Judaism, Islam and Christianity Differences and Similarities

Yasser Arafat Essays

Yasser Arafat Essays Yasser Arafat Essay Yasser Arafat Essay The interests of the people of Palestine had all along been protected by Yasser Arafat. A very important contribution of Yasser Arafat consisted in drawing the attention of the world to the interests of the Palestinians. It can be construed that he was a true messiah of the Palestinians due to the fact that his was the only voice that conveyed their plight to the rest of the world, when the status of the Palestinians was at its nadir. This represented a stage in the development of the Palestinian nation, when Palestinians were considered to be nothing better than criminals . The loss of the Fatah party at the hustings to the Hamas indicates that Arafat’s death was a serious blow to the partys popularity. This political debacle was further aided by the fact that Arafat’s successor Mahmoud Abbas was his antithesis. Political observers like Khaled Duzdar, analyst at the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information, had observed the success of Hamas as a result of the failures of Fatah. A number of these failures have been attributed to the failure of Arafat as an able administrator and the failure of his government to curb corruption, indolence in discharging the duties of public administration and the failure to create public good . Despite these drawbacks the fact remains that Arafat succeeded in establishing the state of Palestine and was instrumental in providing an identity to the dispersed Palestinians. The Palestine Liberation Organisation or the P. L. O. under the domination and control of Fatah, according to Arafat, was the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO was secular and did not allow Hamas, the fundamentalist Islamic party, to take part in. However, after the demise of Arafat, the successors in the party failed to maintain its integrity. This brought about divisions in the party as the internal conflicts increased. The beneficiary of these internal conflicts was the Hamas . The reasons that brought about Arafat’s death were not made public by the French doctors who attended upon him when he had been admitted for a stroke in the hospital. The doctors were unable to diagnose the health problem that hastened his death. On the 11th of November, 2004 Arafat died at the age of 75 in a French hospital. A few of Arafat’s followers still believe that their leader was poisoned by Israeli agents. However, it was reported by the New York Times that the medical reports did not establish any possibility of poisoning. Further the newspaper announced that medical experts had examined the reports on its behalf to establish that Arafat had not succumbed to AIDS. Moreover, Arafat’s personal physicians conducted exhaustive diagnoses that failed to detect the source of infection which had caused the bleeding disorder that had escalated the severity of the fatal stroke. Initially Arafat was treated for reduced platelet count in his blood and during the course of treatment his health condition worsened. He was shifted to a French military hospital near Paris where he became comatose which proved to be fatal . The actual reason for Arafat’s death was not disclosed to the public by his wife Suha and the Palestinian authorities delivered contradictory statements. Ashraf Kurdi, the personal physician of Arafat, stated that evidence of AIDS was found but this was not mentioned in the medical records. Even the test performed to detect AIDS was not described. Kurdi further added that Arafat was injected with the HIV virus to camouflage the symptoms of poisoning .

People, Organisations and Society. (the question is in below,,It is Essay

People, Organisations and Society. (the question is in below,,It is the same as my last order,plz do not write similar),thanks - Essay Example This would be necessary to identify which tools need to be used in the training process (Hergenhahn, 1976). The paper is based on the belief that the behaviorists’ theories and principles more or less are means to reach an end and not itself the final destination. Educational psychology has witnessed an increasing role of learning theories. Due to this a practice of highlighting the importance of training theories have become common amongst educators and trainers. This multidisciplinary theory of learning involves fields like organizational behavior, social psychology and also training and development. Hence the academicians and practitioners study diversified fields that moves I different directions. These theories will help to perceive their applicability in the areas of training and development. The paper relates to the roles played by these theories, which are also analyzed. Training involves an alteration and development of a certain behavior through the instructions of a trainer or an instructor who performs content-based intervention. Learning is essentially a personal act and how we learn can only be answered through learning process itself. The questions are also answered with the help of the literature on learning. This becomes a framework of the program for training and development. Thus learning is mainly an intervening tool that causes the change in behavior during training. There are mainly two stages of learning involved in training – acquiring of skills and knowledge and the application of these or putting this knowledge into action. Thus training is differentiated from education. Training involves a predetermined goal to be reached while learning does not have any set objectives but is an integral part of training (Skinner; 1968). Learning process comprises of several viewpoints. In order to

