National Integrity and Communal Harmone

CURRICULUM VITAE M Siva Kumar c/o M. B. Achary Pl-no-23/flat no-h2 Swati shikhara appts Huda complex Saroor nagar Mobile No: 91-9866032385 Residence: 040-24043403 Hyderabad. Email:[email  protected] com |Objective | Looking for a challenging opportunity in a globally respected organization that will provide me an opportunity to work on state-of-the-art technologies and allow me to contribute as a positive factor in the progress of the company. |Educational Qualification | Degree/ |College/Institute |University/Board |Year Of | |Class Of Study | | |Completion | | BHM |Greenfield’s College of Hotel |Osmania university |2007 | |(bachelor of |Management, Hyderabad. | | | | | | | |hotel | | | | |management) | | | | 10 + 2 |Kendriya vidyalaya unit –ix BBSR |AISSCE |2004 | | DHTM |International Institute of Hotel |Set win |2002 | |(diploma in |Management, | | | |hotel and |Hyderabad | | | |catering | | | | |management) | | | | | | Kendriya vidyalaya unit –ix BBSR |C entral Board of Secondary Education |2000 | |10th | | | | | | | | | |Industrial Exposure | ? Completed 16 weeks Training from hotel Green park Hyderabad ?Worked for Kebab & Beer festival organized in Taj Residency, Hyderabad |Experience | ? Presently working with dominos pizza India limited a unit of jubilant food works as a store manager over a period of 2 . 5years (Emp code-450866) ? Worked with cafe latte as a shift in charge for a period of over 2 years |JOB RESPONSIBILITIES | ? Responsible for smooth operations of the store ensuring the availability of stock and staff ?Ensuring all the necessary operation levels are maintained includes gas petrol electricity and diesel routine check ups of bikes gensets ovens and infrastructure ? Assigning job responsibilities and training to the entire staff with respect of product people and material ? Checking the inventory management and verifying the reason for the variances ? Promoting the store in different localities by using differe nt marketing tools and regular visits to corporate for bulk orders ? Managing 17 members team which includes 5 delivery boys 3 customer service representatives (order takers) 4 crew members and 2 associate mangers 2 assistant managers and one training ace ? To solve the customers concerns with great care and empathies ?Preparing the monthly profit &loss statement in association with the district manager ? Managing vendor related issues and passing the bills to regional head office ? Preparing monthly& daily M I S report and sending them to the corporate head office noida |Strengths & achievements | ? Successfully implemented Standard Operating Practices & achieved 84% in Operational Excellence. ? Reduced the Prime Operating Cost (Utility, Fuel, and Manpower) per unit by 12% through control measure practices. ? Efficient Interpersonal Skills& ability to handle pressure as well crisis management ?Received many appreciation mails from district managers and area manager for exceptional ideas of in store product management ? Received many customers appreciation mails in terms of showing exceptional hospitality ? Attended National FIDA(financial index data analsis) meet at Bangkok 2011 & Colombo 2012 |Computer Proficiency | ? Office (word, Excel, power point) Operating systems: Windows 98/XP/Vista |Personal Details | Full Name : M. SIVA KUMAR Father Name : M. B. ACHARY Date of Birth : march 09, 1985Gender : Male Marital Status: single Hobbies & Interests: Listening to music &surfing the net To music Nationality : Indian Languages Known : English Hindi Telugu Oriya Bengali &French Address : PL-NO-23/FLAT NO-H2 SWATI SHIKHARA APPTS HUDA COMPLEX SAROOR NAGAR HYDERABAD | Declaration | I hereby declare that the information and facts furnished here are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Date : Place : (M Siva Kumar) [pic] [pic]

Cleopatra and Octavia Essay

Examine the contrast between Cleopatra and Octavia. How do they embody different aspects of womanhood and how is this opposition useful in developing the themes and actions of the play? How might the distinction be given different emphases in performance? Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s most dramatic plays; however it has not been staged nearly as many as plays such as Hamlet or Macbeth because it is such a hard play to produce due to its enormous variety of content. However the mere strength of the characters within the play creates intense tragic possibilities, despite the difficulties that may be faced in production. Cleopatra and Octavia are contrasting characters in the play Antony and Cleopatra. Each embodies different aspects of womanhood; each is a model of the qualities that should be seen from the country and culture they belong to. The play centres around the contrast between the lavishness of Egypt with the lineal qualities of the Roman Empire. Egypt is a country of luxurious feasts where eight wild boars are roasted for a breakfast for twelve people (2. 2. 189-90) and parties; it is a very sexualised place whereas Rome is a country characterised by politics, scenes of intellectuals and battles, thus the lives and loves of a Roman stand in opposition to the lives and loves of an Egyptian. Cleopatra is a symbol of Egyptian luxury, passion and lust she is a highly sexualised woman and is not afraid or embarrassed to show this; this is shown in her sexual innuendo in reference to Antony’s war horse: ‘Happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony! ‘ Her own language often betrays her own sexual nature this can be seen where Cleopatra speaks to the Messenger from Rome: Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, that long time have been barren. (2. 5. 23-24) Egypt is a place dominated by strong-minded mature female sexuality thus making this play one of Shakespeare’s remarkable works due to its attitude to female sexuality as something natural, beautiful and open. Although Cleopatra is described by some in the play as nothing more than a gypsy slut: ‘to cool a gypsy’s lust’ (1. 1. 9) we understand from the differences between Egypt and Rome and their understandings of each other, that Cleopatra embodies Egypt and all it stands for and so can’t be controlled or categorised as a Roman can be. Cleopatra allows men who have grown up in a world where expressing sexual ideas and fantasies is frowned upon, such as that of the view of Puritans in the time in which Shakespeare would have been writing this play; to contact their emotional centres and celebrate erotic possibilities. Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s most complex and elaborate female characters; he derives his information about her directly from Plutarch’s portrait of her and the reputation she left behind. Cleopatra is a mixed character and has sudden switches of behaviour from one mood to another, for instances the arrival of a messenger from Rome telling Cleopatra of Octavia, Antony’s new bride. Cleopatra harasses the messenger for news, and is violent and abusive to him as she hasn’t heard what she wants to, once her servants have calmed her down she feels remorseful and sorry for her actions that were must unlike a royal action should be. Cleopatra is a irrational and irratic character who often reacts to menial things, however this can be seen as her way of reacting to the fear of losing what she knows: Egypt and Antony. Her fear for losing and her sense of insecurity is seen through her jealously, that Shakespeare presents clearly in her wish to know what Octavia looks like, she is driven by these uncontrollable passions she feels towards Antony. Her feelings of insecurity are not settled by Antony, and his treatment of both his wives Octavia and Fulvia doesn’t settle her fears but instead gives her little cause for complacency, ‘Now I see, I see, In Fulvia’s death how mine received shall be. ‘ (1. 3. 66) Cleopatra is both seductive and somewhat repellent and it is this mix that makes her such a mysterious and puzzling mixture. Even Antony on occasions doesn’t know how she will react and can’t predict her actions or behaviour either. Antony loves Cleopatra because he wants to, not for any political reasons; there is nothing or any reason why he should love Cleopatra, it is merely his choice. Our deep understanding of Cleopatra’s charm and enchantment comes from the descriptions we are given of her; many of which are taken directly from The Life of Marcus Antonius in Sir Thomas North’s translation of the Roman historian Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579). Here Cleopatra is compared to Venus, the goddess of Love. Shakespeare has taken North’s basic ideas and developed them to a point that the beauty of Cleopatra is seen almost as supernatural. It is these descriptive speeches of Cleopatra that help the audience to understand the infatuation that Antony and others before, have had with Cleopatra: For the person of herself: She was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddess Venus (North) It is this beauty that Cleopatra relies on to win over men; she feels herself to be the human incarnation of Isis: ‘Now from head to foot I am marble constant. Now the fleeting moon no planet is of mine’ (5. 2. 237-240) and therefore men are captivated by her and become addicted by the strange power of Cleopatra’s attractiveness. It is said by some that Cleopatra used her beauty and her body to gain what she needed and what she felt was needed for Egypt, as Hughes-Hallet observed: She captivates Antony and then uses her power over him to demand the Kingdoms of Syria and Arabia. (Hughes-Hallet, 165) Cleopatra is portrayed as a strong leader of Egypt and in this respect has similarities with Elizabeth I who was on the throne of England through Shakespeare’s early life. She like Cleopatra was a dominant figure and felt she embodied Britain as Cleopatra embodied Egypt. How unlike Cleopatra, Elizabeth I was prepared to listen and take advice from others who were experts in the field in question; this resulted in her defeating the Spanish Armada. Unlike Cleopatra who although demanded to be treated as a general upon the war field refused to listen to advice which resulted in awful consequences and subsequently the lose of life for her and Antony. Rome is a place where the need for order and discipline is the norm; there isn’t room amongst the Politics and duties for sensuality and pleasure like in Egypt. It is this that causes Antony to be torn ‘between the military honour and familial duty of Rome and the sensuality and luxurious life-style of Egypt. ‘ Rome is a predominantly male society which women have no say; it is associated with action, mainly military and political action. Charney describes it as ‘ a place of conference tables, armour, political decisions and hard materials objects ‘ (102) Octavia is a model of Roman qualities, of obedience and duty. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, her role is reduced greatly in comparison to that of the Octavia described in Plutarch’s version. In this version she is seen as more of an independent figure rather than one completely dominated by male relations as portrayed by Shakespeare. By moving Octavia into background Shakespeare allows a greater contrast between Octavia and Cleopatra, thus highlighting the great differences of lives in Egypt and lives in Rome. Plutrach wrote of Octavia’s domestic virtues, whereas in Shakespeare’s play Octavia is ridiculed especially by Cleopatra as seen in act 3 scene 3 Messenger: Madam, I heard her speak; she is low-voiced Cleopatra: That’s not so good. He cannot like her long.

