The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

RISK CASE STUDY – ASSIGNEMENT 2 August 3, 20111 THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER Risk Management Plan 1. Risk management plan summarizes risk management approach, list methodologies and processes, defines everyone’s role – definition of risk management plan. NASA was using for the most part qualitative risk assessment process. Launch of the shuttle was allowed as long as aggregate risk remained acceptable. Quantitive method was applied for risk assessment because if the complex procedures (like data gathering) were in place NASA would be buried with paperwork.NASA’s culture was flying with acceptable risk. There was Risk Management Plan in place for NASA because there was risk assessment and protocols in place but due to excessive nature of most of NASA’ projects waivers became a way of conducting business. As described in the NASA Handbook, hazards (risks) were analyzed and overseen by the Senior Safety Review Board. Each identified risk was c lassified by an established system, based on both the risk’s level of criticality on a scale of one to three (C1, C1R, C2, C2R, and C3).However, their review process contended that no single risk or combination of risks would be enough to prevent a launch, as long as the aggregate risk remained at an acceptable level. 2. The Risk Management Plan was not followed. Methods used to gather data to assess risk were expensive and labour intensive and so were the procedures (Flight Readiness Reviews. To keep up with mission manifest schedule – 16 flights per year any) issues had to be resolved fast (waivers).Once a risk was declared acceptable, it was overlooked during future mission planning sessions. Additionally, they didn’t have proper procedures for evaluating the impact of unknown risks (i. e. the ice problem). Lastly, protocol stated that one risk or one person’s concern was not enough to cancel the launch. A no launch recommendation by one party could ha ve been overruled by the launch director. 3. Differences: a. Risk Management Plan is the outcome of Plan Risk Management Process and describes how risk management is structured and performed.It includes methodology (approach, tools, data source), roles and responsibilities (lead, support), budget (resources, protocol for contingency resource), timing (when and how often process is performed), risk categories (RBS), definition of risk probability and impact (high, medium, low), probability and impact matrix, risk stakeholders’ tolerance. b. Quality Assurance Plan describes how quality assurance will be performed within project to allow for reducing â€Å"waste† and eliminating processes that do not add value.It is meant to increase level of efficiency. c. Safety Plan A safety plan is an organized system of rules and guidelines used to maintain safe work environment. 4. Pressure to meet schedule – sixteen flights a year in 1986 meant that all involved will have to face paperwork constraints related to flight readiness assessment. Personnel and contractors were working overtime already trying to fill out all necessary paperwork related to problem solving, investigations and last flight updates.Waivers were part of NASA protocols to bypass all of this plus they were a way to indicated that risk was acceptable. Number of flight per year was critical to designing risk management plan because of all similarities between flights like temperature; launch condition could become predictable factors to determine acceptable risk. Risk Identification 5. Risk is uncertain event associated with work, it is a loss multiplied by likelihood that may have impact on the project. There are three common categories of risks: controllable knowns, uncontrollable knowns, and unknowns.Anomaly is a deviation from the standard. Project manager and team define a baseline and decide the difference based on definition of anomaly provided by subject matter experts (enginee rs). 6. NASA had Flight Readiness Review few days prior to flight. Risk identification at NASA was conducted by Senior Safety Review Board. In majority of cases risk assessment process was qualitative. If aggregate risk remained acceptable launch should happen. Hazard were analyzed and subjected to formalized hazard reduction process I in NASA handbook.Quantitative method of risk assessment was not applied because they were expensive and time consuming. Technical experts were not involved enough in any of the discussions. 7. In order to resolve any differences we need to list them and quantify them first which never happened in case of Challenger. Customer is always right and ultimately his decision overrules but contactor must provide as accurate data as possible based on analysis. Every recognized risk has different weight and some of them thru brainstorming can be resolved or even eliminated. 8.Upper management needs to be committed to project of such a huge scale and support it. They should be informed about individual risks and it is up to project manager to provide true information about project. It seems that culture of NASA accepted waiver as a way to determine acceptable risk and considered then as a part of official protocol. 9. Risk associated with any chosen method should be classified based on cost (budget), safety and technology (design) and overall impact on the mission. Challenger did not have either solid political support or direction.Cost became the most critical component in decision making. Sold fuel systems were cheaper but also less safe. They require less research and development but were designed for reusability. 10. Politically motivated trade-offs are impossible to control by PM and his/her team. There is a pressure to for government to deliver promise or a need to see where all funding went. All PM has is data and measurements based on research, analysis and historical lessons. There should be a limit where safety becomes impossible to trade.This is where government agenda should not applied because risk of losing lives is too high to trade. 11. NASA was under pressure from government and by the same token pressured contractor (Thiokol). Funding was inconsistent, expectations were very high and there was no clear direction where space program was going and flying manifest was beyond capabilities of personnel should he chose to follow all procedures. Risk was calculated in every decision. 12. Risk Management plan is evolving document as project goes on. different phases should be recorded in Risk Register and 2 separated risk assessments conducted because each phase faces different risks. Identifying risk will help us analyze triple constraint factors. Both risk assessments are equally important. Risk Quantification 13. Given the complexity of Space Shuttle Program it is necessary to address individually each technical aspect of the risk. In some cases lesson learned from previous experience with shuttles can b e applied to other program given that conditions like weather, resistance to high temperature or fuel type.Certain measurements can be applied to all space shuttle programs. Qualitative risk evaluation could be used at the beginning of the project to sort out level of each risk. Quantitative risk would be possible if there full support from upper management (government), budget and methodologies were in place. Both methodologies are equally valuable in complex project like Challenger. 14. There were 3 separate ice inspections conducted on the site and ice team responsibility was to remove any ice. First inspection delayed launch due to presence of ice on launch pad.Second inspection discovered still significant presence of ice on launch site and it was determined take off was unsafe. Falling ice could damage heat tiles on the Orbiter. Third inspection still found significant ice presences on the launch pad. 3 major concerns of the ice-on-the-pad issue: launch objection due to the we ather, ice on the pad was unknown effect on the ignition and debris were considered potential flight safety hazard, freeze protection plan for launch pad 39B was inadequate. Ice was considered a potential problem. 15.Risk quantification allows preparing better for potential risks. Contractors provide data but it is decision of the customer whether to take some of all data under consideration when making decision. To resolve a matter of dispute, the customer and contractor should collaborate. If there is no agreement customer decides what approach to take. 16. Senior management needs to be presented with information in easy to understand form – in case of Shuttle short movie presenting what would happen on impact. Only potential problem made it all the way up to higher management not the critical ones.None of the recommendations from Thiokol were passed to upper management. There were no established procedures that all risk data cannot be modified by any member of the team wit hout proper access and expertise. 17. It was quantitative system but issuing waivers very often made it useless because they by-passed some of the recommendations. Lessons learned were not used by Thiokol regarding temperature at launch which was supposed to be 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Thiokol engineers tried to quantify some of the risks based on historical information regarding blow-bys and temperatures. 18.No, there were no probabilities assigned to risk like putty, temperature, rings although there was some historical data available. There were not enough details to develop probabilities and metrics to rely on. Engineers could not determine direct correlation between factors. Risk Response (Handling) 19. Size of the company, available budget, company culture and overall resource decide what constitutes acceptable risk. It depends on tolerance of individual company to determine if risk is acceptable. 20. Project manager is always responsible for success and/or failure of the projec t.If there is another body in the company responsible for handling risk on larger, company scale it should be consulted as well. 21. According to PMBOK there are 4 risk responses and all of them were used: acceptance (consequences were acceptable), avoidance (re-scheduling take off), control (type of aborts and their respective landing sites) and transfer (hiring Thiokol as contractor to transfer risks). 22. There was an abort due to bad weather and ice which was correct response. NASA decided to launch in spite of C1R which meant 2 components failure (both main and secondary ring booster are the same type).This is not a correct response to existing risk. This decision was made without any regard for possible consequences of component failure. 23. Subject matter experts and upper management and technical consultants with the knowledge of space technology. Astronauts should be consulted as well since they risk their lives and are in immediate danger. 24. Every project should have ris k response mechanism included in risk management plan. All data gathered from SME and specialist in the field should be taken under consideration when developing risk response mechanism.When team cannot agree on it senior management who is ultimately responsible has final saying. 25. Astronauts with technical experience and knowledge should have been consulted. Christa McAuliffe as an example would not contribute anything valuable because her knowledge wasn’t in space shuttle design discipline and she did not have any previous experience flying either. They have accepted the risk already when they agreed to fly – no need to re-assure it. Astronauts are all volunteers and understand that safety is space is never 100% guaranteed.In my opinion it is safety staff that should have been included primarily. No safety representative or quality assurance officer was included in any of the decisions (or during the take-off). 26. Waivers were a way of bypassing official protocols in order to maintain schedule. It was a form of acceptance. 27. Waivers were standard operating procedures – they are type of active acceptance – â€Å"the wrong thing can be done to solve the problem because its solution was not clearly thought out under pressure in the heat of the moment† 8. Yes! Schedule pressures made managers less willing to acknowledge possible risks. Despite the fact the temperature was not favourable (as required minimum of 50 degrees Fahrenheit), Thiokol & NASA decided to go ahead with the launch to meet their desired planned schedule. Political pressure affected all responsible parties. 29. The risk response mechanism utilized by managers at Thiokol and NASA was Acceptance. They were fully aware of the potential risk however they decided seat back and see what happens. 30.The Engineers did not do everything to convince the management to stop of the launch. After failing to convince the management they decided to take a passive app roach of â€Å"wait and see what happens next† while they knew the results will be catastrophic. To make matters worse, Engineer Boisjoly changed his expert professional opinion after was told put on his management hat. 31. Though NASA claims that its top priority is the safety of the crew and equipment, it did violate its responsibility to ensure safety of the crew in spite of the evidence that was presented to them by the engineers.They played Russian roulette with human lives. Final findings though confirmed that pressure caused rational men make irrational decisions. 32. YES! NASA was completely aware that the temperature was not favourable for launch (as required minimum of 40 degrees Fahrenheit) however still went ahead with the launch to meet their desired planned schedule. The O-Rings had never been tested below freezing temperatures before & did not meet the 40 degrees below qualification temperature. Risk Control 33.Documentation is crucial and must to be thorou gh as part of risk management in order to identify all potential risks, keep a historical record data , reveal relevant information to the project to ensure project process are in compliant with the company’s goals. Depending on the complexity of the projects or programs company is involved quantity will differ. Excessive paperwork can be very discouraging to personnel. 34. There was no audit trail to the best of our knowledge. Thiokol had lessons learned regarding erosion, temperatures and blow-bys. 35.Thiokol noticed black soot and grease on the outside of the booster casing, caused by actual gas blow-by and had ordered new steel billets which would be used for a redesigned case field joint. This vital information should have been disclosed during the hour presentation granted to them which they mostly argued on the cold weather effects. 36. Hard facts speak to upper management better than anything. Presentation and SME opinions quoted within presentation would help to get upper management attention. 37. Again, facts, findings and lesson learned are powerful tools.Once team and upper management is aware that science doesn’t back up decision sole responsibility and pressure is taken off single person and transfer to the whole team. 38. There were 5 different communication and organization failures and 4 of them were directly related to safety program. Lack of problem reporting requirements, inadequate trend analysis, misinterpretation, lack of involvement in critical decisions. Safety organization should be better staffed and SUPPORTED. 39. Rockwell was prime contractor to build Orbiter. It was believed that Rockwell was not the best choice since it had not been involved in Apollo Program as others.Rockwell issued a â€Å"concern† about possible Orbiter damage due to the ice problem but they never stated they did not want to launch. They never said to NASA launch should be aborted due to unknown nature of the ice. It was never formally re corded that Rockwell objected. By making objection official there is paper trail that can be traced back should situation call for it. 40. Risks levels must be maintained completely at minimal before launching of the spaceship; however loss of human life should be avoided at all cost. The overall risk should have been between C2 & C3. 41.It is best to execute a presentation to the higher-ranking Management with adequate evidence of potential risks & the overall impact. In addition, outsource experienced experts who will back you up with their input in order to win a favourable decision. 42. The liability should be placed on the people who made final decision to launch while they fully aware fully of potential risks. Though the Thiokol engineers â€Å"cried for Help†, they were thwarted from pleading their case and the management went ahead supported NASA proceeding with the launch. Both Thiokol management & NASA should share the blame.

