A Digest on the 7cs of Written Communication Essay

Clarity, completeness, coherence, conciseness, credibility, correctness, and continuity – these are all the 7 C’s of communication – collectively, this is what is required to achieve more effective communication practices which eventually lead to a more effective learning process. Each C in itself is already an enormous task to maintain but more so when we consider they are not independent of one another, they all work together to help us communicate most efficiently. Clear is when we allow the reader to understand the meaning of our message, as you intended it to be understood. When it is said that it should be so even the dullest man should understand it, it means we should simplify our vocabulary. The message, more importantly, should be crisp and precise. That’s how it â€Å"brings the script alive† and â€Å"can bring flavor in the most arid and dry news story† as totally, it makes the difference between a write-up that satisfies and one that does not. Complete is when a complete picture and all the information required for a reader to take action and respond is all there. An adjective is also taken into consideration here: unified- in individual sentences, individual paragraphs, and the whole totality of the script. Also take into consideration the principle that each simple sentence must answer the who, what, when, why, where, and how questions as appropriate for each of your communication efforts. Coherent is closely related to clarity – easy to read and understand with a logical flow and sequence – it just means tying up several ideas in one topic.  Concise is omitting all that creates ambiguity. It means saying all that needs to be said and no more.  Credible is clarity, correctness and completeness added up to forceful and direct writing.  Correct is the gauge as when readers may refuse your write up because of inaccuracy. Communication should be in such a way that it includes making sure that the message you send is correct. Your assignments and correspondence should contain accurate information. Proofreading is also helpful to address correctness. Lastly, continuity may well serve as the final balancing act. Brevity is the magic word: it is the use of fewer words. It brings about continuity and grace in your writing. Learnings It is such a taxing task to read or listen as it takes so much effort and time. It is thus of utmost importance that the portmanteau of both principles (of unity, coherence and emphasis) alongside other essentials of effective communication (like language, planning and organization) all make the written communication effective. It then boils down to the 7 C’s considered here wherein I have been reminded once again that jargon has no place in a written report if your intention is solely to be effective and forceful. It irritates to read high sounding words from an article that was supposed to touch the common Juan. It has also stressed the great responsibility on a would-be writer to produce a thought-over, â€Å"meaty† script that should never mean to impress but to give insight. Opinions/Suggestions There are also other C’s that should be considered here like convincing, considerate, and courtesy and I am not certain why there should only be seven. â€Å"Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.† — JAMES THURBER An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. PROVERBS 24:26 7 C’s of COMMUNICATION Essence of the material Clarity, completeness, coherence, conciseness, credibility, correctness, and continuity – these are all the 7 C’s of communication – collectively, this is what is required to achieve more effective communication practices which eventually lead to a more effective learning process. Each C in itself is already an enormous task to maintain but more so when we consider they are not independent of one another, they all work together to help us communicate most efficiently. Clear is when we allow the reader to understand the meaning of our message, as you intended it to be understood. When it is said that it should be so even the dullest man should understand it, it means we should simplify our vocabulary. The message, more importantly, should be crisp and precise. That’s how it â€Å"brings the script alive† and â€Å"can bring flavor in the most arid and dry news story† as totally, it makes the difference between a write-up that satisfies and one that does not. Complete is when a complete picture and all the information required for a reader to take action and respond is all there. An adjective is also taken into consideration here: unified- in individual sentences, individual paragraphs, and the whole totality of the script. Also take into consideration the principle that each simple sentence must answer the who, what, when, why, where, and how questions as appropriate for each of your communication efforts. Coherent is closely related to clarity – easy to read and understand with a logical flow and sequence – it just means tying up several ideas in one topic.  Concise is omitting all that creates ambiguity. It means saying all that  needs to be said and no more.  Credible is clarity, correctness and completeness added up to forceful and direct writing.  Correct is the gauge as when readers may refuse your write up because of inaccuracy. Communication should be in such a way that it includes making sure that the message you send is correct. Your assignments and correspondence should contain accurate information. Proofreading is also helpful to address correctness. Lastly, continuity may well serve as the final balancing act. Brevity is the magic word: it is the use of fewer words. It brings about continuity and grace in your writing. Learnings It is such a taxing task to read or listen as it takes so much effort and time. It is thus of utmost importance that the portmanteau of both principles (of unity, coherence and emphasis) alongside other essentials of effective communication (like language, planning and organization) all make the written communication effective. It then boils down to the 7 C’s considered here wherein I have been reminded once again that jargon has no place in a written report if your intention is solely to be effective and forceful. It irritates to read high sounding words from an article that was supposed to touch the common Juan. It has also stressed the great responsibility on a would-be writer to produce a thought-over, â€Å"meaty† script that should never mean to impress but to give insight. Opinions/Suggestions There are also other C’s that should be considered here like convincing, considerate, and courtesy and I am not certain why there should only be seven. â€Å"Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create  as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.†