Wbsite Paper on Conflict Resolution for a Graduate Education Class Essay

Wbsite Paper on Conflict Resolution for a Graduate Education Class - Essay Example Description: Peaceful conflict resolution, recognizing the value of cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural connections to enhance conflict resolution choices universally. Conferences, publications, resources, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), mediators, arbitrators, training programs, career center, academic journal, and events. Description: Community development program dedicated to the establishment of an all-inclusive civilization of peace through assistance for communities to prevent conflict, strengthen inter-group cooperation and apply the principles of unity-in-diversity, equality and justice within sustainable community-building processes. Description: University-based academic center which serves as coordinating mechamism to advance research and innovative program development throughout the City University as well as the New York City metropolitan area. Projects and programs, events, publications, links, resources. New York City Directory of Dispute Resolution Programs. Compensated and Pro-Bono Mediation opportunities. Description: Program aimed at reducing violence and violence related behavior in the schools of the United States. Research and evaluation of schools violence information. Resource center, educational programs. Links arranged by category. Library. Dropout prevention database. Description: Offers low- or no-cost services to K-12 education, in the Commonwealth of Massachussets, in the areas of bullying prevention, cyberbullying education and prevention, and violence prevention. Sections for educators, parents and public. Mailing list. Description: Dedicated to equip, encourage, and support individuals as peacemakers in their personal relationships, families, churches, schools, professions, and communities. Newsletter, mediation services, academic programs, resources, links, and articles

BNSF Taps the Strength of Veterans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BNSF Taps the Strength of Veterans - Essay Example This is an advantage to the company. BSNF stands to benefit by hiring talented employees with skills vita for operating a successful business (mcgrawhill.com). Zoroya states that it is a government initiative to support the hiring of veterans by offering tax incentives to employers. The government also caters for the retraining programs and job training courses that will ease the integration of veterans into the work force. This means that BSNF receives thousands of dollars and federal tax benefits among other incentives for hiring veterans. For example, the federal work opportunity tax credit is benefits employers who employ veterans. Zoroya explains that an employer can benefit from a tax credit as high as $2400 for hiring a qualified veteran and another $9600 for hiring a veteran with disability (Zoroya, â€Å"Hiring veterans is good business†). In the United States, it is a part of the amendment that veterans who left the service after 9/11 receive a health care service fo r five years. BNSF stands to benefits from such a program since it does lower the employment cost, therefore, employers do not have to cater or contribute to the healthcare cost for veterans fit for this program. A company such as BSNF who support such a national cause, which aims at encouraging the employment of veterans stands to be rewarded by consumers (mcgrawhill.com). ... 85 % of consumers have a positive image of products or companies that support social causes such as hiring of veterans. Gaining customer loyalty due to support of this social cause promotes the competitive edge of the company. From the example above it is evident that this data does illustrate the benefits BNSF stands to achieve from supporting the hiring of veterans. The support from consumers arises from the fact that veterans offer strong support to the company that hires their expertise. The brand or products marketed by the company also stand to benefit from support from other veterans. BNSF also stands to strengthen its talent pool the skill learnt by veterans in the military are transferrable. We consider positive outcomes such as improvement of communication in the company. The concept of team building will be part of the company since team building forms the foundation of the military training. BNSF benefits from hiring employees who value critical thinking and problem solvi ng in their line of duty. When considering the comments made by BNSFs CEO, the hired veterans are an essential part of their company, and their skills represent BNSFs competencies. The company also gains national recognition by receiving awards for the U.S department of defence issued BNSF with a freedom award for being a military friendly organisation (mcgrawhill.com). Such recognitions are beneficial in marketing the organisation nationally as well as internationally. What attributes can make a veteran an attractive job candidate? Veterans make attractive job candidates because they have the skills that make them exceptional employers. According to BNSF CEO, veterans who join their organisation possess some attractive attributes such as being highly

Enterprise Systems Case Study Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Enterprise Systems Case Study Analysis - Essay Example For example, an organization has a number of departments include: sales & marketing, procurement & inventory, finance & accounting and human resources. In order to automate the organization develops independent or separate information system for each department and these individual systems might not be integrated because of incompatibility. Therefore, the information or data available in one system might not be accessible to the other independent information system. In this regards, it can be stated that the organization could not be benefited from the main purpose/advantages of the information systems including the information must be shared easily, correctly, and on time among business units. Disparate Independent Systems – High Maintenance Cost Problem The second problem of disparate information that has been identified in the paper is the huge cost of their maintenance. There are two types of maintenance costs, the first is the direct maintenance costs and the other is ind irect maintenance costs. ... nformation or communication flow problem in the independent information systems, the organization’s management has to bear indirect costs by taking wrong decisions by their own instinct rather than the decisions based on the information / reports provided by the group of independent information systems. Precisely, it can be stated that if an organization has the fragmented or autonomous information systems, the operations of the organization is fragmented (Davenport, 1998). Identification of Two Issues in each Organization in China Implementing ERP CosmeticCo Company There are total five (5) problems have been identified in the case study for implementation of ERP in CosmeticCo company by Sweden’s Intentia AB – the software package provider (ERP vendor). The five problems include: the language, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Partnership, human resource, report and table. From these I have chosen the language, and report and table problems and it is pertine nt to mention here that according to the authors of the paper, both chosen problems are categorized as cultural problems. Language In the words of Davison in 2002, the culture is â€Å"A collective programming of the mind which distinguishes one group from another†. Particularly the Chinese are strict to their language and the only way to make the Chinese understand is to write in their own language rather than the Western language. However, the MOVEX ERP software did contain English words by which the human resources got confused and unable to use the software effectively. The Davison identified three cultural reasons of failure in ERP in China from which one is â€Å"miscommunication due to homonyms in the Chinese language†. It is one of the important factors to be considered while deployment of software

Understanding the Behaviour of Organisations in their Market Essay

Understanding the Behaviour of Organisations in their Market Environment - Essay Example In general, there are four basic types of market structure, namely perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. Perfect Competition: Perfect competition is a situation when numerous firms are competing in the market (Machovec, 2002). For example, FMCG and FMCD sectors are perfectly competitive ones. The biggest advantage of a perfectly competitive market is that firms produce optimal output levels at a low cost. However, the biggest disadvantage is that companies earn minimal profit and there are no economies of scale. Monopoly: A monopoly is a market situation where only firm is operating and there are no competitors (Lele, 2006). For example, the local water electricity service providers are often considered to be operating in a monopoly market. The advantages of monopoly are no risk of overproduction, efficient use of resources, price leader, focuses on the production of a particular product or service. The labour cost is also low. On the other hand, the disadvantages of a monopoly market are that the company can exploit customers by charging more or offering low quality products. There is huge restriction in choice of customers resulting in a low buyer power. Furthermore, the absence of competition often leads to inefficiency and lower productivity. Monopolistic Competition: A monopolistic competition in an industry is characterised by the presence of several competitors, but their offerings differ (Solow, 1998). The restaurant industry is the best example of monopolistic competition. One of th e biggest advantages of monopolistic competition is that it promotes competition which, in turn, greatly helps in enhancing the efficiency and productivity of the industry. From the point of view of consumers, it offers them greater choice and variety. Moreover, customers get quality products and services and turn out to be more knowledgeable about the product features. Technological innovation and research and development are highly visible. The disadvantages of monopolistic competition are that it leads to higher price. Oligopoly: An oligopoly market is characterised by the presence of only a few firms (Tucker, 2008). For example, gas service providers are considered to be operating in the oligopoly market. The biggest advantage is that prices remain fixed and competition is high resulting in a higher efficiency. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that there are less research and development works and less innovation. Figure 1 – Market Structure PESTLE and Cultural Envi ronment The external business environment in which an organisation operates plays a significant role. Before formulating a business plan or formulating a strategy for business, organisations carry out in-depth analysis of the business environment. The external business environment includes the political, legal, social, technological, environmental, demographic, economical and cultural factors. Nowadays, business houses operate in a changing business environment and as a result, they are required to offer products and services that match with the needs of customers. According to Taloo (2007), there are no businesses in the world that can survive without having any interaction with the external business environment. The factors of the external business environment have a strong influence on the business operations and therefore, businesses need to be aware of the external environment. For example, a change in the economic environment of a country can strongly impact the sales of a com pany. Therefore, organisations are

Headhunter Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Headhunter Industry - Essay Example "A headhunter could be described as an independent employment service that seeks out personnel for high - level executive positions; formally known as executive search company (or consultant)" (source: http://www.answers.com/topic/headhunter-2004'cat=biz-fin). The software industry emerged in the U.S. in the mid - 1970's, during the personal computer revolution. It encompasses within its domain, such services as the development, maintenance as well as publication of computer softwares. The industry has seen rapid growth since then and is developing at an amazing speed. The size of the industry could be gauged by its revenues, which totaled to an astonishing figure of $381 billion. The total world wide revenues in the year 2006 amounted to $394 billion representing a growth of 3.5% since the past one year (source: John Desmond, October 2006). With such increase in the size of the industry, the organizations today are increasingly resorting to availing the services of specialized recruitment agencies in order to tap the desired talents in the industry and hire the most desirable candidate for the jobs. However, prior to the emergence of such specialized talent hiring services, who have expertise in hiring talents from their particular field of knowledge; the recruitment process was highly traditional in its operation, consisting of employment agencies who were mostly approached by the prospective job seeker, whose application was then, to be forwarded to the respective organizations, thereby leading to a highly asymmetrical recruiting process. While yet others depended on their in - house recruiting firms, for hiring the right candidate for the job. However, the emergence of the headhunters brought about a revolutionary change in the way these organizations hired, recruited and managed their employable workforce, by introducing the concept of specialized services of niche recruiting, where the headhunters displayed exceptionally high skill levels in their knowledge about a particular occupation / job and helped the companies to hire the right candidate for the positions advertised with minimum effort, and through cost reduction and minimum amount of time by collaborating with the companies or organizations desiring to avail such specialized services (William Finlay, James Coverdill,2002) . The headhunters have a good standing in the society, whereby they are well linked to almost all the trade associations and groups in the industry. Their services are thus, mostly used for hiring talents, in terms of high managerial positions / senior management level positions, which is largely due to the fact that they hold specialized knowledge and expertise in their chosen field. Rationale The right mix of talented human resources coupled with dedication and efficient leadership leads to attainment of the predefined business goals and hence is a key to resolving any business issue. Thus the human resource management groups are increasingly turning towards the special recruitment service providers such as the headhunters, for hiring the best talent available amongst the workable population at their disposal, thereby availing the benefits such as lower recruitment costs, reduced time to close hiring requisitions, and freeing up resources to focus on strategic HR