“Ozymandias” Themes Essay

The message or theme of the poem of â€Å"Ozymandias† is that man is insignificant and his efforts are vain when compared to the forces of time and nature. Shelly expertly uses diction in the poem to portray important ideas. By encompassing time and nature into a theme Shelley brings a divine sense to the poem. To consider the issue of the power of time and nature, the poet has the narrator reporting on a meeting with a traveler from ‘an antique land’ or Egypt, who told of seeing in the desert, the remains of a vast statue. Only the legs remained standing. The trunk was missing and the shattered face lay half buried in the sand, he told that the sculptor had skillfully captured the ‘frown, the wrinkled lip, and sneer’ on the ‘shattered visage’ through ‘passions well read.’ The importance of this traveler is that of symbolism. The traveler symbolizes the power that ‘Ozymandias’ has lost in his death. In health he was one of the most powerful people alive but now it takes a wandering traveler to spread a tale of the once great king. The power of nature is well represented by this part of the poem also. ‘Ozymandias’ told his subjects to ‘look on my works; ye Mighty, and despair!’ however, thanks to the power of nature there are barely and works left to look upon at all, let alone despair upon! It can be seen that nature has destroyed his works in the quotes, ‘shattered visage’ and ‘sand, half sunk.’ Thus the major theme of the poem is reavealed. The statue is described as a â€Å"colossal wreck boundless and bare† drawing a parallel for the reason in which it was built. The condition of the stones, descriptively worded by Shelley, only emphasizes the despair drawn into the stone by the sculptor’s hand. By using words such as â€Å"frown†, â€Å"sneer†, and â€Å"mocked†, the author provides us with a slight portrait of â€Å"Ozymandias.† It gives us a picture of a powerful king with no motivation or reason to smile. The phrase ‘cold command† portrays him as a militaristic leader that has seen more death and destruction than a whole army and has come to realize that even he is not able to compete with the Almighty. Shelley’s words â€Å"lifeless†, â€Å"decay†, and â€Å"wreck† apply not only to the statue the author is describing but also to the sculptor of the statue. These words encompass his entire being, and go far into bringing â€Å"Ozymandias alive in the reader. Shelley cunningly uses Nature and time to bring in the â€Å"Mighty† one. God is the only being that has been around since time and Nature began. He represents what â€Å"Ozymandias† could not achieve and that is immortality. â€Å"Ozymandias† did however leave a mark on the world but in time even that too will be overcome by the relentless forces of Nature and time that is God. In conclusion, the main themes of the poem are nicely summed up in mans insignificance to time and nature. Shelley also puts across the idea of despair superbly through delicate and subtle use of diction.

Saving the Publishing Industry Using Technology Case Study

Saving the Publishing Industry Using Technology - Case Study Example The case study also entails what the book publishers and newspaper industries have done, to ensure that there is no phasing out of their products due to internet use. Many opinions are in this case study which leads to change in their business models (Hendricks, 2011). The measures that the industries have taken to gain from the internet and e-books are in consideration, in the case, and the role that technology plays in ensuring that the newspaper and book publishing industries do not fail due to the internet are in the case study. Considering product design and sales following the value chain model, there is consideration of the internet which helps in the reduction of over 60 percent of new staff and another 60 percent of the newspaper on sale. There has been a decline in readership; this also applies to the number of advertisements. This is because there are alternative online sources including Yahoo, social blogs, and Google. This is according to the research by Martin & Tian (2 010). Considering the research and development aspect, the internet through online newspapers and books is a disruptive technology that has led to the destruction of traditional models of business that involve physical distribution and physical products. The book publishing industries and newspaper are changing their business models by sharing revenue with the partners of the internet including Yahoo and Google, so as to ensure that they generate some revenue as a result of their content is on the internet. There is fee charge for newspaper content delivered to news reading devices including e-readers, Smartphone, tablets, and IPads enabling online newspapers to read at any place according to Brown (2002). The book and newspaper industries are charging fees for news and opinion which are premium. Placing advertisements on online newspaper has been on the rage so as to increase the revenue from advertising.

Gambling and its effect on professional and college sports Essay

Gambling and its effect on professional and college sports - Essay Example However, humans are a unique and the only species on earth which is conscious as well as concerned about the future and their superior brain allows them to be predictive and speculative in nature. This extra ability allows humans to indulge in fantasy and speculation which is reflected in the phenomenon of gambling which has developed into an art over the years. In face of the stiff competition everybody tries to stay ahead of the other and subtle methods and means are employed to get an edge in one’ favor. Gambling is also an evil which has developed over the course of time and has assumed such proportions that it is legalized in some parts of the world. Everybody tries to chance their luck in order to get short term immediate monetary gains and thereby obtain temporary succor from the travails of life. Sports are an essential component of education and are incorporated into the course curriculum in order to eliminate the monotony of student life. People even opt for adopting sports as a career as it is a highly paying profession if one is capable of reaching the pinnacle in any of the sports disciplines. Collective efforts at the state and the national level are made to support their representative teams in various tournaments across the nation as well on the international platforms. The general public usually builds up euphoria and attachment with the local or the national team and this sometimes transforms into downright craze. This allows for the elements of wagering and bets in or against a particular team to develop. In fact the phenomenon has assumed the mantle of a business itself in the present era of online connectivity and rapid communication. In the United States sports wagering has assumed serious proportions and it has taken the form of a highly organized industry with statistics showing that almost 85% of the population indulges in

Prescriptive Approach to Business Strategy Formulation Essay

Prescriptive Approach to Business Strategy Formulation - Essay Example This essay describes main characteristics of the prescriptive approach to business strategy and compares it with the emergent approach. The present day business environment is largely characterized by the large scale fluctuations and turbulence in the business environment. This has called for an immediate need for business organizations to develop a strategic framework that seeks to generate competitive advantage. Prescriptive strategy is largely being rated by scholars and business strategists as a top down approach. Prescriptive strategies are usually framed by the top management and are largely applicable in stable business environments. These strategies are increasingly employed when customers have low bargaining power and it is easy to predict customer’s moves and motives. This strategy therefore cannot be used in times of turbulence. Since the top management is the sole decision maker in the prescriptive strategy making process hence the decision maker is segregated from the target market that makes these strategies largely ineffective in turbulent and fluctuating business environment. Prescriptive strategies normally are effective during stable conditions when the situations are largely stable and the market behavior can be easily analyzed. While prescriptive strategies may be beneficial in times of stable business environments however the emergent strategy framework with its bottom up approach and flexible nature scores well above the prescriptive approach in times of turbulence in the business markets.

