistics, (2010) Mid-Year Population Estimates – 2009.. London: UK Statistics Authority Welsh Assembly Government (2003) Health, Social Care and Well-Being Strategies: Preparing a Strategy. {Online} Available:http://wales.gov.uk/dhss/publications/health/strategies/wellbeingstrategy/preparinge.pdf

Legal Issues of ICT Use in the Construction Industry

Legal Issues of ICT Use in the Construction Industry Abstract While in the 21st century the construction industry prefers to conduct business using the information and communication technologies (ICT), the presence of legal issues pertaining to this mannerism of business cannot be ignored. The aim of this project is to provide a better understanding of these legal issues which are associated with their use. The objectives entailed to achieve this aim are to determine the existing legal issues and to estimate the awareness about them in the industry. The aim and objectives have been addressed by conducting two types of field investigations namely, questionnaires and interviews with lawyers, architects and engineers with different backgrounds. The project concludes with the identification of the legal issues present in the industry and an attempted comparison between the legal scenario in the U.K. and India. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background and Scope of the Research Almost a decade ago the information technology invaded our lives like never before. The advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their utilisation has been tremendous with the recent years witnessing the development of several IT-based technologies such as e-commerce. Information technology solutions have paved a way to a new world of internet, business networking and e-banking, budding as a solution to reduce costs, change the sophisticated economic affairs to an easier, speedy, efficient, and time-saving method of transactions and exchange of information. Though the internet has emerged as a boon for the present pace of life yet at the same time it has also resulted in posing various threats to the consumers and other institutions for which it has till now proven to be the most beneficial. Various criminals have been able to pave their way to interfere with the internet accounts through various techniques like hacking the Domain Name Server (DNS), Internet Providers (IP) address, spoofing, phishing, internet phishing etc. and have been successful in gaining an unauthorised access to the users computer system thereby gaining enormous profits from the stolen data. These and other problems have forced the business community, the legal community and the law enforcers i.e. the government to look at the current legal scenario. These problems, therefore, need to be studied in detail by investigating legal issues pertaining to the construction industry. This study is an attempt at understanding the legalities which are related to the mannerism of conducting business while using ICT. As part of this study an effort will be directed towards comparing the legal stance of the United Kingdom and India. 1.2 Aim and Objectives The aim of this project is to provide a better understanding of the legal issues involved while using information and communication technologies (ICT) in the construction industry. To achieve this aim, the following objectives should be fulfilled during the course of this project:- To study the legal issues pertaining to e-commerce (for e.g. electronic contracts, digital signatures, etc.). To assess the importance of jurisdiction issues in cyberspace (for e.g. engaging in e-commerce on World Wide Web may expose the company to the risk of being sued in any state or foreign country; law applicable to contractual obligations, etc.) To study the various legal problems that can arise out of miscommunication between the client, consultants and contractors (court actions, out-of-court settlements of disputes, etc.) To study and compare the legal stance of India and the United Kingdom, in using the information and communication technologies in the construction industry. 1.3 Justification for the Research Computers and more importantly internet governs our lives to the kind of extent that we do not even realise its significance. Today companies, especially in the concerned area of construction, are conducting business by means of the latest advancements in information communication technologies. Bearing in mind the current flourishing e-commerce, it becomes quite easy to get embroiled in lawsuits. The reasons maybe several, for instance either there may be disputes between the client and the company; or there might be an issue with jurisdiction; or there may be concerns related to the security of level of exchange of information electronically. In most of the cases it can be assumed that there is a highlighted ignorance of the legal framework with respect to ICT, and this ignorance may be a deterrent in the popularity of conducting business in this manner. In lieu of these issues, I believe it becomes the need of the hour to undertake a study of this kind. 1.4 Methodology Outline Owing to the nature of the research project and its data, the research approach adopted is mostly quantitative. However, some aspects of qualitative research have also been incorporated. Source of information will be taken from journals and books. The method of collecting data for this research project has consisted of online questionnaires (surveys) and unstructured interviews. Case studies of previous lawsuits with respect to the topic have been studied. 