A Comparison between Charles Taylor and Will Kymlickas views on Essay

A Comparison between Charles Taylor and Will Kymlickas views on Multiculturalism with Minority Rights - Essay Example However, the implementation of equality and sharing of beliefs is the only way that discriminatory issues can be avoided and minority rights upheld, according to Taylor's philosophy. I personally tend to favor Taylor's point of view since it appears to have the most solidity in the view's being given. Of course he makes quite a few other interesting points in his writing, from my personal interpretation of it. Multiculturalism has a strong purpose in politics as when there are other nationalities living in a country they want to be able to feel they are a part of it (Taylor 1994). The only way this is possible is if they have awareness that they are included in the many political debates of the many topics concerning the country's needs or desire's for the people.Furthermore, Taylor shows the notion of multiculturalism gives identity to people as it defines them as human beings. If the politics of a nation where only centered around the natural origin of those living in a country, su ch as Americans in the United States, then there would be no sense of a multiculturalist identity for those who were of a foreign body that also dwelled in America as well. Therefore Taylor points out that it is crucial to acknowledge all people who reside in a country and that developing a political identity with the concept of multiculturalism is the way to go about creating equality and a sense of individuality for all of the various ethnic cultures within the body of a nation. A political body can not simply step up to a podium and refer to all people as Americans or Europeans and expect there to be unity in that nation. This is one of the strongest views of Taylor and this author feels it has a good relevance to the effect political bodies have on the citizens of a nation. If there is a lack of inclusion of one type of nationality there is going to be discord and inequality but if there is an inclusion of the whole concept of multiculturalism then it will make a nation stronger and the citizens of the communities will be united, or so it would appear. Also, Taylor also emphasizes the fact that recognition of different cultures is extremely important to provide equality in a nation. However, there can be various dilemmas with what people know about others and therefore the idea of misrecognition of a culturally diverse group can create just as many problems as actually not identifying their presence can create. For example people in a country often make assumptions about foreigners who live there. Before the facts are gathered false interpretations develop such as with Latino's, many people in America often identify all Latino's as being from Mexico and speaking the same form of language but this is the wrong impression. Latino's span out across many regions and they all do not look alike or speak alike therefore this is a simple example that can be given following Taylor's points of misrecognition of a culture between ethnicities. In fact Taylor states that the wrong idea can cause severe harm onto a culture as they are then faced with many discriminatory issues and don't feel a sense of equality either, which is one of the problems that is prevalent in many countries today, especially in the United States in particular. This results in a distorted image of a culture and impacts them in a negative way as they begin to feel that the main representative cultural body within a country is not willing to

Economic events occur around us every day Assignment

Economic events occur around us every day - Assignment Example it can be ascertained that slow GDP growth rate of a country and sluggish investment decisions have accorded significant attention of many economists. Despite the availability of adequate monetary resources, many industries are unwilling to make significant investments due to the fear of recovery constantly imposed by prevailing economic uncertainties. The paper would be mainly divided into two parts, the first part would include headings consisting of â€Å"economic problems faced† which would mainly describe what are the problems, causes of the problem and what are their impacts on the society, politics and how could these issues be resolved. The second part would mainly be focused on â€Å"government policies† along with evaluating the current demand and supply side and the ways in which they can be brought into effectiveness. Correspondingly, this paper in the light of the selected article â€Å"Uncertainty Is the Enemy of Recovery† intends to identify the various economic problems encountered by the different countries particularly the US economy and further determines to ascertain the consequences of economic downturn and responses from government to resolve these problems effectively. According to the article, â€Å"Uncertainty Is the Enemy of Recovery† by Mcnabb, it is apparent that the problems of economic uncertainties have given rise to recovery related economic challenges to most of the countries encountered with economic downturn. The fluctuating GDP and the uncertainties in the various policies initiated by the government have largely affected the general public and big business organizations as well. Accordingly, many organizations in spite of ample financial resources are largely hesitating in increasing their level of services or creating new job opportunities. The spending on goods by the general public has also reduced significantly owing to the decrease in their disposable income (Leone, 2010). Lately, the ambiguity in the monetary strategy

The Unredeemed Captive Essay Example for Free

The Unredeemed Captive Essay Some are born literary genius, some achieve literary genius, and some have literary success thrust upon them. As for John Demos in his book, ‘The Unredeemed Captive’ seems to be the blend of the last two categories. Through this book,   Demos takes you to the 18th Century, to explain the tension-ridden and violence-prone confrontation   between three communities (segments of a society).They are the puritan settlers of New England, the Roman-Catholic French of New France (currently parts of Canada) and the Native Americans.   It was a peculiar type of confrontation fought for several types’ self-interests. The conflicts, where religion, culture, race and territorial interests are involved. The story takes savage turns and the reading seriously affects the emotions of the readers! The contents of writing are a mixture of fact and fiction. The book has great historical significance. The mentioned communities then did not believe in peaceful negotiations to settle the ‘border disputes.’ They fought for territorial gains and the borders continued to shift and relocate. The mini-Hitlers were out to establish their moral and racial superiority. The animal tendencies in them surfaced forth and they did not hesitate to capture (kidnap) young girls belonging to the enemy camp, as war trophies, eventually for their sexual gratification.   John Demos is a Yale History Professor. His primary intentions and efforts in this book are to provide an objective analysis of the encounters between the mentioned ‘groups’. He has drawn upon the experiences of one family to achieve the objective in view. It is the John Williams family. Williams is a puritan minister. The family was captured in 1704 in their Massachusetts home by a group of Frenchmen and Native Americans. They were marched off to Canada. Of the seven members of the family his wife died en-route, Williams and four children were released later, his daughter Eunice became a convert (forced conversion?) to Catholicism to marry a Native American. Desperate attempts were made by the family for the return of Eunice to Massachusetts, but she came for short visits only to return back, till her death at the age of 95.   The stunning and heart-rending part of the story is that of Eunice. Remember, she was only 7 when she was captured—what values did her captors defend by torturing the mind of an innocent girl child? Religious principles? Cultural traditions? Racial superiority? Human values? Such persons deserve to be the offspring of the Satan. She was converted to Catholicism and married off at the age of 16, for which the perpetrators of such a crime can face severe punishment in the present times. Probably that was the age when male/female married as per the social customs prevailing then. Well, she spent the rest of her life, but what might be the thought-currents circling and torturing her mind within? Her 88 years of silent suffering is difficult for the printed pages to capture, the most sensitive and imaginative writer will not be able to probe the inner layers of her mind. If someone is able to do proper research on this mind, it can as well reveal the history of the century to which she belonged in the correct perspective.   Her life is a great example of the bitter fruits of cross-cultural bloody encounters. It is the saga of the perpetrators of the torture and those who were tortured. That God and destiny were often quoted to justify the cruel happenings shows the macabre and sadistic mind-set of the groups involved in those conflicts. It was an open exhibition of animal tendencies, by the two-legged devils   The Unredeemed Captive is a systematically researched history by John Demos. To sieve through the 300 year old data (the later 1600s) and make out a factual, historically relevant story is a skilled job. Demos has done justice to his job as the Professor of History. He knows the essentials of the history, the requirements of a research student of history. The research pages do make a slow reading, and that is no fault of the author. The narratives sections are quite fascinating. Basically, this book is written by a history man for the history people   In the present times also, people live dangerously in the border areas of a country, especially when the neighbors are unfriendly. This is the situation when civilization has made advancement and there are international laws for protection. Guess, what would have been the conditions 300 years ago, when might was right and jungle laws prevailed? John Demos describes well, with authority and proof, the dangers of living on the American frontiers in the early days of settling America, when the borders shifted constantly.   A tough subject has been chosen for the book and the area covered is vast.   One can not expect the book to make a good reading from page 1 to page 336. The first five chapters are very exciting; the flying start is the highlight of the book. The story and the incidents related to the family of John Williams are interesting and touching. The rest of the book is about facts, customs and traditions. One needs to make efforts to sustain the interest as for this portion of the book. But overall, the book is no drag.   Finally, the important points of the book: The clash of cultures of the diverse communities is well depicted. Through the personal tragedy of a family, the political story of an era has been told. The doomed role of the religion is described well. Eunice’s rejection of her own family is a mysterious psychological drama. But Demos shows the balanced approach in writing this part of the story, and does not blame exclusively any party involved in the conflicts.    References Cited: Demos, John, Book: The Unredeemed Captive. Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (March 28, 1995) ISBN-10: 0679759611 ISBN-13: 978-0679759614