The Financial Incentives within the SWDC Case Study - 11

The Financial Incentives within the SWDC - Case Study Example The Solid Waste Disposal Company is an organization popularly known for its successful services of providing land for waste disposal. It is one among other companies fighting for environmental sustainability. It provides a disposal ground, which can receive all types of waste products from all customers. The landfill, however, is far from the main company approximately 100 miles away. The distance from the landfill to the main company forced the manager, Don Morgan to organize a team of drivers who operate back and forth to the landfill area. The main challenge, which the drivers face is the limitation subjected to them concerning the financial incentives even if one exceed the expected number of tonnes set on the carriage. The way Don treats his employees is not just because he only considers one driver called Tim McGhee to be loyal and gives him a chance to work closer to the company. Although Tim is a loyal driver, it is not right for Don to fail to recognize the hard work of the other drivers. He has to recognize the struggle of other drivers to motivate them towards pleasing performance. Dealing with several teams as a manager in a company is challenging especially for one person. However, one can manage by ensuring equal treatment of all employees. Don experiences the challenge of balancing the incentives for his employees. He must ensure that the three team s receive equal incentives although, he should also consider awarding the best and loyal drivers, but in a fair manner. To better the teamwork of the drivers, he has to involve them when awarding the loyal employees; this will motivate the other employees to work hard to get the reward during the next event. The SWDC Company provides some incentives that do not cover the entire needs nor satisfy the employees’ requirements. The case of Tim shows that the employees have to struggle so much to meet their needs. He has to work overtime to get enough money for the bill for his hospitalized child.  

Individual academic and practical 'state-of-the-art' report Essay

Individual academic and practical 'state-of-the-art' report - Essay Example The perspective of the entrepreneur and the management of new venture is clearly seen through the fact that real entrepreneur should see the opportunity for creating and managing this venture. It is stated, that 'the fundamental activity of entrepreneurship is new venture creation'. (Carland, Hoy & Carland, 1988) However, it is also argumentative, whether this statement should be added with the more specific characteristics as for profitability of this enterprise. This is a dubious aspect, as ventures are initially different, and often entrepreneurship is meant for creation of non-profit enterprise, but in any case the recognition of the opportunity is the basic factor of entrepreneurship and is the start of new venture creation and management. This recognition of opportunity can be recognized through the two different views: a) the opportunity for the formation of a new venture; b) the opportunity for the significant improvement of the already existing venture. One of the most important perspectives of entrepreneurship in venture management is recognition of these opportunities, because on the one hand without this recognition new ventures would not be created or improved, and on the other hand, this recognition is the display of these very entrepreneurial characteristics of the person. Thus, they may partially be equated. However, entrepreneurship cannot be limited to the search and recognition of opportunities. It is of course an everlasting process in managing any new venture, because any action the entrepreneur has to take to improve or change the business is again the recognition of new opportunity for this change and improvement, as well as profitable use of this opportunity. 'Entrepreneurship is the process of identifying opportunities, marshalling the resources needed to take advantage of the opportunities, and creating a new venture for the purposes of providing needed products/ services to customers and achieving a profit.' (Fletcehr, 2006) It is meaningful, that the world 'entrepreneur' is taken from a French verb which is translated as 'to undertake'. The word 'undertaking' is core for defining the essence of entrepreneurship. It means that a person is able and willing to take certain steps on his (her) own initiative for the achievement of the certain set goals. Another perspective of the entrepreneur when managing new venture can be seen through the fact that entrepreneurship involves risks, and the risk of failure for new ventures is especially high. This is why in order to be successful in managing a new venture the entrepreneur should be able to take decisions and to tolerate the conditions of risk, not only surviving in them, but developing and expanding business. Venture entrepreneurship is somewhat different from the innovation entrepreneurship. (Aldrich & Martinez, 2001) While venture entrepreneurship is connected with the creation of the new ventures, and as a result, of new jobs and positive growth of GDP, innovation entrepreneurship will later be discussed in this work and is connected with the improvements made in already existing enterprises. Comparing these two kinds of entrepreneurship, it is appropriate to suggest that while newly created ventures are mostly small, but

Buddhist philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhist philosophy - Essay Example Another Buddhist element related to achieving the highest good is the belief that since suffering is a result of material longing and desire by eliminating material longing and desire, one can eliminate suffering and move towards achieving this highest good. While this is a simple formulation, the actual challenge of eliminating desire is extremely difficult. Craving can also be extended to include the gratification of the passions or the longing we have for an abstract sense of accomplishment of success in our earthly lives. The Second Noble Truth states that if we persist in allowing our lives to be dominated by desire and ignorance we will always be haunted by an unachievable longing and pervasive suffering. Therefore, the Buddha states that to achieve the highest good one must be guided by what is, not what is desired. One must fight against their preconditioned ways of longing and desire and accept the world and their place as it currently exists, as this is the only path to the highest good. In following these Noble Truths the individual is able to achieve the highest good or Nirvana. This is a spiritual state that transcends all traditional concerns with material existence. I recognize that I generally disagree with this ideal. To begin with, I disagree with the idea that all of life is suffering, as one might argue that such a characterization of the human condition is overly pessimistic. When Buddha developed the Four Noble Truths the Indian people faced considerable difficulties in life. Their subsistence was harder earned than we experience today, and I believe that this element of Buddhist philosophy can be seen to be a response to this challenge of existence, rather than an accurate reflection of the human condition. While all humans experience suffering, to claim that this is one

Extension on lead acid accumulators or lithium rechargeable batteries Coursework

Extension on lead acid accumulators or lithium rechargeable batteries - Coursework Example Introduction Rechargeable batteries such as lead acid accumulators and lithium accumulators are applied in number of operations. For example, lead acid accumulators are mainly used to start engines such those of cars and motorcycles among others. They are also used to store solar energy in situations where solar panels are used as sources of energy. Regardless of the fact that they are widely used in the above mentioned operations, none of these lead acid accumulators has been incorporated with instruments (pre-installed meters) such as ammeters and voltmeters that show amount of power (amount of available current or voltage respectively) that is available (Benson 2006). This has forced users of these devices use external voltmeters or ammeters to measure amount of voltage or current that is available respectively. Also, during charging operations these accumulators are not able to show whether they are fully charged or not; this may lead to overcharging and consequently reduction in life of the accumulators (Benson 2006). It is, therefore, important that these accumulators be fitted with pre-installed meters (ammeters and voltmeters). ... This will be possible since the proposed product will be fitted with a screen or analogue indicator that is capable of showing amount of charge available in an accumulator and the level of charge while the accumulators are undergoing charging operations. This paper, therefore, has proposed extension on Rechargeable batteries such as lead acid accumulators and lithium accumulators. The extension is such that the newly produced lead acid accumulators and/or lithium accumulators are fitted with instruments capable of measuring levels of both available current and voltage. These instruments maybe ammeters or voltmeters (they may also be either digital or analogue provided the required information is displayed effectively). The proposed extension is expected to enable users know whether their accumulators are charging or not or whether they are full while being charged on or not. Analysis of the market Whenever any new product is to be released into the market for the customers, an extens ive and detailed market research should be carried out. It is normally carried out in order to make informed decisions regarding what the customers want, and how they would view the proposed modification (Cole& Kelly 2011). If a product is released into the market without necessarily carrying out proper market research, problems that would have been avoided may affect the market as well as sale of the product; thereby impacting negatively on the producers of the product (Anderson 2007). Therefore, carrying out market research is imperative when a new product or a modified product is to be released into the market. The data that may be collected during market analysis include: how the customers would perceive the modified product, the current market size of the current

Obamas Speech rhetorical analysis Essay Example for Free

Obamas Speech rhetorical analysis Essay In his awaited response to Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright’s uncivil outburst, Barrack Obama puts to shame the hasteful denunciations from Americans. He creates redemption for Wright’s actions which produces an emotional appeal with his citizens. Ushered forward by Obama is the back story of Reverend Wright,- something Obama’s audience had been comfortably oblivious to until now- his hardships, victories, and benevolent deeds that reveal his true nature; not the one of ill nature or ignorance that one might think otherwise. But, before President Obama can do this, he must give himself a sense of credibility through sharing a portion of his own backstory. In the 6th paragraph of Obama’s speech, he introduces a small yet personal synopsis of his family’s story. He acknowledges the role that the United States has played in Obama’s kin, and his own, journey â€Å"And for as long as I live†¦ my story is even possible.† (paragraph 6, lines 7-8) Although, he says â€Å"my story,† Obama is rhetorically telling his audience the United States of America is the sole place where almost anything can be accomplished, no matter how unfeasible the quest; many grown Americans are able to connect to this one statement because America, the land of the brave and free, is the reason they have their own â€Å"my story.† He confirms this notion in lines 9 and 10 of the same paragraph,â€Å"this nation is more we are truly one.† Obama’s mixed race that he identifies in this paragraph(6) sets up as an anecdote used 15 paragraphs later. â€Å"I can no more disown him than†¦ stereotypes that made me cringe.† (paragraph 21, lines 1-5) President Obama makes the point of acquainting with the â€Å"black community† before introducing his white grandmother. His verbal gesture emphasizes neither is above the other and reinforces his racial credibility. The president qualifies his beloved grandma as an illustration that demonstrates how even though loved ones have the occasional slip-ups, they should not be grounds to break ties. Obama captures his audience in a thought bubble where they decide if a loved one has more rights than other humans. â€Å"These people are part of me. And†¦ this country that I love.† (paragraph 22) This succeeding line to his grandmother anecdote continues  the flow and thoughts gathered from paragraph 6 that says Americans are independently â€Å"One† with each other if they overcome simplistic prejudices. At the time Obama makes his speech he fights two battles: a battle of the polls and one of morality, but not just Reverend’s ethics, all Americans for the past 221 years are included. â€Å"The press has scoured†¦ black and brown as well.† (paragraph 7, lines 7-9) The President draws a parallel that indicates ideas of racial inequality is something that will exist no matter the society. Obama seeks to change this. He looks to the young and new generations to fulfill America’s true purpose- freedom. â€Å"what gives me the most hope is the next generation† (paragraph 43, line 4) President Obama looks to youth because they carry not the burdens of their ancestors as they are born into a more accepting world. American young are Obama’s (peaceful) Aryan race(s). Their appearance does not blend. They stand out from one another. Yet  their minds blend more or less. And that is why they are perfect. Obama’s Aryan race is already on the move; Ashley Baia is one of his soldiers. President Obama shares Baia’s story from paragraph 44-47 and how she saw not in hues, but in virtue. â€Å"She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.† (paragraph 46, line 3) The relevance of Baia’s story presents itself when she asks her group members why they had joined her. All but one elderly black man has a specific reason. Obama shares the old man’s reason in antimetabole â€Å"And he doesn’t†¦ Barack Obama.† (paragraph 47, lines 45) The use of antimetabole in this context lowers the importance of the presented reasons enough to grasp all listener’s attention. â€Å"I am here because of Ashley.† said the old man; â€Å"I’m here because of Ashley.† said Obama. He repeats the same phrase but changes â€Å"I am† to â€Å"I’m.† The subtle change in punctuation makes his words feel like a whole different statement is being made-and there is. Obama is saying that Baia is an inspiration that has influenced him to this road of candidacy, and therefore has changed all of our lives. Ashley Baia ate mustard and relish sandwiches for a year. That was her sacrifice to injustice. Obama’s silent inquiry then establishes itself: What sacrifice have you made to combat injustice? America answered eight months later when Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States.