Nancy’s coffee case study Essay

As the busy president of the $7 million Nancy‟s Coffee Cafà © chain, Beth WoodLeidt wasn‟t able to visit each of their thirty suburban coffee shops as much as she would have liked. Whenever she did journey out like she was doing today, it was with a passion for building brand and enhancing profitability. Beth approached one of her more challenging locations—in a mall in central New York— and surveyed the space with a practiced eye. †¦that front table needs a wipe†¦ the display shelves are dusty†¦the OneCard holder is hidden behind the tip jar†¦isn’t it too early in the day to be out of plain bagels?†¦ She greeted the staff that she knew warmly, introduced herself to new faces, and ordered a cappuccino from a slightly nervous young hire at the counter. As the teenager set about to whip up the best coffee drink of her brief career, Beth took the manager aside to offer a quick rundown on areas for improvement. Beth was just finishing up with her quality assessment when her cell phone buzzed with a call from a former corporate colleague that she had often confided in about the challenges of running a retail business. Beth took a sip of her frothy brew, winked her approval to the relieved girl who had brewed it, and headed out into the mall to chat. When her friend noted that Beth sounded tired, the forty-year-old CEO closed her eyes and nodded into the phone: Gosh, I am tired! Remember about a year ago I started saying that I wanted to figure out where this business was going? Well, I’m still asking the same questions like, how can we attract the capital we would need to grow faster; what is the best exit strategy to shoot for; and what is the best way to enhance the value of what we are building? Sure, we’ll add another two more stores this year, but that’s just not doing it for me. It’s early winter, 2003—and that means I’ve now been running this thing now for over ten years. And, as you know, the story hasn’t really changed; we’re still too small to be acquired, not valuable enough to be worth selling outright, and yet the business is large enough to need someone thinking about it almost all the time; yes, that would be me. We’ve hit a bit of a long plateau here; it’s passed time to make some critical decisions. From Nuts to Beans In 1973, Nancy Wood—then a 36-year-old mother of three—founded a mall-kiosk business to sell dried fruit and nuts. When demand for that fare appeared to be softening, she began the search for a more viable product line. After connecting with master coffee roaster Irwin White at a fancy-food trade show in 1978, she decided to turn her lifelong passion for great coffee into a new business. Nancy‟s eldest daughter, Beth, recalled that the concept was a bit ahead of its time: My mother took her kiosks and slowly began to convert them over to coffee bars she had named the Coffee Collection. She started introducing Kenyan and Columbian coffees, but people responded ‘no way; there is Folgers, and there’s Maxwell House, and Dunkin’ Donuts.’ It was a very strange thing to many people who were being asked to pay a whole dollar for a single cup of coffee—or told they could grind their own fresh-roasted beans at home. They looked at my Mom like she was nuts. In those days it was very much about educating the consumer. By the late 1980s, Nancy‟s son Carter and her daughter Roxanne had joined the venture full-time. While Beth had been contributing to the effort by periodically reviewing the aggregate financials for her mother, she had never taken much interest in the enterprise. So it was, with her mother‟s blessing and encouragement, that Beth earned her BS at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and soon began a rewarding management career in consumer product marketing. Newly married, Beth happily immersed herself in the busy corporate world of high-profile projects and after-hours brainstorming sessions—first with Pepsico, and later, with Johnson & Johnson: I loved the work. I had a good salary, a 401K, stock options, bonus check, company car, great suits; I am loving life. Then suddenly, everything changed! Into the Family Business In 1993, Beth took a leave of absence from J&J to return home and help sort through the heartache and turmoil that followed her mother‟s death from cancer at the age of 56. Sandy Wood had inherited his wife‟s business, but made it clear that if his kids were not interested in keeping the small chain going, then he would either try to sell the sites or liquidate the assets. Operating on the assumption that she would be returning to her corporate job once they had closed the doors on her mother‟s enterprise, Beth carefully examined the financials and visited each of the seven locations to estimate what they might be worth. In the course of that investigation, Beth realized that her mother had developed a solid business model within a largely untapped niche—suburban shopping malls—and she was drawn to the possibilities. Her husband Bill recalled that when Beth asked him to join her in the venture, it didn‟t take much convincing: I was running a division of Bell Atlantic in Pennsylvania at the time. Beth and I had worked together much earlier in our lives; I had really enjoyed that. I have always figured that if two married people were meant to work together, it was Beth and I. We get along very well, and we both know our own place in the sandbox. One of the issues that we discussed was that one of our egos would have to get checked at the door. I was a leader where I was working before, but I understood that this was Beth’s family’s business, and that she was now going to be the face of The Coffee Collection, now named Nancy’s Coffee. With equal amounts of sadness, trepidation and excitement, Beth informed J&J that she would not be returning. Her father was pleased, and said that he would divest his interest in the business by annually gifting equal shares to his three children. As the new CEO of Nancy‟s Coffee, Beth set a course for growth. The Specialty Coffee Industry The Green Dragon, a Boston coffeehouse founded in 1697, became the clandestine headquarters of the American Revolution. It was there, in 1773, that the Boston Tea Party was planned as a protest against the tea taxes being levied by King George on his colonies. By the time the British and the colonists had settled accounts, coffee had become the hot beverage of choice in America. Throughout the 19th century in the U.S., neighborhood coffeehouses proliferated, and home-roasting coffee became a common practice. The industrial revolution, however, fostered a demand for quicker, cheaper, and easier caffeine solutions. With the advent of vacuum packaging and modern transportation, it became possible for a roaster on one side of the country to sell to a retailer on the other side. As with many other food products, quality was compromised to accommodate mass production and efficient distribution. By the 1940s, the coffeehouses had disappeared, and Americans had been sold on the idea that fresh coffee went „woosh‟ when the can was opened. In 1950, William Rosenberg founded Dunkin‟ Donuts in Quincy, Massachusetts. While his donut shop took pride in serving what they called the â€Å"World‟s Best Coffee†, it would be twenty more years before U.S. consumers could purchase a truly high-end cup. In the early 1970s, a small cadre of coffee aficionados began to offer a unique brew made from hand-picked beans; fresh-roasted in small batches. Peets, founded on the West Coast by legendary coffee idealist Alfred Peet, quickly set the standard for superb coffee. In Seattle, Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Ziv Siegl, named their coffee shop business Starbucks, after the coffee-loving first mate in Moby Dick. On the East Coast, George Howell was building his chain of Coffee Connection shops in the Boston area. New Yorker Irwin White began making a name for himself supplying fresh-roasted grounds to some of the finest restaurants in Manhattan. San Franciscan coffee broker Erna Knutsen coined the term Specialty Coffee, and in 1985, helped to found the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America). SCAA membership grew steadily as these coffee pioneers—Nancy Wood included— developed dynamic, profitable business models by proactively educating American consumers about fine coffee. By the time Beth took the helm of her mother‟s business in 1993—the same year that Starbucks had gone public—upscale consumers had developed a real taste for an excellent brew. Growth without Sharks Beth and her management team undertook an aggressive search for retail space. To facilitate that process, they worked almost exclusively with the regional mall management companies that had been doing business with their mother for years. Beth explained that this path was chosen in part as a way of dodging a direct confrontation with the powerhouse sweeping in from the west: Starbucks had clearly stated that as they came east they were going to do cities like Philadelphia, Boston, DC and Manhattan in a big way. We really didn’t know how to play in that kind of shark tank, so we figured that we’d let Starbucks have that, and play the suburban card. And at the time, that was low-hanging fruit. Clearly stated or not, one of Beth‟s first meetings after coming on board concerned a regional mall lease that Starbucks had been considering for awhile. During that meeting Beth suddenly realized how happy she was to be free of the inefficient, multi-layered bureaucracies that characterized much of corporate America: There were two leases on the table; a Starbucks lease, and one for Nancy’s Coffee. The woman said that the Starbucks lawyers had had the lease for six months—but she was willing to wait. I said, ‘Look, do you want Starbucks, or do you want a leased space?’ When she said, ‘A leased space’, I said, ‘Give me the pen.’ That lease is up next year, and I still haven’t gotten around to reading it. Beth noted that Starbucks wasn‟t the only coffee vendor shying away from space in enclosed malls: Establishing your brand in mall locations is not, quite frankly, a strategy for the faint of heart. Managing a mall shop is a difficult business, and it costs a lot of money. That worked for us in a way, since newcomers would get scared off by the idea of paying something like $100,000 a year in rent, when they could be paying $2,000 a month for a Main Street space in ‘Anytown, USA’. The team had learned through their mother‟s experience, however, that these pricey mall locations offered an advantage that few suburban in-town settings could match; a captive base. Mall Sales Throughout the 1990s, Nancy‟s Coffee and its suburban-model competitors like Peets and Caribou had the luxury of being able to choose locations where no other specialty coffee shops were operating. Beth explained that this monopolistic positioning was especially advantageous in a setting with high overhead and two distinct customer groups: Our bread-and-butter customer is the mall employee—the three to five hundred people who come to the mall every day to work. If you can get them to try, you can get them to repeat. Then, obviously, we have our transient customers; the shoppers. We have squarely positioned ourselves to cater to stroller moms; mothers with time on their hands, and kids to entertain. They come to the mall for something to do; they may not always buy, but they always have to eat. So we have lots of cookies, apple juice, and bagels on hand for the little ones, which helps us get the mom for her cappuccino. In a move to foster a loyal base of customers, in January 2002, Nancy‟s contracted with Paytronix—a nascent venture that had developed a swipe-card with both payment and loyalty program capabilities. Beth noted that the One Card system (See Exhibit 1) went well beyond the paper cards used by a variety of food-retailers to encourage repeat business: This is like an electronic punch card that also functions as a debit card— either by putting in a cash balance or by pre-paying for product. For example, we have this one guy—an eyeglass store manager at a mall in New Hampshire—who shells out $150 on the first of each month to buy the 85 cappuccinos he knows he’s going to drink over the next thirty days. We get his money up front, and he gets our $3 drink for less than $2. If you can get mall employees to buy a One Card membership for a dollar a year, they’re going to come to you every day, since for every nine drinks they get one free—they can even get a jumbo mocha in exchange for nine basic coffees. That’s a drink that we sell for four dollars; free to them, and my cost is about seventy-five cents. The One Card is really a nice competitive advantage. We just had a Starbucks open in Buffalo, one floor below us. Our staff was nervous, but I didn’t understand why. I told them that with the One Card, you already have all of your mall employees in your pocket. It worked; that Starbucks kiosk is struggling. By late 2003, Nancy‟s Coffee shops could be found in over thirty locations from Boston, west to Niagara Falls, and from Nashua, New Hampshire, south to New Jersey (See Exhibit 2). Three of the stores had been acquired from the owner of a four-chain enterprise who had come to the stark realization that running coffee shops was not going to be the road to riches that he had once imagined it would be. Beth recalled that they were able to make significant improvements in the stores that they took under management: When we acquired Cafà © Coffee, their gross margins were running in the low thirties. They had been managing the business from Wellesley, Massachusetts, and no one was going out to visit the stores. From a financial standpoint, we hammered down on the employee hours and on the food costs. That helped to drive their gross margins closer to 50 percent. Operationally, we kept some of their people, but not all. We put some of our own people in who had much different operational standards than the Cafà © Coffee people. At one store, we saw an increase in customer count, and in six months that store went from being in the red to being in the black. Just as Starbucks and Dunkin‟ Donuts never said „never‟ with regard to Mall locations, Beth followed through on an opportunity to develop a street-front location. She was excited about the challenge and the possibilities: There are so many locations that are still looking for high-end coffee bars. The question is; are we as a high-end coffee bar looking for that location? We just opened a store on the street in Manchester, Vermont. My rent there is $1,800 a month. I think it will work, but it will take some time to attract a customer base. If we can find some more good towns like that, I suspect that we will probably do more like that versus more Mall expansions.

(need to be determined) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(need to be determined) - Essay Example The running across the court as well as the jumping, shooting the ball and other activities involved in playing basketball are actually cardiovascular exercise. The most offensive play is basketball is triangle offense. It is an offense that would come from three directions which are from the front zone of the defenders and the two sides. This is the most effective play in basketball because the offense comes from many directions and not only from one side making the offense unpredictable and hard to defend (The Coach Clipboard a, nd). The other situation would be in the tie breaker play especially in the few seconds when the score is tied. The strongest offense player will be field in where the other team would not know who to defend and in the process break their defense. The other team’s defense will be spread thinly creating an opportunity to attack the weakness in their defense. The zone defense is more effective than man-to-man defense because it involves team effort that could cover more grounds in the court. It also enable other bigger player to help in defending stronger players (The Coach Clipboard b, nd). The specific situation where zone defense is effective is when the other team uses triangle offense where their offense could come in three direction. The other situation would be after a time out called by the other team to make a play. Zone defense has a greater probability of defending against a play because it covers more

Case Study Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Study Analysis Paper - Essay Example Robins should have taken initiative to discover what his job would entail him to do. Since he had not, ideally someone else should have helped him to understand, and walked him through his first integration, so that no mistakes were made. Because so little paperwork has been completed, and it is unclear who should have completed the paperwork and scheduled physicals for the new employees, Mr. Robins will need to step up and complete the work himself. While there are several solutions, there are two that seem the most likely to be successful. First, Mr. Robins could go and speak to Ms. Carrolls, the woman for whom he hired the employees, and outright admit his mistake. Then, working together they could revise the timeline and determine what, if any, the consequences should be for his mistakes. Ms. Carrolls is also the most likely source of information as to who (if any one else is at fault) should have been helping him, and address those problems. The second, and more likely solution, is that Mr. Robins needs to pull it together. He should make a list of what he needs to complete, and put aside other work until he has fixed his errors. This solution allows him to complete his work on time, and not inconvenience Ms. Carrolls, or the newly hired workers. Mr.

BOOK REVIEW THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH BY LEAVITT, DAVID Essay

BOOK REVIEW THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH BY LEAVITT, DAVID - Essay Example In his book The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer (Great Discoveries) the author David Leavitt presents his view on mathematics where he discusses the inability of the subject mathematics to penetrate the popular culture. He presents his idea through the life of Alan Turing, the famous mathematician and self-proclaimed homosexual, who decoded the 'enigma' machine during the WWII. The writer argues that where other subjects like literature and law can be discussed with common nonprofessional mathematics on the other hand seems to be subjected for only few that according to the author may be represented as bliss of sixth sense. It is painful for the mathematicians to feel all lonely and is not able to discuss matters of their subject with the commoners as that would not be understandable by anyone. This is a sense of isolation and though however beautiful that the world of mathematics the writer considers this isolation to be difficult to handle. Nevertheless, he is optimistic that with the development of the human intelligence, ultimately all would master the art of mathematics and though he himself refers it as an utopian thought he cannot stop thinking that mathematics should be perceptible by all or at least all should try for that.