A Contemporary Study of the Relationship between CEO Duality and Dissertation

A Contemporary Study of the Relationship between CEO Duality and Organizational Performance - Dissertation Example This means that the companies which have unity of command, i.e. the same individual is charged with the responsibility of CEO and chairman of the board, perform financially at a lower level. However, these findings and conclusions are representative of the companies operating in Kuwait only, and keeping in view the prominence of family owned and managed companies in Kuwait, the trend of duality is on the larger side. In other countries, this trend may change or there may be no duality at all, and therefore the projection of these findings and conclusion is invalid for such regions.Board duality is a situation where one individual holds both positions of Chairperson and CEO (Kwok 1998). This is a phenomenon that has been commonly observed in countries with weaker regulatory and accounting frameworks. Various studies have been conducted throughout the world regarding differences in duality within boards of directors and the impact on company performance. Company shareholders have assis ted with these studies in order to improve understanding and the relationship between board duality and company performance. Duality in board structure is relevant to corporate governance, and it includes a wide range of disciplines, such as international affairs, economic laws and political science. Duality in the boards of the listed companies in Kuwait and the performance of these companies has become questionable because of the dual function in leadership. There are many reasons behind this research. However, the foremost purpose of conducting the research is that corporate governance is a relatively new subject in Kuwait and few people are aware of its company laws and legislation. Another reason is that the issue of duality is not specified in the legislation of corporate governance (Rechner and Dalton 1991). For example, Kuwaiti company law does not specify whether the CEO of the company can also serve as the chairperson. The dual role of CEO/chairperson creates a problem bec ause it can affect the company’s disclosure. A chairperson who is also acting as the CEO has the liberty and power to conceal from shareholders any information that could damage the standing of the firm. This is a very important issue which has not been addressed before. The aim of this research is to resolve this problem (Al-Sultan and Al-Shammari 2010). A compounding problem is that families run most of the companies in Kuwait. Therefore, it is very difficult to remove dual functioning from these companies, and the dual role of the company’s owner can negatively affect the firm (Omran, Bolbol and Fatheldin 2008). Some studies have shown that a positive relationship exists between duality and its impact on company performance. Corporate governance

Thomas Jefferson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Thomas Jefferson - Essay Example Moreover, when the United States was engaging in their war of independence they were in fact trying to break off the rule of the British monarchy. From this perspective the separation of Church and state became a bit of a noble experiment insofar as they were trying a system that was different from England. According to Blond (2010) the rue of the Church of England still holds sway to this day. As a final example, it could be argued that Jefferson believed that people should be governed by the laws of man and not necessarily by the human interpretation of the laws of god. According to White House Publications (2011) from one perspective, Jefferson was simply promoting religious freedom. How has Jefferson's ideas on the "separation of church and state" influenced our current governmental practices? One of the most significant ways that the separation of church and state has influenced our current government practices comes through our legal system. Although it may be the case that cer tain acts are forbidden in religious texts (Such as homosexuality) our legal system has determined that these acts should not be considered illegal.

