Lab#2 concrete mix design and compression tests Lab Report

#2 concrete mix design and compression tests - Lab Report Example Concrete quality control is an essential practice to ensure consistency in both the fresh and hardened concrete. Some of the laboratory methods used for concrete quality control include; slump test, compressive strength test and workability tests. The primary objective for this experimental study was to identify the characteristics exhibited by concrete materials and to familiarize with the commonly used laboratory specimen manufacturing and testing methods. In design and quality control of concrete, the most specified concrete property is strength. This can be attributed to the fact that testing methods available are relatively easy and furthermore; other concrete properties such as resistance to weathering and fire, elastic modulus, and impermeability are directly linked to strength. This means that having the strength data, then the other properties can be deduced. A good concrete mix should take into account the following key attributes: workability, consistency, strength, water cement ratio, durability, density, slump expected, and heat and chemical resistance. The relative proportions of concrete components, either by volume or weight, will closely influence its properties in both fresh and hardened state. The cement-water paste forms the active component in the concrete material, which is dependent on the characteristics of materials used and their relative proportions. The aggregates used must be well graded to minimize air voids in the concrete matrix. Generally, concrete mix designs are currently being over-designed for the fear of production of results that will not meet the minimum strength criteria specified by the engineer concerned. There is therefore need for analysis of concrete compressive strength variance and understanding of the criteria for proper concrete mix designs suitable for various applications. Concrete is a

Commonwealth v. Louise Woodward, 427 Mass. 659 (1998) Essay

Commonwealth v. Louise Woodward, 427 Mass. 659 (1998) - Essay Example The murder trial of Louise Woodward began on October 6 1997. The trial lasted for three weeks after which the sitting judge instructed the jury with regard to first and second-degree murder. The instructions concerning manslaughter were not given since Woodward has asked the judge to leave them out. On 30 October, Woodward was found guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. After a post judgment relief motion by Woodward on 19 November, the judge reduced the sentence initially given by making the charge manslaughter. Woodward was then sentenced to 279 days that the judge considered had been served during her trial and during the time of waiting for action on the post judgment relief. The judge however denied Woodward’s request for a retrial or a judgment of not guilty. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed an appeal against the vacation of the murder conviction. In their appeal, the commonwealth argued that the judge did not have a right to change t he jury’s sentence and that he erred in denying the request of the state to instruct the jury on manslaughter. The commonwealth argued that it had brought evidence to the court that could convict the accused on either first or second-degree murder or manslaughter. Woodward rejected the option of manslaughter and therefore the judge erred in availing this sentence to her. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts argued that whereas the defendant may request instructions for lesser crimes, the decision on whether to include such an instruction to the jury does not rest with the defendant (McBrewster 98-102). They argued that the defendant lacks the technical capacity to make such decisions. They also argued that in the instance of Woodward, that she requested be left out was for a lesser offence which was unprecedented in any jurisdiction. Their contention was that all instruction should have been included in order to give the jury a chance to decide upon the evidence rather than rest ricting their choices. The Supreme Court in ruling on the appeal ruled in favor of the judge in asserting that the judge had powers according to the Massachusetts rules of criminal procedure to vacate the sentence given by a jury. The court asserted that the judge had offered reasons for vacating the sentence even as the law did not require him to do so. The court also upheld the principle used in other cases in asserting that confusion and inexperience rather than malice informed the killing of the child. The Supreme Court argued that the judge is more capable of making judgment that is more relevant since he is more knowledgeable in the law and has the opportunity to review witnesses in court (Conrad 65-6). Woodward also appealed the case arguing upon two critical issues. Woodward argues that the loss or suppression of evidence by the state would make it just to vacate her indictment since she has been denied an opportunity at presenting potentially exculpatory evidence (Meinhold 175). Woodward also argued that the commonwealth denied her rights by not disclosing that the child had a hairline fracture prior to the body’s interment. She argued that it is the responsibility of the state to preserve evidence despite the verdict given. The court in responding to

Knowledge Management: Concepts, Practices and Effects

Knowledge Management: Concepts, Practices and Effects Abstract Today Information Technology is gaining new heights with greater leaps. This enables new age managers to develop newer tools to manage business better. IT has not only expedited the intra and inter organizational communication but also enabled us to manage a lot of data effectively. Knowledge management is emerging as a key management tool for the new century. Although it can be defined in a variety of ways, the process of organizing knowledge in order to get a sustainable development can be termed as Knowledge management. It consists of identification, representation, distribution, application and utilization of available knowledge to get improved performance. Knowledge Management in a company is carried out by systematically organizing the intellectual capital to achieve its business goals. The intellectual capital means the companys intangible assets which increase its valuation. The Core competencies of a company go together with the sustainable competitive advantage. This report explains the process of Knowledge Management to bring in Competitive advantage in the Indian IT industry. It also elaborates on the methods on how innovation can be encouraged in the company. Further, the challenges for KM like resistance to culture change and tacit knowledge sharing are discussed. In India companies have started taking knowledge management as an important aspect as it not only gives a good working culture but also improves the return on investments eventually. However, there is still a good scope of improvement in the field of Knowledge management for the Indian IT industry. The research uses questionnaires and interpretations from interviews to collect primary data .Though it gives a comprehensive analysis, it leaves a further scope for research in the field. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Knowledge Management is relatively new buzz in the corporate world. It is a tool developed to safeguard the organization from competition in future. Apparently, the physical assets and tangible capacities are not sufficient to sustain a competitive advantage in todays market place. What make difference in the long run are the intangible assets, such as Brands, Intellectual property, knowledge etc. These assets can not be bought but have to be created within organization, by the members of organization over a period of time. Aim The aim of this report is to identify and analyse the concepts and current practices of Knowledge management in order to recommend ways of propelling innovation and competitive advantage within the companies. Objective The Research Objective is to Get a comprehensive idea of the current Knowledge Management practises. Identify and analyse the challenges faced by the organizations in implementing Knowledge Management Know the ways of how companies can propel innovation and competitive advantage. Recommendations in order to improve the company culture. Suggest the methods to attain sustainable competitive advantage handling the challenges faced. Key Questions The guiding principal of my research is as follows How do companies integrate KM with their company policies? How change should be initiated? What