The Dust Bowl and How It Affected Weather Predicting Research Paper

The Dust Bowl and How It Affected Weather Predicting - Research Paper Example This paper therefore seeks to review the effects of Dust Bowl on weather predicting and to examine the technologies that were used. Practical use of weather predicting Structured weather reports were maintained following the discovery of instruments to measure atmospheric conditions in early in the 17th century. Certainly these initial reports were used mostly by those people who were involved in farming activities. As noted by Lutgens, et al. (2001) planting and harvesting of plants clearly was better planned if the long term weather patterns were predicted. In America, weather prediction was initially done by the Army Signal Corps starting in the 1870s. This service was later offered by Department of Agriculture and later by the U.S Weather Bureau that was established in 1920s. Radio broadcasts was the main way of announcing weather forecast. Use of Radar technology One of the technologies used to predict weather during the America Dust Bowl era was the radar. Following the Dust Bo wl, those involved in weather forecasting focused on the use to radar as a tool to predict weather. Though, radar has been developed to monitor enemy airplanes, it was discovered that the equipment gave better results from raindrops at a particular wavelengths. Thus, it became feasible to track and examine development of thunderstorms or heavy showers and also it was possible to â€Å"view† the precipitation composition of big storms. Indeed, as pointed out by Byers (1994) the Dust Bowl that were experienced were caused by a long drought that lasted about six years leaving the landscape with bear and when strong wind came, they easily gathered tones of dust resulting in this Dust Bowl. Thus, the radar was seen as a tool to forecast such severe weather disasters. Indeed, since the era, radar has developed in its meteorological use as a predicting tool. As Wigley (1985) remind us, nearly all tornadoes as well as harsh thunderstorms in America have been predicted using this long -established technology. Radar examination of development, movement and features of these kinds of storms offers hints of the level of the storms. However, current radars have improved technology of Doppler, which is move effective. According to Trihey and Campbell (1989) the Dust Bowl, that followed the very bad drought in the Midwest experience between 1930 and 1936, was a typical meteorological drought, meaning that it resulted mainly due to odd climate patterns. They further points out that these climate patterns were destructive in their rhythmic relentlessness. Meteorological Kites In early 1930, meteorological kites were used to in weather forecasting. The kites were used in the weather stations for weather observations, and also in examining the atmosphere to collect different information regarding the weather. The main instruments that were carried on the kite included those for measuring the wind velocity, temperatures, different humidity at different altitudes as well as the barometer that was used to measure pressure. Indeed, as observed by Williams (2001) during this era, the U.S Weather Bureau perfected the science of using the kite. Different sizes of kites were used according to their speed and how far they could go. Nonetheless, these kites had their

Organizational Change At Qatar Olympic Committee Essay

Organizational Change At Qatar Olympic Committee - Essay Example The conference supported playing for a greener future. Moreover, the QOC entered in a partnership with the Look Company to promote innovative environmental awareness (â€Å"The LOOK Company† 1). Through this partnership, QOC derives the free will and ability to help in conserving the environment.The transition plan shall include the establishment of an environmental policy for QOC and a QOC 2030 Sustainability Plan. The QOC should also establish an environmental committee to implement the QOC environmental policy and the QOC 2030 Sustainability Plan. The organizational change will also include partnerships with sporting bodies like IOC, FIFA, and non-governmental organizations that promote environmental conservation like UNEP. The QOC should also convince the Qatar government to invest more money in environmental conservation. The QOC shall engage the youths and community-based organizations to create environmental awareness that seeks to enhance sustainable development. I wil l also encourage QOC to promote the recycling of branding elements made of fabric and recommend better ways of conserving energy and reducing gas emissions in the sporting manufacturing companies. These measures will define organizational change that will foster environmental conservation at the QOC.Nevertheless, I face a great personal challenge to achieve my objective due to my lack of persistence and poor persuasive skills. Indeed, I am prone to quick discouragements and I lack the capacity to persuade the QOC to adopt my proposal.

