Research crique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research crique - Essay Example The authors used a specific model so that they could gain a concrete idea of what teams looked like and how they were executed in the hospitals. Problem Statement Clinical and Research Problem Nursing teamwork has become increasingly important in hospitals because they are on the first line of assistance to patients. The need for nurses working together was seen in many areas of the hospital. For example, the authors state that most studies were done with surgical and emergency room nurses, but research on teams has not been seen with acute care facilities. The authors felt that there needed to be a specific understanding of teamwork so that nurses would be encouraged to work together because teamwork is critical to patient safety. The authors point out that hospitals still are unsure of what teamwork in nursing should look like and how it should be executed. The authors state that, â€Å"Lack of clarity about the teamwork processes underlying nursing teamwork hinders the developmen t of targeted, effective quality enhancement and patient safety initiatives† (p. 298). If teamwork is understood and there is a model that can be used to help hospitals be more effective, patient care will be enhanced, according to this study. The gap in the knowledge is that the research before this study has concentrated on surgical and emergency teams for teamwork; this study fills the gap for study of acute care. Significance of the Study The significance of this study lies in patient care initiatives. Kalisch et al. (2009) state that nurses who work totally on their own are prone to make errors with patients. As an example, nurses who work 12.5-hour shifts are prone to make at least 5% of their regular shifts and nurses working 8-12 hours often make 2% errors on their shifts. They also state that 70% of sentinel events happen because of miscommunication between staff members. The authors substantiate the significance of the study by providing these statistics and the read er finds that this is a very important aspect of any hospital. It seems that teamwork strengthens patient care. Purpose and Research Questions The purpose of this study was to measure teamwork effectiveness through the use of focus groups and the Salas conceptual framework of teamwork. The used this framework because it offered a behavioral component that they felt hospital personal could understand. The researchers do not state a specific aim but this was the major thrust of their work. There were no specific questions asked, but it seemed that, What constitutes a team? Was the question they were attempting to answer. They actually asked this question and then provided different studies that described how other researchers defined teamwork. The research question was definitely related the problem because the authors are defining teams. I think that the qualitative method was appropriate to this study because teams begin with people understanding what a team is and whether it is eff ective or not. It would seem that this question would need to be answered by talking to people about their experiences. Literature Review The authors used qualitative and quantitative studies, books, and government reports (Joint Commission). The references that were used spanned between the years 1994 and 2009. Most of them were between 1994 and 2002. I would not think that this was accurate information since most of the references were older than five years. The

Good Members of Society Essay Example for Free

Good Members of Society Essay Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society. Others, however, believe that school is the place to learn this. Discuss both these views and give your opinion Education plays an important role in our lives for shaping us to become good members in society. Nowadays, both parents and schools actively take part in the process educating their children. While some people view that the parents are primarily responsible for teaching their children to become responsible members in society, others believe that it is the responsibility of the schools. However, in my opinion, both parents and schools have a role to play in guiding children in the right path for a peaceful society. Home is the first school and parents are first teachers of ours. Because during the childhood they teach us how to speak and behave to someone in society. Other way parents own behavior is also affect to their children and they get these easily while they are child. Then they are going to be formed how they see and hear. Subsequently children will show their experience to the others what they learn from their parents. That`s why parents must be careful while they are teaching their children because they are seriously responsible from their children. Although school is the best place for the children to learn and to be o good person. At school they meet with many people and do their activities together with their classmates. Children can learn how to act and have a good attitude. Teachers, except teaching many subjects they also teach to the children how to have o good behavior with their friends, parents or neighborhoods. That`s why, parents always have a big hope from school to help them for creating their children to be o good person. In my view I think that good parents are good teachers and both of them have their own role in our society.