are the levels of hierarchy? When the change does actually happen? Is KM just for innovation, competitive advantage or more? Are rewards and recognition the way to drive KM? What are the basic challenges for KM? Research Approach The research philosophy is Positivism Philosophy that involves working with an observable social reality. The emphasis is on highly structured methodology to facilitate replication, and the end product can be law-like generalisations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists. (Saunders, 2000) This research contains mainly qualitative data collection methods for both primary and secondary data. Primary data was obtained by interviewing the key people of some of the IT companies in India. Questionnaire was designed to get the views of the employees working in the IT industry. Questionnaires were also designed and used to obtain primary data. The response of these questionnaires is being used in order to obtain a particular result in the form of percentage. The secondary data has been collected through books, journals, websites, etc. All of the research methods will be discussed in further detail in the relevant chapter. Research Outcomes The key outcome of this research would be a perfect understanding of the knowledge management practises and to know how companies use it in India for competitive advantage and innovation. Thus using this knowledge the researcher expects to identify main problems in the current trends and evaluate solutions for them. Finally, it also determines the difference between being a multinational corporation (MNC) and small to medium enterprise (SME) with respect to knowledge management. CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the research methodology adopted for the report. To start with, this report elaborates on the research philosophy Positivism, moving on towards the various stages of research like primary and secondary data collection methods. The reasons behind selecting the particular method are also explained in the report. 2.1 Approach This report includes both primary and secondary data collected from various sources. Secondary data refers to data already collected by someone else and primary data is collected for a specific purpose by the researcher (Saunders, 2000).The research philosophy is Positivism Philosophy that involves working with an observable social reality. The emphasis is on highly structured methodology to facilitate replication, and the end product can be law-like generalisations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists. (Saunders, 2000) 2.1.1 Research Strategy: This research is based on the quantitative research strategy which involves collection of data from various sources. It also proposes to collect some primary data through interviews and questionnaires from people from the IT industry in India. A survey is a method whereby a sample of subjects is drawn from a population and studied to make analysis about the population. The survey strategy enables the researcher to collect a large amount of data in a highly efficient way. 2.1.2 Sample Size: For the interviews there was no such constraint of number of questions. The interviewees were asked questions in order to know the KM practices in their organization. In case of the questionnaires due to restrictions of time and access, only 500 questionnaires were distributed to various IT company employees. The reason for distributing the questionnaires to the employees from all the levels and department was to get a clear idea of how employees take the concept of Knowledge management at their workplace. 2.2 Research Stages 2.2.1 Secondary Data Collection: The first stage of the research was a critical literature review to obtain the secondary data. Secondary data collected includes the information and concepts from books, journals and websites based on Knowledge management, Organisational behaviour, Knowledge Integration etc. The list of various sources referred can be viewed from the relevant chapter of the report. Access to the books and journals was through Coventry University Library and electronic library databases like FAME, Engineering Village2 etc. Case studies of various companies as mentioned in the appendices were analysed by the researcher in order to get the relevant information and to decide on certain concepts considering them as the evidences. 2.2.2 Interviews: The second stage of the research was to interview some key people of various IT companies in India. Selection of these companies for the interview was done on the basis of how KM practices are being carried out there. These vary from the Market leaders to the new entrants in the IT industry. Many companies are such that they have been practising good KM processes since a long time, but a few have just started to get into it. This was done so because it gave researcher a clear idea of the current scenario in the Indian IT industry. Selecting the best companies alone would not have helped in introducing the scope of improvement for the research. The interviews were face to face interviews and the researcher has written down the important points from the session. The people who have been interviewed were mainly the Knowledge Management Executives in the companies. These were the people who knew exactly what processes are being practised in the company, so interviewing them was the best way to get the details about the KM practices in the companies. Their designations were like senior knowledge officers, Chief knowledge officers etc. Confidentiality was requested by the interviewees so company names are not mentioned anywhere. 2.2.3 Questionnaires: The final stage for primary data collection was through questionnaires. The questionnaires designed were distributed to the employees of junior level in the IT companies. It had just 10 questions but they were selected in such a way that the they would serve the main purpose of the survey to understand the current scenario in Indian IT industry among that class of employee by whom the KM practices are expected to follow. Questions selected were simple to answer so that the respondents are interested in answering till the end of the questionnaire. This also makes it possible to collect maximum responses. These questionnaires were not passed on to the management level or the KM people as the interviews were carried out with them. The researcher wanted to extract information from the employees in the Indian IT companies regarding their views about the Knowledge Management processes in their companies. This was also helpful in getting an overview of the facts about the how aware the Ind ian corporate world is in regards with knowledge management. CHAPTER 3: CRITICAL LITRATURE REVIEW 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1. What is knowledge? Definition of knowledge provided by Schulz (2001) beginning with the 1992 American Heritage Dictionary: ‘knowledge is what has been learned from experience or study. Knowledge is a broad concept that usually includes insights, interpretations, and information. Organizational knowledge refers to knowledge and information that all, part, or parts of the organization share, and that is frequently stored in standard operating procedures, routines, or rules. Today, knowledge has emerged and is accepted as the most critical resource available to an organization (Bartlett and Ghosal 1993, Davenport and Prusak 1995, Drucker 1993, Leonard-Barton 1992, Nonaka 1991, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, Nonaka et al. 2001, Stewart 1997 and 2001, Toffler 1990 and World Bank 1998). Knowledge can be defined as the understanding of a concept gained by education, experience or even by mere observation. To acquire knowledge means processing of information with the help of learning, communication, perception, reasoning and linking. It is the theoretical or practical understanding of information and facts which is obtained by correctly processing the raw data. Here arises the need to understand the difference between data, information and knowledge. Data is the collection of certain facts or values about a particular concept. Information is the processing done on data using relevant theory. The organization of data is nothing but information. The extraction of information on the basis of proper understanding is Knowledge. This can be further explained by considering an example of solving a quadratic equation. The variables are in the form of information, a value of the variable is data and the operation we carry out with them for calculating the answer is our knowledge. The following figure shows the DIKW (Data Information Knowledge Wisdom) hierarchy as stated by Clark, 2004. Figure 1: The DIKW hierarchy (Clark, 2004) Knowledge is generally personal, subjective and inherently local it is found â€Å"within the heads of employees† (www.ichnet.org/glossary.htm 2004) 3.1.2 Classification of Knowledge: Knowledge can be classified as: 1. Tacit Knowledge This type of knowledge is hard to formulate and communicate because it is gained by experience. Tacit knowledge is personnel and context specific. People carry tacit knowledge in their brain, thus it is not easy to share it. There is no systematic approach to store tacit knowledge as people are many times unaware of their tacit knowledge. However it is the most valuable form of knowledge as it is can be acquired only by experience and is not easily found written anywhere. 