International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International Marketing - Essay Example 2.0 The features indicating achievement of global brand status Quelch (1999) provides a benchmark for the seven characteristics of a brand that are prevalent when a business has achieved global brand status. This is inclusive of strength in the home market, having a geographical balance in sales, the ability to address homogenous consumer needs worldwide, maintaining consistent brand positioning, reducing the country-of-origin effect, the specific product category focus of the firm and corporate name. This section of the report examines the extent to which Lenovo maintains appropriate emphasis on the aforesaid benchmark criteria for advancement to a legitimate global brand. Lenovo must maintain all identified characteristics in order to be considered a victor in becoming a genuine global brand. 2.1 Strength in the home market In 2011, China contributed 46 percent of total business revenues with all supplemental sales stemming from combined international markets and emerging markets ( Lenovo 2012). China is considered the largest personal computer market in the world and Lenovo has managed to increase its market share in this highly competitive technology market. Much of this success is due to a contracted 2011 strategic alliance with Compal Electronics that significantly increased Lenovo’s production capabilities. Through dual investments by Lenovo and Compal, totalling $300 million each, a new production facility was built from the ground up in Hefei, China that exploits the talents and resources of both partners to deliver faster output and more frequency of innovative products (Lenovo 2011). The Chinese personal computer market is projected to achieve a growth rate of three to four percent in 2013, which is largely driven by rural consumer demand for desktop computers (China.org.cn 2013). Whilst the rest of the developed world, such as the United States, has seen declines in demand on personal computers as consumers defect to more agile mobile computin g opportunities, Lenovo operates in a market where rural consumers are witnessing more government investment into infrastructure improvements in rural regions that are increasing personal incomes of rural consumers (China.org.cn 2013). The rural consumer sector is a major market segment within a national population volume of over 1.34 billion consumers (News Limited 2013). Lenovo was very adept in establishing a joint venture with Compal in order to expand the ability to deliver faster production output to the rural regions within China whilst demand for desktop and laptop computers are experiencing growth with a variety of target segments. Lenovo also participated in a government subsidy program designed to give rural consumers less-expensive personal computers which assisted Lenovo in achieving a $1.7 billion USD sales increase in the country (Hille 2009). Lenovo recognises appropriate opportunities to expand its brand presence and hence improve its brand recognition in China. The Chinese government is imposing a variety of new programs to facilitate more economic growth and improve the labour environment within the nation. By engaging appropriate political forces to allow the Lenovo brand to be associated with a nationwide initiative to modernise rural China,

Assessment and Students Essay Example for Free

Assessment and Students Essay Journal assessment Conclusion Reccomendation III. INTRODUCTION: Why do Assessment? Are you asking too little of your class? Are your students approaching your course as hurdlers, barely clearing required levels of performance? Or are they approaching your course like high jumpers, pushing themselves under your guidance to increasingly more challenging heights? If your students arent high jumpers, maybe its because you arent asking them to high jump. By using appropriate assessment techniques, you can encourage your students to raise the height of the bar. There is considerable evidence showing that assessment drives student learning. More than anything else, our assessment tools tell students what we consider to be important. They will learn what we guide them to learn through our assessments. Traditional testing methods have been limited measures of student learning, and equally importantly, of limited value for guiding student learning. These methods are often inconsistent with the increasing emphasis being placed on the ability of students to think analytically, to understand and communicate at both detailed and big picture levels, and to acquire lifelong skills that permit continuous adaptation to workplaces that are in constant flux. Moreover, because assessment is in many respects the glue that links the components of a course its content, instructional methods, and skills development changes in the structure of a course require coordinated changes in assessment. IV. RESEARCH (CONTENT) What is Assessment? Assessment is a systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and acting upon data related to student learning and experience for the purpose of developing a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experience; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning. Huba and Freed, 2000 Key Points Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning Multiple methods Criteria and standards Evidence Students know, can do and understand It’s more than just collecting data Sequence in Preparing Instructionally Relevant Assessment INSTRUCTION Indicates the learning outcomes to be attained by students LEARNING TASK Specifies the particular set of learning task(s) to be assessed. ASSESSMENT Provides a procedure designed to measure a representative sample of the instructionally relevant learning tasks. Is there close agreement? What is the Assessment Process? AIMS ASSESSMENT ACTION ADJUSTMENT Importance of Assessment To find out what the students know (knowledge) To find out what the students can do, and how well they can do it (skill; performance) To find out how students go about the task of doing their work (process) To find out how students feel about their work (motivation, effort) What is Student Assessment for? *To help us design and modify programs to better promote learning and student success. To provide common definitions and benchmarks for student abilities that will enable us to act more coherently and effectively to promote student learning. *To provide feedback, guidance, and mentoring to students so as to help them better plan and execute their educational programs. *To provide improved feedback about student learning to support faculty in their work. Functions of Assessment Diagnostic: tell us what the student needs to learn Formative: tell us how well the student is doing as work progresses Summative: tell us how well the student did at the end of a unit/task What can be assessed? Student learning characteristics -Ability differences -Learning styles Student motivational characteristics -Interest -Self-efficacy -goal orientation Learning Content knowledge Ability to apply content knowledge Skills Dispositions and attitudes Performances Direct and Indirect Assessment Measures Direct methods ask students to demonstrate their learning while indirect methods ask them to reflect on their learning. Direct methods include objective tests, essays, case studies, problem solving exercises, presentations and classroom assignments. Indirect methods include surveys, interviews and student reflection and/or self-assessment essays. It is useful to include both direct and indirect assessment measures in your assessments. How should we assess? True –False Item Multiple Choice Completion Short Answer Essay Practical Exam Papers/Reports Projects Questionnaires Inventories Checklist Peer Rating Self Rating Journal Portfolio Observations Discussions Interviews Criteria In Choosing an Assessment Method It should be reliable. It should be valid. It should be simple to operate, and should not be too costly. It should be seen by students and society in general. It should benefit all students. Who should be involved in assessment? The teacher The student The student’s peer Administrator Parents What should we do with the information from our assessment? Use it to improve the focus of our teaching (diagnosis) Use it to focus student attention of strengths and weaknesses (motivation) Use it to improve program planning (program assessment) Use it for reporting to parents Classroom Assessment Paper and pencil assessments: Ask students to respond in writing to questions or problem -Item level: Assessing lower vs. higher skills -Knowledge vs. application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -Authentic tasks e. . multiple choice, T/F, matching (recognition), short answer, essay (recall) Paper and Pencil Assessment Strengths -Can cover a lot of material reasonably well -Fair -Effective in assessing declarative knowledge of content Easier to construct and administer than performance assessments Weaknesses -Require forethought and skill -Less effective in assessing procedural knowledge and creative thinking -Con struction of good higher level recognition items is difficult -Recall items that do a good job of assessing higher level thinking (essay questions) are difficult to score. Performance Assessments assessment that elicits and evaluates actual student performances Types of Performances: Products: drawings, science experiments, term papers, poems, solution to authentic problems Behavior: time trial for running a mile, reciting a poem, acting tryouts, dancing Performance assessments Strengths – Effective for assessing higher level thinking and authentic learning -Effective for assessing skill and procedural learning -Interesting and motivating for students Weaknesses -Emphasize depth at the expense of breadth Difficult to construct -Time consuming to administer -Hard to score fairly How can we assess student learning? Traditional assessment: assess