Political science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Political science - Essay Example Another cause of political violence is the need to control rich resource areas and racial discrimination. During the Second World War Germany demonstrated this by invasion and subsequent conquer of Poland. The massacre of unknown number of Jews also referred to as the ‘holocaust† by Hitler was racial motivated political violence. Differing ideologies between sects can lead to political violence as it did during the great American civil war (Eickelmann, A., Nelson, E., & Lansford, 2005). While political violence is common in many countries, there are ways governments can limit it. In tribal, racially or religious motivated violence, promoting exchange between groups can be an effective means of limiting political violence among groups. The more two or three more groups interact the less likely the groups are going to engage in deadly violence. States can also concentrate on protecting individual freedom and rights to avoid the rise of rebels and insurgencies within the states. Perhaps the most important of all is for states to respect and ensure that justice and reconciliation prevail (Eickelmann et al., 2005). This is demonstrated by the impact the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Nelson Mandela formed at the end of apartheid in South Africa. For a long time people have been debating on the importance of the electoral systems designed to promote democracy and their invaluable roles in the states that apply them as their electoral systems. While most people agree and differ on their preferred electoral system, it is no secret of the importance of the existence of electoral system in democratic governments. Proportional representation and a single member district are two varying electoral systems, used in different states to select a body of members of an assembly or a legislature A single member district is an electoral area that elects one office holder through

Advisory role of the Supreme Court of Canada - Patriation reference Essay

Advisory role of the Supreme Court of Canada - Patriation reference and Quebec Veto Reference - Essay Example of reference question under Section 53 of the Supreme Court Act was addressed under the ‘Reference re Secession of Quebec’, where the Supreme Court held the legality of the reference questions referred to the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion2. Thus, in consideration of both the Patriation reference and Quebec Veto Reference, this discussion seeks to argue for the application of the advisory mechanism of the Supreme Court of Canada, in the determination of important legal questions of national importance. While arguing for the application of the advisory mechanism of the Supreme Court, the discussion will first seek to demystify the assumption that there exists a correct and certain answer to any reference question that is raised through this mechanism. In doing so, the discussion will therefore find the application of the advisory mechanism of the Supreme Court of Canada, as provided under Section 53 as essential. The provisions of Section 53 of the Supreme Court Act allows for the government to seek an advisory opinion regarding questions deemed important for the nation, and which may have an important legal bearing on the country3. The ruling given by the Supreme Court during the answer to the reference question also takes the form of a judicial ruling. However, the most important aspect of the application of the mechanism of the advisory opinion as a means of determining a legal question is that, the decision offered is simply in form of an advice, as opposed to a legally binding decision of the court4. In this respect, the parties interested in the reference question can therefore take further legal courses of action, to determine the fate of the legal issue, since the parties are at liberty to agree or to disagree with the advisory opinion granted in the ruling5. Thus, considering that no party is bound by the decision issued during an advisory opinion ruling, it is therefore important that the advisory mechanism of the Supreme Court of Canada is

Career in Psychology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Career in Psychology - Research Paper Example These crimes have proven difficult for security agencies to handle thereby making it important for the intervention of professionals, to try and demystify crime so as to get to the core factors that would help the society to understand ways in which this enigma can be dealt with. Due to the rising crime rates, this profession becomes a promising venture for interested people especially due to the fact that their services are essential in the dissemination of justice in our criminal justice systems. By understanding why people commit crimes, it becomes possible to assist them after they are confined in correctional facilities for example by offering them with proper guidance and counseling on how to become respectable citizens. It can also help the government to strengthen its institutions for example those involved in wealth creation if the major cause of crime is poverty, or education sector if it is found that lack of education is the contributing factor (Abrahamsen, 2002). Terrorism activities for example were in the past perceived as being encouraged by factors related to diversity in religion but psychologists have come up with other theories of political, economical and ideological dimension as well as revenge for acts committed in the past (Abrahamsen, 2002). This therefore makes criminal psychology one of the critical fields in psychology that people should venture in since it is almost difficult to wipe out criminal activities in our

Cost estimating Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cost estimating - Research Paper Example The purpose orientation of each type of the estimate with reference to the advantages each type provides to the various parties of a construction project has also been discussed. Introduction The process of predicting the total costs of materials, labor, capital and professional fees required to construct a proposed project is called as cost estimating. The estimate is based on an approximation of the probable cost of the materials, labor and other services required for the construction of a project and it can never be said to be hundred percent accurate and varies with the fluctuating prices of the construction materials and services. The accuracy of cost estimation is of vital importance of the success of a project for the owner as well as the contractor. Estimates are important for developing the feasibility of the projects and the owner’s decision to carry out the project depends upon the preliminary estimates. Accurately estimating the construction costs lies at the heart of a construction company’s success. There may be two scenarios; too low estimate can win bids to the construction company but results I ultimate loss of money to the construction company. On the other hand if the estimates are too high, the chances of getting the work are very less. A good estimate is the one which also incorporates the costs which are not apparent but are likely to occur during the course of completion of the project. Such predictive expertise is the distinguishing characteristics of a good estimator. The main objective of cost estimating is cost control which is very important in construction industry because inappropriate cost control results in the over-budgeting of the project which can ultimately result in the bankruptcy of the construction company. Over the years the methodology adopted for cost estimating has changed and new techniques have evolved. The evolution of the current methodologies and techniques employed in cost estimating is discussed in the following paragraphs. History and Evolution of Cost Estimating The history of construction dates back to the early days of civilization and as other construction techniques and methodologies have evolved over the years cost estimating has also developed with the advent of new technologies and computation devices. The history of cost estimating and cost control dates back to the ancient Greek times and the Greek architects were also concerned about cost control in building their structures and sculptures (Jenkins, 2006). The construction industry has undergone rapid changes over the last 200 years with the technological development. The construction in the medieval ages was not very cost effective and very primitive methods of cost estimation were used with no proper planning resulting in project costs beyond the initial estimates. In the estimates made during those days the indirect costs were never taken into account with only the apparent costs of material and labor calculate d on simple cost per unit quantity basis. The estimates were usually made by the construction contractors and the client never relied on any type of estimates while there was no concept of the role of consultants in construction projects. With the industrial progress the importance of cost estimating increased as the investors were more concerned about the return they were getting on the invested capital. With the industrial revolution the importance of economical use of resources increased resulting in the birth of cost