Strategy-evaluation Framework for Mattel

Strategy-evaluation Framework for Mattel 1.0 Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control The best-formulated and best-implemented strategies become obsolete as a firms external and internal environments change. It is essential, therefore, that strategists systematically review, evaluate, and control the execution of strategies. We have developed a general strategy-evaluation framework for Mattel: Reviewing bases of strategy Measuring organizational performance Taking corrective actions Besides that, we will introduce balanced scorecard as another strategy-evaluation tool to analyze Mattel from few areas of objectives: customers, managers/employees, investors/shareholders, operations/processes, community/social responsibility, and financials. 1.1 General Strategy-Evaluation Framework 1.1.1 Reviewing bases of strategy Reviewing the underlying bases of Mattels strategy could be approached by developing a revised EFE Matrix and IFE Matrix. As being well described and analyzed in Chapter 3 and 4 of this report, here, we will revise EFE and IFE Matrix to review and evaluate how effective Mattels strategies have been in response to key external and internal factors. External Factors Opportunities Mattel has a chance to market Barbie to the whole world and make it a recognizable brand worldwide. This has been proven that Mattel tries its best to improve its marketing strategies to penetrate different market segments and strive for stable revenue annually from international market. Weakening dollar makes the price of Mattels toys becomes more affordable. It is helpful in increase its revenue. To take this advantage, in fact, Mattel has reduced the selling price of its products in some countries. Threats Many children start abandoning tangible toys and looking for more interactive and technological toys or cyber/virtual games. That was why Mattel tried to diversify into software industry. However, until now, its result is not satisfactory. One of the reasons is, the adopted strategies are not matched with its corporate culture or operations. Global recession caused reduced spending or down trading for toys. This is inevitable despite how much effort has been made to stimulate the revenue. However, if Mattel is able to make it more affordable and create a need for customers, it might change its situation. However, strategies should be well developed. Different countries with different cultures and languages in fact have posed barriers which hindered market penetration strategies of Mattel. However, Mattel seemed to have overcome them well as it tried to market its products with different languages in different countries and modified the content of ads with some â€Å"local flavors†. Many other competitors keep coming out with different and better products, such high product substitution threat might threaten the competitive position of Mattel. Therefore, Mattel is particularly cautious with its product quality and safety issues. However, there was still an outbreak of toxic toy which caused few millions loss to Mattel. Due to the emergence of China market and since many production plants have been setup in China, raw materials are subject to price fluctuation when the economy of China appears to be unstable. To overcome this, possibly, Mattel can locate its plants at many different countries. The downfall in one country might be offset by the upturn of another country. Internal Factors Strengths With successful operational and marketing strategies, Barbie has been known as a long established brand for 60 years. With recognizable brand portfolio and wide product range to cater various life stage, in fact, Mattel has safeguarded its market leader position for years. One of the strategies is to have new product launch annually, so that, customers will have â€Å"surprise† every year. Such strategies are considered successful. With the effort and perseverance in maintaining business integrity and practicing corporate social responsibility, it has brought much credit to the reputation of Mattel. Despite the scandals, Mattel does have a group of loyal supporters and fans who will purchase new products of Mattel. Such strategy of creating loyalty and trust in customers is very effective in customer retention. Since Mattel has strategic partnership with Microsoft, Disney, BanDai and etc, this created an invincible strength for it. As there are so many other strong rivals who strive to win market share from Mattel, Mattel tries to form a strong alliance with other strong companies in the market. Devoted, highly-motivated and energetic management team which works together to make better and better products and performance and stay together during doom time, this shows that Mattel has a successful HR strategy which retains experienced and outstanding employees in the corporation. Since early year, Mattel has been keeping its intangible assets as its valuables, such as trade names and trademarks. That is why it has a particular department which deals with this issue. Weaknesses Unprofitable mergers and acquisitions of the Learning Company had made a loss of nearly billion in Mattels account. Although eventually Mattel sold off this subsidiary, this reduced the confidence of investors as Mattels management is perceived as too reckless in MA strategy. Due to many external changes, slipping popularity of their core product – Barbie has been shown in the declining sales of its product. Therefore, Mattel keeps coming out with new products to retain the interest and passion of customers. After the outbreak of toxic toys scandal, generally, the level of acceptance of customers has dropped. No doubt, Mattel has been striving to give the customers the best products, in terms of quality, safety, and etc, however, such an incident is nearly fatal to the reputation and future of Mattel. No matter how good the strategies are, one scandal might ruin the company as a whole. 1.1.2 Measuring organizational performance This includes comparing expected results to actual results, investigating deviations from plans, evaluating individual performance, and examining progress being made toward meeting stated objectives. Both long-term and annual objectives are commonly used in this process. Criteria for evaluating strategies should be measurable and easily verifiable. Generally, strategy evaluation is based on both quantitative and qualitative criteria. For quantitative criteria, financial ratios are commonly used. There are three critical comparisons: Comparing the firms performance over different time periods Comparing the firms performance to competitors Comparing the firms performance to industry averages Mattels performance over different time periods has been well explained in Chapter 7. Overall, Mattel is able to maintain its financial ratios over years. It only has slight increase or decrease occurred. Therefore, internally, we may say Mattel is financially stable and strong over years. Even during economic crisis period, it was still able to maintain its financial performance at a satisfactory level. On the other hand, to compare the performance of Mattel to that of competitors and also industry averages, two main competitors, namely, Hasbro Inc. (HAS) and Jakks Pac Inc. (Jak) have been identified and served as a benchmark to compare the performance of Mattel Inc. (Mat). From the table below, it is obvious that Mattel is the market leader of this industry which having splendid financial performance as compared to its main competitors. By looking at its valuation, profitability, dividend, growth, liquidity and asset ratios, Mattel is far better than competitors and industry averages. In short, based on quantitative criteria, Mattels performance takes a leading position which created core competency for its sustainability and survival. However, it may guarantee long-term success if it does not proactively improve itself. Year 2008 MAT HAS JAKK Industry Averages Valuation Price/Earnings (TTM) 15.24 14.58 1.52 12.78 Price/Cash Flow 10.73 7.83 10.07 9.54 Price/Sales (TTM) 0.98 1.13 0.75 0.95 Price/Book 2.66 2.46 1.06 2.06 Per Share Data Last Dividend 70.09 42.11 0 37.40 Book Value 5.88 9.3 11.66 1.95 EPS (TTM) 1.07 1.9 -12.8 -3.28 Revenue 5.91 B 4.02 B 903.39 M 3.61 B Profitability EBIDTA 742.00 M 654.33 M 101.79 M 499.37 M Operating Margin 9.74% 12.29% 1.85% 10.29% Profit Margin 6.41% 7.63% 1.42% 7.49% Gross Profit Margin 45.19% 55.96% 35.56% 45.57% Dividend Dividend Yield 4.18% 2.96% 0.00% 2.38% Payout Ratio 70.09 42.11 0 37.40 Dividend Yield 5 Year Average 3.33% 2.07% 0.00% 1.80% Growth Net Income 379.63 M 306.76 M 76.05 M 254.15 M EPS (TTM) 1.07% 1.90% -12.80% -3.28% Revenue 5.91 B 4.02 B 903.39 M 3.61 B PEG 1.56% 1.44% 1.71% 1.57% Financial Strength Quick Ratio (MRQ) 6.41 7.63 1.42 7.49 Current Ratio (MRQ) 2.06 2.61 2.09 2.25 Long Term Debt to Equity Ratio (MRQ) 32.72 81.65 0 31.12 Total Debt to Capital (MRQ) 29.83 34.03 11.64 25.17 ROE 17.32 21.24 9.47 16.01 ROA 10.9 9.67 -46.98 -1.80 ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) 13.8 15.52 9.5 12.94 Assets Asset Turnover 1.43 1.29 0.88 1.20 Asset per Employee 143,123.72 528,095.93 1.03 M 0.57 M Inventory Turnover 6.72 5.74 6.79 6.42 Apart from quantitative criteria, there are some qualitative criteria needed to be taken into consideration. These criteria are presented in question forms, including the following questions: * Is the hiring and recruitment process matched with the strategy? Among the workers working at Mattels plant, a large majority of the workers (79%) got their job by applying directly at the plant site, while another 19% were referred by friends. The average length of employment among the interviewed workers was approximately 4.0 years. However, for 26% of the workers, employment at Mattel was their first job. This indicates that while the workforce includes a sizeable proportion of temporary and seasonal workers, the core group provides Mattel with a substantial number of stable and experienced employees. The hiring process includes general company orientation, which covers such issues as the employment contract, rules of conduct, disciplinary measures, grievance procedures, wages deductions and overtime pay policies, transportation services, facilities, amenities and tour of the factory. Newly hired workers also receive information and training in the topics of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS Orientation). Each worker at the Mattels plant ha s a signed contract on file. Employee personnel records also include illness and injury reports; disciplinary action reports; medical examinations and maternity leave reports. All new hires are also given a medical examination. They also received job-related training of varying length based on the specific requirements of their jobs. Based on these mechanisms on hiring and recruitment, Mattel is able to ensure they have selected the best and right people to achieve companys goals. Are the workers able to understand and practice GMP? GMP is very important in ensuring the quality of products. Interviewed workers largely confirmed that they were familiar with various provisions of Mattels GMP. Management Compliance Report (MCR) indicated that GMP document in local language was provided to all employees and is available in local language. The Plant Manager plays the key role in communicating GMP information to supervisors and employees. The MCR also stated that information on GMP is provided twice a year, through various sources such as the new hire orientation program, employee handbook, boards and the company intranet. Are the plants workers financially motivated to achieve companys objectives? Financial compensations to plants workers are very important to maintain the morale and motivation level of workers. The minimum wage for Tijuana is $41.67 (Mexican pesos) per day. Temporary workers at the Mexicos plant earn at least $74.00 per day; while the core groups minimum wage is $85. All overtime is paid at double wage rates, up to 9 overtime hours each week. All hours worked in excess of 9 hours per week are paid at triple rates. In addition, workers also receive attendance and punctuality bonuses. Besides, all confirmed workers are also entitled to annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, free vacation, free transportation, free coffee and bakery products, free training courses, and etc. These policies are able to match the workers objectives with companys objectives when they are well compensated. Are work environment of manufacturing operations and related facilities able to ensure the quality of work from workers? As an example, the plant in Mexico is a large plant consisting of one building covering an area of over 473,000 sq. square feet. The facility has installed a very modern and efficient delivery system for handling raw materials. Resins for manufacturing plastic are delivered by trucks to a roadside facility where they are stored in large silos. From there, they are delivered to the molding machines on the factory floor through a sophisticated computer-controlled system. The process is designed to keep the site clean and helps minimize spillage and waste. The facility maintains, among others, detailed and up-to-date records on plant maintenance, air filtration, noise control, fire prevention, and safe storage of hazardous materials. The high standards of environmental health safety of the plant were also confirmed by the ICCA professional engineering audit team through an extensive â€Å"walk through† of the entire plant. ICCAs inspection confirmed that the plant was in â€Å"good† operating condition internally and in â€Å"fair† condition externally. The plant provides free-of-charge Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all employees where use of such equipment is required and appropriate. The factory meets or exceeds the GMP requirements for bathroom, wash basins, and clean drinking water. Toilets are equipped with an effective flushing system and are maintained and cleaned on a regular basis. The dining area at the factory canteen is quite attractive. Colorful paintings, natural light through large windows a nd TV for entertainment provides the dining room with a pleasant environment. There is also an outside eating area for those who wish to smoke. Employees are served two meals per shift. The meals are mostly subsidized by the factory with workers paying only a nominal sum. In addition, the medical clinic at the plant is excellent and well-staffed. It is open 24 hours and seven days a week. It is staffed with one medical doctor and three qualified nurses. The clinic has a good record keeping system for the workers use of the clinic including work-related injury data. In short, Mattel has a well maintained facility and operates in an efficient manner while ensuring that the plant provides a clean, safe and healthy work environment for its employees. This also helps to ensure the workers produce high-quality products. 1.1.3 Taking corrective actions The final strategy-evaluation activity is about taking corrective actions, which requires making changes to competitively reposition a firm for the future. These corrective actions might be derived from the inspection of internal or external auditors who review and evaluate the practices and policies of a company. Some corrective actions, for example, like altering an organizations structure, replacing one or more key individuals, selling a division, or revising a business mission. Other changes could include establishing or revising objectives, devising new policies, issuing stock to raise capital, adding additional salespersons, differently allocating resources, or developing new performance incentives. As for Mattel, despites some of the scandals, it has been performing well since its establishment. When there were discrepancies of performance from target, Mattel had made corrective actions accordingly. 1. Mattel Independent Monitoring Council for Global Manufacturing Principles In this internal auditing practice, the physical plant, including all manufacturing and storage areas, were found to be in excellent condition. The plant and its related machinery were well maintained. The housekeeping appeared to be very good resulting in a neat, clean and safe operating plant. MIMCO was especially attentive to ensure that employees were properly using safety equipment and that environmental practices were being followed. However, there are few areas have been identified to make improvements. Employee Treatment by Line Supervisors MIMCO report of the previous audit had noted that the primary source of employee dissatisfaction pertained to incidents, albeit infrequent, of verbal abuse by line supervisors especially when it is meted out in public and in the presence of co-workers. It was recommended that Montois plant management review all pertinent issues of supervision and human relations in its weekly meetings. Further, the plant management should take action to strengthen its first-line supervisor training program. Work-place Hazards Mattel was found to have insufficient storage space as it had reached its maximum capacity. This shortage led to storage of volatile compounds in a tool crib in the middle of the factory assembly line. Another issue of concern was the noise level in some areas caused by the sonic welding machines. This noise level was found to be in access of Mattel GMP standards in the vicinity of the sonic welding operations. A possible work hazard described by employees was the risk of fire when water spilled from machines on the electric cables in work areas. MIMCO recommended an upgrade to the water feeding system and training of employees. The use of all-purpose utility knives to trim the mold marks was identified as a work hazard by management, production employees and the MIMCO team. These cuts were found to be a major source of injury and lost-days of work. Mattel had made corrective actions accordingly to rectify the mistakes and improve on the insufficiencies. Insufficient Bathroom and Toilet Facilities In the initial audit of Montoi, employees had complained about long waiting time for the use of bathrooms. The employees felt that there were not enough bathrooms to meet their needs when the plant was operating at full capacity. Although, the number of available bathrooms met both the GMP standards and the Mexican law, it was recommended that serious consideration should be given to expanding these facilities. The Montoi plant has added 11 more toilets for female employees and 8 for male employees. 2. Mattels corrective actions on ICCA 2004 Follow-Up Report of Mattel Owned and Operated Plants in China Regular and Overtime Work Hours ICCA found that Mattels plants were scheduling work hours in excess of Mattels 60 hour per week requirement. In response to this, Mattel has elected to limit the maximum number of working hours to 60 per week during normal operations, and 72 hours per week during peak periods and other extraordinary situations, provided that overtime is voluntary, the employees are paid appropriately and work hours in excess of 60 hours per week, but less than 72 hours per week, do not exceed 1/3 of the year for each employee. Payment of Minimum Wages Mattels China partner at the Guan Yao facility had made a good faith effort in negotiating a minimum wage that was competitive with other local cities, and had sought out and received approval for the reduced minimum wage originally stipulated for their area. With respect to this reduction of minimum wage at Mattels Guan Yao plant, Mattel has instituted a policy in conjunction with the new minimum wage increase slated for early 2005, which requires Mattels China partner to pay the stated minimum wage for the area. Due to the inconsistency in legal opinion regarding local waivers allowing a reduction of the minimum wage, Mattel will no longer accept these types of waivers from the local labor bureau. Inappropriate Wage Rate During Temporary Shut Downs and Other Circumstances There are three separate and distinct situations with respect to the amount of money employees are compensated for hours worked. In each case that ICCA has identified, Mattel has gone back and assessed an acceptable corrective action. For example, in the case of Guan Yao Chang An, with respect to the payment of minimum wages during down time for internal factors within control of the plant operations, Mattel has instituted a policy of paying the employees minimum wage during these unexpected shutdown periods. This policy change was instituted in January 2004. Mandatory Deductions and Legally Mandated Benefits Mattels annual leave policy has been amended to reflect the actual days of service an employee has worked over the length of their tenure at Mattel. In 2004, Mattel will compensate employees with 5 days of paid leave for those who quit before the end of the year and have one year of service. Mattels policy with respect to maternity leave was updated in 2004. All employees seeking maternity leave, regardless of whether they return to work, will be compensated for the full 90 days, as allowed under Chinese labor law. Mattels policy on deductions for room and board was changed in 2004. All employees who stay in the dorm and eat at the cafeteria will be charged no more than 50 percent of their minimum wage rate. It should further be noted that staying in the dorms is voluntary for employees. 1.2 Balanced Scorecard There are few criteria have been introduced to evaluate and review the performance of Mattel Inc. 1.2.1 Customers Product Quality and Safety Mattels reputation for product quality and safety is among its most valuable assets. Their commitment to product quality and safety is an integral part of their design, manufacturing, testing and distribution processes, and is essential to the success of their business. Childrens health, safety and well-being are their primary concern. They will meet or exceed legal requirements and industry standards for product quality and safety. They strive to earn their consumers trust through their dedication to safety, and to exceed the expectations of parents. Employees have an obligation to immediately report any concerns about product safety or quality to Mattels Worldwide Product Integrity Department. Consumer Information They respect the confidentiality of consumer information consistent with all applicable privacy and data protection laws and regulations. They do not share, sell or trade any private or sensitive personal information obtained online from children without the prior consent of the parent or unless compelled by legal process. Advertising and Promotions Mattels brand and product promotion activities, including advertising, packaging, point of purchase displays, promotional programs and sweepstakes, should be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable laws and with their reputation for honesty and integrity. They adhere to high standards of commercial fairness in ads and promotions. They must accurately portray the features, quality and performance of their products in all advertising media and packaging in a manner appropriate for their target audience. They do not misstate facts or provide misleading or deceptive information about Mattels products, or the products of a competitor. They should be diligent in safeguarding the reputation of Mattel brands and products by being selective about promotional opportunities, such as event sponsorship and other joint promotions, avoiding association of Mattels name with any product, service or activity which might be considered unsafe or inappropriate for children, or with any person or organization if the relationship might be damaging to Mattels reputation. 1.2.2 Managers/Employees Respect They will treat others as they want to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness. They have the right to work in an environment free from discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, social origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status or other protected characteristics. They also respect their co-workers rights, and remember that such discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated. They should speak out when the conduct of a coworker makes them or others uncomfortable. They each have a responsibility to report to Human Resources any such harassment or discrimination that they experience or observe. Diversity Mattel recognizes diversity as an asset, and is committed to actively seeking and promoting diversity in the workforce. They value the different perspectives, insights and experiences of diverse individuals and cultures, and they aspire to create a company culture that encourages an expression of, and a respect for, diverse viewpoints. They provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees, without regard to factors such as race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, social origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status or other protected characteristics. They make employment decisions to meet their business needs based on factors such as qualifications, skills and achievement. They comply with local and national employment laws. Employee Health and Safety Mattel is committed to providing a safe, healthful and environmentally responsible workplace, and has established safety programs to provide information and training for safe practices in the normal conduct of business and for emergencies. They are responsible for observing safety and health rules, for taking appropriate precautionary measures and for reporting unsafe or hazardous conditions to their supervisors, to Mattels Global Sustainability Department, Global Security Department or local Mattel security personnel. In order to maintain their high standards for quality, productivity and safety, they should be in suitable mental and physical condition at work. Possessing, buying or selling, using or being under the influence of illegal drugs or engaging in any other activities which create an unsafe work environment while on duty, or when on Mattel premises, are expressly prohibited. The consumption of alcohol while on duty or when on Mattel premises is prohibited except during approved Mattel social functions, or during business meals. 1.2.3 Investors/Shareholders Protecting Mattel Assets All employees and Directors share in the responsibility to protect Mattels assets, including physical assets, financial assets, intellectual property and proprietary information from theft, loss, damage, misuse or waste. Those of them who have custody of company property, such as vehicles and laptop computers, should take appropriate measures to ensure their proper security and use.