2. Explicit Knowledge Explicit knowledge is transmittable into a formal systematic language with the help of tacit knowledge. Thus, the codification of ones tacit knowledge results into explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be in the form of books, manuals, notes, documents etc. The definition of some phenomenon is the explicit part whereas the practical understanding behind the phenomenon is tacit. 3. Embedded Knowledge The knowledge contained in some kind of physical form is known as embedded knowledge. For example the design of an artefact gives us the basic idea of where it can be used. 3.1.3 Knowledge Management. Knowledge management is defined as the process of getting the right information to the right people at the right time, and helping people create knowledge and share and act upon information in ways that will measurably improve the performance of organization and its partners. This means providing access to information at the time people need it to make the best decisions possible for mission safety and success. According to Wally Block of The Intranet Journal, the following points make up the generalized term: Knowledge Management. Knowledge management is the way that organizations create, capture and reuse knowledge to achieve organizational objectives. Knowledge management can also be defined as a process with four parts that comprise a loop. Knowledge is created. This happens in the heads of people. Knowledge is captured. It is put on paper in a report, entered into a computer system of some kind or simply remembered. Knowledge is classified and modified. The classification can be the addition of keywords; it may be indexing. Modification can add context, background or other things that make it easier to reuse later. The test of this steps success is to determine how easily people in the organization will be able to find and use the knowledge when they need it. Knowledge is shared. When knowledge is shared and used, its modified by the folks who use it. This takes us back to knowledge creation. The process of organizing knowledge in order to get a sustainable development can be termed as Knowledge management. It consists of identification, representation, distribution, application and utilization of available knowledge to get improved performance. Knowledge Management in a company is carried out by systematically organizing the intellectual capital to achieve its business goals. The intellectual capital means the companys intangible assets which increase its valuation. 3.2. Knowledge Creation: According to Nonaka â€Å"the key to knowledge creation lies in the mobilization and conversion of tacit knowledge†. The process of Knowledge creation is done my transformation of tacit and explicit forms thus giving rise to four forms of transformations. This can be further explained with the help of the following diagram: Fig: Nonakas Spiral model. Source: Nonaka, I.   (1991)   The knowledge creating company. Harvard Business Review, 69, (Nov-Dec) Tacit to Tacit: Socialization Team meetings are held to share the experiences of the team members. This provides everyone to share their ideas and also solution of similar problem in the past can be used. Tacit to Explicit: Externalization This can be done by having question answer sessions. Here the senior employees are capable of solving the queries of their juniors. Explicit to Explicit: Combination Sharing of documents is the best example of this type of transformation. The case studies, notes etc can be exchanged in order to have a faster creation of knowledge. Explicit to Tacit: Internalization Internalization can be done by reading and understanding documents prepared by others. Extracting knowledge from an e-mail received from a colleague is the best example of this. 3.3 Knowledge Capture 3.4 Knowledge Sharing The World Bark (1998) identifies and discusses the most important decisions that an organization must make in establishing its knowledge management program. These are: Deciding with whom to share; deciding what to share; deciding how to share; and deciding to share. 3.5 Learning Organization: A Learning Organization is one in which people at all levels, individually and collectively, are continually increasing their capacity to produce results they really care about. The learning organization focuses on enhancing its systems (including people) to continually increase the organizations capacity for performance. The concept of learning organization can be better understood by considering the following points: Development An organization learns many important aspects of business, skills and technology during the process of learning. For an organization to grow in a competitive world, it is very important to never let the learning process end. 3.5.2 Levels of learning: Aligning learning with corporate priorities Designing learning for maximum impact Using e-business technologies to enable formal and informal interactions Obtaining recognition by the entire organization that learning is a critical enabler to success Community of Practice Ardichvili, Page and Wentling (2003) study community of practice at Caterpillar Inc and find that when employees view knowledge as a public good belonging to the whole organization, it flows easily. However, even when individuals give the highest priority to the interest of the organization and of their community, they tend to shy away from contributing knowledge out of fear of criticism or misleading the community members. Trust increases knowledge sharing. Essex (2000) discusses a study titled .Beyond knowledge Management: New ways to Work and Learn undertaken by the Conference Board in New York in early 2000. It says that management support and corporate culture, not technology, drive successful KM projects. CHANGE what draws people to share varies from organization to organization and matches the core values and other processes. Alignment with the current culture and a practical purpose to share is, specifically, what draws people most strongly to share knowledge. (Blue http://gbr.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/1/119) The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations Communities of Action Communities of Circumstance Communities of Interest Communities of Position Communities of Purpose (Source: Shin and Bickel (2008) in Chris Kimble and Paul Hildreth (2008). Communities of Practice: Creating Learning Environments for Educators. Information Age Publishing) Obstacles Performance Management NECESSITY OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT A systematic capture, transfer, and use of internal and external know-how are a vital part of any business strategy. With no common processes for sharing information among employees, partners, and customers, limited information exchange will occur among suppliers and the engineering, manufacturing, and service functions. Consequently, the organization will experience ineffective design reuse, and product launch mistakes will be repeated. If there is no company standard expertise locator or people finder, then the inability to locate subject matter experts will result in lost opportunities, lost time, and being incapable of applying the right resources to significant problems. And with too many different systems, proposals, and pricing sheets, sales representatives cannot have access to information they need when they need it. This can prolong the sales cycle and lead to less-than-best sales solutions offered to the client With retirement and turnover, knowledge is walking out the door everyday. New hires do not have the benefit of past experiences and lessons learned, yet their time-to-competence needs to be compressed. Mergers and acquisitions result in two bodies of knowledge and expertise and two cultures that must assimilate quickly. Portals and e-business are drivers of knowledge management. People want information they can use and trust from a single point of access. Also, an often neglected point is that customers want access to your knowledge and to their business transactions with you. Another driving factor is e-learning. Firms now must know where and how knowledge is really being created and acquired. Knowledge management can set the framework for how learning fits into the overall picture of developing employees and making them productive. The key component of a good knowledge management system is the content itself. If the knowledge management system does not provide users with timely, accurate information, inform them of best practices, and link them to expertise, organizations will not realize the full value of their investment in the system. One of the key steps in the strategic design of knowledge management systems is identifying the information already in use within an organization.   