Critics of consequentialism Essay Example for Free

Critics of consequentialism Essay The paper discusses moral consequentialism and evaluates its criticisms. Critics of consequentialism argue that the latter doctrine requires us, under certain conditions, to do what seems intuitively to be the morally wrong act. The nature of this criticism originates from the widely accepted vision of consequentialism as too permissive and too demanding. The detailed analysis of the philosophic and moral assumptions renders a conclusion that both the permissiveness and demandingness of moral consequentialism are easy to argue and even deny. Whether moral consequentialism requires individuals to do what seems to be the morally wrong act depends on how they interpret these acts and in what conditions these acts are to take place. Briefly, this paper turns moral consequentialism into a conjunction of highly relative and subjective norms/ standards which change their meaning and leave no room for objective judgments. Keywords: moral consequentialism, permissiveness, demandingness, moral, philosophy. Moral Consequentialism Throughout its history, philosophy was always centered on the two major sides of the moral argument: deontological and utilitarian. Most of the time, philosophers found themselves torn between the need to follow the basic rules of the moral conduct and the need to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Today, deontology and utilitarianism/ consequentialism represent the two distinct lines of philosophic thinking and create a vision of continuous philosophic disintegration. Moral consequentialism is, probably, the major topic of the philosophic discussion and the principal object of philosophic criticism. Critics of consequentialism argue that the latter doctrine requires us, under certain conditions, to do what seems intuitively to be the morally wrong act. This criticism grows from the two most important philosophic assumptions about the permissiveness and excessive (almost extremist) demandingness of moral consequentialism. However, the detailed analysis of these arguments renders a conclusion that both assumptions are easy to deny: as a result, whether moral consequentialism requires individuals to perform acts that are intuitively wrong depends on how they themselves judge their actions and conditions in which these actions take place. Moral Consequentialism: A Flawed Theory of the Greatest Good Moral consequentialism argues that the need to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people is the only moral factor that counts in the decisions, which individuals will take for or against particular acts (Kagan, 1998). The consequences of each particular action serve the basic criterion for judging its moral appropriateness. Contrary to deontology, which promotes and emphasizes the importance of rules and norms/ standards an individual is to follow, consequentialism seems to disregard these rules and sacrifices them for the sake of consequences. For this reason, moral consequentialism often becomes the primary object of philosophic criticism. Despite the relevance and importance of moral consequentialism in philosophy, its principles and assumptions are not without their flaws. More often than not, moral consequentialism is being criticized for the lack of adequate moral reasoning and the growing relativity of moral norms and standards, which individuals use to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. McLean and Ellrod (1992) argue that â€Å"consequentialism is hardly a workable form of practical reasoning and calls into question the moral significance of its results† (p. 171). The problem with consequentialism is in that the need to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people by all possible means fails to do full justice to the personal character of the moral duty (McLean Ellrod, 1992). Consequentialism often makes no difference who is to produce the maximum good and who is to become its beneficiary, while this difference is increasingly important and must count in any kind of moral judgments (McLean Ellrod, 1992). In this sense, consequentialism seems to operate in the atmosphere of the misplaced emphases and distorted views regarding morality, because morality is inherently personal and must focus on one’s moral identity. Consequentialism, however, denies the relevance of personal morality against the importance of the public good. The second problem with consequentialism is its functionality and its ability to lead individuals to the best moral conclusions. That consequentialism makes it difficult to arrive to objectively practical judgments is often considered as one of its major flaws (McLean Ellrod, 1992). Here, the two basic problems become obvious. First, the growing relativity of the moral norms and standards deny us an opportunity to judge what the maximum good for the greatest majority is and how we are to achieve it. Second, this very relativity of norms creates a number of conflicts in the process of choosing between several permissible alternatives: whether individuals are to choose the greatest good or the least evil is another point of philosophic argument (McLead Ellrod, 1992). However, even if these flaws are important and deserve attention, they only shape the basis for the profound philosophic analysis of consequentialism and its philosophic criticisms. Critics of consequentialism argue that the latter doctrine requires us, under certain conditions, to do what seems intuitively to be the morally wrong act. In this sense, two essential elements of moral consequentialism require attention: its overall permissiveness and moral demandingness. Critics of moral consequentialism claim the latter doctrine to be too permissive with regard to the acts and judgments individuals can make to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Others are confident that moral consequentialism imposes extreme (and even extremist) moral requirements on people, and they have but to comply with these requirements to maximize good for the greatest number of people. Moral consequentialism implies that individuals will have to overstep their moral convictions and perform acts that are intuitively wrong. The following sections analyze these two assumptions in more detail. Moral Consequentialism: Permissiveness and the Subjectivity of Judgments Critics of moral consequentialism claim that the latter doctrine may require individuals to do what seems the intuitively immoral act. In other words, moral consequentialism provides individuals with the absolute freedom to choose between acts which, although morally inacceptable, still lead them to achieve or to maximize the public good. â€Å"Because moral consequentialism accepts an inappropriately short list of normative factors, it permits acts that are not in fact morally permissible. [†¦] In short, consequentialism permits too much† (Kagan, 1984). For example, individuals may choose between killing a person and letting a person die simply because a murder or a death will save the lives of ten other people. Always immoral and intuitively wrong, the act of murder here is an excellent example of the permissiveness which moral consequentialism promotes and defends. To make the case more comprehensible, it is interesting to refer to the case of Chuck which Kagan (1998) describes in his book Normative Ethics. Kagan (1998) describes the case of the five patients, each of whom faces equal chances to die unless he can timely obtain an organ transplant. According to Kagan (1998), one patient needs a heart, two other patients need kidneys, one patient needs new lungs, and the fifth patient is in need for a new liver. Because of medical problems and because their tissues are incompatible, these five patients can hardly become donors for each other (Kagan, 1998). Yet, there is Chuck, a young man who comes to the hospital for a regular medical observation and has all organs necessary for the five patients to survive (Kagan, 1998). A surgeon thus faces a dilemma: to kill Chuck and to use his organs or to leave Chuck alive and to let the five patients die. This is the case which emphasizes the inherent permissiveness of moral consequentialism. Moral consequentialism justifies the decision to kill Chuck for the sake of saving the lives of the five patients. In case of killing Chuck, the surgeon will, most likely, achieve the maximum good for the greatest number of people: one does not need sophisticated knowledge of mathematics to understand that five lives are more than one. Regardless of the immoral character of murder, the holy goal of saving five lives will overweigh the terrible act of murdering one single person. This is where consequentialism justifies an act which seems to be intuitively wrong but which, nevertheless, helps individuals to achieve the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people. The question is, however, in whether moral consequentialism is always permissible and morally blind and whether the assumption about the moral permissiveness of consequentialism is always objective and justified. It appears that whenever individuals engage in activities that seem intuitively wrong but help them to achieve the maximum good for the greatest number of people, all they need is to reconsider and reframe the conditions in which these actions take place, to make them meet the basic requirements of morality. For example, the surgeon may find out that all Chuck’s organs are perfectly healthy and fit all five patients – in this way, he will meet the maximum benefit requirement (Kagan, 1998). The surgeon may kill Chuck secretly, to make his death look like the result of medical complications – in this way, he will avoid difficulties associated with the fact of murder (Kagan, 1998). Finally, the surgeon may pretend that the results of Chuck’s routine medical examination require immediate surgical intervention and that the life of Chuck is under threat – Chuck’s murder will thus look like a moral obligation the surgeon had to fulfill to save Chuck from physical suffering. If that is the case, the surgeon’s decision to kill Chuck will no longer seem intuitively wrong, and moral consequentialism will no longer look too permissive. The question is in whether it is worth killing one healthy person to save the lives of the five patients who, due to their health condition, will still die very soon. What are the chances that the value of their five lives will overweigh the value of Chuck’s life? These are the questions which one can answer only in particular circumstances and conditions. As a result, whether moral consequentialism requires that individuals perform acts that seem to be morally wrong depends on how they themselves judge their actions and in what particular conditions these actions take place. Moral Consequentialism, Demandingness, and the Value of Denial Critics argue that in particular conditions, moral consequentialism requires that individuals perform acts which seem to be morally wrong. This criticism originates from the assumption that moral consequentialism is inherently demanding and imposes too many moral obligations on individuals, even if the former go against the basic moral principles and individual convictions. Actually, moral demandingness of consequentialism is the notorious topic of discussion. Critics of consequentialism assume that moral consequentialism obligates people to make sacrifices that go beyond the limits of commonsense morality (Baier, 1958). For example, societies tend to believe that rich and better off society members are morally obliged to give up a share of their wealth to support those in need. Others are confident that, under the influence of consequentialism, individuals must make the largest possible contribution to the overall good regardless of the sacrifice such a contribution may incur (Kagan, 1984). Kagan (1984) even claims that â€Å"there is no limit to the sacrifices that morality can require; and agents are never permitted to favor their own interests at the expense of the greater good† (p. 239). Mulgan (2001) calls these claims as extremist and admits that at times the overall demandingness of moral consequentialism will make individuals perform acts that seem morally wrong. In his book The Demands of Consequentialism, Tim Mulgan (2001) provides a short tale: Clare, Amy, and Bob are sitting in the living room when a space alien enters their apartment in the striving to devour Clare (p. 154). The only way the company can save Clare from the tragedy is to cut away Amy’s arm and to throw it into the alien (Mulgan, 2001). The act will distract the alien and will give Clare more time to escape; meanwhile, Bob will find his weapons and will vaporize the newcomer (Mulgan, 2001). For Amy, who is to sacrifice her arm to save the lives of her friends, the decision will, naturally, seem inacceptable and intuitively wrong. However, because this is the only way for her to save the life of Clare and to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people, Amy will be pressured by the moral requirement to sacrifice her arm. The moral unacceptability of the decision to chop off Amy’s arm will become even more obvious in case Bob is the one to make it for her. If Amy is not obliged to sacrifice her arm but is only permitted to do so, Bob can readily become the one responsible for the mission of cutting off Amy’s arm and saving his company from the alien. Mulgan (2001) recognizes that in this case, Bob is allowed to chop Amy’s arm, to save his own and the life of Clare, even if this act seems morally wrong to him. In this case, the demandingness of moral consequentialism will reach the point, where individuals have the right to force other individuals to make sacrifices if they decide to refrain from such actions (Mulgan, 2001). Here, moral consequentialism becomes both permissive and demanding, and makes individuals engage in actions which seem to be intuitively wrong. Again, the extent to which this sacrifice is suboptimal is difficult to define. Whether the decision to chop off Amy’s arm is intuitively wrong will depend on a number of circumstances. It will depend on how the person himself judges his own actions and decisions. For example, there is always a distinction between subjective expectations and objective probabilities that particular actions will lead to specific consequences (Mulgan, 2001). Bob may believe that his decision to chop off Amy’s arm will cause her unbearable pain and will thus refrain from cutting off her arm. In reality, however, Amy may accept the need to get rid of her arm for the sake of saving the lives of her friends. In a similar vein, Bob may choose to interpret the decision to chop off Amy’s arm as the action with the lowest probability to cause harm to Clare and which also causes the least evil compared with other alternatives. Based on whether Bob views his decisions as the greatest good or the least evil, moral consequentialism will look more or less demanding. As a result, whether moral consequentialism requires that individuals engage in actions that are intuitively wrong depends on how they themselves judge their actions and in what conditions these actions are to take place. Conclusion In broad terms, moral consequentialism claims that the need to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people is the only moral factor that counts in judging the righteousness and moral acceptability of each particular action. Critics often argue that moral consequentialism requires that individuals engage in actions which are morally wrong. The nature of this criticism originates from the assumptions about the excessive permissiveness and demandingness of moral consequentialism. However, the current analysis confirms that whether moral consequentialism pushes individuals to perform actions that are intuitively wrong depends on how they themselves judge their actions and in what conditions these actions are to take place. Despite relative demandingness and permissiveness, moral consequentialism always leaves much room for subjectivity and provides individuals with an opportunity to change their opinions and the opinions of others about the moral character of their actions and decisions. References Baier, K. (1958). The moral point of view: A rational basis of ethics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Kagan, S. (1984). Does consequentialism demand too much? Recent work on the limits of obligation. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 13(3), 239-254. Kagan, S. (1998). Normative ethics. Colorado: Westview Press. McLean, G. F. Ellrod, F. E. (1992). Philosophical foundations for moral education and character development: Act and agent. CRVP. Mulgan, T. (2001). The demands of consequentialism. Oxford University Press.