Effect of Music on Heart Rate | Experiment

Effect of Music on Heart Rate | Experiment Daniella Urteaga Background Information: The heart is a vital organ made of cardiac muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. Heart rate is associated with the contraction of the different chambers of the heart, and is considered myogenic. As a result, the heart beat is controlled independently of the central nervous system and is instead controlled by the pacemaker, also known as the Sino arterial node. The node sends signals through nerves in the heart to other nodes such as the AV or atrio-ventricular node and these result in the contraction of the chambers (Copeland, 1991). Heart rate is the number of heart beats per unit of time, typically expressed in beats per minute or bpm. The average heart rate at rest under normal conditions of adolescents and adults is 63.3 bpm  ± 13.1 bpm, with variability of 3.2 bpm  ± 2.1 (Leschka, 2006). Other factors also have an influence on the heart beat and heart rate such as the medulla of the brain of the hormone adrenaline. External stimuli or external factors also result in alterations of the heart rate. These include physical and emotional factors. One type of external stimuli that is shown to have effects on the heart rate is sound, specifically music. Music is currently being considered to be used as therapy for coronary conditions as well as on anxiety (Smolen et al, 2002). In addition, music is widely prevalent in the lives of adolescents. Teenagers in this day are age are exposed to music on a regular basis and a majority of adolescents living in the United States own mp3 or I-Pods (Epperson, 2011). Also, there are music therapies available for autistic patients that show improvement in their communication skills and behavior over time because of the certain music played in the therapy session. Sound has been shown to have effects on the heart rate. The average volume at which adolescents listen to music is 80 decibels which is approximately 80% volume on a music player using standard headphones (Epperson, 2011). Increasing volume has been shown to increase the heart rate, and decreasing volume has been shown to lower the heart rate (Okamoto, 2011). In addition, studies have been conducted that investigate different genres of music and their effects on heart rate as well as other heart application such as blood pressure. Personal Engagement Statement: The reason for doing this experiment is to see to what extent are we affected by music on a physical level. The reason I decided to focus on musics physical effect is because of how it is mostly known to have a more mental and emotional effect on our mood. I want to investigate how an everyday thing like music can cause physical change in our bodies by the different type of genres that come with it. This topic idea was also influenced by the fact I have been involved in musical groups, orchestra and mariachi, since I was 12 years old. The contrast between these two distinct musical groups, one soothing and the other festive, lead me to inquire upon musics effect in general. I want to not only know the difference between classical and mariachi music, but also take into account all the other music with varied tempos. Exploration: The topic I will be conducting an experiment on will be the study of musics effect on our heart rate. My research question my whole experiment will be based on is: What effect does the different genres of music have on an adolescents rested heart rate? The dependent variable of this experiment is going to be the heart rate because it will change or not due to the music, and I am going to measure the heart rate by beats per minute. My experiments independent variable will be the genre of music since it will not depend on the other variable for change. The controlled variables of this experiment will be the musics volume, headphones used, starting heart rate, the device used to play music, and the age and gender of the test subjects. Hypothesis: If the music is loud and has a fast tempo, then I believe your heart rate will increase because the tempo causes people to breathe faster. However, music with a slower and softer tempo, like classical music, causes the opposite effects on your heart rate. The research that helps back my hypothesis up is how Sakamoto found, for the Journal of Sound and Vibration, that there was an increase in systolic and diastolic pressure, which are the first and second reading in blood pressure, during exposure to steady noise and music with high intensity peaks. Since heart rate and blood pressure work interchangeably, like when exercising, it is a strong indicator heart rate will be affect by the musics genre based on the research. According to a study performed in Japan, hearing classical music results in a small variance of Mayer Wave which results in the lowering of the heart rate (Mamoru, 1998). This is because the sympathetic nerve is suppressed by the sound of classical music. In addition, rapid changes in volume and fast paced tempos cause the heart rate to increase (Epperson, 2011). These elements are what techno songs are composed of, and therefore an increased heart rate can be predicted upon listening to them. Independent Variable: The independent variable is the genre of music the subject is exposed to while their heart rate is being measured. The levels of the independent variable will include five different genres of music. These will include classical music, pop music, jazz music, techno music, and country music. These genres vary in style and tempo or speed. Dependent Variable: Heart rate which will be measured by beats per minute Controlled Variable: Volume of music, headphones used, starting heart rate, device used, age, gender, the quietness of room environment, and the position of subject while exposed to music. Materials: Headphones, iPhone for the music, stopwatch, paper, calculator, and pencil. Procedure: Data Collection will be a sample size of at least 30 trials ranging from the age of 14-18. For each age year, in total 5, there will be at least six trails for each subject that is of ever age, turning out to be 30 trials in total. My subjects will have a variety of males and females. Make sure to pick a quite outside or room environment where there is minimal distractions or conversations. Allow the subject to sit in the chair in an upright position, ensuring that his/her back is against the backing of the chair and his/her feet are firmly planted in the ground. Place headphones in the subjects two ears, but do not play any music yet. This is to ensure that the act of wearing headphones is not an additional factor. Conduct the first trial for the experimental control. Allow the subject to sit in the chair for three minutes without the addition of music to rest their heart rate as much as possible. Write down resting heart rate of subject by finding their radial pulse. (To find the radial pulse I will put my index and third finger on the subjects wrist nearest their body. I will use the pads of my fingers. Place them just below the wrist creases on the thumb side. Press lightly until I feel the blood pulsing under their skin). Once three minutes have passed, measure subjects heart by using beats per minute. In order to do this begin the stop watch after the first pulse is felt. Count the number of pulses felt until the stop watch reads 60 seconds Allow the subject one minute of silence before continuing with the rest of the trials. Conduct the trials involving the different levels of the independent variable. Set the volume on the iPhone to medium volume. After one minute of silence since the first pulse reading has elapsed, begin playing the pop music. (Ensure that the iPhone is set on repeat in case the song is too short. If this step is forgotten, the song may switch and the trial will not be valid for use) Allow the subject to listen to the song for three minutes on a constant volume. During the three minute time interval, note any changes in heart rate when finding their radial pulse. As the subject listens to the music, note changes in facial expression, skin temperature, skin color (paleness or redness), and involuntary movement as qualitative data. Allow the subject one minute of silence before continuing with the rest of the trials. Repeats steps 6a- 6g for all genres of music (jazz, classical, techno, and country). Repeat steps 1-5 until I get a sample size of 30 trials. Calculate the average for each subject and the respective genres of music in order to make a