Although, in theory, an effective knowledge management system is a central database of data, information, and knowledge contained within the organization, the act of actually creating, maintaining, and using such a central repository is a challenge in practical terms. One of the many benefits of knowledge management is the learning that occurs when a user takes a piece of information from one place, personally transforms it, and creates something new. Although the designers and developers of the knowledge management system can facilitate this type of learning by encouraging those who have the knowledge to capture it, and by designing a system that links end users to information that they might find helpful, neither the designers nor the developers could have planned or predicted such this particular act of learning. It happened informally, without the guidance of an instructor and without the suggestion of a designer.† (Carliner, section 1) Knowledge Management takes advantage of a companys information experience and expertise to serve customers better and respond quickly to changing marketing conditions. Successful companies build a corporate environment that fosters a desire for knowledge among their employees and that ensures its continual application, distribution and creation.   Less successful companies tend to take a top down approach: pushing knowledge to where it is needed.   Besides creating an environment that encourages knowledge pull, successful companies excel in applying, distributing, and creating knowledge.   (Hauschild, 2001) Companies link all their information together and build models that improve processes, product and customer relations.   Such companies understand that true knowledge management requires them to develop ways of making workers aware of those links and goes beyond infrastructure to touch almost every aspect of business. COMPONENTS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM â€Å"The key component of a good knowledge management system is the content itself. If the knowledge management system does not provide users with timely, accurate information, inform them of best practices, and link them to expertise, organizations will not realize the full value of their investment in the system. One of the key steps in the strategic design of knowledge management systems is identifying the information already in use within an organization.   Although, in theory, an effective knowledge management system is a central database of data, information, and knowledge contained within the organization, the act of actually creating, maintaining, and using such a central repository is a challenge in practical terms. One of the many benefits of knowledge management is the learning that occurs when a user takes a piece of information from one place, personally transforms it, and creates something new. Although the designers and developers of the knowledge management system can facilitate this type of learning by encouraging those who have the knowledge to capture it, and by designing a system that links end users to information that they might find helpful, neither the designers nor the developers could have planned or predicted such this particular act of learning. It happened informally, without the guidance of an instructor and without the suggestion of a designer.† Knowledge Management takes advantage of a companys information experience and expertise to serve customers better and respond quickly to changing marketing conditions. Successful companies build a corporate environment that fosters a desire for knowledge among their employees and that ensures its continual application, distribution and creation.   Less successful companies tend to take a top down approach: pushing knowledge to where it is needed.   Besides creating an environment that encourages knowledge pull, successful companies excel in applying, distributing, and creating knowledge. Companies link all their information together and build models that improve processes, product and customer relations.   Such companies understand that true knowledge management requires them to develop ways of making workers aware of those links and goes beyond infrastructure to touch almost every aspect of business. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Enterprise knowledge management entails formally managing knowledge resources in order to facilitate access and reuse of knowledge, typically by using advanced information technology. KM is formal in that knowledge is classified and categorized according to a prespecified—but evolving—ontology into structured and semi structured data and knowledge bases. The overriding purpose of enterprise KM is to make knowledge accessible and reusable to the enterprise. Knowledge resources vary for particular industries and applications, but they generally include manuals, letters, summaries of responses to clients, news, customer information, competitor intelligence, and knowledge derived from work processes. A wide range of technologies are being used to implement KM systems: e-mail; databases and data warehouses; group support systems; browsers and search engines; intranets and internets; expert and knowledge-based systems; and intelligent agents. In artificial intelligence, knowledge bases are generated for consumption by so-called expert and knowledge-based systems, where computers use rule inference to answer user questions. Although knowledge acquisition for computer intervening is still important, most recent KM developments make knowledge available for direct human consumption or develop software that processes that knowledge. Historically, KM has been aimed at a single group—managers—through what has been generally referred to as an executive information system. An EIS contains a portfolio of tools such as drill-down access to databases, news source alerts, and other information— all aimed at supporting managerial decision making. More recently, however, KM systems are increasingly designed for entire organizations. If executives need access to information and knowledge, their employees are also likely to have an interest in and need for that information. In addition, KM technology is ideally suited for non management groups—such as customer support, where customer service requests and their solutions can be codified and entered into a database available to all customer service representatives. IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT As organizations store an increasing amount of information and knowledge in data and knowledge warehouses and in data and knowledge bases, they are attempting to manage that knowledge in more efficient ways. Historically, organizational knowledge has been stored on paper and in peoples minds. Unfortunately, paper has limited accessibility and is difficult to update. And when people leave, they take most of their knowledge with them, so reuse is not always feasible. Thus, firms have moved to data and knowledge warehouses and to data and knowledge bases to improve accessibility, updatability, and achievability of data and knowledge. Data warehouses In many companies, one of the first KM tools is a data warehouse. A data warehouse acts as a central storage area—a warehouse—for an organizations transaction data. Data warehouses differ from traditional transaction databases in that they are designed to support decision making rather than simply efficiently capturing transaction data. Typically, data warehouses contain multiple years of transaction databases stored in the same database. Data warehouses are not updated on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Instead, the entire database is updated periodically. The size of data warehouses can be substantial. A leading bank in US has a 560-Gbyte data warehouse, for example, and MasterCard On-Line is a 1.2- Tbyte database available to member companies for a fee. With all the data accessible in one place, relationships between data elements can be more effectively explored. Users can browse the data or establish queries, though this type of analysis generally results only in knowledge for particular individuals. An alternative approach is to use a process called knowledge discovery to determine whether there is additional knowledge hidden in the data. Knowledge warehouses Rather than the kind of quantitative data typical of data warehouses, knowledge warehouses are aimed more at qualitative data. KM systems generate knowledge from a wide range of databases including Lotus Notes databases, data warehouses, work processes, news articles, external databases, Web pages (both internal and external), and people. Thus, knowledge warehouses are likely to be virtual warehouses where the knowledge is dispersed across a number of servers. In some cases, a Web browser can be used as an interface to a relational database. For example, Ford Research and Development uses a browsable Oracle database. The database contains manuals and design rules, specifications, and requirements. A