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: History and Applications

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: History and Applications 1.0 Introduction Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) relates to the study of the absorption of radiant energy commonly within the ultraviolet or possibly in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum by isolated atoms in the gaseous phase. Considering that, in Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, the analyte is introduced to the optical beam of the instrument as free atoms, all the likely rotational and vibrational energy levels are degenerate (of the same energy). Contrary to the absorption spectra of polyatomic chemical species (ions or molecules) in which there is often a multiplicity of feasible transitions corresponding to several rotational and vibrational energy levels superimposed on distinct electronic energy levels, the spectra of free atoms are characterized by merely a reasonably very few sharp absorbances (line spectra) which are often correlated with changes in electronic energy levels. The multitude of possible different energy levels accessible to polyatomic species leads to almos t a continuum of possible transitions. As a result the spectra of ions (molecules) are comprised of somewhat broad bands which are caused by the partial resolution of several individual transitions. Hence, one feature of atomic spectra is their simpleness compared to the spectra of polyatomic species. 2.0 History of Atomic Spectroscopy The historical past associated with atomic spectroscopy can be directly linked to the study of daylight. In 1802, the German researcher Wollaston documented the existence of black colored regions (lines) within the spectrum of natural light. These kind of regions began to be referred to as Fraunhofer lines in honour of the scientist who actually invested most of his illustrious career understanding them. It had been implied, as early as 1820, these particular Fraunhofer lines resulted from absorption processes that took place within the suns environment. Kirchoff and Bunsen established that the standard yellowish light produced by sodium compounds, when positioned in a flame, seemed to be similar to the black colored D line in suns spectrum. Several scientific studies applying a very early spectrometer lead Kirchoff (1859) to report that virtually any substance which could emit light at a provided wavelength also can absorb light at that same exact wavelength. He was the very first r esearcher to discover that theres a comparable relationship regarding the absorption spectrum as well as the emission spectrum of the very same element. Agricola in 1550 used the characteristic colors associated with fumes to control the whole process of smelting of ores. Talbot (1826) and Wheatstone (1835) claimed the fact that colors associated with flame and spark induced emissions were typical of distinct substances. The actual quantitative facets of atomic spectroscopy have been formulated merely within the past 60-70 years. The substitution of photoelectric devices pertaining to visual detection and also the advancement and commercialisation of equipment go back to the later part of 1930s. The creation of all these devices was made feasible not simply owing to continued advancement in the understanding of the principle makeup and behaviour of atoms but have also been reinforced by the growing realisation that the existence of minimal and trace quantities (low mg/kg) of specific elements can impact industrial processes substantially. Consequently, devices had been developed in response to technical and technological demands. Contemporary atomic spectroscopy could very well be divided ideally into 3 connected techniques based on the processes employed to generate, to be able to detect as well as determine the free atoms of analyte. While atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) calculates the amount of light absorbed by atoms of analyte, atomic emission and atomic fluorescence determine the amount of the radiation emitted by analyte atoms (although under distinct conditions) that have been promoted to increased energy levels (excited states). Atomic emission (AE) and atomic fluorescence (AF) vary basically in the procedures through which analyte atoms obtain the extra energy associated with their excited states; perhaps by means of collisional events (AE) or through the absorption of radiant energy (AF). Every one of these 3 spectroscopic techniques can certainly be classified as a trace technique (meaning both a higher level of sensitivity and also a high selectivity), can be pertinent to numerous elements, and yet relative to the other two, every individual technique presents specific benefits as well as drawbacks. Ever since the arrival of commercial atomic absorption spectrometry devices around the early 1960s, this specific technique has quickly obtained wide acceptance to the point where surveys of equipment available in scientific labs have implied, constantly, that an AAS instrument is actually the 4th or 5th most popular instrument (exceeded only by a balance, a pH meter, an ultra violet visible spectrophotometer and quite possibly an HPLC). 3.0 Principles 3.1 Energy Transitions in Atoms Atomic absorption spectra usually are generated in the event that ground state atoms absorb energy originating from a radiation source. Atomic emission spectra tend to be generated if excited neutral atoms discharge energy upon coming back to the ground state or simply a reduced energy state. Absorption of a photon associated with the radiation will cause an exterior shell electron to jump to a greater energy level, switching the particular atom in to an excited state. The excited atom will certainly drop back again to a reduced energy state, liberating a photon during this process. Atoms absorb or discharge radiation of distinct wavelengths considering that the permitted energy levels of electrons in atoms are generally fixed (not arbitrary). The energy change of a typical transition involving 2 energy levels is proportional to your frequency of the absorbed radiation: Eeˆ’Eg = hÃŽÂ ½ where: Ee = energy in excited state Eg = energy in ground state h = Plancks constant ÃŽÂ ½ = frequency of the radiation Rearranging, we have: ÃŽÂ ½ = (Ee ˆ’ Eg)/h or, since ÃŽÂ ½ = c/ÃŽÂ » ÃŽÂ » = hc/(Ee ˆ’ Eg) where: c = speed of light ÃŽÂ » = wavelength of the absorbed or emitted light The aforementioned relationships demonstrate that for any given electronic transition, the radiation of any distinct wavelength will be possibly absorbed or emitted. Every single element contains a distinctive set of permitted transitions and for that reason a distinctive spectrum. Pertaining to absorption, transitions include principally the excitation of electrons in the ground state, therefore the amount of transitions is fairly minimal. Emission, alternatively, takes place in the event that electrons in a number of excited states drop to reduced energy levels which includes, yet not restricted to, the ground state. That is why the emission spectrum possesses far more lines compared to the absorption spectrum. Whenever a transition is via as well as to the ground state, its classified as a resonance transition. Additionally, the ensuing spectral line is termed as a resonance line. 3.2 Atomization Atomic spectroscopy necessitates that atoms belonging to the element of interest remain in the atomic state (i.e not coupled with other components within a compound) not to mention that they must be properly segregated in space. In foodstuffs, pretty much all the components exist as compounds or perhaps complexes and, as a result, should be transformed into neutral atoms (atomized) prior to atomic absorption can be accomplished. Atomization necessitates isolating particles in to individual compounds (by vaporization) and then breaking these compounds in to atoms. Most commonly it is attained simply by exposing the analyte to excessive heat using a flame or perhaps plasma even though alternative strategies can be utilized. A solution comprising the analyte is normally placed in the flame or plasma in the form of fine mist. The actual solvent immediately evaporates, leaving behind solid particles within the analyte which vaporizes as well as decomposes to atoms which may absorb radiati on. This phenomenon is essentially the atomic absorption. This mechanism is displayed schematically in the figure adjacent to this description. 4.0 Instrumentation The typical design of the atomic absorption spectrometer is remarkably uncomplicated and not distinct from the more well-known spectrophotometers utilized for liquid phase studies. It is made up of: A light source that produces the spectrum of the element of interest. Ordinarily a hollow cathode lamp (HCL) and also the electrode-less discharge lamp (EDL) are employed as light sources An atom reservoir (which serves as an absorption cell) through which free atoms of your analyte are usually produced ordinarily a flame. Commonly a nebulizer-burner system as well as an electrothermal furnace function as an atom reservoir. A monochromator, (a piece of equipment to resolve the transmitted light in to its component wavelengths) which has an adjustable exit slit to choose the wavelength complimenting to your resonant line. Generally an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) grating monochromator is utilized. A detector (a photomultiplier tube (PMT) or maybe a solid-state detector (SSD) having ancillary electronics to determine the radiation intensity and also to amplify the ensuing signal. Flame photometers have one crucial disadvantage the flame is a luminous source of radiation. The instrument must recognise the contribution from the flame and disregard it. The power of the beam transmitted to the detector (P) will likely be equivalent to the power of the beam incident on the sample (Po) excluding the power of the beam absorbed (PA) by the sample including a contribution from the luminosity of the flame (PF). P = Po- PA + PF Practically all Atomic Absorption spectrometers function using a radiation source that is modulated (chopped mechanically and / or electrically at a fixed frequency). The net impact would be that the detector will get a modulated signal from your emission source including a constant signal from the flame. The continual signal from your luminous flame will then be subtracted electronically (filtered out by the instrument) through the modulated signal which began from the lamp. This modulated radiation from your lamp is symbolised in the following figure as a dotted line (as opposed to the solid line for the lamp radiation in Figure). 5.0 Applications in Food Analysis Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) can be described as a fairly straightforward and uncomplicated technique and has been one of the most widespread form of atomic spectroscopy in food analysis for several years. It is actually primarily employed for the determination of trace metals within a sample as well as for vitamin level determinations in feeds. 5.1 Trace Metal Determinations in Foods Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy finds its applications extensively in the determination of trace metal concentrations in foodstuffs, Two conditions need to be rigidly met for a trace element analysis to be of any value whatsoever. The analytical sample, that is in fact introduced to the instrument (usually under 1 mL) has to be (i) homogeneous and (ii) a miniature replica of the bulk material that has been sampled. Food materials satisfy the first condition i.e. they are heterogeneous with regards to both particle size as well as analyte concentrations, in addition it varies significantly from one food to a different food when it comes to bulk composition. However, For biological materials, especially for foods, generally speaking, the issue of acquiring a sample that is a accurate miniature replica of the bulk material is particularly severe and may be likely to make contribution considerably to the total uncertainty linked to the final result. The evaluation of foodstuff, as well as biological items in most cases, with regard to trace elements presents specific analytical difficulties which arent experienced with several other sample types. A variety of elements of consideration tend to be present at amounts which range from very low to sub ~g/kg at one particular extreme while some other analyte components can be found at amounts in excess of 100 mg/kg. Considering that an analyte trace element might be found in a variety of chemical forms (several oxidation states, coupled with diverse anions bound to organic ligands or even proteins), the organic component of the analyte may result in significant matrix interferences through the detection process. Usually, to decrease these kinds of interferences the laboratory test sample is pretreated to transform all these variations associated with the analyte to a well-known cationic form whereas destroying the organic components of the sample (that are oxidised to Carbon dioxide a s well as H20). In most cases, these kind of digestion treatments are complicated, time intensive, error prone, and restricted by the dimensions of sample which is often treated. The pre-analysis digestion acts to solubilise the sample(s) to improve homogeneity, and also to decrease probable interferences. Two generalised digestion procedures