1.5 Dissertation Contents The research project includes a detailed study into the methodology to be followed and also provides the justifications for the chosen methodology. The project also includes a literature review about the various legal issues which are related to the use of information communication technologies for conducting business in the construction industry. It sheds light on the some of the legal terms associated with the legal framework of e-business. The project report additionally contains with analysis and evaluation from the interviews conducted and the online questionnaire filled in by architects, engineers and lawyers. It supplies information on the â€Å"legal future† of using the various existing and upcoming information communication technologies in construction, providing an insight into the implications; the solutions available; the problems faced while conducting research; and manner in which ICT can be utilised for the growth of the construction industry worldwide. It concludes with summarisation of the research and recommendations and scope for further study on this research subject in the construction industry. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The intentional use of information technology by cyber-terrorists or cyber-criminals for producing destructive and harmful effects to tangible and intangible property of others is addressed as ‘cyber crime. Cyber crime is clearly an international problem with absolutely no national boundaries; hacking attacks can be launched from any corner of the world without even an iota of fear of being traced or prosecuted easily. A cyber-terrorist can collapse the economic structure of a country from a place where that country might not even have arrangements such as an extradition treaty to deal with that criminal. The only safeguards can be better technology; to combat such technology which is already well-known to the hackers; and to evolve stricter and tighter laws which can be accepted universally. 2.1.1 An introduction to the construction industry A maxim in India states, to live a comfortable life all one needs is three basic essentials- food, clothes and a house. This has held true across all civilisations and centuries. Building a house was just a first step. The world has advanced much further constructing palaces, forts, dams, skyscrapers, factories, energy-efficient buildings and lots more. In a world of today, the 21st century, the construction industry is an important sector of a nations economy; providing employment to millions; employed by countries across the world as an economy regulator! In U.K. alone, construction industry had an output of  £102.4 billion at current prices (2004); 8% of Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.). In the European Union the construction sector accounts for 9.9% of G.D.P. and 50% of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF). Considering the scope and importance which the construction sector enjoys worldwide, it becomes quite easy to understand that this industry functions at an incredible level and involves working with many organisations. â€Å"The construction industry is frequently described as fragmented by its critics; however, disseminated would be a better description .For each construction project a whole new organization is created involving the client, designers, contractors, sub-contractors, material suppliers, plant hire companies, government, local authorities and agencies such as the environmental agency, Health and Safety Executive and many others. Each ‘new and ‘transient project organization is, in fact, a virtual organization or enterprise† (McCaffer, 2008). Communication, thus, becomes an important aspect of conducting a successful business in construction ensuring successful collaboration between the various components of the industry. 2.1.2 An introduction to e-business/e-commerce and e-construction With age time the concept and means of communication have also evolved. Earlier communication meant travelling to places near and far, then the concept of letters came and with the advent of telephone postage lost some of its significance. The world was however still is in store for more inventions and the 1940s took the world by storm as the computers were born. Computers and internet are a lethal combination, a form of communication which rules over our lives as much as eating food does. Every day, man makes new discoveries regarding these two, trying to find out how our day-to-day activities can be undertaken in an improved efficient manner. The term ‘electronic commerce (e-commerce) was coined by Lawrence Livermore in 1989. E-commerce is a consolidation of people, technology, materials and â€Å"the processes on an electronic network for commercial transactions† (Johnston et al, 1997, p 37). As specified by the European Commission (1997, cited in Bruin, 2002), electronic commerce is all about doing business electronically involving the electronic processing and transmission of data (which consists of data, text, sound and videos). It encompasses