Religiously Selfish :: essays research papers

Many people rely heavily upon religion daily. They use it as a source of reasoning, as an explanation for hardships or struggles they may be facing. However, many people only seem to rely upon religion when they feel they need outside support. Hemingway addresses the idea of religion many times in his novel â€Å"A Farewell to Arms.† However, Hemingway’s examples contrast with each other, demonstrating his belief that the majority of people seem to use religion only when timely for them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Religion can be used to explain events that one cannot find a way to rationalize or understand. Often, when one feels that he or she is being faced with great burdens, and cannot seem to find a way to understand why those burdens are being placed upon themselves’, one may turn to religion. When Fred’s companion Passini loses his legs to a trench-mortar, Hemingway describes his reaction: â€Å"He big his arm and moaned, ‘Oh mama mia, mama Mia,’ then, ‘Dio te salve, Maria. Dio te salve, Maria. Oh Jesus shoot me Christ shoot me†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (55). Though Passini may be moaning these things subconsciously, he has turned to higher-powers for help when he is in great pain. It is much easier to explain unfair treatment by saying it is God’s intentions, or the intentions of some other higher-being, than to decide that one is merely unlucky or has done something to bring those burdens into place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When people do not feel they need the support of religion, and of a higher-power, they often dismiss it as nonsense and as foolish. They do not feel the need to devote themselves to something that they realize may be fictional. Hemingway demonstrates this through the actions of the soldiers when Frederick is dining with them: â€Å"‘The Pope wants the Austrians to win the war,’ the major said. ‘He loves Franz Joseph. That’s where the money comes from. I am an atheist†¦ All thinking men are atheists,’† (7 and 8). The major is poking fun at the priest, insulting both the priest and the pope and saying that there is no God. Later on in the story, Rinaldi has his own go at the priest, saying â€Å"‘To hell with you, priest... To hell with you†¦ To hell with the whole damn business,’† (173). Rinaldi claims he is joking with the priest, and it appears as though he is at first. However, his ranting bec omes serious and malicious.

Filipino language Essay

Celso Ressurecion – half-indio and half-spanish youth from Pampanga Feliza Reyes – daughter of a Filipino insurgent general Nanding Reyes – Feliza’s father and head of the nationalist rebel group in Baler Azon Reyes – Feliza’s mother Gabriel Reyes – Feliza’s younger brother 2nd Lt. Saturnino Martin Cerezo Capt. Enrique Fossi de las Morenas – replace Lt. Mota as the head of the Spanish in Baler Col. Calixto Villacorte Commandante Teodorico Luna Novicio Fr. Candido Gomez Carreno – parish priest Lt. Jose Mota – head of the Spanish army in Baler Lope – friend of Celso Luming – friend of Feliza V.SUMMARY/PLOT: The story happened during the siege of Baler. A battle between the Filipino forces and Spanish battalion in 1898. A young Filipina, named Feliza who fell inlove with a half Spanish and a half Filipino young man, named Celso who prefer to be a Spanish soldier rather than to be a Filipino katipunero. Feliza and Celso’s love has to be kept as a secret because Feliza is the daughter of Nanding, a rebel leader who has the burning desire to completely annihilate Spanish soldiers in town of Baler. Filipino troops including the father of Feliza started to attack Spanish soldiers. The Spanish battalion inhabited the church as their barracks to protect them from attacks of up armed Filipinos bounding the church. As the siege prolongs, little by little the Spaniards’ supply of foods diminish and many soldiers got sick because of no more supplies of food to eat. Commander Las Morenas and other subsequent commanders got wounded and sick because of being isolated for a number of months. There were some soldiers surrendered because they could no longer bear their sufferings. Even Celso who knew that Feliza got pregnant planned to escape together with his colleagues. That night of their escape Celso was trapped due to his friends’ own fear. He was betrayed by his own friend. Feliza who was patiently waiting for Celso, knew nothing about the execution happened to her love inside the church. Filipino troops have many times tried to convince the Spaniards to surrender because Spanish fleet in manila was already defeated and the war was actually ended. But still they refused to leave. â€Å" Viva Espaà ±a! â€Å" their principle. The last commander who discovered that the news was true. After the confirmation of the news, at last he and his follower peacefully surrendered. The sad thing was that poor Feliza, who longed for her love, who could instead be the happiest woman in the world that time because finally she and her love could be together, did not find Celso in the flock of freed soldiers rather found him inside the church with no more life. A.EXPOSITION In 1898, a band of Spanish soldiers heroically defended Baler (which would later be the capital municipality of Aurora in 1951) against Filipino forces for 337 long and grueling days. Dubbed as the Siege of Baler, the Spanish troops holed up inside the church of San Luis Obispo. This is the setting of the movie Baler, a love story between a young Filipina barrio lass Feliza (Anne Curtis) and Filipino-Spanish soldier Celso (Jericho Rosales) are caught in a forbidden love, torn apart by the societies they came from. Feliza’s father Nanding (Philip Salvador) is an anti-Spanish government fighter, which puts pressure on the young couple to keep their relationship a secret. Outnumbered and out-gunned by the Indios they once governed and abused, the Spanish soldiers in Baler, including Celso and buddy Lope (Mark Bautista), are now forced to hole up in a church as they wait for non-existent military reinforcements to rescue them from the band of Filipinos who have now surrounded them and are waiting for their surrender. B.RISING ACTION Baler wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t good either. It was a very simple story – a love affair between Jericho Rosales’ half-blood Spanish soldier and Anne Curtis (Feliza) native maiden (whose father – Philip Salvador – happened to be a particularly bitter freedom-fighter). This romance was set against the last days of Spanish power in the Philippines when the garrison at Baler – including Jerico Rosales (Celso) character – was forced to hole-up in the local church for almost a year, surrounded by the well-armed local militia. Under these trying circumstances, the two leads keep the faith as best they can, against all odds. And that was pretty much it. Despite its pretensions at being a period historical romance, the entire movie came off almost as blandly as though it were journalistic, rather than dramatic. The crux of the movie should have been the aching of the two lovers; more specifically, Anne Curtis (Feliza) defiance of her father and Jerico Rosales (Celso) ultimate decision to defy his Commander – and by extension his own dreams of eventually seeing his father – in order to finally be with his