are popular; (i) samples can be dry ashed in a furnace at 500 to 600~ and the ash solubilised in an acid solution or (2) the sample can be wet digested with a combination of heat, strong acids, and/or oxidising agents. Often, a triacid mixture consisting of concentrated nitric acid, with lesser amounts of 57% (v/v) perchloric and sulphuric acids (40:4:1) is used to digest plant material, however, the proportions of reagents, the sample size (2 g or less) and the volume of the final digest must be rigidly controlled to avoid analyte loss via precipitation (e.g., CaSO4 and/or PbSO4). These digestion reagents are highly corrosive. Moreover, the concentration, by evaporation, of perchloric acid digests can volatile perchlorate salts from the mixture. These salts can accumulate on the walls of the fume hood venting system with explosive results. More recently, efforts have been directed to automating the digestion process and to shortening the time req uired for sample pre-treatment by optimising procedures using microwave digesters. However, digestion procedures which are effective for one food matrix may not be effective with a different food. 5.1.1 Heavy Metals 5.1.1.1 Cadmium and Lead Making use of this approach, Pb and Cd in foodstuffs could be determined. It may well be applied to many other elements as well. The determination of Pb and Cd in foods necessitates initial destruction of organic matter present in the sample. This can be done employing a dry-ashing or even a wet digestion procedure. Pb and Cd by nature, are volatile components. Thus, a good ashing aid like magnesium nitrate or sulfuric acid is often introduced when utilizing a dry-ashing procedure. Pertaining to wet digestion, numerous processes are explained in literature. A good number of of these techniques commonly involve an H2SO4 / H2O2 digestion. Cd and Pb exist in very low levels in foods. For that reason, it is almost always important to concentrate these elements prior to analyzing them through atomic absorption. This is accomplished by chelation as well as extraction directly into an organic solvent or through the use of an ion exchange column. 5.1.1.2 Lead: Analysis of Food Coloring Dyes Analysis of lead metal concentration in organic food coloring dyes can be carried out making use of atomic absorption spectroscopy. Water soluble dyes, in many cases are analyzed effortlessly by very simple dilution using deionized H2O. Water insoluble dyes are generally digested with nitric acid, HClO4, followed by chelation, and are then extracted into xylene. 5.1.1.3 Lead and Copper: Analysis of Meat Products Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy works extremely well in determining the concetration of Pb and Cu in animal meats as well as meat products. Only dry ashing method is commonly employed to the meat samples. Following ashing, the particular samples will be blended in acid as well as diluted. This technique offers the subsequent benefits: 1) usually requires minimal operator attention 2) Virtually no sample losses resulting from splattering, volatilization or perhaps retention on crucibles. 5.1.1.4 Copper, Iron: Analysis of Alcoholic Beverages Alcoholic beverage manufacturers need to have stringent quality control programs which usually symbolize good manufacturing practices. Atomic absorption spectroscopy serves the above mentioned objective by enabling the determination of Copper and Iron concentrations in spirits, gin, whiskey, rum, vermouth and other alike beverages which might be relevant to many other elements as well. Analysis by atomic absorption is precise, quick with no special sample preparation. The samples tend to be aspirated instantly and standards are usually made-up in alcohol to fit the content with the specific sample. 5.1.1.5 Analysis of Wine Using this approach, several metals in wine samples are determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The wine sample is diluted and analyzed using aqueous standards for the determination of Sodium and Potassium ion concentrations. Specific heavy metals for instance copper and zinc could possibly be determined by direct aspiration vs standards made up of identical quantities of alcohol. Heavy metals might be determined through the use of an evaporation/ashing method to prepare the samples. Metals present in low concentrations can be concentrated by using an organic solvent extraction. 5.1.1.6 Analysis of Beer AAS can additionally be used for the determination of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pb, Ni, Cu, Fe and Zn in beer. Most of these elements can easily be determined straightaway within beer. Nonetheless, elements found in higher levels should be diluted and also analyzed at wavelengths of relatively lower sensitivity. Elements like Pb, Ni and Fe exist in extremely low levels in beer. Solvent extraction could be used to concentrate these elements. Practically all beers should be decarbonated through shaking or simply by swiftly transferring via one beaker to a different one repeatedly. The foam generated needs to be permitted to collapse back to the actual liquid prior to sampling further more. With regards to canned and bottled beers, 1-2 drops of octyl alcohol is added to regulate foam as appropriate. In the event that solvent extraction is needed to concentrate the components of great interest, 25 mL of each and every standard solution and also beer sample is pipetted in to standalone darkened 100-mL flasks which in turn are usually equilibrated inside a water bath at 25  °C for half an hour, 2.5 milliliters APDC (1%) solution is added in, blended and 15 milliliters MIBK is added. The flasks usually are shaked intensely for five mins and even centrifuged to split up the layers. With regard to aqueous samples, alcohol can be included to the actual standards to ensure that content is similar to the samples. Pertaining to organic extraction, it is ascertained that the standards are made-up in organic solvents. 5.1.1.7 Analysis of Whole Kernel Corn AAS finds its applications in the determination of heavy metals in corn that includes Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu and Cr. Proper care is taken to make sure that all the organic matter is destroyed without any subsequent loss in trace metals when determining the heavy metal content level in corn samples. As there are merely little amounts of lead, Cd and C, and taking into consideration these particular elements exist in our environmental surroundings, contamination of samples through exterior sources is definitely problem to deal with. A sample that is at least 15 grams is actually weighed and subsequently a wet digestion is carried out with a combination of nitric acid and perchlorate. The resultant digest will then be refluxed with hydrochloric acid, diluted to volume and analyzed via atomic absorption. 5.1.1.8 Analysis of Fish and Seafood An acid digestion procedure is used for sample determination of many elements in fish and seafood  tissue including K, Na, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe, Ni and Pb. A weighed sample is placed in a digestion vessel, acid is added and the mixture is heated for several hours. The samples are digested with HNO3 and HClO4 or HNO3 and H2SO4 depending on the technique and heating vessel used. After the digestion, the samples are diluted to a specific volume and analyzed directly or chelated and extracted into an organic solvent if the element of interest is present in low concentration. The main advantage of this method is that it eliminates elemental loss by volatilization because the digestion takes place at a low temperature. The main disadvantages of a wet digestion procedure are that it is subject to reagent contamination and requires operator attention. Dry ashing is a method that can be used for the determination of several elements in fish and seafood samples including Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Mn, Co, Na and K. It has been reported that the major drawback to dry ashing is loss of metal due to volatilization. However, if the temperature in the muffle furnace is held at 450-500  °C, loss from volatilization is minimal. The dry-ashing method is less time-consuming than wet digestion methods. When levels of Pb and Cd are too low to be determined directly, solvent extraction can be used to concentrate these elements 5.1.1.9 Analysis of Fruit Juice Making use of this specific strategy, AAS can determine the concentration of calcium, magnesium, manganeese, iron, potassium, sodium, selenium and zinc in fruit juices. Dry ashing or wet oxidation can be employed; nevertheless these strategies tend to be time intensive. The juice sample may be hydrolyzed with a strong acid, allowing the preparation of several samples at once; the sample is then filtered after which it is analyzed by atomic absorption. To determine elements like Pb which are found in lower concentrations, chelation and solvent extraction may be used to concentrate the component of interest. 5.1.1.10 Analysis of Milk This technique details the determination of Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium and Copper elements in milk by means of AAS. Making use of this process, typically the milk proteins which includes casein usually are precipitated through the use of trichloroaceticacid (TCA). The samples are then filtered and the resultant filtrate is analyzed by atomic absorption. 5.1.1.11 Analysis of Evaporated Milk: Lead AAS may also be used for the determination of Pb in evaporated milk. In this methodology, the milk sample is dry ashed after which it is extracted as the ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) into butyl acetate and is then determined by atomic absorption making use of the 283.3 nm wavelength 5.1.1.12 Analysis of Baking Powder: Aluminum The presence of aluminum metal in baking powder can be detected as well as determined by atomic absorption technique. The methodology is as follows, 1 g of sample is accurately weighed into a 250 mL Kjeldahl flask, and 2.0 mL sulphuric acid is then added, followed by the addition 3 mL of 30% hydrogen peroxide. This leads to a vigorous reaction between the sample and the reagents. Once the vigorous reaction subsides, heat is applied using a Bunsen flame till the sample begins to char. 1 mL of additional increments of hydrogen peroxide is added and heated until the solution no longer chars; This is followed by another round of heating till fumes of SO3 emerge. The sample is then cooled and 50 mL water is added and one Pyrex glass chip and boiled for 3-5 min. The sampe is further cooled and filtered through Whatman No. 2 fast paper into a 100-mL volumetric flask rinsing thoroughly with H2O. The filtrate is diluted to volume. A reagent blank of 2.0 mL sulphuric acid  and 30% hydrogen p eroxide is prepared. The standards are also prepared and the aluminum concentration is determined using the conditions listed on the Standard Conditions pages. 5.1.1.13 Analysis of Edible Oils Char-Ashing Technique This method can be used to determine Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na and K in glyceride oil, copper hydrogenated edible oils, salad oils, soybean oil and vegetable oils. It may also be applicable to other elements. The disadvantage of the char-ashing technique is that it is tedious and lengthy since the oil sample must first be completely carbonized on a hot plate before it is ashed in a muffle furnace. The entire process takes about 2 days. The advantage of this method is that it gives accurate results for several elements and it allows analysis for trace metals at a much lower level than direct aspiration. Digestion of oil samples using sulfuric acid has also been reported. Direct Solvent Method Analysis by direct aspiration of fats and oils diluted with various organic solvents has found widespread use as a rapid method for the determination of trace metals in various oil samples. This method is applicable to the determination of Cu, Fe, Mn, Na, Mg, Ca, K and Rh and may be applicable to other elements. Using this method, oil samples are dissolved in various organic solvents or mixtures of solvents including MIBK, acetone, ethanol, isoamyl acetate/methyl alcohol and then read directly by atomic absorption. The main advantage of this method is that it is very rapid and little sample preparation is needed. The main disadvantages are that the samples are diluted and so some metals will be present in low concentrations and it is sometimes difficult to find oil standards that matrix match the samples being analyzed. 5.1.1.14 Analysis of Tea and Instant Tea: Copper, Nickel AAS could be used for the determination of Cu and Ni in tea. Copper and nickel salts are usually put in place to act as a protectant and eradicant to protect the crop from blister blight. It is a fungus disorder which has an effect on tea. A definitive technique to determine both of these elements is essential for good quality control purposes. The 2 samples are generally wet-ashed utilizing a blend of HNO3 and HClO4. Instant teas decompose quickly and hence digestion with nitric acid alone would suffice. The principal benefit of wet ashing is the fact that it minimizes elemental loss given that the digestion occurs at a reduced temperature. Even so, its susceptible to reagent contamination and necessitates operator attention. Samples can even be dry-ashed. The standard solutions ought to be matrix matched to prevent interferences from Sodium or Potassium.