Classical hollywood cinema- Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Classical hollywood cinema- - Essay Example Richard Maltby (2003, p.16) argued that â€Å"[a]nswers to questions about what Hollywood is for must be sought not only in its movies but also in the social, cultural and institutional contexts that surround it.† This essay focuses on one film from the classical Hollywood period, Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957) to answer what classical Hollywood is. 12 Angry Men shows what Hollywood is, a medium for demonstrating real social issues about politics and race and striving to resolve them through the classic narrative structure and classic codes of Hollywood cinema that satisfy American aesthetic tastes and economic demands. Before proceeding to the arguments of this essay, a short overview of the film’s Hollywood context is provided. Hollywood history can be seen as being divided into two historical periods, the period of Old and New Hollywood (Schatz 1996, p.5). Auteur theory asserts that Old Hollywood pertains to films that directors make for their own tastes a nd needs, while New Hollywood criticises the studio system, the â€Å"dehumanizing, formulaic, profit-hungry machinery of Hollywood's studio-factories† (Schatz 1996, p.5). Hollywood, nevertheless, continues to be studio-driven through the studios’ provision of resources and networks to directors. Schatz (1996, p.12) asserts that Hollywood is for depicting real struggles for power to make decisions and to implement them in films, not collaboration. Hollywood history shows struggles for authority and influence, power struggles that affect jurors in 12 Angry Men too. Classical Hollywood cinema follows a certain classic narrative structure that has a realist narrative that is present in 12 Angry Men (1957), especially the manifestation of the politics of the time, including struggles for power and justice. The realist perspective of 12 Angry Men (1957) comes from its alignment with its historical political context. The main conflict in the film involves a teenager from a m inority group in a low-income neighbourhood, which provides a space for exploring the politics of people regarding these disadvantaged sectors. The initial voting of the jurors suggest that majority of these characters do not reflect the true essence of what the criminal justice system should be- a system composed of rational individuals who will do everything it takes to deliberate the case and come up with a solid conviction. The beginning of the film shows the camera shot tilting upward to the roof of the court, demonstrating the ascendancy of justice that is blind to physical and other kinds of differences among people. Eleven of the jurors, however, demonstrate varying kinds of biases and indifference that question the essence of their democratic justice system. Juror#3 (Lee J. Cobb), for instance, is highly prejudiced against all teenagers and people from the slum. He assumes that because the boy is poor and a minority, he is most likely to commit crimes (12 Angry Men 1957). H is bias indicates that even when the jury system is designed to uphold fairness for all, the jury is not always fair at all, and in this case, their lack of fairness can result to one kid’s death. The film does more than reveal the weaknesses of the jury system however, but says something about larger social issues. Cunningham (1986, p.112) believed that the film does not only criticise the jury system, but also the â€Å"American democratic process itself.† The initial attitudes of most of the jurors in the film counter what people may

The Relationships between Organizational Culture, Total Quality Essay

The Relationships between Organizational Culture, Total Quality Management Practices and Operational Performance - Essay Example The paper will begin with the description of what quality actually is and why is it important for a company to integrate the element of quality in all of the business processes. Quality means to achieve excellence the business processes, such as, product manufacturing and provision of services to the customers. Any organization or a company can satisfy the stakeholders and the customers only if it provides them with quality in the products and services that they use. Quality is the key to organizational success as it leads the companies towards market domination. â€Å"Quality should be aimed at total customer satisfaction with the product or service you are selling†. Quality also means to seek continuous improvement in the products and services that are manufactured by any organization. Two important aspects of quality include quality control and quality assurance. Quality control is a process, which is employed in order to ensure the required level of excellence and quality in a product or service delivered by a company. Quality assurance, on the other hand, is a process in which products manufactured by a company are checked for quality in every stage in order to know whether those products meet customers’ expectations or not. If we talk about total quality management, we can say that it is implemented in a company to ensure that the products and services delivered by the company to the customers meet the quality standards. It is an integrated organization-wide philosophy, which aims to provide continuous improvement to the quality of the products and services in order to make them productive for a company. ... Total quality