representation of the data. Measure the percent change in the pulse comparing the experimental control and all genres of music bpm in order to calculate the effect of the intensity of physical effect on the heart rate. Ensure collection is significant, relevant data by pooling the data. This will make sure that there is analysis even if this sample size may be too small to evaluate the effect or relationship of the study. Safety, ethical or environmental issues: To make sure this experiment is conducted in the safest and ethical manner, I will make sure the songs chosen are censored from any explicit language during the trials. Also, I will make sure the volume of the music is not very loud for the subjects to prevent any hearing injuries to take place. I will also make sure the headphones used while this experiments are always clean for each subject to prevent any possible ear infections. Data Collection: Qualitative: During this experimental procedure, I noticed various qualitative observations. Each genre of music seemed to have a different effect on the subjects. Some effects were subtle, while others were more noticeable. No changes in the skin color or body temperature were noted in this experimental procedure. However, slight movements were present. During the classical music, subjects made subtle swaying movements and briefly closed their eyes like showing they were relaxed into it. During the pop and rap music, the head swaying became more upbeat and the subjects smiled or lightly chuckled while their eyes were open. The rock genre and techno genres had similar movements and expression as the pop music. Quantitative: Table 1: Displays heart rates (bpm) of ten subjectsduring resting heart rate, classical, pop, country, jazz, and techno hearings for six trials. Subjects Trials Resting (bpm ±1.0) Classical (bpm ±1.0) Pop (bpm ±1.0) Country (bpm ±1.0) Jazz (bpm ±1.0) Techno (bpm ±1.0) Subject 1 (14 years old) 1 61 60 74 63 68 75 2 63 61 72 61 69 73 3 63 60 75 60 69 74 Subject 2 (14 years old) 4 64 57 73 60 67 74 5 62 57 75 59 69 76 6 63 58 74 59 70 75 Subject 3 (15 years old) 1 62 62 70 62 72 73 2 62 61 71 62 73 75 3 63 61 70 60 71 76 Subject 4 (15 years old) 4 63 63 69 58 74 72 5 63 62 67 60 74 71 6 62 63 68 57 73 71 Subject 5 (16 years old) 1 63 61 76 59 72 74 2 65 62 74 59 71 77 3 65 60 76 61 72 76 Subject 6 (16 years old) 4 65 59 75 62 74 75 5 66 61 73 60 73 76 6 64 59 74 63 75 78 Subject 7 (17 years old) 1 62 60 75 57 70 78 2 61 62 73 56 72 75 3 63 64 77 58 69 76 Subject 8 (17 years old) 4 64 64 72 60 75 73 5 64 63 68 63 73 72 6 66 64 71 59 77 72 Subject 9 (18 years old) 1 60 58 76 58 73 73 2 59 61 74 56 70 73 3 59 59 75 59 74 71 Subject 10 (18 years old) 4 63 59 69 62 72 72 5 67 60 72 58 71 70 6 65 57 71 60 71 73 I conducted the mean of the different bpm values for resting and the five genres of music (classical, pop, country, techno, and jazz) for each of the five subjects. This statistic allowed me to observe the average heart rate of each subject under the influence of the different music genres. Through this analysis, I was able to collocate the data and compare the differences in the bpm for each music genre. It gave me the ability to determine if a certain genre caused a larger average bpm for the subject and how it changed based on the intensity of the genre. I conducted the range of bpm of all six trials for each type of exercise. This statistic allowed me to identify the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value for bpm during each music listening. It gave me the ability to determine the distribution of my data for each different genre of music. Due to its small number, this value showed me that my average bpm for each exercise was overall pretty consistent, and did not fluctuate greatly during the three trials for each age section. I conducted the standard deviation of heart rate bpm from all six trials for each genre of music conducted. This statistic allowed me to obtain a more detailed and accurate estimate of the dispersion in the data values because one outlier can greatly exaggerate the data in the range, therefore making it inaccurate. The standard deviation showed me the relation of the bpm for all three trials to its mean value. Since it was a small value, it showed me that the bpm levels stayed mainly constant throughout the trials with a small dispersion of data. I conducted a percent change in order to determine the change in my bpm values between each genre of music and resting. By doing so, I analyzed by how much of a difference (bpm) value there was for each genre of music compared to resting. This was done to see if there was a significant increase or decrease in the bpm values between the genres of music and resting. Table 2: Displays average heart rate of ten subjects (bpm) and average data dispersion for eachgenre of music   Ã‚   Subject Genre of Music Average (bpm) Range (bpm) Standard Deviation Subject 1 (14 years old) Resting 62.3 2.0 1.2 Classical 60.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 73.6 3.0 1.2 Country 61.3 3.0 1.2 Jazz 68.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 74 2.0 1 Subject 2 (14 years old) Resting 63 2.0 1 Classical 57.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 74 2.0 1 Country 59.3 1.0 0.6 Jazz 68.6 3.0 1.5 Techno 75 2.0 1 Subject 3 (15 years old) Resting 62.3 1.0 0.6 Classical 61.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 70.3 1.0 0.6 Country 61.3 2.0 1.2 Jazz 72 2.0 1 Techno 74 3.0 1.5 Subject 4 (15 years old) Resting 62.6 1.0 0.6 Classical 62.6 1.0 0.6 Pop 68 2.0 1 Country 58.3 3.0 1.5 Jazz 73.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 71.3 3.0 0.6 Subject 5 (16 years old) Resting 64.3 2.0 1.2 Classical 61 2.0 1 Pop 75.3 2.0 1.2 Country 59.6 2.0 1.2 Jazz 71.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 75.6 3.0 1.5 Subject 6 (16 years old) Resting 65 2.0 1 Classical 59.6 2.0 1.2 Pop 75.3 2.0 1 Country 61.6 3.0 1.5 Jazz 74 2.0 1 Techno 76.3 3.0 1.5 Subject 7 (17 years old) Resting 62 2.0 1 Classical 62 4.0 2 Pop 75 4.9 2 Country 57 2.0 1 Jazz 70.3 3.0 1.5 Techno 76.3 3.0 1.5 Subject 8 (17 years old) Resting 64.6 2.0 1.2 Classical 63.6 1.0 0.6 Pop 70.3 4.0 2.1 Country 60.6 4.0 2.1 Jazz 75 4.0 2 Techno 72.3 1.0 0.6 Subject 9 (18 years old) Resting 59.3 1.0 0.6 Classical 59.3 3.0 1.5 Pop 75 2.0 1 Country 57.6 3.0 1.5 Jazz 72.3 4.0 2.1 Techno 72.3 2.0 1.2 Subject 10 (18 years old) Resting 65 4.0 2 Classical 58.6 3.0 1.5 Pop 70.6 3.0 1.5 Country 60 4.0 2 Jazz 71.3 1.0 0.6 Techno 71.6 3.0 1.5 Table 3: Displays total average bpm of all ten subjectscombined, average data dispersion for each genre, and comparison of average bpm of genres and resting using percent difference Subject Music Genre Total Average (bpm) Total Range (bpm) Standard Deviation Percentage Difference from Resting Combined (10) Resting 63 8.0 1.8 0.0 Classical 60.6 7.0 2.0 -3.8 Pop 72.7 10.0 2.7 15.4 Country 59.7 7.0 1.6 -5.2 Jazz 71.7 10.0 2.1 13.8 Techno 73.9 8.0 1.9 17.3 Conclusion: The results supported my initial hypothesis; however, they were not statistically significant. Initially I hypothesized that classical music would result in a lowering of the heart rate while techno music would have the most influence on raising the heart rate. According to my results, the percent difference between resting and classical music is -3.8% and the percent difference between resting and techno music is 17.3%, supporting my hypothesis. Country music also lowered the average heart rate by a lower -5.2%, while pop and jazz music heighted the heart rate by 15.4% and 13.8% respectively. The more upbeat songs such as the pop, jazz, and techno appeared to have increased the heart rates of the subjects as predicted, and the slower more relaxed songs such as the classical and country music lowered the heart rates. This experiment can be expanded to possibly aid in the development of new therapeutic methods based for cardiac conditions based on music. It can also be used to help aid in the stressful lives of teenagers, often resulting in higher-than-normal heart rates (Smolen et al, 2002). The results of my study, although not statistically significant support the findings of other scientists researching the field. Increases in systolic and diastolic pressures during exposure to steady noise and music with high intensity peaks are present (Epperson, 2011). This would account for genres of music such as techno that have a consistent beat and high peaks of volume. The opposite can be observed for classical music that constantly changes in rhythm and lack