love. C.CLIMAX The story of doe-eyed Feliza (Anne Curtis), a young Filipina from the capital of Aurora province who falls in love with Celso (Jericho Rosales), a Filipino-Spanish soldier fighting for Spain as the once mighty empire is now on a losing battle defending its overseas territories from the US. Feliza’s dad (Phillip Salvador) an anti-Spanish government fighter which means their love is anything but permissible, and thus are struggling to keep their relationship secret. Outnumbered and out-gunned by the Indios they once governed and abused, the Spanish soldiers in Baler, including Celso and buddy Lope (Mark Bautista), are now forced to hole up in a church as they wait for non-existent military reinforcements to rescue them from the band of Filipinos who have now surrounded them and are waiting for their surrender. D. Moral Lesson: Love is worth fighting for! Love is not easy in a time of uneasiness. But above all, Filipinos were really a freedom fighter. As Spaniards did not surrender, much more the Filipinos. E.REACTION: Baler is primarily a love story between Feliza, the daughter of a rebel commander (Anne Curtis), and Celso, a half-Spanish soldier (Jericho Rosales), set at the twilight years of the Spanish regime in the Philippines. The young couple struggle to keep their forbidden love alive despite familial and political tensions culminating in an almost yearlong blockade known as the Siege of Baler. â€Å"Love is difficult in times of war,† says a Filipino soldier named Lope (Mark Bautista) who is also serving the Spanish army just like Celso. His statement perfectly encapsulates the movie’s theme. Complementing the primary conflict of Anne and Jericho’s relationship is a backdrop of clashes between father and son, mother and daughter, duty to family and country, and loyalty and self-preservation. Throughout the movie, Baler explores the question of whether love-be it romantic, familial, or patriotic-can survive the most brutal of human endeavors: war. VI.HISTORICAL ANALYSIS Baler is a history-inspired Filipino movie mainly on a prohibited love between Filipino maiden Feliza Reyes acted by Anne Curtis and Filipino-Spanish Soldier Celso Resurreccion acted by Jericho Rosales. The couples’ love is difficult because of different culture they came from. Feliza is a daughter of an insurgent leader Nanding portrayed by Philip Salvador and Celso is a soldier serving Spanish regime. Their relationship is kept alive even with hindrances such as the famous historical event Siege of Baler where Spanish Army including Celso assigned at Baler, Quezon is trapped in a church surrounded by Filipino Army anticipating for their concede as Philippine-Spanish war is ending. The siege lasted almost a year where it defied the love of the young couple. The film begins on a scene depicting how admirable Baler until the characters and scenes introduced consequences of their fate that becomes a strong emotional medium in actualizing the plot. The way that Lieutenant Mota killed himself instead of surrendering to Filipino troops surrounding him while Celso is watching is genuinely revealing that sacrificing blood and life is evident throughout the story. Indeed it did not fail because the film illustrated first about the love of a young couple and ended tragically with bloodshed. Characterization of Baler was a credit of the movie. Characters complimented each persona portrayed. Anne Curtis as Feliza is quite ironic to be a full blooded Filipina because of her looks but managed to defer it by her acting which made viewers imagine a real beautiful and in loved young Filipina. She portrayed it with grace as though viewers see it as an actual scene from the past. Also, we can acknowledge Philip Salvador as Nanding who symbolized oppressed Filipinos whom are eager to fight Spanish government. This portrayal is effective because it lets the viewers feel how gruesome the treatment of Spaniards. Other than that, Jericho Rosales as Celso acted smoothly throughout the film though some criticize him not fit for the role half Filipino and half Spanish since his beauty was truly for a Filipino Man. Despite that, he portrayed the role that viewers had suspension of disbelief. Seeing him as a true Filipino but was just lucky enough to have a job and to have been born in Spain. He also acted fair enough that he represented both sides of what he loves and what he ought to do. Basically, the setting of the movie, Baler, is also an important symbolism of the movie. It connotes that the place is significant for the young couple who fought for their love and life through wars. It implies their persistent love which was only ended by death. Also, as the movie also denotes, another meaning would be perceive from Baler is that it represented how firm the belief of Spaniards. They managed a year-long battle unknowingly to win or not but was urged because of their pride. Symbolisms are not evident throughout the film but Baler is the leit-motif which was the main point why the movie progressed. The style of the director is highly commendable that even young ones can capture the emotions of the movie. All throughout it depicted scenes and shots that emphasize worthy subjects that contributed to the maturity of the film. The film touched aspects differing from familial, personal life until political feuds. Hence, this film is a must for a person who seeks a touch of history and romance. VII.LITERAL ANALYSIS A.THEME â€Å"Love is difficult in times of war!† B.POINT OF VIEW The Baler screenplay tries to present the Filipino point of view on the issue of the siege, and the international significance of the event for the fledgling Philippine Republic. C.SIGNIFICANT The movie portrayed three (3) significant happening in which we may perceive that created conflict or harmony. First, the reality of Filipinos relationship with the Spaniards was illustrated thoroughly. In the movie, it was established how inviolable the love of the young couple and also how inviolable matters concerning priests or Spanish government rulers. Here they have communicated implicitly that it is unlawful for them to be in these affairs. In present time, this reality is apparent. A good example maybe perhaps our Filipino culture of girls should be conservative. Some continue to obey the belief while the others who don’t are labeled flirt. We cannot escape the fact that some if not majority dwell with this kind of perspective. However, as technology advance, so is our mental openness. Some embrace this kind of philosophy forgetting the old habit which was known worldwide that is â€Å"Mara Clara† style. Second, a reality portrayed was that a person is loyal to its own country no matter what. Established in the movie was how the Spaniards and Filipinos were firm with their own beliefs. The Spaniards remained loyal to their country despite the evidence that were shown to them telling that Spanish era is long gone. On the other hand, Filipinos remained fierce with their battle giving grace to the Spaniards. In these days, we can also relate the loyalty of these people with their respective country in our daily lives. A great example would be a broken family who despite of intense quarrel mange to unite if other clan while oppose to one of their family. This family will join together defending their own ill-treated family member. In this case, we can say that our loyalty remains fully firm from where we came from. Lastly, a reality shown was Love conquers all even if death comes. Tragically, the movie ended revealing that Celso was executed due to accused treachery. In this case, we can see that no matter how big or small circumstances, the love of couple is still present though they are eternally apart. D.CONFLICT While Baler is a story of conflict, betrayal, suffering, self-preservation, selfishness, obstinacy, and self-interest, it is also a story of heroism, courage, love of freedom, patriotism, endurance, chivalry, humanity and above all, it also tells about a noble story of love in time of war— the story of Feliza and Celso. Feliza is the beautiful daughter of Nanding (Phillip Salvador), who’s a member of the rebel movement. This is the very reason why she and Celso have to keep their love a secret. Nanding, whose primary goal is to completely wipe out the Spanish soldiers stationed in the town of Baler, can never accept Celso, a half- Indio, half Spanish soldier who chooses to serve the enemies more than the Filipino insurgents who are struggling and fighting for their independence, their freedom. Feliza is in love with the man her father despises but who and what could stop the two young people who are madly in love with each other?