EASTERN RELIGIONS Essay -- essays research papers

People in America today seem to be only concerned with them. They are always looking out for number one. That is a saying that has been taught to us for years. Along with another popular precept: you can't please everyone all of the time. These are just a couple of examples of how Americans are taught to be selfish. Sure, mom and dad always teach generosity to their young children, but in this society, those lessons diminish with age. We learn that life isn't always fair and people don't always have to share if they don't want to. In this so-called free country, the rich get everything and the poor get nothing. This type of environment has caused a rat race among the people. He who has the most wins. In America it is for the most money, but there are many other people in the world who might disagree. What would they want the most of? you ask. Well, that depends on whom you ask. When you take a trip half way around the world, the values are totally different. The Eastern religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, to name a few, practice very different beliefs. They are more centered on love thy neighbor than the Christian Religion. This is not to say that Christians are wrong or act wrongfully, it just says that the difference in beliefs generates a significant difference in society. Here in America, our society claims we should love thy neighbor, but it tends to depend on who the neighbor is. We want our neighbors to be just like us. If they are not, then it becomes more difficult to show compassion. The Eastern religions practice compassion for all people, no matter who or what they are. In America, compassion is scarce. It's predominant in families and in small towns, but in the larger cities, it is hard to see if it exists at all. A movie has been made illustrating this point. It is called "Falling Down". It is about a man who has come to the end of his rope. He is tired of the way society has treated him, and he begins to fight back. He thinks he is doing the right thing, but he finally comes to realize that to do the right thing you can't think only of yourself. The movie opens with a traffic jam; the man's license plate reads: "D-Fens": This becomes his name since his real name is never told. It takes place in Los Angeles on a very hot day. This traffic jam is significant be... ...ear. However, when Rand feels all the creativity is lost when you give up the self, I feel she was wrong. I don't think the Eastern Religions intended for that at all. They still feel you should be educated and express yourself just not with trivial knowledge that encourages you to think of yourself as better than others. I know that is the case with Taoism. I agree with this religion in certain areas. For instance, in the movie "Falling Down", D-fens definitely tried too hard for what he wanted and therefore he failed. But I feel there are things you do have to try your hardest for. If you want to succeed at school, for example, you have to work; you can't just sit back and hope nature's course gives you an A. I suppose that's where the eastern religions would come in and say that I must be wanting the wrong things. But I know that in this society, in this time, and in this life, I want to be happy. How that will be achieved, I'm still unsure. Some people require many possessions and money to be happy. Others believe happiness can only be achieved when possessions are given up. The world is very different in its beliefs. As I said before, it all depends on whom you ask.

THE MAJOR EVENTS :: Business and Management Studies

THE MAJOR EVENTS The graphs below summarise the fluctuations in the share price and shareholders’ returns of Vodafone group, as a result of two major events which occurred in mid February, 2004 and mid November of the same year. On the 22nd 0f January 2004, AT&T Wireless, the third largest mobile phone group in the US, put itself up for sale but as shown above in Fig1, this does not seem to have affected the share price or volume of trading as there was no significant upward or downward trend in these two areas. This can lead to an assumption that the market is inefficient as it did not respond to the information or that investors were not expecting Vodafone to bid for AT&T Wireless because Mr Sarin had told investors and analysts that he was "happy" with Vodafone's joint venture with Verizon, the leading mobile phone operator in the US. Had Vodafone succeeded in acquiring AT&T Wireless, it would have had to sell its profitable stake in Verizon back to its partner, Verizon Communications - a prospect that did not appeal to its shareholders and so may be why the new information was not relevant to the Vodafone. â€Å"9th February 2004, saw the Vodafone Group Plc announcing that it will continue to monitor developments in the US market and is exploring whether a potential transaction with AT&T Wireless is in the interests of its shareholders†. This lead to a decrease in share price as investors knew that it would mean that Vodafone would have to sell its profitable stake Verizon to buy AT&T Wireless. The steep drop in Fig 1 suggests that the market was efficient in its reaction to this announcement. The formal bidding war began on the 13th when Cingular made an initial offer of $30bn, and the offer was matched by Vodafone. Cingular then raised its bid to $35bn which was again matched by the British company. When Cingular raised its offer to $38bn, Vodafone once more matched the bid and this suggested to investors that Vodafone would pay too much for AT&T Wireless, which is why the share price dropped each day till bidding ended on the 17th. â€Å"On 17th February 2004, Vodafone withdrew from the auction when it concluded that it was no longer in its shareholder's best interests to continue discussions†. We can see that there was a 5% increase in the share price when this was announced, and the volume of trading shows the markets informational efficiency Since news emerged that Cingular had made an informal offer in mid-January, Vodafone's shares have underperformed the rest of the market, cutting the value of the company by more than

the Accident - Short Story :: essays research papers

The "Accident" The pick-up bounced jarringly down the old dirt road. The driver sat up straight in the front seat, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure that her cargo hadn't fallen out. * * * * * She wasn't sure why she had done it, but the fact was, she had and she did not want to get caught. There was no way she could tell anyone, not even her best friend. What was she supposed to do? Go to the police? Tell them that it was an "accident"? She wasn't sure how you "accidentally" stabbed someone 6 times in the back. It had partially been his fault too. If he hadn't made her so mad, she wouldn't have jokingly gotten the knife out of the kitchen drawer. 'I'm going to kill you', she had said. But she didn't really mean it. Did she? Their argument got more heated, until he was screaming at her. And then he hit her. She was too shocked to say anything. He had always been so gentle. She stared at him for a minute, and then he turned around to leave. She's not sure what came over her at that minute, she doesn't even remember what she was thinking. But she does remember jumping on him, and knocking him to the floor, and then taking her knife and plunging it in and out of his back. She had no recollection of what happened for the next 10 minutes, perhaps she blacked out, but when she finally stood up, she knew what she had to do. She walked out to the garage and got a tarp down off the shelf. Her father used it to cover the wood pile, but she figured he probably wouldn't notice it was gone for a while. She took the tarp back into the kitchen and rolled the body on to it, checking to make sure that she didn't get blood onto anything that would be noticeably stained. The large pool of blood on the floor would be a problem, but she'd take care of that when she got back. She finally managed to get his body into the back of her truck. He had been a fairly good sized boy, and it was a struggle for her. She made sure that it was secure in the back, since the gate didn't always close right. She didn't want any accidental spills in the middle of the road.

Islamic cultures Essay

1.   Islamic cultures in the European Middle Ages were comparably more advanced and better than the Christianity.   Islamic cities in the Middle Ages were thriving and became the centers of trade and economy. Islamic merchants bought and sold goods from across Africa, Asia and Europe.   New technologies such as windmill, block printing as well as new methods of weaving, which were developed in China were brought to Europe by Islamic merchants. Moreover, Islamic cultures during this period were considered mixed and multi-ethnic as it borrowed from the cultures of the people that Muslims conquered or interacted during trading.   Greek works by early scientists and mathematicians were interpreted into Arabic and used by Islamic Arabs.   Islamic cities also became centers for art and learning. Since Islamic society during the Middle Ages valued scholarship Islamic cities became major sites of major libraries and scholarships. 2.   Europe provided a route and area for Islamic culture to flourish. In terms of trade, Europe provided the Islamic empires with raw materials while Asia became the center of trade and commerce.   Europe also became an avenue of the both Islam and Christianity.   Initially, Islam swept mostly all throughout Asia and Europe on the other hand was mainly dominated by Christianity.   But eventually, Islam conquered Europe as well which led to the conversion of many parts of Europe into Islam particularly Spain.   Islamic Europe were also comparable far more superior to those among European Christians, and Islamic cultures were responsible for bringing Asian innovations into Europe.