Death And Paralysis In The Sisters

Death And Paralysis In The Sisters In order to recognize that Joyces Dubliners is a work unified by death, it is necessary for one to return to the beginning, where a meticulous reading is paramount, and start again. The opening story, The Sisters, is concerned with death and its impact upon the living individuals left in its wake. If the reader considers its function as essentially an introductory chapter, one will start to detect a palpable semblance of unity throughout Dubliners, as this story establishes the overarching theme of death and its associated motifs: paralysis, silences, and epiphanies-the latter of which are inextricably rooted in the poetics of modernity. The Sisters is a story that is concerned with youth, which represents the beginning of a progression from childhood to maturity. In this regard, the storys form parallels the narrative for the reader, as the story at its heart is concerned with the young narrators developing awareness; at the same time, the reader starts to acquire a simultaneous awa reness of the afore-mentioned themes and motifs. As we shall see, The Sisters functions as a gnomon for the entire collection of stories, as its narrator is but one of many more who are stifled and subjugated by their environment-like a patient etherized upon a table, as the ubiquitous J. Alfred Prufrock might say (Eliott 1). The Sisters ushers the readers into the world of Dubliners through the eyes of a child narrator. The narrator, along with the reader, confronts images of death in the opening paragraph through a lighted square of window-analogous to the window-panes of J. Alfred Prufrock. It is here, at the very beginning, that the narrator introduces the word paralysis, heralding a theme which reoccurs with death throughout the entirety of Dubliners. In A Beginning: Signification, Story, and Discourse in Joyces The Sisters, Staley emphasizes the beginning paragraph as an overture for the themes, conflicts, and tensions that were to be evoked again and again à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ throughout all of Dubliners (20). Furthermore, Staley affirms that the initial sentences tone of finality and certainty à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ begins the circle of death for Dubliners (22). If one were to accept Staleys claim that the opening paragraph acts as an overture for the novel, it could then be argued that death and paralysis ar e not to be seen as separate entities in the context of Dubliners, but that the two are directly related, if not intertwined. Father Flynn, through his physical paralysis, comes to embody many of the characters in Dubliners, the majority of whom are paralyzed to some extent, whether it is physically, mentally, or emotionally. Later, the reader witnesses the manner in which death interrupts or arrests the living, as the narrator lays in the dark of [his] room and imagines that he sees the heavy grey face of the paralytic (Joyce 11). Already, one can intuit that the dead play a haunting role in Dubliners, as Gothic elements are common to modernist literature. This is evidenced here, as the narrator feels that he is smiling feebly like the paralytic priests cadaver (11). Indeed, at this point the living and dead start to merge as a single image, with the narrator mirroring the state of an immobile Father Flynn. In his critical essay on The Sisters, Corrington states that the boy and the old man fuse briefly through this smile, which contrasts elements of youth and death (24). The innocence of youth is tainted early in Dubliners, as death and Father Flynns deathly influence permeate The Sisters, looming behind both reader and narrator like an ominous shade. The child narrator may very well be a reflection of the reader, mirroring the thought processes that lead to a simultaneous realization of deaths paralyzing nature in the world of Dubliners. The narrators epiphany on deaths paralyzing quality is inadvertent, even ironic, as he calls attention to a sensation of freedom as if [he] had been freed from something by his death (Joyce 13). His actions in the story are contrary to this supposed sense of freedom; it becomes apparent that Father Flynns influence fills the silence that he left behind and acts as an interrupting force. Such a force bears similarities to the dead Catherines effect upon Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, where the latters life is dominated by her memory. Indeed, the narrator goes so far as to anthropomorphize paralysis as a maleficent and sinful being that fill[s] [him] with fear, yet he long[s] to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work (Joyce 9). The boy is both repelled and oddly compelled by the paralysis he experiences here, which exposes his inability to be truly free from Father Flynns death. Therefore, paralysis can be regarded the work of death, as both the boy and his sisters find the mselves utterly torpid in the wake of Father Flynns passing. The boys inability to find any fraction of freedom from Father Flynns death becomes more evident as his mental haunting persists. Here, the child imagines the heavy grey face of the paralytic and feels the apparition follow [him] (Joyce 11). Father Flynn is referred to synecdochically here, defined by a heavy grey pallor that suggests death incarnate, further melding themes of death and paralysis. More importantly, perhaps, the narrator has rendered Father Flynn incomplete, a gnomon by definition. Joyce employs the Euclidian definition of gnomon: a remainder after something has been removed (Joyce 9). This depiction of Father Flynn becomes significant later when one considers who is left more complete by the end of the story, and further relates to Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, who is left incomplete by his loss of Catherine, making him a gnomon of sorts as well. Nonetheless, this point illustrates the narrators inability, or perhaps reluctance, to be freed by Father Flynns passin g. Indeed, it seems significant that he imagine[s] Father Flynns face rather than dreaming about it, which would indicate a sort of conscious rejection of letting the dead be truly dead. In Dubliners: A Students Companion to the Stories, Werner states that when contemplating the word paralysis, the boy attributes to it an active presence that he wishes to observe rather than evade, and the same can be said about the concept of death for the narrator, as both themes are interlaced throughout the story (45). The development of consciousness in regard to death and its paralyzing quality is central to The Sisters. This development points to the storys role as a beginning, as the maturation, or lack thereof, of the various narrators consciousness and perception later becomes a major issue throughout Dubliners. Epiphanies are abundant in Dubliners, as they are in Virginia Woolfs To the Lighthouse, T.S. Eliots The Wasteland, and other modernist literature; nonetheless, as Werner notes in Dubliners: A Students Companion to the Stories, Joyce only gradually focuses his attention on the experience of revelation (47). Furthermore, the increasing complexity of his epiphanies is basic to the mature voice capable of articulating the contingent experiences of truth as an ongoing process for character, author, narrator, and reader (55). Such a development can be seen in the various protagonists encounters with death in Dubliners. In particular, The Sisters represents a beginning for both reader and na rrator. Just as the boy is experiencing his first encounter with death, the reader is experiencing his first bitter taste of life within the world of Dubliners. As a result, there is a simultaneous introduction to life and death. The moment of realization in the penultimate paragraph displays the narrators perception of death, as he states simply that the old priest was lying still in his coffin as we had seen him, solemn and truculent in death (Joyce 18). Here, the narrator still attributes a certain sense of hostility to Father Flynn as if to further affirm the haunting qualities of his death. The detached style in which Joyce imparts this realization is important, as it indicates that the narrator is barely cognizant of anything beyond the dead body. As Beck states in Joyces Dubliners: Substance, Vision, and Art , this realization communicates no incredibly precocious philosophical breakthrough, but the verisimilitude of a dawning awareness, a gradual, hushed, yet decisive epiphany (Beck 43). More importantly, the boy does not seem conscious of his paralysis as later narrators, such as Gabriel Conroy and Duffy, are. If the opening story is essentially a framing device, one can assume that the child narrator in The Sisters exhibits the start of a vicious cycle of internalizing paralysis. Werner claims that the narrator of Araby represents the first stage in the development of a destructive solipsism portrayed in adult characters such as Duffy, but one can argue that this stage actually begins with the narrator of The Sisters (54). Furthermore, Beck notes that the narrator of the Sisters eventually realizes his identity just that much more, and with it his secret isolation (43). Indeed, the core of the story is the boys beginning to see into himself as to the life around him, specifically the impedance of death upon that life. Death is the catalyst for epiphanies in both The Sisters and A Painful Case. In the former example, death triggers an emotional paralysis in the living, while in the latter story, death causes a realization of Duffys pre-existing emotional paralysis. Here, it is important to expound upon the significance of the narrators youth in the story. As Werner notes, the stories of childhood in Dubliners picture early confrontations of young boys with their corrupt environment (41). In The Sisters, such an environment is marked by an inevitable convergence of the living and the dead wherein the latter haunts the former. The young narrator is paralyzed by the external circumstances of his life, as Werner would argue. In fact, Werner goes on to claim that such a suffocating experience encourage[s] even the more sensitive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ children to accept and internalize paralysis, which leads directly to adult counterparts who have surrendered utterly to paralysis (41, 42). James Duffy, the protagonist in A Painful Case, exemplifies the adult Dubliner who has repressed his emotional paralysis for entirely too long, measuring his life in coffee spoons in the same manner as J. Alfred Prufrock. Silence is introduced in the opening paragraph as yet another motif to be associated with death. As mentioned, the narrator of The Sisters characterizes the very presence of Father Flynns corpse with an antagonistic silence. However, one should note the relationship between Father Flynns silence and the sisters referenced in the title, as the two entities are almost at odds with one another. As the story progresses, the sisters keep attempting to break the persistent silence with their patter, but the dialogue is only ever about Father Flynn. In this manner, the dead haunt even the speech of the living. Corrington remarks that the old man has had a certain degree of ascendance over [the sisters] and even in death, he is their primary concern (22). Corringtons comments are primarily concerned with the sisters as a symbol of devoted service to the Catholic Church, the notion of Father Flynns ascendance and enduring presence speak to the haunting nature of the dead. Father Flynn is neve r more than a cadaver in The Sisters, yet his influence is undeniable. He looms over the environs silently, but to such an extent that the silence becomes a malevolent force. Rabate comments on the nature of silence in the context of Dubliners, writing that silence can finally appear as the end, the limit, the death of speech, its paralysis (33). If one works within the notion of silence as an antagonistic opposition to speech, the final moments of The Sisters can be seen as the ultimate paralysis inflicted by the dead Father Flynn. Joyce ends with Elizas speech, interrupted by ellipses before it finally trails off, imparting a paralyzing silence upon the reader. It is as if the characters, like J. Alfred Prufrock, are left wondering the same: how should I begin? Joyce extols little intimation of hope within the world of Dubliners, where the living portray an emotionally paralyzed life equivalent to that of the dead. It is only upon further examination that one can argue that Joyce actually glorifies death to some extent and indicates it as a more amenable condition. Although the eponymous sisters dialogue throughout the story is rife with clichà ©, a particular assertion is striking. Eliza declares that Father Flynn had a beautiful death, which brings to mind Joyces claim that death is the most beautiful form of life (Joyce, Dubliners 15; Joyce, James Clarence Mangan 60). She goes on to say that Father Flynn make[s] a beautiful corpse, which contrasts the paralyzed depiction of his earthly life. In fact, Father Flynn is marked by a certain incompleteness from the opening paragraph of The Sisters, when the narrator associates the priests paralysis with the word gnomon (Joyce 9). As mentioned, the narrator only represents Father Flynn symboli cally-by his face-which further suggests an incompleteness. Finally, the broken chalice symbolizes the beginning of Father Flynns broken state-his burgeoning madness. Another definition of the word gnomon is applicable to Father Flynn; as discussed in lecture, it is a shadow cast as on a sundial (66). Father Flynns influence as a deathly shade is undeniable, as he lingers throughout the story. On the other hand, his being, or lack thereof, serves to illuminate the partial, reduced lives of Joyces Dubliners, which seems to be Joyces ultimate goal here (66). The storys explicit concern with the dynamic of life and death is a deliberate one, as Joyce carefully arranged the order of stories in Dubliners (Beck 42). Indeed, the exploration of life and death is both central to modernity and the major crux upon which Dubliners is unified. Thus, Becks concern with the meaning and interpretation of the story are secondary to revealing the manner in which it functions as an overture to the novel (42). Ultimately, The Sisters establishes a pattern of the dead impacting life to the point of paralysis that is not altered until the final story. The Sisters makes it possible to explore the later stories of Dubliners in the context of themes and motifs set forth from the very beginning. Werner states that the remainder of Dubliners fulfills [the narrators] longing to be nearer to paralysis and its deadly work, which is an accurate assessment, as Joyce continues to develop this particular theme throughout the work (35). It is this inexplicable, paradoxical longing that harkens back to the poetics of modernity and notions of the sublime. The Sisters functions as an overture for Dubliners, introducing the themes and motifs that serve to unify the novel. Death and paralysis are intertwined throughout Dubliners, as they are in many other modernist works. Paralysis is present not only in The Sisters, but in A Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock, in which the titular protagonist wonders endlessly, do I dare? The impact and implications of death can be seen as well through the influence of Father Flynn. Like Catherine of Wuthering Heights, he hovers over the lives of others like a shade, lending Gothic elements to an otherwise realistic, if stagnant depiction of Irish life. These themes provide an appropriate context-a modernist context-in which the rest of the novel can not only be enjoyed, but properly engaged.