The Conflicting Societies in Lord of the Flies Essay -- Lord of the Fl

The Conflicting Societies in Lord of the Flies Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many different conflicting societies develop. These groups of young English schoolboys have conflicts between them for many different reasons. Some of them are so spread apart in age that their beliefs and actions are very different. Other groups are conflicting because they have different opinions about who the leader of the entire group should be. The groups also argue about what their priorities should be while trapped on the island. These conflicts continue to grow until the very end, when one group finally gains supremacy. From the very beginning it can be seen that the boys have already begun to divide into two groups. When Ralph calls the first meeting the boys have together by summoning them with a conch shell, he decides they should vote on a leader. A boy named Jack Merridew thinks that he should be the chief because he is "chapter chorister and head boy." (22) Another boy nominates Ralph for leader, because he is the one that called for the meeting. When it comes time to vote, the choir members vote for Jack, while all the other boys vote for Ralph. After he is elected leader, Ralph tells Jack that he is in charge of his choir. Jack tells Ralph that they will be the hunters, and Ralph agrees. This causes the boys to be divided into one group led by Ralph, and the hunting group made up of the choir members, led by Jack Merridew. Being organized and civilized is very important to Ralph. He dec... ...cause a Navy ship spots the fire, and rescues the boys. The novel Lord of the Flies shows how one group, when put under certain circumstances, can be completely transformed. The group starts out as a group of schoolboys who try to work together in order to survive. They try to use the skills they have been taught as civilized human beings to do whatever they can to be rescued. However, things fall apart very quickly. They lose sight of what they are trying to accomplish, and lose hope of being rescued. The evil nature within the boys comes through, taking over their minds. All they can think about now is hunting and killing. Even the most responsible ones are transformed into savages, or they are murdered.