various activities consisting of electronic trading of goods and services, electronic share trading, on-line delivery of digital content, on-line sourcing, electronic fund transfers, direct consumer marketing, electronic bills of lading, commercial auctions, collaborative design and engineering, public procurement, and after-sales service (European Commission, 1997). To be speaking strictly its not really the electronic aspect of e-commerce but the digital part which imparts the revolutionary, efficient and versatile character to e-commerce (Johnston et al, 1997). E-commerce involves both the services; e.g. financial, information and legal services); and the products; e.g. consumer goods, specialised mechanical equipment. It also constitutes the combination of traditional activities such as education and healthcare and new activities such as virtual malls (European Commission, 1997). This is also agreed with by Johnston et al, 1997 who state that e-commerce supports the selling, buying and distribution of services and goods. Johnston et al (1997) while discussing the definition of electronic commerce noted that it involves the conduction of business electronically across the spectrum of inter-enterprise relationships. E-commerce has the advantages of being a paperless economy, engaging in outsourcing and entails the convergence of all information in a single form (Johnston et al, 1997). In this day and age e-business has emerged as a field of immense potential. The use of information and communication technologies to conduct business has gained momentum, and, like just about any other business the construction industry too has embraced the concept of e-business. â€Å"Strong information technology (IT) capabilities have been a competitive necessity in nearly every industry sector. The post-Latham (1994 and Egan (1998) era has seen many construction firms investing in technology tools to improve business performance, which subsequently led to an increase in technology investments in construction firms† (Ruikar et al., 2008, p 23). The use of information and communication technologies in construction, however, depends upon a number of factors such as the size of the construction firm, its position in the market, the markets that the company operates in etc. 2.1.3 Introduction to the legal problems in e-business Before jumpstarting onto the e-business wagon, a company should have some reasonably placed apprehensions. The question in front of the management of a company should be: whether conducting business using information and communication technologies is legally safe or not? Other questions should follow as well, such as: what is an e-contract? will the companys information be secure when shared through ICT? what are the liability issues? what are the jurisdiction issues? is a scanned document valid and legal? what is a digital signature, an e-signature? Questions such as above are justified because in actuality the companies are unaware of the legal risks involved while conducting e-business, hampering the chances of fruitful commerce. Sieber (2001) brings to light the need for new laws when he says that the increased significance of information and information technology is closely linked to increased potential dangers, and these dangers bring an increased necessity to reassess the existing information law regulations and to formulate new ones. Sieber (2001, p8) further makes this statement to back up the formulation of new information law regulations, â€Å"It must encourage- in the interest of communal justice (iustitia commutativa) and as a contribution to distributive justice (iustitia distributia)-the creation of new â€Å"information† values (e.g. by means of economic incentives in copyright law), ensure a just distribution of the newly created goods (e.g. through the regulation of rights to particular information), reduce the number of new risks stemming from information technology (in particular, by provisions in the area of liability, administrative law and criminal law)and ensure a just compensation in cases where harm is caused†. Exchange of information in construction and engineering based businesses is a universal occurrence but it is not accounted for by contractual practice. Insufficiently defined responsibilities, overlapping communication techniques and mistrust all hamper the fuller use of inter-enterprise ICT (Hassan et al). A major problem exists with the enforcement of electronic law. Particularly practical difficulties arise from the fact that data containing most of the information is available at the discretion of the recipient. As is the case electronic data is not actually visible and can be altered, deleted or hidden through manipulation of technology (Sieber, 2001). Data can also be encoded or encrypted by offenders to escape imprisonment. Several terrorist, bank robbers, paedophiles, etc have attempted to escape or have been able to escape by encrypting data. Encrypted data is data which has been converted into incomprehensible codes which can only be unlocked by using a key which only a holder of that matching key can reconvert them into plausible data. All in all there is clearly an urgent need to study and understand the legal issues involved while using information and communication technologies for conducting business. 