The Duchess and the Jeweller :: Literary Analysis, Virginia Woolf

â€Å"The Duchess and the Jeweller† by Virginia Woolf is a short story about Oliver, a poor man who has become a successful jeweler, and his interaction with a Duchess. In the story, Oliver struggles with the Duchess over social power, where she has the ability to cheat him by selling him fake pearls in exchange for a weekend spent with her daughter whom he is in love with – a classic battle of the sexes. While the conflict between man and woman is evident, Virginia Woolf uses flashback, point of view and imagery to also convey the dispute between the rich and the poor. Oliver is first introduced as a man who lives very well â€Å"with the right brandies, whiskeys and liqueurs† (Woolf 90), in a house where â€Å"a more central position could not be imagined† (90). He is a man of power who has â€Å"his breakfast brought in on a try by a manservant† (90) and receives invitations from â€Å"duchesses, countesses, viscountesses and Honourable Ladies† (90). When the Duchess first arrives to see him, he has her wait for ten minutes, displaying that he, a jeweller, has the authority to make her wait. However, Woolf uses flashback to display the underlying battle of the rich and the poor. The reader sees that Oliver came from less fortunate roots where he sold stolen dogs and cheap watches. While superficially it may seem that he has the â€Å"Duchess of Lambourne, daughter of a hundred Earls† ( 93) wait because he has the masculine power to have her wait to see him, Woolf introduces the idea that Oliver, the impecun ious boy who earned his wealth, has the Duchess, a woman whose wealth was inherited, wait for his pleasure. While we see the struggle of control between Oliver and the Duchess, the reader also observes Oliver’s mother’s dominance over him. Using flashback, Woolf shows that as a child when he was swindled while selling stolen dogs, his mother disapprovingly wails, â€Å"Oh, Oliver! When will you have sense, my son?† (90). Later, Oliver talks to a picture of his mother saying, â€Å"I have won my bet† (91) while reminiscing about his past as a indigent boy â€Å"in a filthy little alley† (90) and reflecting on his success. This shows that he has something to prove to his mother, that he is still constrained by her and her thoughts of him.