management practices should be based on some established quality standards, such as, ISO 9000 series and ISO 9001 series. The companies using TQM approach believe in the importance of knowledge for organization’s success. TQM makes use of employees’ knowledge to create innovative and high quality products for the customers. Talking about total quality management, we can say that it acts as the foundation for an organization’s success because without implementation of an effective quality management system, no organization can be able to manufacture premium quality products. The role of people in TQM is to put every effort in the development of high quality products in order to increase customer satisfaction. Employees and the management staff of a company put mutual efforts for achieving goals and objectives of the company. One of the main requirements of implementing quality standards is the establishment of measurable objectives by the company, wh ich adopts any specific series of quality standards. Another requirement is that employees of a company should feel their responsibility and should know how to achieve the goals and objectives related to quality set by the managers of the company. For example, ISO 9000: 2000 requires quality to be the first priority for every employee working for any organization. According to the ISO 9000:2000 standards, for any product, managers should first identify the product requirements by analyzing the demands of the customers, analyzing basic and essential requirements of the product, analyzing statutory and legal regulations regarding the product, and determining any additional requirements related to the

Measuring Up to Customer Expectations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Measuring Up to Customer Expectations - Essay Example ith this consideration, the paper intends to discuss about the present customer service as well as expectations within Samsung which have emerged from the delivery of superior products and services by the organisation. Moreover, in the main findings section, various strategies which could be applied by Samsung to deliver consistent as well as effectual customer services within the competitive marketplace will also be evaluated. Apart from these strategies, this paper also provides certain recommendations which can be fruitful for the organisation to sustain customer service excellence going forward. Customer service is regarded as a service stipulation which organisations’ deliver prior to and after a product purchase. Customer service involves a sequence of activities which are designed by an organisation in order to enhance the level of customer satisfaction through delivering products and services as per the customers’ expectations. The significance of customer service may differ in terms of industry, a company’s products and services. Superior interpersonal communication system is quite essential in order to enhance customer services through which an organisation can attain excellent competitive advantage. In the present business scenario, customer service is considered as a significant consideration where every leading organisation always attempts to meet effective level of customer expectation (University of Cambridge, 2012; Newby & McManus, 2002; Richmond/ Wayne County, n.d.). In this similar context, it can be said that customer service is a kind of systematic process which is utilised in order to make certain that customer satisfaction is achieved by delivering products as well as services according to the demands of the consumers. In accordance with the present business situation, customer service generally takes place while operating a transaction process regarding products’ sales and service. Moreover, it is considered as a vital constituent

The Relationship Between Trade Openness and FDI Literature review

The Relationship Between Trade Openness and FDI - Literature review Example This review of literature is directed at finding the measures leading to increased foreign direct investment (FDI) for a country. Although there is a whole range of factors that cause an increase in the foreign direct investment in a country, yet one of the most significant factors has been found to be the country’s openness towards trade. Openness as a concept, has been defined in a number of ways by the researchers in the past. A comprehensive definition of openness is presented below: (t)he concept of openness, applied to trade policy, could be synonymous with the idea of neutrality. Neutrality means that incentives are neutral between saving a unit of foreign exchange through import substitution and earning a unit of foreign exchange through exports. Clearly, a highly export oriented economy may not be neutral in this sense, particularly if it shifts incentives in favor of export production through instruments such as export subsidies. It is also possible for a regime to b e neutral on average, and yet intervene in specific sectors. A good measure of trade policy would capture differences between neutral, inward oriented, and export-promoting regimes. (Harrison, 1996, p. 20). Trade openness has conventionally been scaled by different researchers in different ways, but in a vast majority of cases, trade openness has been measured by its contribution to the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. Factors that have conventionally been employed for the measurement of trade openness include but are not