Human resource management in Small Organizations Essay

Much of our knowledge of human resource management involves large organizations with dedicated human resource departments and staff, but what about small organizations? Small organizations recruit, compensate, do performance management, and many of the same tasks as large organizations. There are certain things that can be mapped effectively from large to small organizations, but what happens to the rest that do not map? A small organization can not simply let things slip through the cracks based on size or ignorance of laws, rules, or requirements. This is what makes human resource management not only important in small organizations, but essential for their long term success. Human resource (HR) management is an issue that affects every type of organization large and small alike. The majority of research and information that is easily accessible though is for larger organizations with a staff of human resource professionals. While it is true that much of the information for larger organizations can be applied to smaller organizations the majority of things do not. This raises the question: is the practice of human resource management necessary in small organizations or is it simply for the Fortune 500 companies of the world? I propose that not only is human resource management important to small organizations, but it is essential for their long term success. Traditionally, Small organizations have always had limited resources. Many times they completely overlook the importance of a human resources department. In doing so, they elect to omit the department in their business model. This common oversight shifts the burden of specific HR responsibilities to other members of the staff. Most often, these members of management are not trained or experience in human resource management, nor are they schooled in policies and procedures. Because of this, many HR tasks fall through the cracks. These short falls do not negate laws, rules, and other employer responsibilities that cover human resource management. These regulations still apply to all organizations regardless of size. The lack of understanding creates a liability for small organizations because hey feel that they are exempt based on their size. They simply do not have an understanding of all the laws, rules, and other responsibilities that an educated human resource professional would. Without a dedicated HR department, the small business lacks a proper understanding and vision of human resource policies and procedures. This deficiency will also create problems for a small organization. Typically, most small organizations are focused on increasing sales, adding new products and services, and increasing profits. All these objectives are to be met with the aforementioned limited resources. What many small businesses overlook is that proper understanding and implementation of HR policies and procedures is vital to any business. This should be the center piece of any organization; large or small. Small businesses should create a solid foundation by creating a policies and procedures manual. While creating a policies and procedures manual is time consuming, it is essential for successful employee relations. These policies and procedures not only create an understanding between management and employee of what is expected, but most importantly, what is not expected. Often time’s small organizations assume that common sense should be the guide in determining human resource practices. This leaves too many things open to interpretation and can lead to liabilities that can damage or even end a small organization. Policies on sexual harassment, retaliation, Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and a host of other legal policies must be stated and understood by everyone in the workplace. There are many legal institutions just waiting for organizations to ignore these laws. Creating a policies and procures manual will put in writing what is not tolerated while protecting the small organization. It also will keep the business from being negligent in the protection of its employees. Liabilities are a real threat that face many small organizations; both in the short and long term scope. It does not matter if the organization is liable because of a lack of knowledge or truly negligent; the law only cares if an organization breaks it and not why. Liability issues while vital to the success of the organization are not important if there are no employees. Without employees, the organization cannot sell its goods or services and has no purpose to exist. While a human resource department is important because of liability, there are other issues that are the core responsibility of an HR director that are also key components to the success of a small organization. HR professionals must manage recruitment, compensation, retention, training, and performance. The next key component and considered to be the most important by many, including myself, is that of recruiting. The lack of a formal human resource department and policies make this important component the most challenging. Selection of staff starts with the challenge of who is going to do it. This task often falls on key management personnel and even the president/CEO of the organization. This often impacts the primary responsibilities of this person that directly affect the small organizations ability to increase and make profit. Once the person is selected he/she faces many challenges in the quest for a new staff member or members. The first of these is limited financial resources to spend on recruitment. The lack of money that can be spend limits the amount of areas the open position can be broadcast and there by limiting the pool of qualifies candidates. The popularity of Craigslist and other free online classified internet sites have cut the cost of spreading the word of open positions, but still only reach a limited audience. The ability to add open positions to a small organizations own website is also a free option, but once again limits the exposure to only people coming to its website. The more poplar websites like Monster, Career Builder, and Snag-a-Job reach a larger audience, but cost money. To increase the candidate pool from only online audience to print audience also this is another added expense to an already limited budget. Once the interview process starts there are several other issues that small organizations face. The first of these is the credibility of the organization. Credibility is hurt from even the practice of only posting open positions on a Craigslist. The amount of scams and illegimate business has made the public skeptical of many free sites like Craigslist so the free ad is not entirely free. A Fortune 500 company such as FedEx has no trouble with name recognition or creditability unlike Mailway Delivery, a small package courier. The problem of credibility for the Mailway Delivery’s of the world is another challenge that small organizations face. The next issue is the need of most small organizations employee’s to perform multiple roles. This could include answering phones, sending out mail, and various other duties that everyone shares to keep employee costs down. A candidate from a large corporation might have a specific duty that is his/her only task and that is what they are expected to focus on. In small organization tasks are far less defined and could even change regularly depending on the needs of the organization. This is why small organizations also focus on personal credentials or organizational fit when selecting a candidate. These issues have lead many small organizations to begin a new way of thinking about recruiting. This new way of thinking is outsourcing recruiting to companies such as Manpower, Talent Force and other professional recruiting organizations to take on the small organizations recruiting tasks. These recruiting organizations can provide highly trained human resource professionals and services that can reduce the time key management are taken away from their jobs and put it in the hands of the recruitment organization. The recruitment organization provides not only the benefit of the recruitment, but an array of other services such as benefit administration, payroll services, training, employee relations, and a host of other human resource tasks. This cost is significantly lower for the small organization than hiring someone plus the amount of exposure