student knowledge and skills in relative isolation from real world context. Traditional assessment practices reflect what students are able to recall from memory through various means, such as, multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, and matching questions. Authentic assessment: assess studentsâ⠂¬â„¢ ability to use what they’ve learning in tasks similar to those in the outside world. Occurs when the authenticity of student learning has been observed. It requires information from a variety of source such as content work samples, observation during class activities, and conferences with students. Classroom Assessment Informal Assessment: teachers’ spontaneous, day to day observations of student performances. Examples Verbal -Asking questions -Listening to student discussions -Conducting student conferences Nonverbal -Observing -Task performances -On-and off-task behavior -student choices -student body language Informal Assessment Strengths -Facilitates responsive teaching -Can be done during teaching -Easy to individualize Weaknesses -Requires high level of teacher skill -Is vulnerable to -Bias -Inequities –Mistakes Classroom Assessment Formal assessment : assessment that is planned in advance and used to assess a predetermined content and/or skill domain. Strengths -allows the teacher to evaluate all students systematically on the important skills and concepts -helps teachers determine how well students are progressing over the entire year -provides useful information to parents and administrators. Portfolios A collection of student samples representing or demonstrating student academic growth. It can include formative and summative assessment. It may contain written work, journals, maps, charts, survey, group reports, peer reviews and other such items. Portfolios are systematic, purposeful, and meaningful collections of students’ work in one or more subject areas. Importance of Portfolios For Students Shows growth over time Displays student’s accomplishment Helps students make choices Encourages them to take responsibility for their work Demonstrates how students think Importance of Portfolios For Teachers Highlights performance-based activities over year Provides a framework for organizing student’s work Encourages collaboration with students, parents, and teachers Showcases an ongoing curriculum Facilitates student information for decision making Importance of Portfolios For Parents Offer insight into what their children do in school Facilitates communication between home and school Gives the parents an opportunity to react to what their child is doing in school and to their development Shows parents how to make a portfolio so they may do one at home at the same time Importance of Portfolios For Administrators Provides evidence that teacher/school goals are being met Shows growth of students and teachers Provides data from various sources What do portfolios contain? Three basic models: Showcase model, consisting of work samples chosen by the student. Descriptive model, consisting of representative work of the student, with no attempt at evaluation. Evaluative model, consisting of representative products that have been evaluated by criteria. Disadvantages of Portfolio Require more time for faculty to evaluate than test or simple-sample assessment. Require students to compile their own work, usually outside of class. Do not easily demonstrate lower-level thinking, such as recall of knowledge. May threaten students who limit their learning to cramming for doing it at the last minute. Rubric It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student’s performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. It is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged. Rubrics are scoring criteria for Free-response Questions Scientific reports Oral or Power point presentations Reflections/Journals Essay Laboratory-based performance tests Article review or reactions Portfolios Many others Open-ended Question Concept Mapping It requires students to explore links between two or more related concepts. When making concept maps, they clarify in their minds the links they have made of the concepts and having visual representation of these links, they are better able to rearrange of form new links when new concepts are introduced. Laboratory Performance In this format students and teachers know the requirements in advance and prepare them. The teacher judges the student performance within a specific time frame and setting. Students are rated on appropriate and effective use of laboratory equipment, measuring tools, and safety laboratory procedures as well as a hands-on designing of an investigation. Inventories Diagnostic Inventories: Student responses to a series of questions or statements in any field, either verbally or in writing. These responses may indicate an ability or interest in a particular field. Interest Inventories: student responses to questions designed to find out past experience and or current interest in a topic, subject or activity. Classroom Assessment Presentation : a presentation by one student or by a group of students to demonstrate the skills used in the completion of an activity or the acquisition of curricular outcomes/expectations. The presentation can take the form of a skit, lecture, lab presentation, debate etc. Computers can also be used for presentation when using such software as Hyperstudio, Powerpoint or Corel presentations. Peer Evaluation : judgments by students about one another’s performance relative to stated criteria and program outcomes Journal Assessment This refer to student’s ongoing record of expressions experiences and reflections on a given topic. There are two types: one in which students write with minimal direction what he/she is thinking and or feeling and the other requires students to compete a specific written assignment and establishes restrictions and guidelines necessary to accurately accomplish the assignment. Journals can evolve different types of reflecting writing, drawing, painting, and role playing. REFLECTIVE JOURNAL What did I learn? How do I feel about it? What happened? SYNTHESIS JOURNAL How I can Use It? What I learned? What I Did? SPECULATION ABOUT EFFECTS JOURNAL What could happen because of this? What happened? V. CONCLUSION A fair assessment is one in which students are given equitable opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do. Classroom assessment is not only for grading or ranking purposes. Its goal is to inform instruction by providing teachers with information to help them make good educational decisions. Assessment is integrated with student’s day-to-day learning experiences rather than a series of an end-of-course tests. Why link assessment with instruction? Better assessment means better teaching. Better teaching means better learning . Better learning means better students. Better students mean better opportunities for a better life. VI. RECCOMENDATION Specific assessment tools, listed below, are strongly recommended to faculty and department heads for their ability to provide useful information for accountability and, more importantly, to foster dialogue to improve student learning within courses. These three assessment tools are strongly recommended because they are concise and effective direct evaluations as opposed to indirect evaluations. Direct evaluations can be both formative (the gathering of information about student learning during the progression of a course or program, usually repeatedly, to improve the learning of those students) and summative (the gathering of information at the conclusion of the course, program or undergraduate career to improve learning or to meet accountability demands. ) 1. Rubrics:  These are the most flexible types of direct assessments and can be used to score any product or performance such as essays, portfolios, skill performances, oral exams, debates, project/product creation, oral presentations or a student’s body of work over the course of a semester. Since we are talking about assessing â€Å"official† course learning outcomes that are stated in course documents, all faculty teaching that course must agree on a detailed scoring system that delineates criteria used to discriminate among levels and is used for scoring a common assignment, product or performance or set of assignments, products or performances. Information can be obtained from the course document’s assignment and evaluation pages to help guide the creation of the rubric. Pros: †¢ Defines clear expectations. †¢ Can be used to score many kinds of assignments or exams †¢ Faculty define standards and criteria and how they will be applied Cons: †¢ Faculty must agree on how to define standards and criteria and how they will be applied 2. Common Final Exam or Common Capstone Project:  These direct assessment methods integrate knowledge, concepts and skills associated with an entire sequence of study in a course. Either use the same final exam for all sections offered in a course (commercially produced/standardized test or locally developed final exam) or require a culminating final project that is similar (using the same grading rubric to evaluate). Pros: †¢ Good method to measure growth over time with regard to a course †¢ Cumulative †¢ The data is more robust if all students complete the same assessment †¢ Provides an additional buffer between student learning performance and an individual instructor’s teaching performance Cons: Focus and breadth of assessment are important †¢ Understanding all of the variables to produce assessment results is also important †¢ May result in additional course requirements †¢ Requires coordination and agreement on standards 3. Embedded Test Questions:  Embed the same agreed upon questions that relate to the course’s student learning outcomes into the final exam for all sections of the course and analyze tho se results and/or embed the same agreed-upon requirements into the final project/assignment for all sections of the course and analyze those results. Pros: †¢ Good method to measure growth over time with regards to a course †¢ Cumulative †¢ The data is more robust if all students complete the same assessment †¢ Provides an additional buffer between student learning performance and an individual instructor’s teaching performance †¢ Embedded questions can be reported as an aggregate Cons: †¢ May result in additional course requirements †¢ Requires coordination and agreement on standards If some instructors embed and others do not, the data will be difficult to compare and analyze †¢ Separate analysis of embedded set of questions is required VII. REFERENCES https://www. google. com. ph/search? q=ASSESSMENT+TOOLS+PPT;rlz=2C1GTPM_enPH0537PH0537;aq=f;oq=assessment+tools+;aqs=chrome. 0. 59j57j61j60l2j0. 3437j0;sourceid=chrome;ie=UTF-8 http://www. slideshare. net/armovil/assessment-of-student-learning? from_search=2 Fulks, Janet, â€Å"Assessing Student Learning in Community Colleges†, Bakersfield College, 2004