The Cross-Dresser and Transsexual Essay -- Some Like it Hot Gender Rol

The Cross-Dresser and Transsexual Attitudes towards cross-dressing, transvestitism and transsexuality have changed greatly since the conformity of the 1950’s. Today, the drag queen RuPaul sells cosmetics and a female character with a penis can become a sympathetic addition to a prime time drama such as Ally McBeal. These transgressions from normative gender roles are frequently employed by filmmakers to examine the complexity and fluidity of modern masculinity and femininity. The roots of these explorations can be seen as far back as 1959’s Some Like it Hot, but only in the 1990’s were directors able to use these sliding identities to their fullest extent. By examining Billy Wilder’s, Neil Jordan’s and Kimberley Peirce’s use of external gender signs, gender roles, sex and sexuality in Some Like it Hot, The Crying Game and Boys Don’t Cry, respectively, we may see the progression of gender blending from comedic device towards accepted identity. While none of these films entirely empowers its transgendered characters, and masculinity is privileged as the more flexible identity, the latter two films nevertheless make strides towards a society where limited definitions of gender and identity do not exist. External gender signs such as costume, hair length and voice are the spectator’s first indication that a crossing has taken place. In Some Like it Hot, this cross-dressing has a purpose and is parodied throughout, while in The Crying Game and Boys Don’t Cry, the main characters’ transvestitism is realistic and treated with more sympathy. As our society is inundated with film images, we are comfortable with the picture of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon dressed as women for the film Some Like it Hot. But one must remember that gen... ... and Boys Don’t Cry, on the other hand, show a move towards a society that is more willing to embrace these alternative identities. Both films use realistic disguise, behaviours and sexuality to help audiences identify with their transgendered characters. Furthermore, sex is shown to be of little consequence when it comes to a person’s true gender. Unfortunately, the portrayals of transsexuals in these two films are not yet fully liberating. The Crying Game stumbles into stereotype and limits Dil’s sexual behaviour, and even the most progressive of the three, Boys Don’t Cry, shows Brandon dying a horrible death. However, Peirce’s film has come a long way in open-mindedness since the antics of Joe and Jerry in Some Like it Hot. Perhaps in the coming years a filmmaker will finally dare to portray a happy and realistic transgendered character and also let him/her live.

The Great Depression Essay -- American History

The Causes of the Great Depression The cause of the Great Depression has been debated for many years. The actual cause of the Great Depression is a multitude of factors, there was no single cause. Several reasons for the Great Depression were supply and demand, the banking system, wages of workers, success and failure of business, government policy, excessive speculation in the stock market and the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle class. While there are many theories to what caused the Great Depression; all of these factors played a role in the Great Depression. The European nations industry had been devastated during the war and they relied on the United States for most goods. The American industry increased production during the war to meet the demand but over production after the war hurt the American industry and agriculture. The United States industry was producing more than the people were buying. The American farmers were faced with the same fundamental problems of over production (McElvaine 35). During the war in Europe the government encouraged a vast increase in agricultural production. During the war the government subsidized many of the farmers. The farmers borrowed heavily during the war to enlarge their farms to meet the demand. After the war the farmers did not slow production and they over produced (McElvaine 36). The United States imposed high tariffs on goods coming into the country but wanted to sell their good freely in Europe (James 103). Congress passed the Fordney-McCumber tariff of 1922 were they placed tarif fs on certain agricultural products which were seldom imported in large quantity to the United States. The tariff should have slowed the agricultur... ...epression can not be contributed to any single reason. There were a multitude of reasons for the collapse of the Stock Market. The Great Depression was felt worldwide. The American economy was the greatest during that time and many nations relied on us. Work Cited Brinkley, Allen. â€Å"The Great Depression†, American History: a survey, New York: McGraw Hill, p 666-685. Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. New York: Clarion Books, 2005 James, Harold. The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression. London, England: Harvard University Press, 2001. McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression. Toronto, Canada: Times Books, 1984. Smith, Gerald. Planning and the Tariff: An Essay on Philosophy, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1934. Temin, Peter. Monetary Forces Cause the Great Depression, New York: W.W. Norton, 1976.