limited to intensity of import trade, intensity of export trade, intensity of trade, intensity of adjusted trade, and the intensity of real trade (Squalli and Wilson, 2006, p. 22). Three models of adjusted trade intensity have conventionally been tried to measure the trade openness. One of them is adjusted trade intensity in which the outliers having high import for the re-rexport are handled with the modification of denominator. This measure was first proposed by Andersen (1994). The second of them is adjusted trade intensity accompanied with the alternative technique to tackle the outliers as initially proposed by Frankel (2000). The third of them is adjusted trade intensity. This is a modified form of the model originally proposed by Frankel (2000). The modification was suggested by Li et al (2004). The seven measures of openness were also cited by the famous economists Kumar and Kandzija (n.d., p. 13) in their article in which they analyzed the integration and trade theory to evaluate the perspectives of trade in Western Balkans. For the purpose of this research, intensity of trade, the three models of intensity of adjusted trade as discussed before, real trade intensity, real world trade intensity (RWTI) and composite trade intensity (CTI) will be used. They will be evaluated with a view to identifying the one that is the most accurate as a measure of openness. Of all the measures, three of the most commonly employed ar e trade intensity (TI), import trade intensity (M/GDP) and export trade intensity (X/GDP). Trade intensity is obtained by dividing the sum of import (X) and import (M) by the GDP. According to Alcala and Ciccone (2004), the estimate generated by TI upon income is affected by the non-tradable on productivity, and is thus, biased downwards. Thus, in their opinion, it is advisable to divide the nominal trade by the real GDP. The different measures of trade openness lay the basis for a technique to find out the extent to which a country is open to the global trade as well as to the consequential advantages of income growth. For instance, the higher a country’s TI, the increased openness of its economy towards the advantages

Human Resource and Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource and Management Essay It is widely accepted that functions involving management include planning goals of the organization, organizing its employees so that efficiency can be achieved, leading involves employee motivation and influence, whereas control function makes sure that all other functions help bring success to the organization . Another viewpoint is that there is a fifth function which is staffing. Staffing involves the HRM department making sure that the appropriate people with valuable skills are placed on jobs (Bartol, 2004). Human resource department has become more important today as it is integrated and much more strategically involved. The HRM department sees it very important in order to be successful as an organization much effort should be put on recruitment of employees, then they should be motivated to perform their task, and trained to execute their responsibilities effectively. To built an efficient work force and maintain it on that level the HRM needs to influence employee behaviour when they seem off track. The few ways in which they can do is by organizing which includes job design/redesign, remuneration and benefits, training and development, and performance management. Job Design Job design is method which involves organizing employee tasks and giving them responsibilities. It also focuses on changing duties of employees so that job satisfaction is gained, which therefore increases efficiency. It focuses on the content of job and effect it has on employee motivation and effectiveness. If job satisfaction is achieved productivity can also be achieved, some people prefer jobs which they feel comfortable at, identifying what makes a good job for the employee can be helpful in improving performance, this can make difference on cost resulting from absenteeism and low turnover. The job fit matches characteristic of people with characteristic of jobs. A person not fitting a job can be disastrous for the company and the employee. By re-designing the job the person/job fit can be may be improved, this can affect employee motivation as the job becomes favourable for employee, catering to their need of job-related satisfaction, for example a person who does not likes to talk much may find it awkward and frustrating at a bank teller job because there he may have to interact with people all day long (Keaton, 2001). Read more:Â  Areas of Human Resources Management Business The ways to re-design a job includes job enlargement and job enrichment, this involves reducing the problems faced by the employee on job. Broadening the scope of the job by expanding the tasks to be performed may reduce the monotonous job experience, as their would be new tasks for the employee to perform, this may help influence behaviour as the employee may achieve job satisfaction and also feel more important as a part of the organization. Job enrichment deals with the employee given more responsibility then before, by adding planning, controlling and evaluating to his job function. Job enrichment may include giving the employee the entire job rather then a part of work, expanding the assignment so that the employee can learn from new tasks, moreover developing new areas of expertise. It may also