2.2 Legal Aspects of using ICT When the concept of e-commerce as introduced it was greeted with hysteria which has now been replaced by a concern voiced by many over the impact of using ICT for business. The industry is now closely examining the after-effects of e-business business world (Ismail and Kamat, 2008). Hurtado and OConnor Jr (2009) deliberate on the contractual issues concerned with the use of construction Building Information Modeling. They explain that the legal community is struggling to help out in developing meaningful contract terms in relation to the use of BIM technology. In their paper for the Society of Construction Law, they have contemplated upon the issues to be considered when preparing contractual provisions, including the proposed use of the model; the mannerism of data transfer from one model into the other models; the deliverance schedule expected from the model; reliability of the modelled information; management of the modelling process; and usage of the model after the completion of construction. Some of the legal issues and terminology pertaining to the use of ICT for business purposes shall now be discussed. 2.2.1 Types of legal risks involved in e-business in construction Every new day is coloured with a new discovery; this holds as much truth for ICT as for any scientific discovery. The only drawback with ICT is that a new discovery brings along with it a new set of legal issues. These legal issues are a drawback because they take time for implementation and regulation; sometimes damage has already been done before any sufficient action can be taken. Ismail and Kamat (2008, p-212) correctly state, â€Å"The difference between the rates at which e-business technology develops to the rate at which legal framework and rules develop is substantial. Legal risks have not been studied in relation to construction e-business†. The legal risks discussed include risks posed by web-based agencies, risks related to jurisdiction; contract formation; authentication; electronic privacy and risks associated with intellectual property. These legal risks inflicting e-construction have been discussed as below: †¢ Insecurity regarding electronic privacy In the digital economy privacy claims have been of paramount concern. An issue forever causing concern amongst the construction and business community is the insecurity of their personal and private information which is exchanged and stored electronically. A popular, efficient and inexpensive means of information exchange and data transfer is the electronic mail systems, popularly known e-mails. While emails now incorporate information in various forms which includes photographs, typed memos, video clips, spreadsheets and bar codes; they are deemed to be as insecure as a postcard if they are not protected by encryption and elaborate password systems (Johnston et al, 1997). Construction companies involved in e-business will need to manage the risks associated with sharing private information; private information may refer to personal privacy concerns about their own firms (Ismail and Kamat, 2008, p214-215). â€Å"Online portals and marketplaces collect more information than is needed for legally authentically an e-contracting party† (Smith and Clarke, 2000). The information thus collected may be in the form of registration forms, cookies, etc. Though the question remains as to who owns this information, the risk associated is with the privacy being challenged. In case of hacking or a virus, the information may end up being passed onto a third party. †¢ Risk posed by the web-based agents Web-based agents are information brokers. A new brokerage model can substantially change the equilibrium and re-adjust the interests of existing stakeholders. Also, software agents pose the biggest and truly exclusive risk to the current legal system as pointed out by Ismail and Kamat (2008). Agents control decisions and they learn and act upon their perception of the environment to make the maximum goals of its user or programmer (Dzeng and Lin, 2004; Lee, 2004; Ren and Anumba, 2004). Agents act on behalf of their owners to promote the owners desires, unlike support software that supports the owner in making a decision but leave the decision for the owner to make (Schoop et al., 2003; Ren and Anumba, 2004). †¢ Risks related to electronic authentication When doing business via the electronic networks, it become increasingly difficult to establish the other partys trustworthiness without having physically met them, in other words doubts about authenticity are raised (Bruin, 2002). Smith Clarke (2000 cited in Ismail Kamat, 2008, p 216) debate authentication by stating, â€Å"The drive to authenticate e-business buyers and sellers and attribute contracting actions to the proper buyer and seller is in direct conflict with privacy laws†. Pacini et al (2002, quoted in Ismail and Kamat, 2008, p 216) support this statement when they say, â€Å"Attributing an electronic message for an offer or acceptance of an e-contract to the person who purports to send it is yet another risk†. The Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) addresses this risk from a legal perspective by making it necessary that certain authentication levels are acquired and thus proper authentication and attribution is ensured and a