Global Business

Global Business Assignment Elecdyne Student ID: 11071850 Name: Qingyuan Lin Submission Date: 09/01/2013 Word account: 2585 Contents 1. 0 Introduction3 1. 1 Background3 1. 2 Objective3 2. 0 STEEP table analysis4 3. 0 Country Analysis6 3. 1 country select and compare6 3. 2 Porter’s Diamond Theory7 3. 3 SWOT analysis8 3. 5 Summary of data13 3. 6Discussion13 4. 0 Type of method to internationalize13 5. 0 Conclusion15 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 Background Elecdyne is a Tokyo corporation founded in 1990, which dedicated themselves to markets a series of televisions, CD Players, DVD players, MP3 players to their wide range of domestic customers.In recent years, with the deepening of domestic electronics market competition, the company's profit declined in the last two years, and now it is facing the uncertain outlook. Moreover, the company has to confront the chief designer leaving, growth of technological licenses fees and loss of product price advantage. It is evident that Elecdyne doe s not have the capacity to afford the license fees and recruit new R;D graduates. In order to relieve the internal and external crisis of the Elecdyne, the board of Elecdyne has decided to go international. As the European Commission (2010) views that a immediate elation between internationalisation and increased SME performance: international activities strengthen development, improve competitiveness and sustain the long-term sustainable development of companies. With regard to Elecdyne, the management team focuses on the production cost reduction, license for patent technology and market access; and cultural diversity and uncertain risk will be also considered. Though the company has never touched with overseas markets, all of the top management teams have learnt foreign language, and some of them held the oversea university diploma.But what is certain is that the Elecdyne will get the chance to redevelop its business in the globalization. 1. 2 Objective The objective of this repo rt is to analyse the global environment for the electronics industry by using the STEEP and SWOT theory for the three potential countries. The three considerable countries compared in this report are China, Thailand and the United States respectively. The report based on data comparison and pragmatic theoretical analysis, to determine the most suitable country and the optimal way to enter new markets. . 0 STEEP table analysis In order to analyse the environment of Elecdyne more thoroughly, the STEEP table will be utilized. As Venture Navigator (2008) mentioned, The STEEP model is a tool to help the user think about the broader issues that have an influence on the industry or service field as a holistic study, including five main factors: Socio-cultural factors, Technological environment, Economic environment, Ecological environment and Political factors. The following diagram illustrates a comprehensive business environment of the Elecdyne.Socio-cultural factors| 1. As Weil (2008) e xplains that after 2008, electronic products are consisting in our lives ubiquitously. People who likely to choose the electronic products to acquire external information from their Mobile phones or television. 2. Favourable population structure, rising discretionary incomes of consumer, and developing more relevant lifestyles is expected to facilitate the global consumer electronics industry. (Lucintel, 2012) 3. With the proliferation of broadband, accessing the media has become easy and rewarding for consumers.And suppliers of the electronics are constantly updating their technology innovation to keep up with consumer requirements. (ALTERA, 2012)| Technological environment| 1. With regard to electronic, technological innovation has become indispensable to adapt new marketplace competitions and cater to consumer preferences. (Accenture, 2010) 2. According to Accenture (2012) reported Smartphones and tablet PC are the â€Å"star† in electronics products market, and consumers use the virtual network to access a great deal of information. 3.With the striction in the electronics industry, producers are under enormous pressure to create new products. Since product development cycles shorten, the electronics industry is still pumping out better products. | Economic environment| 1. As Weil (2008) views the electronics industry has weathered the most recent economic recession with relatively effortless, especially when compared to other industries. 