Existentialism in Catcher in the Rye Essays -- Catcher Rye Essays

Existentialism in Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye creates an existentialist out of Holden Caulfield by giving him a strong personal opinion, a different sense of view, and isolation. Holden's individuality and his different way of thinking creates within him an Existentialist that refuses to accept weakness but holds sympathy for the weak and vulnerable. The basis for these beliefs lies within the most commonly identifiable theme of existentialism, which states that the philosophy stresses the concrete individual existence along with the individual freedom and choice. It also stands on the idea of moral individualism, in which one must choose his own way without the aid of universal, objective standards. His views also coincide with those of many famous people who have shared the same ideas, including Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. The Catcher in the Rye demonstrates existentialism by having the main character, Holden Caulfield, isolate himself from a world full of "p...

The Tragedy of Fraternity Hazing :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument

The Tragedy of Fraternity Hazing Hazing (subjecting newcomers to abusive or humiliating tricks and ridicule) has always been seen as a secretive campus activity when it comes to fraternities and pledging. As a result, Dr. Mark Taff resorted in his article that, "..a series of 168 cases of injuries and deaths related to fraternity hazing activities...[occurred] in the United States between 1923 and 1982" (2113). Young college men are being hospitalized and even worse, dying, just for a couple of friends that give them a sense of belonging. The major causes of hazing are the students' wanting a sense of belonging in a big college campus, the college's infrequent knowledge of what occurs in fraternities, and the unwillingness of fraternities to change tradition. Since hazing has been around for more than a century, one cannot expect the practice of hazing to stop all together. It will probably take years before hazing perishes from the fraternity scene. Nevertheless, until an end is put to hazing, solutions can be used to make hazing less common, until it no longer exists. These solutions that may be able to put an eventual stop to hazing, in the long run, are better education about fraternity hazing, stricter laws to prevent hazing from occurring, and more intervention from college administrators. Stories of hazing incidents are all too common in the news media today. It would not be out of the ordinary, upon opening the newspaper, to read the testimony of some fraternity pledges "'We were taken to a deserted park and blindfolded...We sat on our knees for an hour. Then they began slapping us on the back of our necks, real hard, and then they started pouring hot wax down our back'" (Milloy CL). Also, an article stating that "...A sophomore at Alfred University in New York was locked in a car trunk with two others and told to drink a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, wine and a six-pack of beer, one wintry night in 1978. He died of alcohol poisoning and exposure" (O'Connor 32). Fraternities are getting away with hazing practices, every single day. If a stranger did this to a civilian, they would automatically be arrested and imprisoned. The humiliations of hazing are said to build bonds between pledges and fraternity brothers. According to fraternity beliefs, the theory goes, if you and a couple of friends go through fraternity initiations, drinking excessive amounts of beer and being beaten by fraternity members etc. The Tragedy of Fraternity Hazing :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument The Tragedy of Fraternity Hazing Hazing (subjecting newcomers to abusive or humiliating tricks and ridicule) has always been seen as a secretive campus activity when it comes to fraternities and pledging. As a result, Dr. Mark Taff resorted in his article that, "..a series of 168 cases of injuries and deaths related to fraternity hazing activities...[occurred] in the United States between 1923 and 1982" (2113). Young college men are being hospitalized and even worse, dying, just for a couple of friends that give them a sense of belonging. The major causes of hazing are the students' wanting a sense of belonging in a big college campus, the college's infrequent knowledge of what occurs in fraternities, and the unwillingness of fraternities to change tradition. Since hazing has been around for more than a century, one cannot expect the practice of hazing to stop all together. It will probably take years before hazing perishes from the fraternity scene. Nevertheless, until an end is put to hazing, solutions can be used to make hazing less common, until it no longer exists. These solutions that may be able to put an eventual stop to hazing, in the long run, are better education about fraternity hazing, stricter laws to prevent hazing from occurring, and more intervention from college administrators. Stories of hazing incidents are all too common in the news media today. It would not be out of the ordinary, upon opening the newspaper, to read the testimony of some fraternity pledges "'We were taken to a deserted park and blindfolded...We sat on our knees for an hour. Then they began slapping us on the back of our necks, real hard, and then they started pouring hot wax down our back'" (Milloy CL). Also, an article stating that "...A sophomore at Alfred University in New York was locked in a car trunk with two others and told to drink a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, wine and a six-pack of beer, one wintry night in 1978. He died of alcohol poisoning and exposure" (O'Connor 32). Fraternities are getting away with hazing practices, every single day. If a stranger did this to a civilian, they would automatically be arrested and imprisoned. The humiliations of hazing are said to build bonds between pledges and fraternity brothers. According to fraternity beliefs, the theory goes, if you and a couple of friends go through fraternity initiations, drinking excessive amounts of beer and being beaten by fraternity members etc.

Perceived Aspects Required in an Ideal System of Education

An ideal system of education requires distinct characteristics. Our education system today is not quite perfect. All education institutions share a common goal. The goal is for all the students to gain knowledge that they didn't have before in order to compete in the real world. Morowitz wrote that many people believe â€Å"education is a method of transferring knowledge from master to pupil. The majority of people believe this is â€Å"obtaining education. † There is more to the concept that â€Å"students are depositories† and the â€Å"teachers are the depositor. ( Paule Friere ) The success of the students are directly connected to the environment he is surrounded. A perfect education system has to start with a comfortable environment. The teacher also has to be knowledgeable and not believe in the myth that â€Å"teachers justifies their own existence through their students ignorance absolute. â€Å"(Paule Friere) A perfect institution of education should be able to accommodate cultural change, diversity, have a strict curriculum with alternative teaching strategies, and promotes interaction among their peers. In 1998, a television program called â€Å"60 Minutes†, aired a special investigation of the United States educational system when compared to the educational system of China and Germany. The results of this investigation surprised many citizens of the U. S. , including myself. According to 60 minutes, the United States system of education is failing tremendously when compared to other to Germany and China. They found a direct connection between the failure of U. S. students and the teaching methods the U. S. imposes on them. Also, the success of the student†s of China and Germany shared a similar philosophy. China and Germany greatly promotes â€Å"interaction† between the students at a very young age. In America, the students are more interested in individual success. American students learn to become a distinct â€Å"individual†. These students†s believe that this â€Å"individuality† is what defines them. Everyone is constantly competing against one another, trying to create an identity for themselves. A junior in high school may think that working at â€Å"Mcdonald†s† makes him a â€Å"MAN†; while in China and Germany, their students are probably training for a better job in the future. Very few American students are being introduced to â€Å"group work† and the concept of â€Å"interaction† among their classmates. They don†t realize the strong bonding that occurs when people share and discuss ideas because the United States doesn†t realize it either. Inversely, in Germany and China, the concept of group work is greatly stressed. They believe it leads to a much greater benefit. As 60 minutes investigated, they found out that students in Germany and China have higher test scores than American students, there are less crimes, and the percentage of unemployment is extremely small. These students learn at a very young age to get along with one another, to share ideas, and to resolve their conflicts in a non-violent fashion. The broader view of Germany and China is that interaction among students at an early age, promotes a more civil society in the picture. While America is more interested in individuality, China and Germany are investing in the future with the concept of â€Å"group work†. China and Germany†s outlook on the future with the promotion of â€Å"teamwork† is why their educational system is so successful when compared to America†s educational system. In a perfect educational system, interaction among students will greatly be encouraged. Teachers are a very important element in successfully transferring knowledge from the teacher to the pupil. In this institution, teachers are not allowed to believe that they are superior to the students. When this occurs, and the inequality sets in, the student will be hesitant to ask questions about subjects they don't understand. When a student does this, he is unintentionally hurting himself. He will not have gain and understand the true meaning of what is being taught by the teacher because he is more focused on the educational gap between the student and teacher. The student needs to able to question everything that is being taught. By using the Socratic method, students will understand topics rather than believing what other people are saying. There needs to be a respectful relationship between the student and teacher. The student respects the teacher and the teacher respects the student equally. This relationship between student and teacher is very important journey of obtaining knowledge. There should be no other kinds of relationship. The only acceptable form is through the connection that they both share as being teacher and being student. Next, the teacher need to responsible for the materials they are covering. They need to be fluent or else the student will have doubts about the material and ultimately the teacher. The more secure the teacher is with his material the more the student will trust the material and the teacher. If a teacher is not confident and prepared, there will be doubts that will be raised in the minds of the student. More importantly, the teacher will need to care about the student and guide them towards their goal. In â€Å"A Cub-Pilot†s Experience,† by Mark Twain, Mr. Bixby, the instructor is determined to teach Twain how to pilot a steamboat through the river. Bixby does not use force but instead lets Twain gradually realize that he is learning. All Bixby does is guide Twain but he lets Twain makes his own mistakes and learn from it. Like Bixby, all teachers need to know when to step aside so that the student can make progress and help the student up when he fails. The most beneficial qualities of an excellent teacher are the ability to care for the student and the encouragement teachers provide for the students. Teachers are just an extension of parents; caring and encouragement are two characteristics of parents. The next important element in a perfect educational institution, is the curriculum. There needs to be a flexible curriculum that accommodates all the different intellectual abilities of all the students. Not all the students will have the same learning capabilities. Some students may have a learning disability and others may be genuinely intelligent. The curriculum is strict but still is flexible enough to accommodate each individual student. The actual courses need to be comprehensive. The subjects being studied needs to be updated constantly by the teachers. A perfect institution will have all area of studies accessible to the students. Any particular major or subject will be left to the students to decide. When they do decide what they want to study, there will be the necessary courses to cover that major. In order for a student to pass a course, he needs to be able to teach the information he learned in that course. This teaching method is very important. If a student is able to teach something then that student truly understands it. This method of testing the knowledge of the student should be the final examination for every course. This method is more valid than the constant â€Å"question and answer† method being used today, which promotes temporarily memorization. The next ingredient in a perfect institution is the actual environment itself. Many people are influenced by their surrounding. An intellectual community needs to look like an intellectual community. It will be located in an area, which is safe. The students need to feel comfortable. A comfortable learning environment leads to the success of the students. There should be no distractions that will keep the student from learning. In addition, the institution needs to be culturally diverse. All different nationalities will be accepted. There will no forms of discrimination. An Asian person is equal in every respect to Caucasian. On the basis of acceptance to this institution, a student†s character and ambition are the most important qualities. Grades will not be extremely important as it is now. With all of these characteristics, the student†s should be able to concentrate on obtaining their education. Though the task of creating and maintaining a perfect institution is a difficult task, it can be created. People need to come together with this structure and guideline in mind. The educated ones need to continue to educate others. In Plato†s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave,† Plato wrote that people who see the light and understand the true meaning of something, do not want to associate themselves with the uneducated ones. This will not happen in a perfect institution. Plato also wrote, â€Å"A well governed city becomes a possibility only if you can discover a better way of life for your future rulers than holding office. † (page 83) This realization is extremely important to future students. Educated people need to think of the future and society as a whole. They need to help educate others, just as others, educated them. If all of these characteristics are met in an institution, then that institution can be labeled, â€Å"perfect. â€Å"