protection is provided to the e-business participants from the attack of hackers (Belgum, 1999; Moreau, 1999; Thelen Reid Priest LLP, 1999a; Pacini et al., 2002, cited in Ismail and Kamat, 2008). †¢ Risks inflicting electronic contracts Consider this scenario. Two parties engage in a negotiation for the purchase of cement for the construction of an institutional building. The seller offers it at say  £5 per kg and the buyer refuses and wants to buy it at say  £4 per kg and also wants the seller to bear the shipping cost. The seller agrees, transaction is completed, cement is shipped and the buyer transfers money into the sellers account. This sounds like a simple business contract; however, the difference here is that this contract has been formulated and fulfilled electronically (Johnston et al, 1997). In a commercial context, promises are exchanged in the form of an offer and an acceptance of the order. The offer and the acceptance supported with a valid consideration and mutual assent would, subject to certain limitations, constitute a valid contract. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology is an advanced form of cyber-contracting. EDI is conducted between trading partners who already have a negotiated agreement which rules the relationship. In this form of technology, the computers contact each other as well as negotiate (based on programmed instructions). If a reply which rejects the offer is received then a counter-offer is also made. This continues till an agreement is arrived at or one of the system stops the process (Johnston et al, 1997). However, in the e-business transactions, it is not an easy job to distinguish between the offer make and the acceptor. This is considered critical because a contract is considered to be invalid until an offer has been made and the acceptor has accepted the offer and communicated the same to the offer maker (Ismail and Kamat, 2008, p 213). Although the laws governing electronic contracts have improved significantly over the year, yet there is always scope for improvement because of the ever changing evolving nature of the communication technologies. Business risk and uncertainty are always on a high level in the electronic world. Legal difficulties in an e-contract arise when the parties expectations are not met with or when a transaction does not progress as planned. Bruin (2002, p 146) shed some light on TrustUK and explained that, â€Å"in July 1999, the Department of Trade and Industry published its Consumer White Paper Modern markets: Confident consumers..The White paper among other things contained plans for the approval of on-line codes of conduct by a new body provisionally called TrustUK†. Section 4 of TrustUK Code of Practice deals with the various aspects of e-contracts and its implications (liabilities included). †¢ Risks related to varying jurisdictions Jurisdiction is a legal term describing which law is in effect at a given period of time and which courts decisions will be legally binding. Jurisdiction issues arise when parties dispute over a contract and want to settle as to which jurisdiction will decide over the issue (Ismail and Kamat, 2008). The problem becomes more intimidating where the issue of e-commerce comes into picture. The internet simplifies the carrying out of business globally. But then different countries follow different laws, especially those with respect to construction and therefore, the risk of encountering lawsuits in foreign land increases. In an electronic contract it should be very clear as to what law applies to the contractual obligations, what court of law will be presiding over to judge any dispute arising from the contract (Bruin, 2002). As pointed out by Rowe (1998, cited in Ismail and Kamat, 2008) a dispute judged under varying set of regulations, laws and rules have as different judgement. â€Å"Although the laws regulating e-business vary, the general opinion of the courts implies that companies engaged in activities or online advertising may have to defend lawsuits in different jurisdictions if those activities violate the local laws†, Thelen Priest (1997 quoted in Ismail and Kamat, 2008, 213). The problem of jurisdiction exists becomes all the more relevant in the 21st century, now that there are so many countries existing worldwide and when global expansion has occurred in the business scenario with the arrival and explicit use of the information and communication technologies. However, there are quite a lot of countries which are at the moment unable to make any kind amendments in their legal framework on construction, especially where the amendments in law are concerned with e-construction. At the same time, it is good news that some governments are making changes to the construction law executed in their countries to make e-construction and e-business a more feasible and legally secure venture. However, the point to be noted here is that despite all the positive proceedings in the respective field, the possibility of two countries sharing the same law on e-commerce and that too in the construction sector are negligible. In a scenario where the choice of law is absent, legal uncertainty may arise regarding the application of law to an electronic contract (Bruin, 2002). This information clearly implies that risk attributed to varying