2. With the Consumer Electronics Association reports global spending on technology facilities will exceed $1 trillion in 2012, increasing by 5% over 2011’s figure of $993 billion. CEA, 2012) 3. According to Weil (2008) mentioned, Jim Feldhan said enterprises see tremendous value in electronics, and the electronic products become an extremely popular consumption product. | Ecological environment| 1. There are thousands of scrap electronic products are dumped in landfills or burned in smelters, and these discar ded electronic products have potentially serious damage to adjacent resident. (GREENPEACE, 2012) 2. Through regulation, enterprises will be required to get more used electronics back, which will improve the recovery ratio and reuse more devices. SCRC, 2012)| Political factors| 1. According to European Commission (2012) mentioned, the investment policy of European Union (EU) is emphasized to providing entire investments with legal certainty and a reliable, predictable, impartial and proper regulated environment in which to conduct their business. 2. With Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows have increased dramatically, the investors look at stable, predictable macro economic policy, an effective and honest government and intellectual property protection. 3.As International Trade Administration (2012) views Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have proved to be one of the best ways to enter into foreign markets for American exporters. Trade Agreements reduce trade barriers to U. S. exports, and protect U. S. interests. | 3. 0 Country Analysis 3. 1 country select and compare 3. 11 China As BBC News (2012) reported China's Economic expansion accelerated remarkably in the 1990s due to mass privatization, reforming and the opening up of the country to overseas investment. A large number of multinational corporations crowded into this world factory to take advantage of its cheap labour force.To this day, the government of China has claimed that it welcomes foreign investment. Especially China gives incentive to investors to invest in higher value-added industry, including high-tech research and development, advanced manufacturing, and select modern services sectors. (State, 2011) 3. 12 France As the big EU member states, the French possess remarkable technology, broad market and good infrastructure, and central location in Europe. The French government affirms foreign investment is a positive method to create employment opportunities and stimulate growth.Investment regulati ons are unconstrained, and a large number of financial encouragement are available to foreign investors. In addition, the French government also utilizes fiscal subsidies and tax concessions to attract the attention of investor to France's underdeveloped regions. Preferential policies are available equally to French and foreign investors and eligibility requirements are the same. (State, 2012) 3. 13 The United States (US) The US owned the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world. Not only do foreign investors have the freedom to make economic decisions within the U.S. economy, but also enjoy relatively low levels of regulation and taxation. Moreover, the US provides a foreseeable and transparent legal system, excellent infrastructure, and the most profitable consumer market. (AmCham, 2012) To compare with Japan, China own cheap labour power and attractive investment incentive; France has an investment preferential policy as well as remarkable technology; in add ition to above, the US offers an impeccable legal system, excellent infrastructure and the most profitable consumption market. 3. 2 Porter’s Diamond TheoryPorter's diamond model, which offers a comprehensive way to realize the competitive position of a nation in the global competition scale. And business leaders may use this model to assess in which counties to invest, and to assess which countries are most likely to be able to continue growth and development. Porter's model includes 4 determinants of national advantage, which are shortly described below: Factor Conditions For the company, the Highly skilled workforce is the key success factors. Since it will affect the development of the company.The sufficient linguistic abilities of the staff could make the operation become more effective. Cheap labour and minimum wages can greatly reduce the cost of production. Demand conditions The per capita disposable income will directly affect the demand of market. Whether the product s cater to customer requirements, it will impact the company’s performance. Related and Supporting Industries The existence or non-existence of internationally competitive supplying industries and supporting industries. Firm Strategy, Structure, and RivalryIn different nations, management structures, working attitude, or interactions between companies are shaped diversely. This will offer advantages and disadvantages for special industries. 