Climate Change Mitigation To Adaptation And Resilience Environmental Sciences Essay

Climate Change Mitigation To Adaptation And Resilience Environmental Sciences Essay Recent studies on climatic science suggest that our climate does not increase or decrease in a steady and slow pace as we once thought (Parry, et al. 2007). Rather, it changes abruptly over a short period due to a combination of natural or external forcing and anthropological factors (Parry, et al. 2007). However, the most compelling issue regarding climate change is not its main contributing agent but the reality that our climate is indeed or will inevitably change and that we have to do something in response to that change. In its fourth assessment report (AR4) in 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges that by the turn of the century our ecosystem will be overwhelmed by unprecedented combination of climate change and natural disasters such as flooding, wildfire and insect infestation, and other anthropogenic global change drivers such as land-use change, over pollution and over extraction of natural resources. The impact and magnitude of these disru ptions would take a costly toll on food security, water supply, health and the economy especially on settlements in low lying areas such as coastal and flood plains where most rapid urbanization in many developing countries is taking place. This is compounded by the fact that these will leave urban poor communities, which are usually in high concentration on those areas, highly vulnerable and unable to deal with these changes due to their limited adaptive capacity. This research explores the need to shift the current emphasis of climate change agenda on developing countries from mitigation to adaptation and resilience. It also relates the current trends in urban adaption on climate change concerning global perspective of international communities and the perspective of local state actors. It further explores the growing interests on utilizing resilience principles on top of conventional adaptation measures on its potency to address uncertainties that adaptation plans are not able to predict and account for. Research Problem I am studying how the practices and characteristics of low-lying and coastal urban poor communities in Metro Manila, which are perennially exposed to climatic stresses, make them sensitive or resilient to climate change, and to what extent these attributes able to contribute to the communities climate resiliency. While many studies point out that urban poor communities are one the highest vulnerable to climate change and ASLR, very few studies have actually been made that assess their needs for resilience. Without sufficient information regarding adaptation strategies to climate change, urban planners and managers are bound to haphazardly develop action plans in response to climate change. By exploring the strengths and limitations of these practices, this research aims to provide a better understanding on how urban planners and managers could improve upon these practices in addressing the residual effects of climate variability. Research Questions Vulnerability What are the effects of unpredictable climate variability to low-lying and coastal urban communities? Resilience What are the intrinsic characteristics of the barangay that makes them resilient to climate change? What indicators can be used to assess climate resilience at the barangay level? What are the national programs, policies and plans that aim to directly enhance climate change resilience and to what extent do these address issues of resilience at the barangay level? Implications What are the implications of the results of this study to urban planning and management at the city level and, concurrently, at the barangay level? Research Objectives To explore the characteristics of vulnerable urban settlements with respect to unpredictable climate variability To explore the climate resilient characteristics of communities The describe the extent of these characteristics in degrading and/or enhancing the resilience of urban communities To explain the validity of existing literature on generally accepted indicators for climate change resilience at the community level To evaluate how the results of this study could influence decision-making at the local level Scope and Limitations The study will involve the vulnerability and resilience assessment of two urban barangays in Metro Manila or in the Greater Manila Area, one with CBRM and the other with no CBRM. Further, the selection barangays is limited by the availability of required secondary data for the assessment. The study shall cover social, economic and environmental indicators linked to vulnerability and resilience based on the studies of Ibarrarà ¡n et al. (2009) on VRIM and Cutter (2008) on DROP. Limitations are directly derived from the limitations of the assessments models as acknowledged by their authors. Literature Review Responding to climate change necessitates a two-pronged approach: decreasing amount of GHG emissions will while at the same time addressing the impacts that are already manifested on vulnerable populations. Whether by merit good or by the financial prospects of clean development mechanism projects, a significant number of mitigation programs have already been implemented all over the even among countries that are non-Annex I party to UNFCCC (Chandler, et al. 2002) (UNFCCC 2010). Reduction of carbon emissions and carbon footprint are widely associated nowadays with climate change and became new buzzwords in media literature. These positively reflect on the existing attitude towards global commitment in reducing target GHG emissions. Adaptation, on the other hand, receives less media mileage and more or less the same attention from international assistance community in the form of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the bilateral and multilateral donors (Hayes 2006) due to its fu zzy nature. While this study does not discount the fact of the fundamental import of reducing global GHG emissions to their natural assimilation levels, it tries to highlight the increasing urgency of adapting to climate change. Fà ¼ssel (2007) posits four arguments which presuppose the emerging need for climate change adaptation: (1) the effects of anthropogenic GHG emissions are already felt on recent history of climatic extremes and unprecedented variability, (2) climate records from fossil data show that climate changed periodically in the past and will continue to do so indefinitely, (3) GHG continuous to accumulate so do the rate of global warming, (4) the effectiveness of adaptation programs implemented whether locally and/or regionally are not easily influenced by other strategic actions, and (5) there is a growing momentum of interest among development organizations to fund climate adaptation programs as reflected by the growing number of climate change assessment techniques. Hayes (20 06) adds that unlike mitigation measures, adaptation measures have always been practiced by societies and governments in responding to climate variability. While this makes it difficult to separate it from for those done in response or in anticipation to anthropogenic induced climate change, it is also in the realm of familiarity for many related professions and state actors. Many civilizations have learned to deal with the climate constraints overtime, usually in response to lack of water resources during dry periods (e.g., Egyptians Nile River irrigation system, Roman aqueduct, Mesopotamian dams) or the exceeding abundance of it during rainy season (Venetian Grand Canal, floating villages in Thailand and Cambodia). Fussel and Klein (2006) also points out the difficulty in monitoring the results and impacts of adaptation programs in aiding its intended beneficiary. There is a significant degree of uncertainty to what extent is the program able to reduce the impact of climate change . This raises a concern among international funding institutions as development programs necessitate a certain measure that ensures their effectiveness. Moreover, while mitigation measures done local level is generally considered to have a global impact, the same cannot be said for adaptation strategies that have a more localized benefit (Hayes 2006). Ironically, those who are least able to pay for it local communities from poor and under developed countries, suffer the brunt of costs by climate change. UNFCCC estimated that by 2030 the total investment and financial flows needed for adaptation is about $49-171 billion, of which $28-67 billion are needed by developing countries alone (UNFCCC, 2007). Emergence of resilience Climate change adaptation refers to a broad range of initiatives and measures that reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects such as (Metz, et al. 2007). Adaptation to climate change occurs as a response to an extreme event that exceeds the normal coping range of a system. It reacts and anticipates