Analytical Hierarchy Process Essay

Abstract The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) provides a structure on decision-making processes where there are a limited numbers of choices but each has a number of attributes. This paper explores the use of AHP for deciding on car purchase. In the context of shopping, it is important to include elements that provide attributes that make consumer decision making easier, comfortable and therefore, lead to a car purchase. As the car market becomes more competitive, there is a greater demand for innovation that provides better customer service and strategic competition in the business management. This paper presents a new methodological extension of the AHP by focusing on two issues. One combines pair wise comparison with a spreadsheet method using a 5-point rating scale. The other applies the group weight to a reciprocal consistency ratio. Three newly formed car models of midsize are used to show how the method allows choice to be prioritized and analyzed statistically. INTRODUCTION The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a structured technique for helping people deal with complex decisions. Rather than prescribing a â€Å"correct† decision, the AHP helps people to determine one. Based on mathematics and human psychology, it was developed by Thomas L. Saaty in the 1970s and has been extensively studied and refined since then. The AHP provides a comprehensive and rational framework for structuring a problem, for representing and quantifying its elements, for relating those elements to overall goals, and for evaluating alternative solutions. It is used throughout the world in a wide variety of decision situations, in fields such as government, business, industry, healthcare, and education. Users of the AHP first decompose their decision problem into a hierarchy of more easily comprehended sub-problems, each of which can be analyzed independently. The elements of the hierarchy can relate to any aspect of the decision problem. Once the hierarchy is built, the decision makers systematically evaluate its various elements, comparing them to one another in pairs. In making the comparisons, the decision makers can use concrete data about the elements, or they can use their judgments about the elements’ relative meaning and importance. It is the essence of the AHP that human judgments, and not just the underlying information, can be used in performing the evaluations. The AHP converts these evaluations to numerical values that can be processed and compared over the entire range of the problem. A numerical weight or priority is derived for each element of the hierarchy, allowing diverse and often incomm-ensurable elements to be compared to one another in a rational and consistent way. This capability distinguishes the AHP from other decision making techniques. In the final step of the process, numerical priorities are derived for each of the decision alternatives. Since these numbers represent the alternatives’ relative ability to achieve the decision goal, they allow a straightforward consideration of the various courses of action. EXPLANATION For instance let’s consider cars (an example) which touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people nearly everywhere on this planet on a daily basis. Other than a house, a car is perhaps the largest purchase that we make. With the average cost of a car well over US$ 15,000, choosing just the right one becomes a major decision. Buying a new car is regarded as a decision-making problem and a reflection of customer preference. Someone shops for a new car, he or she want to take a look at finances and options. The possible budget is then a constraint in the decision on which car to buy. Most people shopping for a new car rank safety high among their purchase considerations. Other important attributes include: fuel economy; comfort and convenience features; insurance information; specification and warranties and resale value. Constant changes in customer demands lead manufactures to produce new and improved designs. Automation of manufacturing technologies allows this. Recently the production life cycle has become shorter. For example, General Motors in the USA is leading the industry in developing ground-breaking technologies to improve the driving experience and to meet the changing needs and life styles of modern drivers. They are making efforts to lower the cost of the technology to a level that will make advanced cars an attractive purchase. As the automobile market becomes more competitive, the industry has no choice but to adopt innovation that brings better customer service. Many customers seek advice from car experts or friends when purchasing a car. In many cases, there are times when the price and special features do not match the budget. An appropriate decision-making method for selecting the best car is useful to both customers and producers. An analytic method not only reduces the dealer’s burden, but also may increase sales The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is an intuitively easy method for formulating and analyzing decisions .It was developed to solve a specific class of problems that involves prioritization of potential alternate solutions. This is achieved by evaluation of a set of criteria elements and sub-criteria elements through a series of pair wise comparisons. The AHP model depicted in this paper uses the following decision criteria: exterior, convenience, performance, safety, economic aspect, dealer, and warranty as well as 39 sub-criteria. For the implementation of the AHP, we considered the three midsize passenger car models as alternatives 2. EVALUATION CRITERIA The source for deriving the evaluation criteria candidate was: 1. A telephone interview with dealers who are part of companies that make the models. The manufacturing company with the highest market share considered graceful body styles and smart design of facilities related to safety to be most important. On the other hand, warranty on the car and the dealer’s strategies for marketing are regarded as important customer criteria; 2. The use of personal experiences recorded on an online bulletin board was corrected using the Internet; The AHP model shown consists of three levels. Exterior involves components and factors seen from the outside such as color, length and width, tyres, trunk, wheels, doors and headlamp styles. It includes the following sub-criteria: model, style, length, quality of interior decoration, number of available color types, and instrument cluster. Convenience is related to the design of the equipments for easy operation. It includes: inside width, ease of loading or unloading packages, convenience of operating instruments, modern fittings (such as electronic systems and a burglar alarm), forward visibility and quality of the audio system. Performance is related to the functioning of the car. It includes maximum torque, maximum speed, fuel tank capacity, braking ability, cornering ability, inside noises and traveling comforts. Safety is enhanced by a body designed to protect the drivers and passengers against collisions. The most important safety features are those that reduce the risk of death or serious injury. It includes: airbags, antilock braking system ABS, impact protection systems, trunk safety, seat belts, safety of the body and number of alarm facilities. Airbags provide total chest and face protection. The ABS allows drivers full steering control and shorter stopping distance in adverse situations. The economic aspect refers to the price and cost of a new car, or maintaining the car within budgets, etc. It includes: purchasing prices, fuel consumption per month, insurance costs and installment conditions, resale prices of used cars and optional equipment costs. The dealer criterion refers to personal characteristics and attitudes that lead the customer to make the purchasing decision. This criterion includes: visits or calls needed to persuade the customer to buy, the dealer’s attitude, the dealer’s expertise and belief in the dealer’s promises. The warranty criterion include: the number of service stations, ease of acquiring spare parts, customer satisfaction after services, and the average repair time for minor troubles. We mailed questionnaires to each of two groups. The first group was given a questionnaire that contained a pair wise comparison sheet. The members consisted of 13 managers who were serving in the sales department and who had experience exceeding 10 years (see Appendix A for this questionnaire). Respondents were domain experts who easily recognized their own sales products and have valuable knowledge about the customer requirements and preferences. Twenty-two potential customers with experience over 7 years were in the second group (see Appendix B). They answered about their satisfaction with their current car. 3. Implementation and ranking A procedure of prioritizing each car model is shown in Table 1 shows the C.R. for each individual, where the circle represents meaningful C.R. Using Expert Choice, we obtained the synthesized priorities of the main criteria and sub-criteria. The reason that the group’s weight is 1/C.R. is to assign higher weights for higher consistent persons. As a result, safety gains are the highest priority in the main criteria. The body safety is especially important. The synthesized priorities and ranks resulted in Table 2 (Case-II). The priorities of the sub-criteria are not proportional to those of the main criteria. This means the decision-makers have different opinions on the importance of the main criteria. By synthesizing the drivers’ rating values with the priorities, we obtain the priorities of the car models and the ranks with respect to the goal and synthesized priorities for each main criterion when the C.R. is bounded by the limit (see Table 3). In Case-I and Case-II, the computational methods used are reasonable when the groups’ consistency is more important than the individual ones. Because the conventional AHP has no choice but to increase the Delphi rounds in order to increase the groups’ consistency, much effort is required to reduce the C.R. If the Delphi rounds are not sufficiently processed, it is unreliable through the inclusion of inconsistent matrices [12]. Using the Spearman rank correlation test [1], accepting H0 means that the ranks are either uncorrelated or negatively correlated. That is, two decision makers exhibit an insignificant level of agreement in ranking for each criterion. Rejecting H0 means that the ranks are positively correlated. As shown in Table 4, we conclude that there are significant effects between groups since the rate of the H0 acceptance is 83% (65/78 Ãâ€"100). This shows that Case-I is the more appropriate method. It rejects greater agreement between groups. 4. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS Sensitivity analysis allowed us to verify the results of the decision. A sensitivity analysis can be formed to see how sensitive the alternatives are to change with the importance of the criteria. The Expert Choice implementation of AHP provides four graphical sensitivity analysis modes: dynamic, gradient, performance and two-dimensional analysis [4]. Here performance sensitivity analysis is employed. It depicts how well each alternative performs on each criterion by increasing or decreasing the importance of the criteria. In addition to this, each sub-criterion performs on each main criterion by increasing or decreasing the importance of the main criteria. It should be noted that if a criterion is not sensitive, it would be better to eliminate it from the AHP model. In the case of increasing importance of a criterion to the maximum value of 1.0, we assigned the alternative that gained the highest rank to score 5 and the lowest rank to score 1. The value of Model 1 is 25, Model 2 is 21 and Model 3 is 15. In summary, we can conclude Model 1 is the best among the alternatives, although the highest priorities were different in Case-I and Case-II. 5. CONCLUSION This paper presents a decision-making method for selecting the best passenger car models through combining the AHP and a spreadsheet model. The C.R. is used as the decision-maker’s weights. As an implementation of the AHP, three car models were prioritized. Through the sensitivity analysis, the fact that Model 1 ranked the highest is consistent with the result of the highest market share. References E.H. Forman, T.L. Saaty, M.A. Selly, R. Waldron, Expert Choice, Decision Support Software, McLean, VA, 1983 T.L. Saaty, K. Kearns, Analytical Planning: The Organization of Systems, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1985. Y Wind and T L Saaty, ‘Marketing Applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process,’ Management Science, Vol. 26, No. 7, July 1980