Mercedes Benz All Activity Vehicle Essay

The target costing case literature contains numerous examples of Japanese cost management practices; however, few cases describe the use of target costing by large companies outside Japan. The purpose of the Mercedes-Benz AAV case is to consider the competitive environment of a leading German automotive manufacturer and the company’s response to changing competitive conditions. The teaching plan generally follows the suggested student assignment questions. In places, I recommend considering additional material during the case discussion. These questions are identified by a check mark. Student Assignment Questions 1. What is the competitive environment faced by MB? Students will identify a number of changes, including significant market share lost to Japanese companies such as Lexus. Stress the importance of a cultural change taking place within top management at Mercedes. Reinforce that Mercedes is a company that had never lost money. They simply built the best car their engineers could design and priced it above cost. Demand often exceeded supply. As a result, cost had never been a primary consideration. Changes include: cost competition; product innovation. 2. How has MB reacted to the changing world market for luxury automobiles? Students should identify the following changes implemented by management at Mercedes; try to get them to explain how different these approaches were from traditional strategies at Mercedes: many new product introductions; partnering with suppliers; reduced system complexity; new emphasis on cost control; layers of management reduced; lead time from concept to introduction reduced. 3. Using Cooper’s cost, quality, functionality chart, discuss the factors on which MB competes with other automobile producers such as Jeep, Ford, and GM. If the instructor wishes to give a brief mini-lecture on Robin Cooper’s  survival triplet and confrontation strategy, this is a good point in the case discussion to do so. (Robin Cooper, When Lean Enterprises Collide, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1995.) The factors are: price-at mid to upper range of zone; quality-at upper range of zone; functionality-at upper range of zone. An interesting point to discuss is that Mercedes does not produce the most expensive sports utility vehicle. This distinction is reserved for the Land Rover; however, they strategically placed themselves toward the luxury end of the spectrum. Also, unlike many Japanese examples, Mercedes does not use target costing as a strict cost control mechanism to produce the lowest priced product in its class. 4. How does the AAV project link with MB strategy in terms of market coverage? The new introductions expand the product line of the traditionally luxury-oriented manufacturer. Recent product introductions include the following: A class; C class; SLK; E class; M class. These new introductions include new sports cars and off-road vehicles. The C-class is a mid-sized vehicle sometimes referred to as the baby-Benz. Let’s discuss the elements of the target costing model and how these elements are developed. At this point in the discussion I usually write the target costing formula on the board and ask students to consider sources of various inputs: selling price; margin; target cost. What are the sources of input for the projected selling price? Students will most likely identify the following sources of information: customer focus groups comparable products: – existing; – potential. Stress the broad, cross-functional aspects of acquiring consumer information. To compare products, the company had to evaluate existing competitive vehicles as well as vehicles under development. What factors are considered when developing the required margin? This question provides a link to finance classes. Most students have studied the concepts of weighted-average cost of capital. I recommend spending a few minutes reviewing these concepts and linking cost of capital to net present value (NPV) analysis. Because of the capital-intensive structure of automobile manufacturing, production volume is a critical factor in determining each model’s NPV. Students may identify the following points for determining a required margin. long-run profitability; cost of capital; profitability across the entire product mix (classes of vehicles); sales volume by class. The MB case suggests the target cost is â€Å"alive.† Is this consistent with the ideals of target costing? I generally emphasize that Mercedes did not consider the target cost to be locked in. It was a moving target. As engineering changes became necessary, the target cost was allowed to move. However, before making a change, market forces were considered. For example, changes included the addition of side airbags. In addition, the European press was critical of a simulated wood-grain part. Management decided the part would remain plastic because costs could not be passed on to the consumer. The main point to emphasize is the design of the vehicle is dynamic; thus costs must evolve to reflect the changing design characteristics. 5. Explain the process of developing a component importance index. How can such an index guide managers in making cost reduction decisions? The index development process has five steps, as follows: consumer importance category rankings; target cost percentage by function group; category: function group matrix; importance index; target cost index; I recommend making slides of Tables 1-5 to facilitate discussion. Index development is an important element in the early conceptualization phase of the AAV. The indexes help to quantify some very abstract concepts. Table 1. From conversations with potential consumer groups, a list of key categories was developed. Next, potential customers were asked to rate the importance of each category. Their responses were computed as a percentage. Thus, safety and comfort of the AAV were viewed as significantly more important than economy and styling. Table 2 represents a rough estimate of the cost by function group and the relative percentage. The information is used later to create a target cost index. Table 3 is best understood by reading each category as a column. The rows explain the relative importance of each function group to satisfying each category defined by customers. An interesting aspect of this table is that the link between consumer preferences and engineering components is made explicit. Table 4 builds on Table 3 by weighting the percentages computed in Table 3 by the importance percentage calculated in Table 1. The key point is to understand which function groups contribute the most (least) to important (less important) consumer categories. Table 5 results in a target cost index that attempts to capture cost and benefit trade-offs. As discussed in the case, this index may indicate a cost in excess of the perceived value of a function group. Thus, opportunities for cost reduction (aligned with customer requirements) may be identified. 6. How does MB approach cost reduction to achieve target costs? At this point, ask students to identify various value-engineering strategies. At Mercedes, reducing the cost of each function group was accomplished by reducing costs of various components that make up the function group. Stress the importance of this approach over an â€Å"across-the-board† cut. 7. How do suppliers factor into the target costing process? Why are they so critically important to the success of the MB AAV? From the conceptual phase through the production phase, the suppliers of systems for the AAV truly were partners. Suppliers attended regular meetings with the cost planners throughout the entire process. Thus, suppliers were design and development partners from very early stages of development, responsible for meeting cost targets. Why is the relationship with suppliers a crucial element in the success of the AAV? Suppliers provide entire systems for the AAV. The facility uses a JIT production system. In fact, many suppliers deliver directly to the assembly line, rather than to a small warehouse. The Black Warrior River separated Mercedes and a major system supplier. This supplier built a new production facility on the same side of the river as the Mercedes Benz plant to avoid possible delays associated with accidents on a major bridge. 8. What role does the accounting department play in the target costing process? Stress the fact that accountants were watchdogs in the target costing process. Their primary responsibility was to ensure costs did not exceed targets during the production phase. Thus, the accountants’ role was as follows: cost control; actual vs. target: development stage; production stage. What are some of the organizational barriers that may challenge managers attempting to introduce TC systems? Try to get students to identify various impediments to target costing systems in the United States. Examples may include: willingness to share cost data with suppliers; suppliers treated as adversaries; government regulations affecting exchange of information.