to these shocks continuously, given that the system is given sufficient capability, time and resources to cope up increasing its adaptive capacity. The context of adaptation is influenced by the climate-sensitive domain under study, types of climate hazard present, certainty of climate change models, on-climatic conditions in the form of political, economic, cultural and other environmental forcings, purposefulness, timing, planning horizon, form whether technical, institutional, legal or otherwise; and the actors involved. Due to its diverse context, there is no single approach to adaptation. It may take in the form or combina tion of anticipatory and reactive measures, private and public domains, and autonomous and planned measures. As stated before, many forms adaptation measures are not new. It incorporates well-established disciplines already practiced in the realm of regional and urban planning such as coastal resource management, disaster risk management, and integrated flood management. It is also present in public health management and advances in agricultural science research in developing pest/drought/flood resistant crops. However, we should also consider that some aspects of climate change adaptation arose very recently in contemporary history. Further elaborating on this papers introduction, our world have are starting to experience unprecedented climate conditions and extremes at an unprecedented rate of change. This limits the ability of many ecological systems and human communities to cope and adapt with changes. Further, the domain of identified climate sensitive receptors is continually expanding, necessitates the involvement of disciplinary approaches and actors not traditionally involved with regional-local planning and development such as gender, mathematics, communication, sociology, atmospheric sciences. Recent advances in climatic sciences also offer decision-makers and planners critical and timely information on determining the extent, magnitude, origin and, to some extent, the trajectory of climate induced impacts that are not available before. However, these new developments also bring with discoveries also pits traditional approaches to local climate variability with the more complex dynamics global climate change. Access to better prediction models also exposes limitations of adaptation structures in resolving uncertainties which results from sudden and extreme changes. Most urban planners and policy makers take into account the risk of natural disasters such as storms, flood and earthquake and by extension climate change. However, it is often in the light of natural catastrophic disaster such as floods, tsunamis and typhoons. It is less seen in the context of t he multiple hazards of an ever-changing climate to food security, health, disruptions to ecological balance and increasing vulnerabilities of urban centers. At the heart of these issues is the enabling capability to alleviate these uncertainties which is compounded by the nature of climate change: (1) it crosses local, national and global boundaries; (2) its effects are felt for many decades or even centuries; (3) overlaps and interacts with many layers of ecological systems; (4) it is a highly dynamic process whose domain entrenches social, economic and environmental spheres easily a sustainability issue. Adaptation measures are only effective if it is able to account and anticipate the magnitude of shock it is designed to suppress. Effective adaptation policies are developed by decision makers based on available prediction data. Uncertainties in these cases could lead to overestimation, which wastes valuable resources that could be allocated to other tasks, underestimation which exposes them to the risk of overwhelming impact (Barnett 2001), ignorance of a calamity that will hit them or indeterminate and prolonged exposure to climatic stress. There are many approaches to climate change adaptation in current literature; one of the more prevalent approaches is through increasing the resilience of systems, both human and ecological. Strengthening of resilience aims to increase a systems ability to cope with shocks, prolonged disturbances and unknown/wildcard forcings. Resilience is a measure of the ability of systems to absorb changes of state variables, driving variables and parameters (Holling 1973). These systems are able reorganize by undergoing change while retaining essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks (Walker, et al. 2004). Resilience is not simply a return-to-original-state process. In the realm of social-ecological system, by extension the urban environment, Walker et al. (2004) further relates resilience to adaptability and transformability, the capacity to create a fundamentally new system when ecological, economic, or socio-political conditions make the existing system untenable. A citys resilience to climate change is therefore defined by its capacity to continuously respond, withstand the effects of climate variability, and still function organically. Resilience to climate change requires urban governments to display the following characteristics: decentralization and autonomy, accountability and transparency, responsiveness and flexibility, participation and inclusion and experience and support (Tanner, et al. 2009). A study on the role of local government units on climate change adaptation in the province of Albay, Philippines revealed that communities experiencing frequent and severe climate hazards are more aware and responsive to the need climate change adaptation on (Lasco, et al. 2008). This is supported by the presence of political will and the numerous policies, programs and projects (PPPs) that the provincial government has enacted and implemented. Working with adaptation programs at a mesoscale or provincial scale was also found to be more cost-e ffective than having to delegate it to smaller and more numerous municipalities. Place-based resilience vs. person-or-household-based resilience This research body builds upon the arguments presented by Adger (2003) in his paper on social capital, collection action and adaptation. He posits that communities, especially in developing countries, are focal points of social collective action and social capital building necessary for increasing adaptive capacity at the local level. In the Philippines, barangays are the smallest political administration unit entrusted by the government to promote social, economic and environmental welfare. Barangays are also tapped in most local development projects. Moreover, it also forms as the social circle of its inhabitants. However, it should be cautioned that the barangays do not necessarily draw community boundaries. Due to its political nature as an administrative unit, barangay is chosen as the scale for this study due to potential available secondary data from documents and reports from both public and private institutions. Adger (2003) also highlighted three lessons that are further explored in this study: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦adaptive capacityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ has culture and place-specific characteristics that can be identified only through culture and place- specific research. there are the institutional prerequisites for the evolution and persistence of collective action and its relative importance compared to state intervention institutional theories of social capital provide a means to generalize the macro level determinants of adaptive capacity In light of these arguments, while this study shall be looking at the resilience of the community or the barangay as a whole, it will take in to account both place-based and person-based induced resilience as well as the influence of macro level policies that aim to enhance local adaptive capacity. Winnick (1966) and Bolton (1992) discusses the conflict and significance of place prosperity and people prosperity in the development of national policies that aims to assist to individuals and places. Measuring Resilience It is important to note that measuring resilience (and adaptive capacity) is a complicated issue that is largely unresolved. The resilience concepts presented above is just a sample of what is currently available in literature. Differences in data types (physical/social, quantitative/qualitative), temporal and spatial scales, and view on what variable and what receptors are critical produce different approaches to resilience building. Wardekker et al. (2009) summarizes the above characteristics of a resilient system into the following six principles listed in the table below. Table 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ: Principles and characteristics of a resilient system Principles Characteristics Homeostasis multiple feedback loops counteract disturbances and stabilize the system Omnivory vulnerability is reduced by diversification of resources and means High flux a fast rate of movement of resources through the system ensures fast mobilization of these resources to cope with perturbations Flatness the hierarchical levels relative to the base should not be top-heavy. Overly hierarchical systems with no local formal competence to act are too inflexible and too slow to cope with surprise and to rapidly implement non-standard highly local responses. Buffering essential capacities are over-dimensioned such that critical thresholds in capacities are less likely to be crossed Redundancy overlapping functions; if one fails, others can take over Source: Adapted from Operationalising a resilience approach to adapting an urban delta to uncertain climate change by Wardekker, et al. (2009) Another method for measuring resilience is proposed by Malone and Brenkert (2008) and Moss et al. (2000) using a vulnerability-resilience indicator model (VRIM). The said model utilizes a comprehensive framework that goes beyond the analysis of hazards exposure at the same time taking into account location based factors of resilience. VRIM