1812 Overture Essays

1812 Overture Essays 1812 Overture Paper 1812 Overture Paper The 1812 Overture, composed by Peter Tchaikovsky is the most widely regonized piece of classical music. The 1812 Overture was written to commerate the victory of Russia in the Napoleonic War in 1812. The defeat of this battle marked the start of the long and disastrous retreat that destroyed Napoleon and his army. In 1880, the Russian composer Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write an uplifting and patriotic piece to immortalize Napoleons defeat and celebrate the liberation of the Russians. Cannons would have been used during the actual conflict, they are very significant in the piece. Its first performance was in Moscow in 1882. Tchaikovsky was a respected musician of his time and was well-suited to accomplish this task. His sensitivity and excitable temperament, was so freely expressed in his music. By the age of 23, he had devoted himself entirely to music up until now. Living in poverty, he worked so hard that he suffered greatly from, depression and insomnia, with frequent nightmares. His great gift for melody, brilliant orchestral colour and strong emotional expression, delighted audiences. The 1812 Overture represents various aspects of the Russian involvement in the Napoleonic war. The composition is arranged to reflect specific battles and victories during this time. It calmly opens with an introduction of a Russian Church chant, recalling the declaration of war that was announced at church services. The introduction of the horns represent the marching armies. There is a section of this piece where the French national anthem is embedded and this is to represent the French victory in the war and the capture of Moscow. In the next section of this piece there is an overtone of a Russian folk dance theme, this is to commerate the Russian army battle beating back Napoleon. The music becomes noticably softer, this is used to reflect the retreat from Moscow by the French. The famous cannons are symbolic to reflect the Russian army advancing to the French border. This piece ends with a victorious Russian National anthem. The Russian anthem is to symbolic counterpoint the French anthem earlier in the piece. Tchaikovsky had successfully captured all the drama and emotions of war, from the battles to the victory, in this piece, which today has become one of the most recognized classical pieces.