Marketing environments

The aim of this lecture is: To describe important role of Marketing Environment. To differentiate between Macro and Micro Environments. To assess the impact of Marketing Environment on Marketing Practices. To describe various method/Model of Marketing Environment Scanning. Background Information Marketing cannot be practiced in a vacuum; as a business function is affected by various factors or elements within the business environments.According to Lancaster and Massingham (1993), a company's marketing environment consists of the factors and forces that affect the companys ability to develop and maintain uccessful transaction with its targeted customers. Business environments are dynamic and it requires enough attention to ensure that the environment are monitored and does not bring miserable effects to the organization. What is Marketing Environment? Marketing Environment can be described as those factors or elements which are surrounding marketing activities and usually affect the d ecisions and activities of marketing negatively or positively.It consists of both controllable and uncontrollable factors which determine the success or failure of the organization. The controllable actors refer to those elements which can be managed and monitored by the organization in order to ensure they bring positive impact rather than negative impact. On the other side, uncontrollable factors are those factors which an organization has no direct control on them. It is very difficult and sometimes is not possible to control them.The only way that can be done by the organization is to use its internal efforts to reduce the impact of them to the organization activities. Furthermore, uncontrollable factors are usually classified into two groups: one is Macro-environment and the other is Micro-environment. Macro-environment These are external factors which cover the wide range of economic and business activities; its impact goes too far beyond the control of the organization or soc iety as a whole.Macro environment consists of the following elements or factors: Political Factors, Legal and Regulatory Forces, Social-cultural factors, Economic Factors, Technological Factors, Demographic factors Political Factors; political institutions and politicians are responsible for formulating and enforcing various laws and regulations which in one way or another affects the business operations. Furthermore, political forces are responsible for making and adopting various policies (International and local policies), they are responsible for entering into various agreements and contracts which affects marketing activities. ? Legal and Regulatory Forces; various laws and regulations are formulated by various institutional boards and might affect business in one way or another. For example, laws relating to tax, business registration, policy formulation etc. Socio-cultural Factors; the success ot any business depends on now i t takes care about culture and other social aspect s of the societies. Therefore, any action to ignore the culture and life style of the society surrounding the organization marks the failure of the organization. Economic Factors; the impact of economic factors in business and marketing in particular is very significant.The elements such as inflation, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, economic crisis etc have significant impact to the marketing activities. Technology Factors; marketing activities depends much on technology. A means to produce, distribute, promote etc are much affected with the technology in use. That is to say, the intensity of marketing activities reflects the level f technology which the organization use. Demographic Factors; from demographic structure is where customers, consumers, labors, etc are obtained. Thus, the population structure determines the success of the organization.The failure of the organization to analyze demographic structure properly affects the organization performance. Micro-environment This is an external factor which affects the performance of the organization to serve its market effectively. It is an immediate factor which touches the organization activities or functions very close compared to Macro-environment. This includes actors such as: Bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of consumers, Threat of entry of competitors, Competition from substitutes, and competition between firms.Sometimes it is known as Michael Porter's Five Forces Framework. Porter, (1980) argues that industry profitability depends upon industry structure and on the above mentioned factors. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers are important partners in a business. They provide resources required for the production of goods and services. However, Suppliers have a substantial significant to the marketing functions and business operations as a whole. The ailure to accommodate the pressure of supplier will bring a great impact to organization products and services prices.For examp le when the price of supplies increases it is obvious that, the price of the final products will also be higher in order to cover operations and productions cost. Bargaining power of consumers Consumers of the company products or services are important partners in a business. However, consumers have both negative and positive impact to the organization. The pressure of consumers to obtain products or services at a low price without considering the cost of the production it usually affects the organization ellbeing.Thus, the organization must work hard to see how the pressure from consumers can be accommodated without affecting the organization operations. Threat of entry of competitors In modern business environment competition is a normal and unavoidable situation. The available opportunities for competitors to enter within the market usually become a threat for the organization success. A door for competitors to enter signifies that, the market share should be divided according to the number of the organizations within the market. Furthermore, the presence of competitors can be reflected in a profit generation.This being the fact, the organization should work hard to compete and not escaping from competition which it is not possible anyway. Competition from substitutes The presence ot competitors or other business partners gives a door ot having substitute goods and services. The substitute goods or services refers to those goods or services which offers similar functions, satisfactions, etc. The availability of substitute goods and products forced the organization to highlight the way forward to compete against those substitutes. Competition between rivalry firm Within the industry, various firms are operating.For example, in the Communication Industry, there are a number of firms which includes firms such as Vodacom, TTCL, TiGO, Airtel etc. In such environment there is a stiff competition between these firms, in which each firm is trying to compete in orde r to acquire a large portion of a market share. Thus, it is very hard to manage this environment. A firm needs to work hard in analyzing the intensity of competition so as to adopt the relevant strategies for such a challenge. Internal Environments (Controllable factors) These are factors within the organization; they have direct impact to the organization performance.However, these factors are within the organization controlling capacity, which means the organization has the ability to monitor its impact and to regulate its trends. These factors include among others, the following important factors: R & D factor, production and operation management factor, financial factor, Human Resources and management factor and marketing factor. R & D factor; this is an important factor which can be used to improve the organization performance by adding new idea, technology, products and services through research and development.Production and operation management factor; the organization readi ness to adopt dvanced and recent methods of production and operation can be said as the most important decision to control the organization performance. The production and other operation methods are changing rapidly, thus, the organization needs to take quick decision to cope with these changes. Financial Factor; the management of financial assets is very important and must be taken carefully. In ability of the firm to manage its financial assets it is a disaster to that particular organization.It creates the light way for its failure while this could be avoided if the organization could have taken serious measures earlier. Human resources and management; people are very important resources for the organization performance. Human resources should be handled in a due care in order to create a situation of offering consistency efforts to the organization productions and operations activities. Marketing factor; in order to ensure marketing as a unit or department within the organizati on it offers valuable contribution and there must be a close supervision of all activities done within this unit.Any disregards to this important component of business operations create a smooth way for the failure of a particular organization. Environmental Scanning and Analysis Atter the organization has identified the above described tactors (Macro and Micro), the next important stage is to analyze in deep the impact of each factor on the organization operations. The big challenge which is facing business owners and business decision makers nowadays is how to deal with environment uncertainty.Now, environmental scanning and analysis is used to assist business analyst to study environment in deep and formulating appropriate strategies to cope with business changes. For examples, from strategic marketing point of view, in formulating arketing plan, two issues must be considered, first; organization capabilities in term of resources, second; the demands of environment which the orga nization operates. Therefore, there is no way the organization can ignore the importance of environmental scanning and Analysis. What is Environmental Scanning and Analysis?Environmental Scanning and Analysis refers to a process of studying and exploring the impact of environments on business operations. It focuses on understanding how business environment affects strategy formulation and implementation. The Former Chief Executive Officer of General Electric Company Jack Welch, once said, â€Å"When the rate of change inside the company is exceeded by the rate of change outside the company, the end is near. † The meaning of this statement is that, if the firm is very weak in studying and coping with external environments is digging a grave for its own death.Environmental Scanning and Analysis is done in the following style. First; the organization is required to analyze business factors which exist in the environment in which the business operates. Second; the organization is required to classify each factor as to whether it falls under an opportunity or a threat. The following phases should be followed while doing environmental scanning and analysis: First phase; identify environmental influences; the aim of this stage is to indentify various factors which influence the organization performance recently and to forecast likely factors that will influence the performance in future.Second phase; an assessment of nature of the environment; the trends of an active factors should be analyzed, the assessment should look on whether the environment is static or dynamic and from there the decision of what is supposed to be done can be taken. Third phase; identify he factors which have a great influence on business operations based on their nature and intensity of its impact. Fourth phase; identify competitive position; analysis of the level of competition should be done based on how competitors are doing, their capabilities and weaknesses and how they are trying to deal with both of them should be scrutinized.Fifth phase; identify how the information obtained above influences the organization operations. Each information should be categorized in either it is a threat or an opportunity to the organization. At the end, this becomes an mportant component in dealing with organization strategy formulation and implementation. Therefore, environmental scanning and analysis results to the identification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This can be analyzed by using a SWOT analysis Model which is an abbreviation of the words Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat.Analysis of Strengths and Weaknesses The strength and weakness are internal tactors which can attect the organization operation in future. Specifically, Strengths refer to internal factors which can affect the organization operations in a positive way, while weaknesses are internal factors hich can affect the organization operations in a negative way. For example, p oor management of human resources can be considered as a weakness, and the application of advanced technology can be termed as strength to an organization.Environmental Strengths and Weakness Profile Basically, after intensive analysis has been done, is very important to prepare a strategic advantage profile for the organization. This profile gives a clear picture of critical areas which have a great impact to the organization op4 erations recently and in future. Strategic Advantage Profile for a Hypothetical firm A Organization Internal Area Competitive Strength or Weakness Marketing + Product Line is extensive + Services is excellent – Channels of distribution are weak Research and Development – No Research and development performed Operations + Excellent sourcing for new materials. Facilities are old and becoming out dated. Corporate Resources O Company size is about average for the industry. O Profits have been consistent but average. – Union employees compl ain frequently Finance + Balance sheet shows ability to obtain needed capital, low debt equity ratio, high working capital position and favorable stock position. Sources: Mzava, (2004:20) KEY: + Indicates Strength Indicates weakness O Indicates Neutral Analysis of Opportunities and Threats An opportunity and a threat are external factors which might affect the organization operation in future.Now, specifically, Opportunities are external environments which can affect the organization operations in a favorable way, while, Threats refers to factors which might affect the organization in unfavorable way. At the end of opportunities and threats analysis, Environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile (ETOP) must be established. Environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile (ETOP) is very important for strategies formulation and implementation.