is a four-tier model: (1) resilience index from sensitivity and adaptive capacity, (2) vital sectors (human, economy, environment), (3) proxy variables for each sector; and (4) scenario projection. Malone and Brenkert (2008) point out that the said model, as with many indicator based research, is not able to account for the function of demographic and social characteristics. Shaw et al. (2009) also proposed a similar approach but on a city scale. They developed a Climate Disaster Resilience Index that tries to account for the localized effects of climate-induced disasters, such as cyclone, flood, heat wave, drought and heavy rainfall induced landslide. The model assessed overall resilience based on natural, physical, social, economic and institutional resilience. Cutter et al. (2008) provides an attempt in integrating these unaccounted socioeconomic characteristics by proposing a new framework for measuring disaster resilience called disaster resilience of place (DROP) model. The said model improves upon the existing comparative assessment for disaster resilience at the community level. Their seminal paper in 2008 provides an initial candidate set of variables that will be used in the model. The model has three limitations: (1) it is specifically designed to address natural hazards; (2) it focuses on community-level resilience; (3) it focuses on social resilience of places; and (4) it does not into account national policies and legislations that may have significant influence of on community resilience. The model measures inherent vulnerability and resilience of the community using the following indicators: ecological, social, economic, institutional, infrastructure, and community competence. As of the papers publication, the model proposed w as not yet operationalized. The authors also suggest on improving and standardizing the initial set of indicators. Adaptation planning in Southeast Asia Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore National adaptation planning in the Philippines Existing Policies (CAA, CWA, ESWM, Rainwater (RA 6716) Recently passed CC law and recently signed National Framework on Climate Change Initiatives (CCCI Sorsogon, Albay, Malabon) Assessments (EEPSEA, Manila Observatory, IACCC, Sales) Gaps A recent project of UN Habitat in the Sorsogon City, Sorsogon, Philippines on promoting community resilience reflects the still-prevailing needs of many cities in developing countries (1) enabling capacity to implement measures in combating contemporary issues such as climate change; and (2) strong public involvement at all levels of planning, decision-making process and implementation. The latter case being largely solved (or at least in the process of being solved) already at least in countries where there is a strong presence of internationally denominated donor agencies. The former however is still largely unresolved. This is clearly echoed by the development priorities on capacity building and technical assistance from international assistance mentioned. Prioritizing the acquisition of knowledge and skills is clearly the first step in the effort of achieving climate change resilience. This, together with the strengthening of organic links within the city further inspires local cooperative action. Further, while it is one of the most essential parts for climate adaptation action, it is also one of the easiest to implement technically and financially. These effort necessitates only the participation of the vulnerably populations (which is a sufficient incentive given the perceived threat) and political willingness and resolve of local authorities (vulnerable populations are also potential voters). Local governments, such as Sorsogon City, as pointed out by Lasco et al. (2008), which are often exposed to the climate-induced hazards are those who are more readily aware to the needs of climate change, yet are unable to respond due to their limited set of knowledge and skills. Urban Planning Management and resilience Urban planning and management has big role, nay, it has the central role in building urban climate resiliency. Already illustrated in the examples given in the previous section are domains such as effective land use, public transport systems and housing on which urban planning are already championed in the circles of environmental sustainability, equity, economic development and climate change. On the other hand, there are also domains which are new (or whose responsibility is not often relegated or less visible) with urban planning such as energy, water and food security. Sourcing (or outsourcing) of these three sectors are often outside urban governance. These are often nationally or regionally shared resource and are also largely dealt with by such authorities. But then again, with the increasing need for resilience from external shocks brought by oil crisis, prolonged drought, food-biofuel competition, flood and other man-made and natural calamities, cities should start focusing on developing alternative options for these three sectors. This concept evades urban planning and management cultures even in many developed cities that are still highly reliant on resources taken outside (city as a parasite). Urban climate resilience is the marriage of urban management and governance, both old and new, which is of an advantage as it is already in the sphere of familiarity. It is wrong, however, to assume that climate resilience is just about semantics and simply a repackaging of existing concepts. Climate change resilience puts these concepts into perspective. It gives us a framework that guides us coherently toward securing sustained and uninterrupted city development that is responsive to the growing threats of climate change. In an age of unprecedented extremes in climate variability, selective and compartmental adaptation measures for climate change, marred with the inability to respond to uncertainties and ignorance of unforeseen calamities, only give misguided notion of resolution and maybe suspect to failure. Methodology The proceeding section discusses the specific aims and the methodologies of this research. Type of Research This research uses mixed method approach. It is a primarily qualitative study but augmented and validated by quantitative approaches as well. The qualitative approach aims to: Explore the characteristics of vulnerable urban settlements with respect to unpredictable climate variability. Determine the perceived effects of climate change. It aims to map out economic and livelihood fabrics and determine how these dependencies strengthen or weaken the communities resilience. Explore the climate resilient characteristics of communities with respect to their inherent capacities and local practices Describe the extent of these characteristics in degrading and/or enhancing the resilience of urban communities Evaluate how the results of this study could influence decision-making at the local and meso level The quantitative approach of this study aims to: Describe the effects of climate variability on the urban community using indicator-based measurement tools Explain the validity and limitations of existing literature on generally accepted indicators for climate change resilience at the community level Methodological Framework Research Instruments Unstructured interviews Key informant interviews (semi-structured) Review of published reports and public documents Livelihood mapping/zoning Onsite observations FGD Analysis Instruments Research Question Critical Information Set Data Sources Data Collection Techniques What are the effects of unpredictable climate variability to low-lying and coastal urban communities? Flood data Health records Mortality rate Other effects identified/perceived by respondents (exploratory) News articles Journal articles Published reports Key informant and respondents account Communities accounts Public documents and reports Documentation Analyses of published accounts/reports and public documents Unstructured interviews FGDs What makes these communities vulnerable to climate change? Settlement/infrastructure sensitivity Food security Ecosystem sensitivity Human health sensitivity Water resource sensitivity Economic and livelihood fabric Key informant accounts News articles Published reports Public documents and reports Journal articles Documentation Analyses of published accounts/reports and public documents Key informant interviews On site observations Livelihood mapping/zoning What are the intrinsic characteristics of the community that makes them resilient to climate change? Community competence Social networks and social embeddedness Community values-cohesion Institutional capacity Economic capacity Human civic resources Access to vital infrastructure and services Institutional capacity Social capital Indigenous practices Key informant and respondents account Communities accounts Observation News articles Published reports Public documents and reports Documentation Analyses of published accounts/reports and public documents Unstructured interviews FGDs Attitude surveys Key informant interviews On site observations What are the national programs, policies and plans that aim to directly enhance climate change resilience? Number and nature of strategic actions (PPPs) Public documents and reports Authorative reports and analyses regarding these PPPs Key informant interviews with experts Analyses of published accounts/reports and public documents Key informant interviews What are the implications of the results of this study to urban planning and management? Results of the study Expert judgment Study area The study shall be conducted on two communities located in Metro Manila or in Greater Manila Area: (1) urban barangay located on the coastal zone with CBRM and (1) urban barangay located along the coast with NO CBRM. The barangays can be selected from already-identified vulnerable cities or communities from existing studies of Perez et al. (1996), Sales (2009), EEPSEA and others.