Hardness Tests And Charpy Impact Test

TITLE Hardness Tests And Charpy Impact Test OBJECTIVE 1. To compare the hardness of the carbon steel, mild steel and ASSAB steel using three different hardness tests, which are Vickers Hardness Test, Rockwell Hardness Test and Brinell Hardness Test. 2. To study the hardness of mild steel, carbon steel and ASSAB which is an important in engineering to design structures or components that related in mechanical properties 3. To determine the resistance of carbon steel and mild steel against sudden impact by Charpy Impact Test. INTRODUCTION Hardness is a measure of a material’s resistance to localized plastic deformation.It also is one of the important properties to be considered. Mechanical properties of metals are a vital of engineering to design the components which using predetermined materials such that unacceptable levels of deformation and failure will not occur. Hardness is a resistance of properties of material to permanent (plastic) deformation caused by steel ball or py ramid-shape diamond when it is pressed onto its surface. There will be three basic method of Hardness Test that will be carried out on carbon and metal: (a) Vickers Test (b) Rockwell Test (c) Brinell Test THEORY 1. Vickers TestVHN = Applied load / Surface area of depression = = 1. 854 P/ d2 (approximate) Where P = applied load (kgf) d = (d1+ d2) / 2 (mm) 2. Rockwell Test HRC = 100 – d /0. 002 HRB = 130 – d /0. 002 Where d = depth of the indentation 3. Brinell Test BHN = Applied force / curve area of indentation P / D/2 [D – (D? – d? )] = P / Dh WhereP = applied load (kgf) D = diameter of steel ball (mm) d = diameter of resulting indentation (mm) h = depth of indentation (mm) = ? [D – (D? – d? )] APPARATUS 1. Set of Vickers Hardness Test Machine . Set of Rockwell Hardness Test Machine 3. Set of Brinell Hardness Test Machine SPECIMENS Mild steel, carbon steel and ASSAB steel A) VICKERS HARDNESS TEST From this method square shape pyramid diamon d 136 ° was press to surface of metal using some load (5kgf until 120kgf) under certain time (15 sec) and lastly the load will release. Square shape corner on the metal surface will be used. To obtain the value of hardness, Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) is calculated as below: VHN=Mass of the loadSurface area of depression =2PSin136 °2d2 =1. 854Fd2approximately Where, P=applied forcekgf d=d1+d22B) ROCKWELL HARDENESS TEST This method has 2 main scales which are: a) Scale B, concavity is a steel ball (1. 58 mm? ) and load using is 100 kgf. b) Scale C, concavity is a cone diamond having corner 120 ° and load is 150 kgf. Rockwell hardness (HR) can be calculated as equation below: HRC=100-d0. 002 HRB=130-d0. 002 Where d=concavity C) BRINELL HARDNESS TEST From brinell hardness test, the harden steel ball has good diameter, D under the load and certain time will be use to get diameter concavity effect,d. BHN=LoadArea of concavity =PD2D2-d2 =P? Dh Where, P=loadkgf D=diameter of the st eel ballmm =diameter concavity effectmm H=internal concavity effectmm =12D-D2-d2 PROCEDURE a) Vickers Hardness Test 1. The specimen (Mild Steel) is put on the anvil of the Vickers hardness machine precisely. 2. The sample is focused until the lines on the surface of the sample can be observed clearly. 3. The focal lens of the microscope is turned to the indenter. 4. The indenter is then pressed into the sample. 5. The test force is maintained for a specific dwell time of about 15 seconds. 6. The indenter is removed when the dwell time is complete. 7. The square shape is appears on the surface of the sample. . The indenter is then turned back to the focal lens. 9. The size of the indent is determined by measuring the two diagonals of the square indent. 10. Step 1 to 9 is repeated for five times by using the same sample but at different part of the sample. 11. Step 1 to 10 is then repeated by using different sample, which is carbon steel. 12. All the readings taken are recorded in a t able. b) Rockwell Hardness Test 1. The sample of ASSAB steel is placed exactly on the anvil. 2. The anvil is wound slowly until the LED begins moving to ‘SET’ and the test is started automatically. 3.The indenter moves down into the position of the part surface of the sample. 4. The load is then applied on the sample for a specific dwell time of 15 seconds. 5. The readings taken are recorded from the indenter machine. 6. Step 1 to 5 is repeated for five times by using the same sample but at different part of the sample. 7. Step 1 to 6 is then repeated by using different sample of carbon steel. 8. All the readings taken are recorded in a table. c) Brinell Hardness Test 1. The sample of mild steel is placed accurately on the anvil. 2. The anvil is wound slowly until the edge of the indenter touches the surface of the specimen. . A handle on the right side of the testing machine is lifted slowly until the gauge shows 1000kgf. 4. The indenter is pressed on the sample by an accurately controlled force for about 15 seconds of dwell time. 5. The indenter is removed slowly after 15 seconds, leaving a round indent in the sample. 6. The diameter of the indent is taken by measuring two diagonals of the round indent by using a portable microscope. 7. Step 1 to 6 is repeated for two times for the same sample but at different portion of the sample. 8. Step 1 to 7 is repeated for another sample of carbon steel. RESULT VICKERS HARDNESS TESTMild Steel Mild Steel| Reading| Diameter,D1( µm)| Diameter,D2( µm)| Average( µm)| VHN| 1| 409. 0| 409. 8| 409. 4| 111| 2| 395. 2| 395. 2| 395. 2| 119| 3| 402. 5| 404. 2| 403. 35| 114| 4| 401. 1| 402. 3| 401. 7| 115| 5| 371. 7| 364. 3| 368. 0| 137| Average| 119. 2| Carbon Steel| Reading| Diameter,D1( µm)| Diameter,D2( µm)| Average( µm)| VHN| 1| 282. 4| 368. 1| 325. 25| 245| 2| 271. 2| 269. 0| 270. 10| 254| 3| 292. 6| 291. 0| 291. 80| 218| 4| 313. 5| 306. 2| 309. 85| 195| 5| 293. 4| 292. 6| 293. 00| 216| Average| 225. 6| ROCKWELL HARDENSS TEST Carbon Steel Reading| HRC| HV| 1| 24. 9| 265. 4| 2| 27. | 280. 4| 3| 27. 0| 279. 0| 4| 28. 3| 288. 4| 5| 28. 2| 287. 6| Average | 27. 12| 280. 16| ASSAB Steel Reading| HRC| HV| 1| 56. 9| 631. 0| 2| 57. 5| 643. 0| 3| 57. 4| 641. 0| Average | 57. 27| 638. 33| BRINELL HARDNESS TEST Mild Steel Reading| Diameter ,d(mm)| BHN| 1| 3. 5| 101| 2| 3. 6| 95| 3| 3. 5| 101| Average| 3. 53| 99| Carbon Steel Reading| Diameter ,d(mm)| BHN| 1| 2. 75| 165| 2| 2. 5| 200| 3| 2. 7| 271| Average| 2. 65| 212| DISCUSSION a) Vickers Hardness Test 1. From this experiment, we can conclude that the higher the Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) of a specimen, the harder the specimen is.We had being tested two specimen which is Carbon steel and Mild steel for Vickers hardness Test. Carbon steel has an average VHN of 225. 6 while the mild steel has an average VHN of 119. 2. This means that carbon steel is harder compared to mild steel. 2. The carbon steel is harder than mild steel because the re is a presence of carbon atoms within the atoms of the structure. When the external force is applied, the carbon atoms prevent the atoms in the structure into sliding over and slipping. b) Rockwell Hardness Test 1. From the Rockwell hardness test, we can conclude that the higher the HRC number of a specimen, the harder the specimen is. . ASSAB steel is a type of alloy steel and thus its composition is much different than that of carbon steel, causing it to possess higher hardness compared to carbon steel. 3. From the result obtained, ASSAB steel has an average HRC number of 57. 27 where as carbon steel has an average HRC number of 27. 12. This mean that AASAB steel is harder compared to the high quality carbon steel. c) Brinell Hardness Test 1. For two specimens which carbon steel and mild steel is being tested with brinell hardness test. The BHN values are obtained. The values are depends on the diameter of the indentation caused. 2.We can conclude that the higher the value of th e BHN, the harder the specimen is. 3. From the results, carbon steel has an average BHN of 212 while mild steel only as an average BHN of 99. This confirms that carbon steel is harder than mild steel. 4. Furthermore, the values of BHN obtained might be not accurate because of the limitation that caused human errors. It is difficult for the observer to note the exact diameter of the indentation through the microscope. CONCLUSION In conclusion, from the results we obtained, it is conclude that ASSAB steel is the hardest material, followed by carbon steel and then mild steel.The hardness of the steel is mainly affected by its composition and percentage of carbon. Carbon steel is absorbed energy is lower than the mild steel. Carbon steel is a brittle material compared to mild steel because of the higher percentage of carbon present in the steel. Thus, fractures almost immediately upon sudden impact. 2. Charpy impact test INTRODUCTION The Charpy Impact Test is the most commonly used test to determine material’s resistance to the impact or sudden fracture where a sharp stress raiser is present.Toughness is a measure of the ability of a material to absorb energy up of fracture. For dynamic (high strain rate) loading conditions and when a notch is present, notch toughness is assessed by using an impact test. Material that experiences very little or no plastic deformation upon fracture is termed brittle whereas material that experiences great deformation upon fracture is termed ductile. The fracture surfaces for brittle material, which has low-energy impact failure, are generally smooth, and in metals have a crystalline appearance.But for ductile material which has high energy fracture, has regions of shear where the fracture surface is inclined about 45o to the tensile stress, and they have in general a rougher, more highly appearance, called fibrous fracture. THEORY 45? 2 mm 45 mm 10 mm 30? Figure 1 45? 2 mm 45 mm 10 mm 30? Figure 1 In Charpy impact test, the specimen are arrange as shown in the above picture and every specimen is prepare will has a notch at the centre of the specimen and the hammer will clout at the region of the notch i. e. stress concentration point.The hammer is release from a specific high which the initial energy having by the hammer is 300J. The scale will show the energy absorbs by each specimen after the experiment and it is recorded. APPARATUS Charpy testing machine SPECIMENS Mild steel and carbon steel PROCEDURE 1. Mild steel and Carbon steel is used in this test. 2. The load was applied as an impact blow from a weighted pendulum hammer that was released from a cocked position at a fixed height. 3. The specimen was positioned at the base of the machine. 4.Upon release, a knife-edge mounted on the pendulum strikes and fractures the specimen at the notch, which acts as a point of stress concentration for this high velocity impact blow. 5. After the weighted pendulum hammer has swung to its original position, the specimen was removed from the vice and its fracture surface was observed. RESULT Specimen| Energy Absorbed / J| Mild Steel| 299| Carbon Steel| 30| DISCUSSION 1. In this experiment, we can see that the energy absorbed by mild steel (299J) is higher compared to the energy absorbed by carbon steel (30J).This shows that carbon steel is a more brittle material and mild steel is a more ductile material. 2. According to the result which energy absorbed by mild steel is higher and it is more ductile. In addition, carbon steel is a brittle due to presence of the carbon atoms in steel. The presence of these carbon atoms provide resistance for plastic deformation to occur by preventing atoms in the steel to slip and slide over each other. The high percentage of carbon atoms reduces the ability of the steel to absorb energy upon impact. 3.As we observe the experiment that we had done in lab, the carbon steel breaks almost immediately when subjected to sudden impact whereas the mild steel shows only deformation and did not fracture. 4. Besides the area where the carbon steel fractures is shinny and smooth which shows that it fractures without much deformation. 5. The diagram below shows fracture surface of the mild steel. 6. The diagram below indicates the fracture surface of the carbon steel. Based on the results, it is clear that the ductility of mild steel is higher than carbon steel.The presence of carbon in carbon steel has minimized its ability to absorb energy from the impact. CONCLUSION In conclusion, we can conclude that mild steel has a high level of ductility than carbon steel. Mild steel is tougher than carbon steel. REFERENCE 1. William F. Smith and Javad Hashemi â€Å"Foundation of Materials Science and Engineering† McGraw Hill, 2005 2. David D. Rethwish and William D. Callister â€Å"Fundamentals of Material Science and Engineering†, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 3. Lab worksheet 4. Rollesen â€Å"Metallurgy For Engineering†, ms 15