3. 3 SWOT analysis Previous suggested by Albert S Humphrey in the 1960s, SWOT analysis is an effectively useful instrument for all sorts of situations in business and organizations to understand and make decisions. The management team could use the SWOT analysis in order to fully use the advantage and opportunities as well as weaken the threat.The detailed strengths and weakness of factor is formulated in following table. (Businessballs, 2004) Strength| Weakness| * The brand of Elecdyn has 20 years experience in producing electronics * Exp erienced employee (could speak English), some of them have a broad education background * Producing a range of electronic products * Low cost production * Elecdyne owns abundant experience competing in a large and strongly competitive market, which proves the competitive capacity ofElecdyn| * Lack of key innovation * 5% cut down on price * No growth in the last two years, and lead to key employees leaving * Increasing expenses of technological licenses * Unable to recruit R;D graduates * Lake of experiences to manage an overseas business * Elecdyne is currently at a loss . This means that the limited financial resources. | 3. 4 Weighting table – Opportunities and threats Factor weighting| Japan| Other countries| 1 to10| 0| -10 to 10| Ps: 1 = not important, 10 = very important 10 = worse than Japan, +10 = better than Japan PEST table Political| Japan| China| France| The US| Source| Corporation tax % 6| 40. 69(0)| 25. 005*6=30| 33. 333*6=18| 40. 001*6=6| Nationmaster| Political | Japan| China| France| The US| Source| Tariffs % 7| 0(0)| 10-10*7=-70| 6-6*7=-42| 5-5*7=-35| WTO| Political risk medium/long term 5| 1(0)| 2-2*5=-10| 10 *5=0| 10*5=0| ONDDA| Political stability 7| 86. 42(0)| 46. 83-6*7=-42| 82. 22-1*7=-7| 72. 84-2*7=-14| ONDDA| Regulatory quality 6| 76. 62(0)| 45. 88-6*6=-36| 85. 702*6=12| 87. 42*6=12| Global innovation index| Total| | -128/5=-25. 6| -19/5=-3. 8| -31/5=6. 2| | Economic| Japan| China| France| The US| Source| GDP growth rate % 4| -0. 80(0)| 9. 28*4=32| 1. 71*4=4| 1. 81*4=4| CIA| GDP per capita(USD) 5| 39578. 07(0)| 2634. 71-10*5=-50| 23016. 85-4*5=-20| 37691. 00-1*5=-5| CIA| Minimum Hourly Wage ($) 10| 11(0)| 2. 256*10=60| 17-4*10=-40| 15-3*10=-30| Minimum- wage| Working hours(per week) 6| 40 hours(0)| 40 hours0*6=0| 38. 4 hours-1*6=-6| 40 hours0*6=0| Prospects| Economic| Japan| China| France| The US| Source|UnemploymentRate % 6 | 4. 6(0)| 6. 52*6=12| 9. 24*6=24| 94*6=24| CIA| Interest rate 8| 0. 00(0)| 6. 00-6*8=-48| 0. 75-1*8=-8| 0 . 25-1*8=-8| Tradingeconomics| Market size Ranking 8| 4(0)| 22*8=16| 7-4*8=-32| 14*8=32| Global innovation index| Disposable income $ 8| 23,458(0)| 3,384-10*8=-80| 27,7893*8=24| 37,7089*8=72| OECD| Inflation Rate% 4| -0. 30(0)| 5. 50-5*4=-20| 2. 30-2*4=-8| 3. 10-3*4=-12| CIA| Total| | -78/9=-8. 66| -62/9=-6. 88| 77/9=15. 4| | Social| Japan| China| France| The US| Source| Population in (million) 8| 127. 6(0)| 1343. 2310*8=80| 65. 63-1*8=-8| 313. 843*8=24| CIA| Individualism 4| 46(0)| 205*4=20| 71-5*4=-20| 91-7*4=-28| Geert-hofstede| Power distance (culture) 4| 54(0)| 804*4=16| 682*4=8| 40-1*4=-4| Geert-hofstede| Social| Japan| China| France| The US| Source| Expenditure on education 8| 27. 22(0)| 11. 15-2*8=-16| 48. 792*8=16| 45. 922*8=16| Global innovation index| Uncertainty Avoidance 6| 92(0)| 306*6=36| 862*6=12| 465*6=30| Geert-hofstede| Total | | 136/5=27. 2| 8/5=1. 6| 38/5=7. 6| | Technological| Japan| China| France| The US| Source|R;D expenditure 8| 80. 53(0)| 34. 07-6*8= œ48| 51. 88-4*8=-32| 65. 00-2*8=-16| Global innovation index| University/industry research collaboration (Rank) 6| 15(0)| 28-6*6=-36| 34-8*6=-48| 36*6=36| Global innovation index| Global Innovation Index 7| 51. 7(0)| 45. 4-1*7=-7| 51. 80*7=0| 57. 71*7=7| Global innovation index| Quality of scienti? c research institutions 6| 75. 