The Excellence Of Women In Shakespearean Tragedy Essay -- William Shak

Excellence, from the root excellent, is the achievement of something extremely good in life. These achievements can be of a literary nature, or a cosmic nature, however the excellence that pertains to the coming essay, is that which is found within the female characters of Shakespearean tragedies. Despite the patriarchal ways of life during Shakespeare's age, he constantly conveys the ladies of his plays with nothing short of "excellent ... beauty, wit, and virtue." [Doran 135] Doran's article "The Idea of Excellence In Shakespeare" is a detailed work, which engages itself in the wide scope of Shakespearean sonnets and all his theatrical work concerning excellence. Doran says very frankly that due to Shakespeare?s representation of women, through his plays, it is very clear that he prides himself with excellence in general. Although Doran brings to our attention the importance, and possible disaster, of over emphasizing glorious attributes, the act of which is known as a hyperbole [134], Shakespearean females, even when denied fancy dialect and metaphors, still are able to expose their virtues of loyalty, honestly, love, and patience in most everything they do. Doran begins his detailed account of specific females with none other than Cordelia, but due to further argument I will pass over his analysis of Lear?s daughter and continue with his depiction of Desdemona. Doran introduces Desdemona by stating, ?[her] virtues are ? independence, honesty, loyal ty, and great generosity.? [147] Within a standard reading of Othello these characteristic are by no means shadowed, they are vividly portrayed in most, if not all, of her actions. Her independence is conveyed by her decision to marry Othello without the good grace of her ... ...ults are that of a divine member, a goddess. To conclude Shakespeare presents all his ladies as self-righteous, independent, loving women who deserve to be noticed. Each woman holds her own sense of excellence with regards to her virtues. In particular, Desdemona and Cordelia, especially rise up to the occasion. Both of these women know who they are, how they got to be who they are, what they want, and how to get what they want, nothing, I repeat nothing, explains the excellence of a women better than that. Work Cited Doran, Madeleine. ?The Idea of Excellence In Shakespeare.? Shakespeare Quarterly 27.2 (1976): 133-149. Greenfield, Thomas A. ?Excellent Things In Women: The Emergence Of Cordelia.? South Alantic Bulletin 24.1 (1977): 44-52. Harding, D.W. ?Women?s Fantasy of Manhood: A Shakespearean Theme.? Shakespeare Quarterly 20.3 (1969): 245-253.

Internet Cafe Business Plan

An Internet cafe or cybercafe is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the cafe in the name. The fee for using a computer is usually charged as a time-based rate. Internet cafes are a natural evolution of the traditional cafe. Cafes started as places for information exchange, and have always been used as places to read the paper, send postcards home, play traditional or electronic games, chat to friends, find out local information. Cafes have also been in the forefront of promoting new technologies. Internet cafes are located worldwide, and many people use them when traveling to access webmail and instant messaging services to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travelers, in many developing countries Internet cafes are the primary form of Internet access for citizens as a shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software. A variation on the Internet cafe business model is the LAN gaming center, used for multiplayer gaming. These cafes have several computer stations connected to a LAN. The connected computers are custom-assembled for gameplay, supporting popular multiplayer games. This is reducing the need for video arcades and arcade games, many of which are being closed down or merged into Internet cafes. The use of Internet cafes for multiplayer gaming is particularly popular in certain areas of Asia like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and The Philippines. In some countries, since practically all LAN gaming centers also offer Internet access, the terms net cafe and LAN gaming center have become interchangeable. Again, this shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software, specially since games often require high end and expensive PC's. There are also Internet kiosks, Internet access points in public places like public libraries, airport halls, sometimes just for brief use while standing. Many hotels, resorts, and cruise ships offer Internet access for the convenience of their guests; this can take various forms, such as in-room wireless access, or a web browser that uses the in-room television set for its display (usually in his case the hotel provides a wireless keyboard on the assumption that the guest will use it from the bed), or computer(s) that guests can use, either in the lobby or in a business center. As with telephone service, in the US most mid-price hotels offer Internet access from a computer in the lobby to registered guests without charging an additional fee, while fancier hotels are more likely to charge for the use of a computer in their â€Å"business center. For those traveling by road in North America, many truck stops have Internet kiosks, for which a typical charge is around 20 cents per minute. Internet cafes come in a wide range of styles, reflecting their location, main clientele, and sometimes, the social agenda of the proprietors. In the early days they were important in projecting the image of the Internet as a ‘cool' phenomena. Building up an internet cafe seems so easy from outside. It feels as if one just needs to pull some chairs and tables, few computers and an internet networking system, and here goes the flourishing business. One has to take many steps and decisions to make his business successful. It needs a lot of patience, administrative quality and leadership skills to maintain an internet cafe. Running an internet cafe is quite challenging job as you have to deal with the employs, customers, the safety on internet, environment of the cafe and the quality of internet. One has to satisfy everyone, has to keep an eye on because there is lot of competition in this field too. It might difficult at the beginning, because there were not many resources. But nowadays, with the invention of high technological efficient internet cafe software, it has been quite little easy for the internet cafe owners to take care of all their duties. A lot of burden has been raised from their shoulders. Having a check on the customers activities as the cyber crime rate is getting sky high, blocking of different sites that are harmful for the environment of the viewers and giving a homely environment to users, are some of the various advantages that one can achieve using the internet cafe software. Moreover to these advantages, internet cafe software also accelerates the speed of internet. It makes the users feel contented while using the internet in cafe as it increases the downloading speed and improves the quality of internet. Due to all above discussed reasons the work of cafe owners has become trouble-free and convenient. The customers are attracted towards the cafes due to their better performance and professional environment. As the environment is professional, it does not fascinate only one class of people, it caters to the need of people of every age. As Internet access is in increasing demand, many pubs, bars and cafes have terminals, so the distinction between the Internet cafe and normal cafe is eroded. In some, particularly European countries, the number of pure Internet cafes is decreasing since more and more normal cafes offer the same services. However, there are European countries where the total number of publicly accessible terminals is also decreasing. An example of such a country is Germany. The cause of this development is a combination of complicated regulation, relatively high Internet penetration rates, the widespread use of notebooks and PDAs and the relatively high number of WLAN hotspots. Many pubs, bars and cafes in Germany offer WLAN, but no terminals since the Internet cafe regulations do not apply if no terminal is offered. Additionally, the use of Internet cafes for multiplayer gaming is very difficult in Germany since the Internet cafe regulations and a second type of regulations which was originally established for video arcade centers applies to this kind of Internet cafes. It is, for example, forbidden for people under the age of 18 to enter such an Internet cafe, although particularly people under 18 are