Conflict Between Efficiency and Sense of :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Conflict Between Efficiency and Sense of "Ludus" ABSTRACT: Efficiency is a highly considered virtue, especially in our contemporary technological society. It appears to be opposed to the sense of ludus (playfulness) that is greatly valued in Brazilian culture. Is this conflict real? Is it a definite impediment to modernization? This paper deals with this apparent conflict of values, trying to find a way toward a harmonious integration of them. Efficiency is shown as the virtue of a culture turned toward modernity. It is therefore highly prized in contemporary business administration theories. It is also shown that the whole of modern society is oriented toward technological advance and it consequently tends to value efficiency above all other values. Considering other values found in different cultures, there needs to be a better knowledge of them. This study establishes ludus as a typical value of Brazilian culture. An analogy is drawn between the sense of playfulness described and praised by Brazilian authors, and the sense of de tachment from technology proposed by Jacques Ellus as a condition for creating a real civilization with technological progress. Efficiency is a value highly considered, particularly in our contemporary technological society. It is apparently opposed to the sense of "ludus" that is greatly valued in Brazilian culture. "Ludus" comes from the Latin word meaning playfulness. Is the conflict between efficiency and sense of "ludus" a real conflict? Is it a definite impediment to technological development? This paper intends to show that the conflict is in fact apparent, the values being contrary and not contradictory. There is a way of integrating them. Efficiency is highly prized in a culture turned toward productivity. It is therefore cultivated in contemporary business administration theories. It also tends to be prized above all other values in modern society, as society is more and more oriented toward technological advancement. On the other hand, Brazilian writers have time and again described and praised the value of a sense of "ludus", playfulness, therefore indicating that it is a value of their own culture. It might be said that a strong sense of playfulness, "ludus", would be an impediment towards fully entering modern society and assimilating modern values. To solve the problem, an analogy is drawn between the sense of playfulness, "ludus", described and praised by Brazilian authors, and the sense of detachment proposed by Jacques Ellul as a condition for bringing about real civilization with technological progress. Thus, a claim is made that a "ludical" sense, rather than being an impediment to modernization, is a way to overcome the dangers of uncritical technological development. Conflict Between Efficiency and Sense of :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays Conflict Between Efficiency and Sense of "Ludus" ABSTRACT: Efficiency is a highly considered virtue, especially in our contemporary technological society. It appears to be opposed to the sense of ludus (playfulness) that is greatly valued in Brazilian culture. Is this conflict real? Is it a definite impediment to modernization? This paper deals with this apparent conflict of values, trying to find a way toward a harmonious integration of them. Efficiency is shown as the virtue of a culture turned toward modernity. It is therefore highly prized in contemporary business administration theories. It is also shown that the whole of modern society is oriented toward technological advance and it consequently tends to value efficiency above all other values. Considering other values found in different cultures, there needs to be a better knowledge of them. This study establishes ludus as a typical value of Brazilian culture. An analogy is drawn between the sense of playfulness described and praised by Brazilian authors, and the sense of de tachment from technology proposed by Jacques Ellus as a condition for creating a real civilization with technological progress. Efficiency is a value highly considered, particularly in our contemporary technological society. It is apparently opposed to the sense of "ludus" that is greatly valued in Brazilian culture. "Ludus" comes from the Latin word meaning playfulness. Is the conflict between efficiency and sense of "ludus" a real conflict? Is it a definite impediment to technological development? This paper intends to show that the conflict is in fact apparent, the values being contrary and not contradictory. There is a way of integrating them. Efficiency is highly prized in a culture turned toward productivity. It is therefore cultivated in contemporary business administration theories. It also tends to be prized above all other values in modern society, as society is more and more oriented toward technological advancement. On the other hand, Brazilian writers have time and again described and praised the value of a sense of "ludus", playfulness, therefore indicating that it is a value of their own culture. It might be said that a strong sense of playfulness, "ludus", would be an impediment towards fully entering modern society and assimilating modern values. To solve the problem, an analogy is drawn between the sense of playfulness, "ludus", described and praised by Brazilian authors, and the sense of detachment proposed by Jacques Ellul as a condition for bringing about real civilization with technological progress. Thus, a claim is made that a "ludical" sense, rather than being an impediment to modernization, is a way to overcome the dangers of uncritical technological development.

Why Plea Bargaining in Criminal Trials is Important :: Plea Bargain Trial Court Justice Essays

Why Plea Bargaining in Criminal Trials is Important Screeech! That is the sound of our court system coming to a grinding halt, if plea bargaining were no longer utilized. Not only does plea bargaining save taxpayers an enormous amount of money, it often provides the evidence for a conviction and allows public defenders and other court officials to concentrate their limited resources on more important or difficult cases. Some people may believe that plea bargaining with criminals is wrong. The entire basis of the argument against plea bargaining says that criminals should not testify or have anything to do with the prosecution because they were involved with the crime. We fail to realize that without plea bargaining many criminals would never be punished for their crimes at all. It is as simple as that. Granted, a plea bargain is, by definition, a compromise. But it is a compromise that is absolutely necessary for the judicial system to function. While it may seem that a person who exchanges his testimony for a lighter sentence would have sufficient motivation to lie in court the fact is that his testimony is simply verifying the testimonies of other witnesses. In a majority of cases plea bargains is utilized to ensure that the truly guilty criminal is punished. In our less than perfect world, plea bargaining is easily the lesser of the evils. I agree with the definitions submitted by the affirmative speaker. Americans have always emphasized getting a job done. We place a great deal of value on efficiency and industry. The government is expected to run with efficiency and operate with the good of the people in mind. Every aspect of our lives is governed by this utilitarian value. Why do we place such importance on efficiency? Because without it nothing would ever get done. If we all constantly obsessed over minute details and unrealistic ideals we would live in poverty. In the real world compromises are made because without them no amount of success could ever be achieved. In the words of John Stewart Mill, the father of utilitarianism, "The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals utility, or the greatest happiness principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness". This means that in a world of compromise, the most success is achieved by giving the greatest good to the greatest number of people. This belief applies directly to plea bargaining.