to liability issues is cut down significantly. These firms also have the option of temporary labor, seasonal labor, and other not permanent labor solutions. They can also be used as an almost try before you buy approach to hiring new people. Another important component to the success of a small organization is that of compensation. This is an important topic in any organization and small organizations are no exception. Compensation is important to several aspects of small organizations including recruitment and retention of staff. It is as simple as if the organization can not pay a fair amount for staff then recruitment will be hard and retention even harder. The limited amount of resources in small organizations makes creating an enticing compensation plan for recruiting and retention a challenge. This has lead small organizations to come up with some different strategies on pay levels, pay mixes, pay structure, benefits and pay raises, but the majority emphasis is placed on pay mix. The pay mix of small organizations focus more on pays incentives than base pay. This pay mix allows the small organization to use the saved cash on labor to reinvest in the company and freeing up scarce resources. This also provides motivation for the staff to achieve goals, increase productivity, and have an overall stake in the success of the organization. These pay incentives can be either short or long term. Short term pay incentives in small organizations may include things like stock and/or profit sharing. The reasoning of why this is a successful is simple. It provides the employee with a tangible reward for his/her work in making the organization successful. This gives the employee to achieve a larger goal with a greater reward based on long term pay incentives. Long term pay incentives are typically a larger stake in the company through some form of equity, stock, stock options, or some other stock based program. This in itself continues the motivation even when this is achieved because the employee begins to identify with management based on their ownership stake in the company. This works extremely well in the high technology organizations, but can be used in almost all organizations. Pay structure in small organizations tend to have far less levels of management and organizational hierarchy so rewards and pay rate are not an indication of status among employees. Pay raises in small organizations are often not given in the same way at large organizations. Small organizations see payroll as a fixed cost and are often not willing to increase this without the success of the organization. This is why short and long term pay incentives and organizational fit play such an important part in the retention of staff. If the employee does not feel the company will be successful they will not be satisfied with a lower base salary because of the lack of faith in the success of the organization. Benefits are a department where small organizations suffer based on the scarce resources available and the high cost of employee retirement plans, company pension plans, and life insurance type options. This is where the long term pay incentives of stock options and ownership in the company have to be a substitute for standard large organization benefit packages. One benefit that small organizations do benefit the most and many choose to invest in is that of education help or reimbursement. This helps the employee by free or subsidized education and the small organization can oftentimes fill gaps in education because of the diversity of job needs. An accountant that also helps with I. T. needs would benefit his/her self as well as the company if he/she took I. T. training classes from the local community college. This not only benefits the employee, but the organization also. This makes education the best benefit for any small organization to invest in. Benefits in small organization may seem unorthodox to many traditional human resource standards, but they are necessary to help recruit and retain the best staff they can. In small organizations it is important to look at compensation from a total view, meaning looking not just at base salary and incentives, but at psychological rewards, learning opportunities, and individual recognition. Retention is an important aspect of staffing that impacts all companies and can be devastating to small organizations. Employees are the most important asset of any small organization and the instability of losing an important asset can cause havoc. Employee retention not only affects a small organization in losing a valuable asset it is an added expensive of finding and training someone else. This combined with any education paid for by the small organization is lost. The goal then of the small organization is to retain the valuable employees through the bonus programs, family type work structure, and many of the other psychological benefits small organizations have to offer. This will lead to lower cost and more efficiency in the organization. Performance management in small organizations does incorporate some parts of compensation such short and long term incentives, training, and other rewards it mostly focuses on performance evaluation processes, disciplinary actions, the laying off of employees and the termination of employees. Often the lack of formal procedures that was discussed earlier comes into play and can negatively effect the organization. The lack of written expectations, rules, and procures open the small organization up to law suits and other liabilities. Performance evaluations, disciplinary procedures, and the law involving termination of employees are important issues small organizations need to spend time on. Training in small organizations is another important component of human resource management effects on the organization. Often times in small organizations the roles of employees are altered, shifted, and sometimes even changed to meet the demand at the time. The amount of change in roles requires that employees stay trained in the area or areas they are working in order to be effective in their job. There are several different types of training that are most common in large and small organizations alike. The first type of training is what most people associate with the word training, formal classroom training. This type of training has been shown to have a positive impact on workers, but is costly in time and money for the organization. This makes formal training for small organizations not the most efficient with some exceptions. Those exceptions are trade association training classes, college seminars, and in house training. Another option that was discussed earlier in the paper was also tuition reimbursement / tuition assistance that are options for formal training. The most common for of training for small organizations is unstructured or most often referred to as on the job training. This is even a selling point in a lot of recruiting efforts of small organizations. The hands on training that a small organization can provide is valuable to the employee as they can not often times get that at a formal training facility. This form of training is often seen as less structured which allows for more interaction and increased learning in many cases. Another form of training that is a new form of training that can be supplemented with formal and informal training is based on social psychology that uses socialization to train new employees. This approach uses socialization to teach the new employee their role in the organization, adjust to job requirements and the culture of the new job. The small organizations have been found to benefit more from this type of training because the new employee is more quickly invited to meetings, asked to go to lunch, and work closer with people than a larger organization. This results in feeling part of the team quicker and learning more quickly. The need for human resource management begins the second the first employee is hired regardless of the size of the organization. The seemingly simple process of hiring, firing, and paying employees is filled with many unseen obstacles that can create problems for a small organization. Effective human resource management has a direct effect on the success of a small organization. It has been said throughout the paper of a small organizations most valuable asset being its employees. This is why human resource management is key to the success of any small organization.