History Day - Primary and Secondary Sources

History Day - Primary and Secondary Sources When studying and learning about history, we must always be questioning the quality of our sources. Who wrote this?How do they know the information they are telling me?When did they write it?Why did they write it?Who did they write it for? These are good questions to ask yourself about every book you read. We should never believe everything we read; you should question everything. Is it inherently impossible for an author to leave out some sort of bias. It is your responsibility to determine their bias and to reflect on how it affected their work. Now Im sure youre wondering why Ive told you all this before I explain the differences between primary and secondary sources. I promise, there is a reason. For every source you use, you will need to think of the questions above to determine which category they fit into - primary or secondary - and how much you can trust what they say. Primary Sources Primary sources are informational sources from the time of the event. Examples of primary sources: AutobiographiesDiariesDocumentsEyewitness accountsFilm footageLawsLettersNewspaper articlesNovelsObjects from the timeOral historiesPhotographsPoems, art, musicSpeeches Secondary Sources Secondary sources are informational sources that analyze the event. These sources often use several primary sources and compile the information. Examples of secondary sources: BiographiesEncyclopediasHistory booksTextbooks More Hints, Help, and Informational Tidbits Overview of History DayDo you have a good topic?How do you make an annotated bibliography?

Talk about traffic jam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Talk about traffic jam - Essay Example It is therefore not surprising that one encounters overcrowding on the highways with frequent traffic snarls and impatient, honking drivers. Traffic jams have even resulted in the emergence of a totally new phenomenon called road rage. The burgeoning population and economic prosperity in the last century made possession of a personal car desirable as well as mandatory in the developed countries. Combined with the traffic load of public transport vehicles, bikes, heavy trucks of all shapes and sizes, a typical road now is a veritable zoo of metallic monsters. Traffic jams not only result in public inconvenience, but cause psychological distress as well. Such jams often result in great economic loss to the organizations’ whose deliveries are delayed, loss of reputation for professionals who are unable to attend fixed appointments, and sometimes critical delay in getting a grievously injured patient to the hospital. Finding a solution to the problem is not a new phenomenon, as administrators’ and engineers’ have tried multiple tricks up their sleeves to organize traffic conditions on city roads as well as trans-state/trans-national highways. Availability of new technology like computer controlled traffic signals, closed-circuit camera observation, regulation of traffic by traffic-marshals and channeling traffic according to shape, kind and size of vehicles have all been tried. Building new roads, multi-lane highways and flyovers are some of the time tested strategies but they have failed to ebb the flow of the ever-increasing traffic. The limiting factor is the burgeoning population and the thrust on pushing up sales of newer models of vehicles by the automobile manufacturers. Despite the looming fear of extinction of fossil fuels and their increasing prices, automobile manufacturers are coming up with vehicles which run on alternate sources of fuel to feed the consumer demand. It seems that

The Perspective and Emergent Approaches to Strategic Management Essay

The Perspective and Emergent Approaches to Strategic Management - Essay Example Whenever an organization succeeds in terms of profitability and productivity, it is usually assumed to have effective strategies. But the effectiveness of the strategy for a prolonged time remains dubious. Strategies are developed by the management with the support of logical approach, analytical activities, and experiences. Present day management researchers added another agent to the above-mentioned ingredients of strategy making, i.e. the dynamic nature of the business environment which keeps on changing. The changing nature of business environment influences the effectiveness of the strategies and brings differences in its output (Murray, Poole & Jones, 2005, p.168). The present report is an attempt to analyze the different views of researchers on strategic planning and its associated factors. In a broader sense, the study discusses ‘Prescriptive and Emergent’ approaches to strategy formulation and their suitability in the present day business organizations. Irrespective of suggested views and arguments on the concept of strategic management, organizations as well as academicians have agreed on the core concept which describes the conversion of organizational resources into needs of unsatisfied customers keeping a profit which satisfies the long-term objectives of the stockholders. The debate among the researchers is regarding the methods, models, system, or processes which could be used to achieve the core objective of strategy. The approaches for strategic planning, irrespective of the methods, models, and processes used to execute the plan can be classified into four generalized approaches as General Electric/Ansoff /McKinsey approach, Management by objective approaches, Business policy approach, and Non-strategic approach.