A Lifetime of Perceived Reality :: Literary Analysis, Fitzgerald

Everyone has moments when you put up veils to either hide, or feel comfort in a situation. We all even sometimes focus on past events to aid our put-on-faces. It sounds natural to periodically take part in this, but imagine if you became so consumed with you illusioned face you took part in this for years on end. After a period of time you would no longer be able to tell your created image from your true image- So you’d turn to what you do know that can be altered just as your image, you would turn to past memories. You’d convince yourself that whatever you had in the past could easily be obtained in the present, which is not true (sp. 2). This is the situation of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Each of these characters from the story The Great Gatsby (F.Scott Fitzgerald) constantly put up facades, and when distinction between actuality and desire became meshed they became abnormal, and a sure price was to be paid for unwittingly turning to the past. Theses two char acters told a fact that’s to last a lifetime- putting up veils for too long, while living in a parallel universe and prior times will lead to your permanent extinction, eternally altered, or utterly lost when actuality apprehends you.(sp.3) Jay Gatsby, the torn man who envisioned himself into â€Å"James Gatz†, who at seventeen invented and transformed himself into Jay Gatsby† (Telgen 67). Gatsby was a man who hid under facades, lived for them sometimes blindly.(Sp.4) This Caused him to unconsciously process â€Å"double vision† -(Telgen65) Meaning he saw in two sets of eyes his uncontrolled natural ones, and his robotic cloaked ones.(sp.5) The Cloaked set (which he could control at this point) distracted him from the present state of Daisy. The realization that the girl he â€Å"loved† was not the golden image he perfected numerous times with memories of his constructed past. He failed to comprehend that he was only in love with the illusion he had created years ago. He allowed these memories to drive him and push him toward things he didn’t understand he could never have. Daisy’s faint crystal memories obsessively drove him â€Å"toward the green light† (Fitzge rald 13), in which nourished and protected the fragile, attained Daisy. Jay â€Å"Gatsby brought [a] House so that Daisy would be just across the bay† (Fitzgerald 147) .

Strategic Plan for the System – Essay

The System's Mission and Vision Every educational institution should have a mission, which is its specific purpose for existing. The mission of the institution must be stated in the school's catalog and in other publications readily available to the public. The mission must be completely, clearly, and simply stated In terms readily understandable by a prospective student, parents, the public, and other educational Institutions. The mission should be devoted substantially to career-related education and should be reasonable for the program of instruction and facilities of the institution.Each institution should be capable of demonstrating its educational effectiveness through assessment and documentation of student outcomes. This assessment must include evidence that the institution's annual retention and placement rates are in keeping with its mission. The Institution's mission statement should be consistent with educational and employment outcomes of Its students (Argosy. 201 2; Gut hrie & Ackermann. 2009). The corporate staff of the System originally developed the mission for all of the institutions within the System.Over the years the mission has been changed and updated to reflect the operations and culture of the schools. All employees and students have opportunities to express ideas and suggestions for the mission, so it comes a reflection of the way the employees and students, think and feel about the operations of the school. The villas of the System Is quite simple In that It Is: we care about the students, we care about the employees, and we care about the employers who hire the Students.Through this the mission is stated as: The System will demonstrate the we care vision by preparing career-focused, community-minded graduates for the global workforce through applied education. Strategic Planning Through this strategic planning process, the System strives to show that it cares about: student success, employment success, investment success, customer rev ive, communication, compliance, and community engagement. Student success shows that the System is committed to attracting students and delivering relevant, quality educational experiences that engage students and lead them to graduation and career success.Employment success shows that the System is dedicated to creating and maintaining a dynamic environment where performance Is recognized From a business perspective, the System cares and is concerned with investment success and providing a quality education that leads to a strong return on investment while exceeding the expectations of students, employers, employees, ND the surrounding community. This can only be done through engaging in and the management of effective communication and a culture of compliance.Once those items are in place, educational communities can be developed, so that all stakeholders feel as if they have a say and vested interest in the System as a whole. Key Decision Makers There are several key decision mak ers in the system. The founder of the System is the sole member of the Board of Directors that governs each campus. The founder also oversees a management group that manages the day-to-day operations of each campus as well as corporate support operations.The management team consists of the following positions: Campus Directors, six Regional Directors, and corporate directors as follows: Director of Marketing; Director of Research and Development; Director of Human Resources; Director of Government and Community Relations; Director of Information Technology; Director of Operations; Real Estate Development Manager; Chief Financial Officer; Chief Operating Officer, Provost and Vice President of Network Operations. Without the approval of all of the key decision makers, the accreditation process may be hindered and cannot move forward.Available Resources As the System moves towards accreditation, it must keep in mind the basic available resources and how those play a role within the sys tem. Those available resources include: faculty, financial resources, personnel, library information services, information technology, and space allocation and physical location maintenance. Before accreditation can be sought, these items must be examined to determine if they are adequate enough to support and sustain campus accreditation.The faculty within the System is the most important component of operation. It is through casualty in which the System meets the objectives of the mission statement. It is also through faculty, that students are successful. The quality of curricula and delivery is primarily the main focus of faculty. Aside from classroom responsibilities, they are involved in curricular planning and development, book selection, hardware and software selection, and student advising. It is also largely through the faculty that the expectations of students are met.The financial resources of The System are allocated adequately to maintain a high standard of maintenance and support revise, and to allow the school to competitively seek and acquire qualified faculty and staff. Through this, educational needs of students are met while providing excellent customer service. Customer service is one of the reasons students choose to attend college in the System. The System strives to hire high-caliber faculty and support them with experienced management and administrative personnel.The System also seeks to support faculty and staff by having adequate resources for them to do their Jobs, compensating them adequately for their service, and providing them with professional development opportunities in their fields. The goal of library information services is to provide students with the resources, support, and learning environment necessary to successfully complete the courses in knowledge and skills required for their careers. In addition to this, library support services maintains a website so that students are able to access library resources remotely in order allow information to enhance their educational experience.The corporate information technology group plays an integral role in ensuring all computer equipment, hardware and software, as well as on-line connectivity, meets today's demanding technical needs. There is a corporate director of technology who ultimately oversees the purchase of technical equipment and assists the campus with its technical needs. There are also individuals who are hired to work at the information technology helpless which further aids in the support of student and faculty in regards to troubleshooting and general system maintenance.In regards to allocation of space and facilities maintenance, the institution's present locations are large enough to handle both the current student population, as well as allowing for growth. The System employs a contracted facilities person during the day to keep lacrosse and facilities clean and in good condition, as well as an evening facilities employee who prepares the building for daily use. All of the resources above contribute to a comfortable and positive environment where students actively participate in their educational process. All of the above helps the System to fulfill the mission and responsibility to students.Data Availability Data is currently collected from several sources including the campus accountability report, student surveys, graduate surveys, employer surveys, and program advisory committee meeting minutes, annual assessment done by program rear for program effectiveness, course evaluations, and national examinations specific to career areas as applicable. The data is collected and analyzed on a quarterly and/or annual basis, subject to the various assessment tools. The Campus Effectiveness Plan (CAPE) spreadsheet identifies at a glance the data collection schedule.Annually the management team (campus and corporate directors) meets and incorporates the data results and analysis in the overall strategic planning process. The System President reviews the information with the management team during regularly scheduled quarterly planning meetings and in an annual strategic landing session. Together, all involved use the data to recommend changes in the programs, their respective facilities, personnel, and the overall operations of the school to provide the best possible education for students and to ensure achievement of the main objective of placing students in their chosen career fields.The System plans to improve effectiveness by assessing and analyzing the identified data (student surveys, program advisory committee meetings, retention rates, placement rates, employer surveys, graduate surveys, extrinsic site evaluations, student suggestions, and administrative meetings within and among campuses) and determine strengths and continue to build upon them, as well identify areas that need improvement and refinement.This data is evaluated on several levels by the following departments: administration, education, and financial aid/student accounts, as well as each programmatic area, student services, and career services. Each department identifies developmental areas and outcomes, and responses to the outcomes will be integrated and/or administered either departmentally and/or campus wide. Communication is also very critical component of self-assessment and student and employer suggestions and respond accordingly.The campus director discusses the results of the outcomes quarterly with the campus management team, and business review information is discussed monthly. The campus responds to all outcomes that show positive or negative trends. Each program chair reviews the outcome measurements that correspond to specific program plans. The results of these assessments are discussed at program meetings quarterly and program advisory committee meetings, typically annually.The faculty teaching in the program and the advisory committee members contribute ideas for curricular or programmat ic enhancements and changes that relate to aerogram improvement. The campus directors regularly evaluate the plan and share the plan with their campus management team, and with the corporate management team, which includes directors from other campuses and corporate positions. Below is a more specific timeline for the current year in regards to the accreditation process. Key Stakeholders As previously mentioned, the key stakeholders are the students, the faculty, the campus personnel, and the community at large.In respect to accreditation process, data collection takes these key stakeholders in mind, from the surveys administered o how the surveys are administered. Anyone who is considered a key stakeholder is encouraged to participate with respect to how their comments and participation influences decisions made within the System, and ultimately whether or not the accrediting body will grant accreditation or not. Due to this, it is important that the key decision makers provide a p ositive and inviting environment from the beginning so that key stakeholders are willing to participate and give feedback accordingly.Timeline The timeline for obtaining accreditation will be as follows: Spring 2012 Semester will immense the compilation of data from various data sources as previously mentioned to complete the self study process as defined by the accrediting body. During this time, all stakeholders will meet to review and discuss key components of the self-study in an effort to have it completed in a timely manner. Once this has been done, the self-study will be submitted to legal counsel, the Board of Directors, the President, and the Provost for further review.Summer 2012 Semester, the self- study will be submitted to the accrediting body for the application process. The crediting body will have the completed application and self-study for review approximately two months in which the System will continue to compile data and also make any necessary corrections as in dicated. The time frame for providing information is indicated by the accrediting body and should be no longer than three months from when the required information and necessary corrections have been noted and requested in writing.This will then take the process into the Fall 2012 Semester where at that time; the final application will be reviewed by all stakeholders and submitted. From the time of the final application submission to the actual approval or denial of accreditation shall be no more than six months time which will then take the strategic plan time frame into the Winter 2013 Semester. To conclude, from initial data collection and self-study process, the process shall take no less than a year and makers will need to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic plan and make adjustments as needed.At the conclusion of the accreditation application process, the key decision maker will have a final review meeting to go over a SOOT analysis so s to improve the process when the System seeks accreditation elsewhere. Conclusion In order for a strategic plan to be effective, the input of all the key players, data analysis and collection, evaluation, and implementation along with other variables including resources and timeline must be in place.These items must not only be in place, but also done with respect to the mission and the vision of the organization in which the strategic plan is going to be implemented (Argosy, 2012; Guthrie & Ackermann, 2009). In effect, the strategic planning process is not self serving nor is t single purposed, but rather the strategic plan keeps in mind the key stakeholders and how what is planned and implemented will impact, people, policies, processes, and procedures.