an important group of customers for this type of Internet cafe. In Asia, gaming is very popular at the Internet Cafes. This popularity has helped create a strong demand and a sustainable revenue model for most Internet cafes. With growing popularity, there also comes with this a responsibility as well. In fighting for competitive market share, the Internet cafes have started charging less and hence are adopting alternate means to maximize revenue. This includes selling food, beverages, game and telephone cards to its patrons. Today in the Philippines, the net cafe business has even expanded to online gaming to which most net cafe owners admit rakes in the bigger share of their monthly revenues. Then, there’s the local chain of net cafes like Netopia and Station 168 that’s been mushrooming all over the country. So it looks like putting up an internet cafe is still a viable business. But, and that’s a big BUT, take into consideration several factors that will spell the success or failure of your business venture. As the popularity of the Internet continues to grow here in Philippines specifically here in Albay, easy and affordable access is quickly becoming a necessity of life. We will provide communities with the ability to access the Internet, enjoying it with snacks we offer, and share Internet experiences in a comfortable environment. People of all ages and backgrounds will come to enjoy the unique, upscale, educational, and innovative environment that we will be provided provides. Internet Cafe Business Plan The Integration of Computer in Manufacturing Business Executive Summary â€Å"Computer-integrated Manufacturing is the integration of total manufacturing enterprise by using integrated systems and data communication coupled with new managerial philosophies that improve organizational and personnel efficiency. † This is according to Erhums. This system helps to reduce problems regarding to the manufacturing of products with the help of the implementation of computers. This strategy helps to improve the performance of manufacturing.It is implemented to satisfy the needs and demands for a productivity enhancement and higher quality products with fewer errors in production process. This paper discusses about the help provided by the computer-integrated manufacturing in various business. It also states here the illustration of the key issues of the integration and adaptability of CIM. In addition, a new framework has been proposed in this paper for the design and implementation of CIM. Introduction Business has so many things to consider. And one of it is how will you increase efficiency and enhance productivity with fewer errors.Before, the only way to manufacture products is through manual approach wherein there is a possibility of wrongdoings which may lead to business failures. But since advanced technology has been developed, it will be a very big advantage in the field of manufacturing business. It focuses on producing products in its most favorable condition, and at the same time, guaranteeing high quality, low costs, high flexibility and even smaller production quantity. Computer-integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is concerned with the integration of the business, engineering and manufacturing processes of an enterprise.It helps the enterprise to achieve and maintain a competitive edge in the manufacturing marketplace. Over a period of time, factory owners have integrated computer systems in order to control the entire production process. This is done by taking the design, analysis, planning, purchasing, cost accounting, inventory control and distribution departments and interlink them with the factory floor, material handling, and management departments. This system will have an impact on every system within the factory.This paper focuses on the integration of computer in the manufacturing process. This is an area of significant importance of computer application which is inclined to the field of Information Technology in business. Literature Review According to the US National Research Council, CIM improves production productivity by 40 to 70 percent as well as enhances engineering productivity and quality. CIM can also decreases design costs by 15 to 3o percent, reduce overall lead time by 20 to 60 percent, and cut work-in-process inventory by 30 to 60 percent.Managers who use CIM believe that there is a direct relationship between the efficiency of information management and the efficiency and the overall effectiveness of the ma nufacturing enterprise. Thacker’s view is that many CIM programs focus attention on the efficiency of information management and the manufacturing machines, material transformation processes, manufacturing management process, and production facilities. Computer-integrated Manufacturing can be applied to manufacturing organizations by changing the manufacturing focus toward a service orientation.CIM and Job Definition Format (JDFF) are becoming increasingly beneficial to printing companies to streamline their production process. A better understanding of manager’s needs would help systems develop recognize the emerging opportunities for creative use of information technology, and implement necessary changes. Methodology Computer-integrated Manufacturing is the system used to describe the full automation of manufacturing plant, with all processes functioning under computer control and digital information on tying team together.This system was promoted by machine tool man ufactures in the 1980’s and the society for Manufacturing Engineers. It is not the same as a â€Å"lights-out† factory wherein it will run completely independent of human intervention. The hearts of CIM are the Computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM). These systems are essential in reducing cycle times in the organization. Functional requirements must be compared to the current inventory of systems and available technologies to identify the accessibility of the system.According to Jorgensen and Krause, there are techniques that is being used in satisfying system requirements which includes utilizing unused and available functional capabilities of current systems; identifying functional capabilities but not currently in house; recognizing state-of-the-art technology that is not immediately commercially available on a system; foreseeing functional capabilities of systems on the technical horizon; and identifying whether the requirement is beyon d the capabilities of systems on the technical horizon. StudyComputer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) system is simply the manipulation of computers in manufacturing products or other activities where final products or other activities are the main concern of this system. CIM has a big role regarding to the development of a product concept that may exist in the marketing organization which includes product design and specification, commonly the responsibility of an engineering organization; and its extension through production into delivery and after-sales activities that reside in a field service or sales organization.CIM systems had come into view as an outcome of the developments in manufacturing and computer technology. This integrated computer aided manufacturing system, operates on both hardware and software. The software is simply what runs the factory or it is the brain of the factory. And the hardware is what makes the machine functions or run, or simply hardware is the musc le of the factory. These systems run on efficient output process. This means that the hardware and software works in the factory together. They should be not separated because as a unified unit, it operates for the peak benefit of the whole factory.CIM system divided every individual â€Å"center† of the factory into work cells. As work cells, they are then divided into individual stations. He stations are the broken down to the individual processes and this process are what metamorphosis that raw materials into actual product. It may sound interweaving, but it streamlines the whole manufacturing process. This also allows the operations to change any necessary things that should be altered to the system without shutting down the whole system. In this way, optimizing production and its good quality will be highly obtained.Analysis In spite of all the positive outcomes of the computer-integrated manufacturing system, there are also problems or key issues arose that needs to be ponder carefully such as the equipment incompatibility and difficulty of integration of protocols. The integration of different brand equipment controllers with robots, conveyors and supervisory controllers is a time-consuming task with a lot of