include giving the employee more autonomy so that he can organize work according to his will, along with giving feedback to higher officials. The more these characteristics are in the job the more motivating it becomes. For the employees motivational value comes from job enrichment due to the feeling of employees that work is now more meaningful, due to the fact that they are more responsible for outcomes. These changes therefore satisfy the employees need for growth, work motivation, work satisfaction, and work effectiveness (Schuler, 2008). Remuneration and Benefits The HR department has also the responsibility of setting employee remuneration, which is the financial payment to employees for their work. This can be used in influencing employee behaviour, it is necessary for the organization to reward employees fairly. If the employee feels he hasn’t been rewarded well he will be de-motivated. Organizations work towards keeping their skilled employee the time, they do not want to lose employee who have worked with them and are good at what they do, also for motivating employees to be more effective and efficient at work HR department tries to best set the wages inline with the expectance of the employees. Well paid employees feel more satisfied with work and are also more willing to give something extra to the organization, in long term this can increase employee commitment and built a trusted relationship between employee and employer. The other option which the HR department uses in influencing behaviour is the benefit system. Employee benefits are does part of the process that reward in addition to cash pay. These benefits may include insurance, medical, pension schemes, a company car or loan, and paid holidays. These benefits care for personal security and needs (Armstrong, 2000). The aim of employee benefits is to contribute to a competitive reward package, also to provide tax-efficient method of remuneration. This is also to provide for the employees need and also for their request for financial help, thus demonstrating that they are part of a caring organization so in turn they can be motivated to carry out work. This also increases the commitment of employee to the organization. The benefit strategy should be directed at the goal of achieving objectives of the business by ensuring it has high quality, committed people in their ranks. A flexible benefit plan helps employee choose between two or more benefits. An employee will be more motivated if he has a say in his benefit package, this way employee can gain better appreciation for the value of benefit he is be being rewarded. Benefits can also be aligned with work, such as giving paid holidays, this can be helpful in achieving short term targets of organization (Robert, 2008). The HR department has therefore the responsibility to work out the best reward system so that employees can benefit and feel satisfied with their work effort (Armstrong, 2000). Training and Development Training and developing employees so that they can deliver their best to the organization is one of the main functions of HR department. The HR department has to continuously work towards perfecting their work force, training them so that they can adapt to the changing business environment. HR department uses training and development to bring about a permanent change in the employees behaviour. Training is defined as helping employee do their current or future work better, where as development involves acquisition of knowledge, skills, personal development, and the right attitude so that the employee is prepared for future opportunities (Bacal, 1998). Training is used in altering the behaviour of the employee in a direction that will help achieve organizational goals. Training helps employees master their present skills or acquire new skill for the execution of another job. Learning is a part of training which brings about a permanent change in employee behaviour. Before training the personal analysis should be conducted so that it could be determined who requires training and their readiness for training. For training to be successful immediate reinforcement is needed so that appropriate behaviour is learned. The learner must be awarded in ways which satisfy needs, such as pay, promotion and recognition. Standards of performance should be set for the employee, as when these standards are met the employee gets a feeling of accomplishment. The training should be meaningful and should also give employee enough time to absorb. The employee should be encouraged to practise the behaviour again and again so that he could perfect his skills. This way a permanent change is brought about in the employee’s behaviour. There are different approaches to training, which includes on-job training and behavioural modelling. On-job training is that an employee is placed in a real work situation and is showed the job and tricks of the trade by a supervisor. This method widely uses the employee’s learning capability to understand and retain the task execution. The other method is behaviour modelling. This is used in increasing interpersonal skills by observing an experienced employee. These methods help bring about a favourable response from the employee. For this training and development procedure to be successful the HR department should ensure that training is linked to business objectives so that everyone is pointed in the same direction. The training should be focused on outcomes