75(0)| 55. 20-4*6=-24| 72. 470*6=0| 80. 451*6=6| Global innovation index| Total| | -115/4=-28. 75| -80/4=-20| 33/4=8. 25| | 3. 5 Summary of data Japan| China| France| The US| Political| 0| -25. 6| -3. 8| 6. 2| Economic| 0| -8. 66| -6. 88| 15. 4| Social| 0| 27. 2| 1. 6| 7. 6| Technological | 0| -28. 75| -20| 8. 25| Totals| 0| -35. 81| -29. 08| 37. 45| 4. 6 Discussion Based upon the results of data analysis, the best choice for Elecdyne is the US, which having the highest mark in the result. The scores of China and France are significantly lower than America, even if they emerge slightly advantage in some items. As for China, though it had highest GDP real gro wth rate 9. % in 2011, due to the large population, the per capita GDP is dramatically lower than America. That means Chinese citizens are having not enough disposable income to consume. The French government although utilizes preferential to attract investment, the Minimum Hourly Wage is the highest than China and the US. It will be greatly increased the cost of production. On the contrary, not only the US government provides favourable policy and huge consumer market, but also the appropriate R&D expenditure and reasonable scienti? research institutions. To sum up, the US market has greater potential than the other two countries. 4. 0 Type of method to internationalize With regard to internationalize, the Elecdyne could choose the most compatible method to enter a new market. The advantage and disadvantage of the way to internationalize should be analysed rigorously by the management team on the basis of established expansion strategy. The proper methods are joint ventures, Greenf ield sites, mergers or acquisitions respectively. Joint VentureThe Joint Venture means that the cooperation of two or more individuals or businesses in which each approve to share profit, loss and control in a specific company. (Investopedia, 2012) Greenfield Sites An area of agricultural or forest land, or some other undeveloped site earmarked for commercial development or project engineering. (Businessdictionary, 2012) Mergers and Acquisitions A merger is incorporated between two similarly sized companies, which is combined to shape a new company. An acquisition occurs when one company lawfully purchases another and becomes the new owner. Investinganswers, 2012) The following table indicates analyse the advantage and disadvantage of these three methods. Type of method | Strengths| Weaknesses| Joint Venture | * The opportunity to gain new capacity and expertise * Sharing of risks with a venture partner * Access to greater resources, including specialized staff and technology| * The objectives of the venture may not fully clear and executed to each participant. * Different cultures concepts and management styles may affect integration and cooperation. Imbalance in levels of expertise| Greenfield Sites| * The environment changed from rural to urban use * Good policies of local government * Wholly owned and fully control| * More expensive housing * Demand excessive cash * Undertake full risk * High initial investment| Mergers and Acquisitions| * A merger does not require cash * A merger may be achieved tax-free. * The merger allows the acquirer to avoid many of the costly and time-consuming aspects of asset purchases * Form a scale of production and reduce production cost * Increase product awareness, enhance corporate image. * Diseconomies of scale, which may give rise to higher unit costs. * Conflict of culture between different businesses, may reduce the effectiveness of the integration. * Make a part of workers unnecessary, this may have a bad effect on moti vation. | According to the situation and background of the Elecdyne, the best option is incorporated with other electronics. In short, it will be changeover current plight, increasing profit and lower the risks. In the long run, it will be good for the company to gain prestige and more agile development space. 5. 