Amys bread case study Essay

1. Who are the main players (name and position)? The main Player in this is Amy Scherber and she is the manager and owner. Another main character is Toy Kim Dupree and he is Amy’s assistant manager. 2. In what business or businesses and industry or industries is the company operating? Amy’s bread is in the business of selling bread products both wholesale and retail. They sell primarily to high quality restaurants, hotels and food shops. 3. What are the issues and problems facing the company? (Sort them by importance and urgency.) It is hard to make a large profit because Amy pays her employees a higher amount then the other business in her field. She also has to employee about four times as many employees to complete the same job due to the intensiveness provided on each batch of bread. The company is also struggling with the idea of wither to expand or stand pat with their business. 4. What is the primary problem for the company/organization in this case? The primary problem in this case is the idea of expansion. The problem is that they do not know if they should expand or stand pat. If they do expand how are they going to centralize their business. Are they going to do strictly wholesale or wholesale and retail. 5. Why have the problem (s) you cite emerged? Identify the causal chain (the events or circumstances that caused the problem-Some will be Internal Weaknesses, others EXTERNAL Threats). This main problem has occurred because they are currently located in a storefront that is not adequate to provide the needs of all their potential customers. The main weakness here is that they are in a bad location for advancement. In their current location they are completing all of the orders that they possibly can. 6. What are the characteristics of the industry that the company is in and how is the industry changing over time? When Amy’s Bread first open bread baking was a growth industry. The U. S Department of Commerce reported there was a 12 percent increase in the consumption of specialty breads per capita. This industry is also very tough to get into there are a great deal of company’s that already have been working with restaurants for a long time. The other problem with the industry is that because it was a growth period many new bakers were trying to enter it and earn a name for them. So the computation for customers is high in the industry and only growing more competitive. 7. What is the firm’s strategy for differentiation, enabling them to compete within the context of their industry? Amy had a clear goal she wanted to be famous for making a great product and for creating a good place to work. Amy’s product itself was different because she set the highest standards on her quality. They also do not use any machines in the shaping of their bread. Every load of bread was hand crafted and shaped which was why her payroll was so high but it set her breads apart from the average shop. 8. What are possible solutions to the problems you have identified? Possible solutions to her crisis on where to go or wither to move at all are one she could not move and be satisfied where she is. The second option is she could move to a building that she would be able to produce large amounts of wholesale goods at and not concentrate on retail goods. The third option is she could move to an even bigger place where she could sell retail product and still meet her needs for wholesale. 9. What are the advantages and possible disadvantages of your solution(s)? If she stays pat then she will be able to turn a marginal profit and meet the needs of her current customers. The disadvantages would be that she would then miss out on opportunity to sell to all the customers that she has on her waiting list and her retail business would not be any bigger. In second option they would be able to meet all her wholesale needs. The disadvantages would be that she could not sell retail customers any more and she would be paying more for the property. In the third option she would be able to sell both retail and wholesale. She would be in a newly developing retail market with access to foot traffic. She would also be able to meet all her whole sale needs. To top it off she would be able to design the layout of the building to fit her exact needs. The disadvantages of this are that it is very expensive. She would get everything that she is looking for but at a substantially higher price then the other two options. 10. Are there any possible problems with your suggested recommendations? What contingencies need to be accommodated? My recommendation would be to choose the third option. It is the most expensive but Amy has already demonstrated that she has a sharp business minded and is able to build business and promote it. The retail space will help spread the word of how good her bread actually is and word of mouth is the best advertisement they could have. The biggest problem that they could have is if they start to loose customers. A second problem would be if the market begins to shift away from the cravings of bread. Or another problem could be that they simply do not add enough customers to be able to afford the new space. Case Study Analysis Narrative Format Case title: Amy’s Bread Student: Nicholas Mustico Date: 3-18-2013 Course: Management Principles Firm Overview and Introduction to the Case (Use this and all headings in your narrative) In this first section of the narrative, you will provide a brief description of the case subject firm and circumstances for your reader. YOU are the expert. Your analysis is reliant on the fact that you’ve read the case at least three In the case study of Amy’s bread you get a complete overview of the company. It discusses where they started how they started and the experience that the owner Amy Scherber has. Amy Scherber is the centerpiece of the company she is the founder, owner, manager, and lead baker/chef for Amy’s bread. Amy is also the main person in charge of the company’s finances and business discussions. Amy is now facing the problem of wither or not she is going to expand her company. She has been able to entrench her business in the tough industry of baking breads. This is a business that is very completive and hard to establish yourself in. Now that she has become establish she has to decide wither she would like to expand to meet consumer’s demands or stay where she is and be happy with what she has accomplished. Internal perspectives (Use this and all headings in your narrative) This section of your narrative is used to explain to your reader the internal, factual information about the case subject organization and the problems you’ve identified. Additionally, in this section you need to describe the causal chain. How did the problem arise? What caused it? The problem in this case would not be a problem if the company had not become as successful as it has. If the company had not become so popular then the small storefront that she had originally solicited would never have become a problem. They did become popular though and now they have to adjust to what they would like to become. No one knows if she had selected a larger site if she would have ever been able to get herself going but if she had then this problem may never have occurred. Her company now is at a point where they cannot satisfy one additional customer due to space constrictions. Amy’s problem is a hard one to decide on but for a company it is a good spot to be in if you have too much potential business. It is always better to have too much opportunity then too little. * External perspectives (Use this and all headings in your narrative) In this section you will describe the characteristics of the industry in which the subject organization operates. Identify any changes over time, which you believe contribute to the problems you’ve identified. Has the Firm’s Strategy for differentiation within their industry caused, Added to or exacerbated the problems you’ve identified? Amy’s bread is in a very complex and difficult industry to work in. She is in a field that has been â€Å"well farmed. † What I mean by that is that there have already been people there doing what she is trying to do. The business she is trying to sell to unless they are newer then her have all already put someone in place to fulfill their need. She then would have to show these businesses that she is that much better then her computation that they have already employed. Amy’s strategy for differentiation is basically being better then the computation. She is striving to have the highest quality, freshest, and most innovative bread selection. She had made it a point that she will not sacrifice quality for anything else including profit. Amy was lucky, or smart enough to enter the backing industry when it was on the rise. Consumption of grains had just begun to rise when Amy entered the industry. The U. S Department of Commerce reported there was a 12 percent increase in the consumption of specialty breads per capita. This industry is also very tough to get into there are a great deal of company’s that already have been working with restaurants for a long time. The other problem with the industry is that because it was a growth period many new bakers were trying to enter it and earn a name for them. So the computation for customers is high in the industry and only growing more competitive. This main problem has occurred because they are currently located in a storefront that is not adequate to provide the needs of all their potential customers. The main weakness here is that they are in a bad location for advancement. In their current location they are completing all of the orders that they possibly can. Then again this is not a problem that most business would not want. Solutions (Use this and all headings in your narrative) In this section you will provide a proposed solution to the primary problem/ secondary problems you’ve identified. Possible solutions to her crisis on where to go or wither to move at all are one she could not move and be satisfied where she is. The second option is she could move to a building that she would be able to produce large amounts of wholesale goods at and not concentrate on retail goods. The third option is she could move to an even bigger place where she could sell retail product and still meet her needs for wholesale. If she stays pat then she will be able to turn a marginal profit and meet the needs of her current customers. The disadvantages would be that she would then miss out on opportunity to sell to all the customers that she has on her waiting list and her retail business would not be any bigger. In second option they would be able to meet all her wholesale needs. The disadvantages would be that she could not sell retail customers any more and she would be paying more for the property. In the third option she would be able to sell both retail and wholesale. She would be in a newly developing retail market with access to foot traffic. She would also be able to meet all her whole sale needs. To top it off she would be able to design the layout of the building to fit her exact needs. The disadvantages of this are that it is very expensive. She would get everything that she is looking for but at a substantially higher price then the other two options. My recommendation would be to choose the third option. It is the most expensive but Amy has already demonstrated that she has a sharp business minded and is able to build business and promote it. The retail space will help spread the word of how good her bread actually is and word of mouth is the best advertisement they could have. The biggest problem that they could have is if they start to loose customers. A second problem would be if the market begins to shift away from the cravings of bread. Or another problem could be that they simply do not add enough customers to be able to afford the new space. Case Model Insert a copy of your case model at the end of your narrative. Model the problem and solution by drawing a diagram. Identify the problem, what is causing it, what is making the problem worse (or potentially hiding the problem), and what can be done to mitigate or eliminate it. Use the strategy models to help you think through the steps that must be taken to intervene and solve this problem.