and not activities, also allowing employees enough time to adapt. Training should be motivating so that employee expectations could be met, of providing career pathways, increasing job satisfaction and also improving job security. Employee must be shown how to acquire new competencies and what are the benefits of gaining them The HR department should ensure that not only the organizations needs are respected but also the employees and what they want to achieve, so that positive change is brought about in behaviour. Performance Management and Appraisal The HR department knows how much it costs to acquire employees and retain them as a good working unit, they want to be sure that the outlay on staff is achieving an appropriate return. For this HR departments concentrates on performance management and appraisal, which is about creating relationships and ensuring effective communication within the organization. HR department cite as a process which ensures success for everyone, valuing the effort put in by the employees and also influencing and motivating them for their hard work, they feel it helps asses the employees so that they could be rewarded fairly. This is a communication process between employees and their supervisors, which helps built a clear understanding about the job function and what the employee is expected to do. How they can work together to build, improve or sustain employee’s positive conduct. It focuses on employee’s achievement on the preset objectives and how he can bring about a change in his behaviour so that necessary results can be achieved, with continued reviewing of performance against the plans the HR department ensures that objectives are met. The process of discussing work in progress, and how employees can enhance productivity with regular feedback can help determine where the employees stand, and also assess their accomplishments. Appraising an employees job makes them aware of how a task should be executed, also giving them a degree of empowerment which is the ability to make day-to-day decisions. It also helps employees on how to enhance performance, which in turn presents a chance to the employee to develop new skills and appropriate attitude towards work. If the employee understands his duties he can act more freely within the given framework. Performance appraisal is a part of performance management, it is a judgemental process of the performance of the employee on job. It is mainly done for the employees behaviour is moulded according to the companies determined objectives (Bacal, 1999). Performance appraisal brings about favourable attitude of the employee, in the form of commitment and motivation. This is why it important to appraise employees, its importance can be identified as a development to clarify why it is essential to have an effective training program (Banfield, 2008). It is also important for reward purpose as it identifies the deserving employee to receive a reward and who should be trained to achieve high efficiency. Employee motivation is the key behind his compliance to change and this appraisal system stimulates effort to perform better. Employees can be given a legally acceptable reason for promotion or reward and also in case of discharge or transfer so that the employee can’t feel of being treated unfairly. The basic compliance to change of behaviour for an employee comes with monetary incentives, therefore this system helps identify what to pay the employee. This system also encourages communication so that a sense of trust builds between the employee and supervisor, this can be beneficial for the organization as they can work towards carefully shaping the behaviour of the employee so that needs of the organization are catered for, as the employee will respect his supervisor’s decision and will work with commitment and desire. Conclusion The employees are the most important resource of any organization, their commitment and sincerity to the organizations objectives is much sought after. The HR department’s role in this is significant as it sets a benchmark of high standards for the organizations employees. Ensuring that change in behaviour they want is achieved in manner which is acceptable to the employee. The HR department first has to identify the lacking, if it’s concerned with the job they can use job design to influence employee behaviour as an inappropriate person/job fit can be de-motivating for the employee and costly for the organization. If they feel their employees value monetary benefits more they can alter their remuneration and benefit packages according to the need of the employee to generate a feeling of importance in the employee, thus motivating them to achieve organizational goals. The HR department can also analyse the skill level and competence of the employee so that any lacking can then be corrected by employing training and development methods, thus equipping their workforce with new skills and knowledge, readying them to face the challenging business environment. Lastly HR department can use performance management to mould the behaviour of employee according to the need of the organization. With a continuous judgmental system employee motivation and work efficiency can be measured, and then rewarded accordingly. A motivated workforce is the key to any achievement for the organization, so this is what organizations should continuously strive to achieve employing the discussed techniques to influence them.