jurisdiction remains. Bruin (2002, p42) clearly points out that in a specific case of â€Å"cross-border electronic consumer contracts, a court procedure may involve such difficulties that a contract term defining a foreign jurisdiction may de facto exclude or hinder the consumer to take legal action†. As a result the service provider also ends up providing an unfair contractual term. From the literature on jurisdiction which has been studied and mentioned here, it has been found that although there are quite a lot of provisions in legal frameworks of countries which address the jurisdiction issues, yet it would be beneficial to make changes and improvisations to these existing laws. 2 Brief description of some of the legal terms associated with the legal framework of e-business To understand the legalities involved in using information and communication technologies for business, one needs to be aware of some terms associated with the legal framework of e-business. In this section these common yet important terms shall be discussed briefly. Identification of the potential legal gaps and problems within the cluster projects issue 2, a report on the findings of Hassan et al, forms the main basis for defining these terms. The discussed terms are as follows:- †¢ Electronic / digital signatures Electronic and digital signatures allow the recipient of a piece of information to know when the information has arrived, who has sent it, and to check whether the information has been changed or tampered with since it was sent. Digital signatures are electronic codes specific to individual users, which can be used to identify the originator of a message or file, and to indicate approval of the transmitted information. There are different types of digital signatures available (i.e. public key infrastructure, asymmetric cryptography, account numbers and passwords), and the level of security that is required dictates the choice of method to be used. Digital signatures are easily to transport and all the more difficult to imitate by anyone else, and more importantly they can be automatically time-stamped. A digital signature is basically a unique ‘key that provides, if anything, stronger authentication than any written signature (Wacks, 2001). Asymmetric cryptosystem involves two keys, one public, the other private. Its main advantage is that if you are able to decrypt the message, you know that it could only have been created by the sender (Wacks, 2001) The Electronic Transaction Act 1999 (in Australia) gives legal recognition to the use of electronic signatures and one may find them useful in executing electronic contracts on your website. The risk of e-businesses dealing with parties which might misuse digital signatures is similar to the commercial risk of fraud that arises through forgery of signature on a paper contract. †¢ Here is an example which depicts the working of a digital signature. Assume that man named A has to the draft of a contract to his lawyer who at present is in another town. A wants to assure his lawyer that the information sent across has not been tampered with and it really is what he had sent. To ensure that, heres what A has do: †¢ Copy-and-paste the contract into an e-mail. †¢ Using specialised software, A obtains a message hash (mathematical summary) of the contract. †¢ A then uses a private key that he had previously obtained from a public-private key authority to encrypt the hash. †¢ This encrypted hash becomes As digital signature of the message. It is to be noted that the digital signature will be different each time a message has been sent. Now, how will As lawyer detect that this document is the same unchanged one that A had sent across to him? Heres what he will do: †¢ As lawyer makes a hash of the received email to ensure that the document is intact and has been sent by A only. †¢ As lawyer then makes use of As public key to decrypt the message hash or summary. †¢ The received email (document in this case) is considered authentic and valid if the hashes match. Thus we understand that using a digital signature is an easy and safe method to protect privacy of information. A digital signature consists of the concerned persons public key, his/her name and e-mail address, the expiry date of the public key, name of the company, serial number of the digital ID, and digital signature of the certification authority (Magalhaes, 2003). The fact that digital signature increase the security and ensure privacy is confirmed by Wacks (2001, p 80) when he states, â€Å"Blinding or blind and digital signature will significantly enhance the protection of privacy†. †¢ Digital notaries Digital notaries provide a time stamping service, thereby proving the existence of a piece of information at a particular time. These are often used in conjunction with an electronic / digital signature. Timestamping can ensure non-repudiation. Indeed, a digital signature is only legally binding if it was made when the users certificate was still valid, and a timestamp on a signature can prove this. Timestamping involves the following parties -client, timestamping authority (TSA) a verifier. Feather in 1999 expressed his opinion on digital notaries. He articulated that the purpose of a digital notary is to certify that a document as produced by a person is a true copy of that