Piaget vs Vygotsky Essay

Initially the study of lifespan development rose due to Darwin’s desire to understand human evaluation (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Developmental psychology is concerned with the changes of people during their life span including motor skill changes, problem solving changes, moral understanding changes, but it is originally concerned with these changes during infancy and childhood (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Without any doubts, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), are two major contributors who have affected developmental psychology with their theories on human development. According to Lerman (1996), Piaget and Vygotsky belong to two different traditions; Piaget belongs to the constructivism perspective that sees learning as construction and Vygotsky to the activity theory perspective that sees learning as an appropriation. According to Piaget, cognitive development results from the development of the brain, acquiring new abilities and experiences, thus he separated development into stages (as cited in Santrock, 2008). Piaget developed four stages the sensori-motor stage (0-2 years) where the infant is trying to make sense of the world, and acquires the development of object permanence (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). The pre-operational stage (2-7 years) where language development, animism, egocentrism and the use of symbols hallmark this stage (Shaffer &Kipp, 2007). The concrete operational stage (7-11 years) where children start classifying objects and are able to conserve and think logically about objects and events (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). And the formal operational stage (11 years and beyond) where children develop hypothetico-deductive reasoning and imaginary audience and believe in the uniqueness of oneself and one’s experiences (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). On the other hand, Vygotsky developed his sociocultural theory indicating that cognitive development is promoted in a â€Å"sociocultural† context which influences the form it takes (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). Furthermore, Vygotsky indicated that many of the child’s most important cognitive functions develop from social interactions with parents, teachers and other more competent associates. Moreover, Vygotsky elaborated his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) where the child is the learner and can manage independently and the difference between what the children can learn with guidance of a more skilled and competent partner and expect further cognitive growth, by internalising the help of the skilled partner (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). Starting on the debate and trying to shed light upon the different approaches on development from Piaget and Vygotsky, the differences on egocentric speech and language will be analyzed. Vygotsky in one of his main books published in 1934 â€Å"Thought and Language† wrote about Piaget â€Å"Psychology owes a great deal to Jean Piaget. It is not an exaggeration to say that he revolutionised the study of child language and thought† (Vygotsky, 1962, p.9). Though, even if he exalted Piaget he differed his approach around the concepts of egocentric speech and egocentrism. In line with Vygotsky (1962, p. 14-15), the outcome of the observations of Piaget led him to the conclusion that children’s speech can be divided only in two distinct entities, the egocentric speech and socialized speech. The difference between them is due to their functions, during egocentric speech the child talks only about him having no interest in other people and expecting no answers, whereas socialized speech attempts exchanges with other people. According to Vygotsky, the conclusions of Piaget showed that the majority of preschool children talk is egocentric, though when the child reaches school age, egocentric speech declines (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 16).Vygotsky differed his view from Piaget on egocentric speech believing that it has a specific function and this function other than its communicative role, it also serves as a thinking tool and as a tool to solve problems (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 18). Piaget and Vygotsky seem to agree that inner speech develops from egocentric speech which leads to logical thinking, though Vygotsky highlighted language as an apparatus of thought other than another way of expression. On the other hand, Piaget awarded to language a less significant role than Vygotsky toward the development of thought (Piaget, 1970). Moreover, Vygotsky praised the use of language and egocentric speech as thinking tools which promote development, but Piaget disagrees indicating that Vygotsky could not understand that egocentrism could be a main obstacle for learning, concluding that language can also reduce learning and development (Piaget, 1962). Another main issue where Vygotsky and Piaget collide is the role of the social and the role of the individual in learning. Piaget indicates that teaching is divided in two sides, the one is the rising individual, and the other side consists of social, intellectual, and moral values that the educator attempts to transmit (Piaget, 1969). Piaget’s aim was to make children capture the solution of the problem on their own strength, self-regulation, and their own experiences rather than receiving help from any rules or from a more skilled individual (Piaget, 1969). Thus, Piaget points out that learning is not social, and that the individual on his own entirely captures the surrounding knowledge. On the contrary, Vygotsky who belongs to the activity theory indicates that learning is an active process from the child’s perspective, and that the child can duplicate culturally accumulated knowledge with assistance from social support (Vygotsky, 1962). The outstanding difference in learning is that Piaget perceives the individual as the onset of learning and also children can learn through repetitive interaction and experience with the environment, moreover the egocentric speech serves as a tool for logical thinking, though it can also intricate the meaning (Piaget, 1969). On the other hand, Vygotsky is emphasising more that an individual (child) cannot produce knowledge and learn without the verbal interaction and activity of other probably more skilled individuals (Vygotsky, 1962). Thus, Piaget seems to combine and emphasise on both the individual side and the social side, whereas Vygotsky emphasises more on one side, the social side. Additionally, Vygotsky proposes that knowledge arrives from the outside, on the contrary though Piaget points out that learning lies on a child’s innate capability. Piaget was mainly affected from his biological roots which influenced his approach on human development, and Vygotsky was influenced by the Marxist tradition forming his own ideas about human development and that is where the foundational difference lies on these two approaches on the essence of humanness (Newman & Holzman, 1993). On the contrary to Piaget who has strongly settled in a biological worldview and asserts human development in the adaptation to the environment, Vygotsky emphasizes on the centrality of transformative collaborative practices by individuals who do not adapt to their environment but as a whole transform it, and through this transformation also alter themselves and acquire their own status and essence (Newman & Holzman, 1993). For Piaget what promotes cognitive growth is disequilibration, a revolution made from the connection of two elemental processes. Concurrences with the world were either adapted, assimilated to anterior existing mental functions, or prevailing functions were altered to accommodate them. According to Piaget, there is this double connection between assimilation and accommodation highlighting that this double connection leads to cognitive growth, but none of these two functions can serve on its own the purpose of cognitive growth (Bruner, 1990). On the other hand, Vygotsky did not attribute to the mind this logical calculus. For Vygotsky, the mind is determined to consist of processes for attributing experience with meaning. Vygotsky indicated that meaning does not entirely depend upon language but also on the ability to apprehend the cultural context where language is used (Bruner, 1990). Vygotsky believed that cognitive growth would be promoted by acquiring essential order culturally allocated symbolic structures, with each of these symbolic structures having the ability to blend or switch pre-existing knowledge (Bruner, 1990). Additionally, these essential orders are manufactured by culture and cognitive growth is not formed by the biological perspective unless they are aided by language and culture which rely upon endured social interactions. Piaget was mainly concerned with the balanced order of mental development, whereas Vygotsky was merely concerned with how other more skilled individuals or the society implement the cultural patterning that constructs the process of cognitive growth and makes development achievable. According to Vygotsky’s general genetic law of cultural development any function the childe displays during his cultural development will appear two times. Firstly, it will appear in the social stage and then on the psychological stage. For Vygotsky, the unit of analysis is the individual engaging in social activities rather than psychological activity of the individual’s characteristics, arguing with Piaget’s position that children’s development must precede learning, Vygotsky’s position was that the development process lies behind the learning process. These two major theorists seem to disagree ontologically about learning due to the fact that Piaget is a constructionist and Vygotsky belongs to the activity theory. Ontologically constructivism indicates that there is no reality that exists outside of human thinking, whereas the activity theory points out that for everything that exists it does include physical characteristics. Furthermore, constructivism indicates that knowledge and thinking are inextricably on people’s brains and they just construct from their personal experiences. On the contrary, the activity theory indicates that knowledge is formed from a social negotiation involving people. Another issue which differs Vygotsky’s approach from Piaget’s is that the Piagetian theory does not provoke that children perform tasks that are far away from their cognitive capabilities. The teacher simply prepares the environment for the child’s developmental level of mental operations, concluding that the child is limited by its own developmental stage. On the other hand, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development welcomes the child to attempt beyond its potential mental capabilities. Both theorists have contributed with their approaches of human development. The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the Russian Lev Vygotsky consequently influenced from their environments and cultures and also from their beliefs in constructivism and the activity theory formed their approaches on human development were in some parts seem to agree, but have major differences between them. Most critiques reflecting on these two approaches seem to weigh more on Piaget due to the fact that several developmental tasks he applied on children especially in the pre-operational stage are not clearly stated and it seemed that Piaget often underestimated children’s mental capabilities. Piaget claimed that pre-operational children cannot decentre on the ‘three mountain task’ though new studies have shown that by altering the objects with something more familiar, children were able to decentre. Also in some other Piagetian tasks children performed better than expected by Piaget. And that has revealed that Vygotsky’s approach to the socio-cultural aspect seems more appropriate than Piaget’s constructivist approach. REFERENCE LIST: Boyd, D. & Bee, H. (2006). Lifespan Development (4th. Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Lerman, S. (1996). ‘Intersubjectivity in Mathematics Learning: A Challenge to the Radical Constructivist Paradigm?’ Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Vol. 27 2, pp.211-223. Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist. London: Routledge. Piaget, J. (1962). Comments on Vygotsky’s critical remarks concerning ‘The Language and Thought of the Child’, and ‘Judgement and Reasoning in the Child’. Cambridge: Massachusetts, The M.I.T. Piaget, J. (1969). Psykologi og paedagogik Copenhagen: Hans Reitzell. Piaget, J. (1970). Genetic Epistemology. New York: Columbia University. Santrock, J., W. (2008). A topical approach to life-span development (4th Edition). New York City: McGraw- Hill. Shaffer, D., R., & Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence (7th Edition). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth. Vygotsky, L., S. (1962). Thought and Language Cambridge: Massachusetts, The M.I.T. View as multi-pages