pitfalls. In other words, the time required for software, hardware, communications and integration and large investment cannot be financially justified easily.Another problem is data integrity. Machines react clumsily to bad data and the costs of it upkeep as well as general information systems departmental costs is higher than in non-CIM facility. Another problem that evolved is to try to accomplish in programming extensive logic to be able to produce schedules and optimize part sequence. There is no human mind that is to put into place of this approach in reacting to a dynamic day0today manufacturing schedule and changing priorities.On the other hand, integrated manufacturing is neither a universal remedy nor should it be embraced as a rel igion. It is an operational and tool that if executed and used properly will provide a new dimension to competing. Eventually, it will introduce quickly new customaries high quality products and delivering them with unprecedented lend times, swift decisions, and manufacturing products with high velocity. Conclusions and Recommendations Computer is one of the models of the information and communication technologies in manufacturing.There are factors which are involved when it comes to the CIM implementation and this includes production volume, in order to make the integration, the experiences of the company or personnel is highly concerned also the level of the integration into the product itself and the integration of the production process. When a company wants to integrate the computer into their business, they must be careful in starting manipulating this system for this undergoes a complex process. Computers, made an enormous impact regarding on the speed and accuracy of the pro duction process.With the help of this system, it is now accessible to create high quality outcomes in just a short period of time and it is hustle-free and less effort not like in the previous tomes, it would have taken a number of days to make the same products with no assurance that they would all be able to have the same quantity and quality. Computer-integrated manufacturing is a very interactive and hands on system. If it is applied appropriately, it will surely increase efficiency and enhance productivity with fewer errors to the whole factory. References http://www. computerintegratedfacturing . com/

Definition, Discussion, and Examples of Close Reading

Definition, Discussion, and Examples of Close Reading Close reading is a thoughtful, disciplined reading of a text. Also called close analysis and explication de texte. Though close reading is commonly associated with New Criticism (a movement that dominated literary studies in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1970s), the method is ancient. It was advocated by the Roman rhetorician Quintilian in his Institutio Oratoria (c. 95 AD). Close reading remains a fundamental critical method practiced in diverse ways by a wide range of readers in different disciplines. (As discussed below, close reading is a skill thats encouraged by the new Common Core State Standards Initiative in the U.S.) One form of close reading is rhetorical analysis. Observations English studies is founded on the notion of close reading, and while there was a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s when this idea was frequently disparaged, it is undoubtedly true that nothing of any interest can happen in this subject without close reading.(Peter Barry, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, 2nd ed. Manchester University Press, 2002) Francine Prose on Close Reading We all begin as close readers. Even before we learn to read, the process of being read aloud to, and of listening, is one in which we are taking in one word after another, one phrase at a time, in which we are paying attention to whatever each word or phrase is transmitting. Word by word is how we learn to hear and then read, which seems only fitting, because it is how the books we are reading were written in the first place. The more we read, the faster we can perform that magic trick of seeing how the letters have been combined into words that have meaning. The more we read, the more we comprehend, the more likely we are to discover new ways to read, each one tailored to the reason why we are reading a particular book.(Francine Prose, Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them. HarperCollins, 2006) The New Criticism and Close Reading In its analyses, new criticism . . . focuses on phenomena such as multiple meaning, paradox, irony, word play, puns, or rhetorical figures, whichas the smallest distinguishable elements of a literary workform interdependent links with the overall context. A central term often used synonymously with new criticism is close reading. It denotes the meticulous analysis of these elementary features, which mirror larger structures of a text.(Mario Klarer, An Introduction to Literary Studies, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2004) The Aims of Close Reading [A] rhetorical text appears to hideto draw attention away fromits constitutive strategies and tactics. Consequently, close readers have to employ some mechanism for piercing the veil that covers the text so as to see how it works. . . . The principal object of close reading is to unpack the text. Close readers linger over words, verbal images, elements of style, sentences, argument patterns, and entire paragraphs and larger discursive units within the text to explore their significance on multiple levels.(James Jasinski, Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies. Sage, 2001) [I]n the traditional view, close reading does not aim to produce the meaning of the text, but rather to unearth all possible types of ambiguities and ironies.(Jan van Looy and Jan Baetens, Introduction: Close Reading Electronic Literature. Close Reading New Media: Analyzing Electronic Literature. Leuven University Press, 2003) What, really, does a critical close reader do that the average person on the street does not do? I argue that the close-reading critic reveals meanings that are shared but not universally and also meanings that are known but not articulated. The benefit of revealing such meanings is to teach or enlighten those who hear or read the critique. . . . The critics job is to uncover these meanings in such a way that people have an aha! moment in which they suddenly agree to the reading, the meanings the critic suggests suddenly come into focus. The standard of success for the close reader who is also a critic is therefore the enlightenment, insights, and agreement of those who hear or read what he or she has to say.(Barry Brummett, Techniques of Close Reading. Sage, 2010) Close Reading and the Common Core Chez Robinson, eighth-grade Language Arts teacher and part of the leadership team at Pomolita Middle School, says, Its a process; educators are still learning about it. . . . Close reading is one strategy being implemented for teaching students higher level thinking skills, focusing on depth rather than breadth. You take a piece of text, fiction or non-fiction, and you and your students examine it closely, she says. In the classroom, Robinson introduces the overall purpose of the reading assignment and then has students work independently and in partners and groups to share what they have learned. They circle words that are confusing or unknown, write out questions, use exclamation marks for ideas that surprise, underline key points. . . . Robinson uses examples from Langston Hughes work, especially rich in figurative language, and refers specifically to his poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Together, she and her students investigate each line, each stanza, piece by piece, leading to deeper levels of understanding. She plays an interview with him, assigns a five-paragraph essay on the Harlem Renaissance. Its not that this hasnt been done before, she says, but Common Core is bringing a new focus to the strategies.(Karen Rifkin, Common Core: New Ideas for Teachingand for Learning. The Ukiah Daily Journal, May 10, 2014) The Fallacy in Close Reading There is a small but immitigable fallacy in the theory of close reading, . . . and it applies to political journalism as well as to the reading of poetry. The text doesn’t reveal its secrets just by being stared at. It reveals its secrets to those who already pretty much know what secrets they expect to find. Texts are always packed, by the reader’s prior knowledge and expectations, before they are unpacked. The teacher has already inserted into the hat the rabbit whose production in the classroom awes the undergraduates.(Louis Menand, Out of Bethlehem. The New Yorker, August 24, 2015)