0 ConclusionThe findings indicate that the Elecdyne confront the challenge and opportunity according to STEEP analysis. And the report also analyses the external and internal environment of Elecdyne based on the SWOT and Porter’s Diamond Theory. Through the PEST analysis, makes a compare between three countries, and finally concluded the US was the best choice for the Elecdyne to exploit the overseas market. This paper has finally advised Elecdyne to mergers or acquisitions with other countries. Reference Accenture (2010) Growth through Innovation in the Electronics and High Tech Industry.Available online at: http://www. accenture. com/us-en/Pages/insight-growth-inno vation-electronics-high-tech. aspx (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) Accenture (2012) The 2012 Accenture Consumer Electronics Trends Study. Available online at: http://www. accenture. com/us-en/Pages/insight-2012-consumer-electronics-products-services-usage-report. aspx (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) ALTERA (2012) Industry Trends in Consumer Electronics. Available online at: http://www. altera. co. uk/end-markets/consumer/industry/csm-industry. html (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) AmCham (2012) Benefits of Investment in the US.Available online at: http://amchamfrance. org/theme1. php? idcontenu=110;idpage=144;idmenu=110 (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) BBC (2012) China's economic miracle. Available online at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-asia-china-20069627 (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) BBC News (2012) Japanese electronics giants suffer. Available online at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/20163754 (Accessed: 01 Jan 2013) Businessball (2004) SWOT analysis method and examples, with free SWOT template. Available online a t: http://www. businessballs. com/swotanalysisfreetemplate. tm (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) Businessdictionary (2012) greenfield site. Available online at: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/greenfield-site. html (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) CEA (2012) Global Consumer Tech Device Spending to Surpass $1 Trillion in 2012. Available online at: http://www. ce. org/News/News-Releases/Press-Releases/2012-Press-Releases/Global-Consumer-Tech-Device-Spending-to-Surpass-$1. aspx (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) European Commission (2010) Small businesses benefit from internationalization. Available online at: http://ec. uropa. eu/enterprise/magazine/articles/smes-entrepreneurship/article_10487_en. htm (Accessed: 01 Jan 2013) European Commission (2012) Investment. Available online at: http://ec. europa. eu/trade/creating-opportunities/trade-topics/investment/ (Accessed: 02 Jan 2013) Geert-hofstede (2012) What about China? Available online at: http://geert-hofstede. com/china. html (Accessed: 02 Jan 2 013) Globalinnovationindex (2012) Japan Vs China. Available online at: http://www. globalinnovationindex. org/gii/main/analysis/headtohead. cfm

the Impact of Previous Civilizations essays

the Impact of Previous Civilizations essays In August of 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This is a clever rhyme that people use to remember when Columbus set off and discovered the New World. But what if he didnt get permission from Queen Isabella to go off into the unknown to do this? It might have been another hundred years before people discovered that the world was not flat. Historians will probably never know how the world would be if Columbus had not discovered the Americas, but they do know that his courage to sail the Atlantic has helped to make this country what it is today. Previous civilizations have had a major impact on the modern world and Christopher Columbus is just one contributor. Other civilizations also contributed to modern world development. A few of the most important time periods that affected todays society are Ancient Rome, the Age of Discovery, and the Renaissance. Ancient civilizations have each had their own impact on today, including the Roman Empire. They had advancements in all areas including, art, literature, religion, and science. One of the most important things that happened in Ancient Rome was the spread of Christianity. It was a new religion in those times and it wasnt very popular among the people. Then a man named Paul was spoken to by Jesus, and from then on he dedicated his life to making the religion known throughout the Roman Empire. Within a period of 150 years, there was only a part of Rome that did not have people practicing Christianity. With this small beginning, today, Christianity is one of the most widespread religions. Another thing that the Romans contributed to the modern world was their architecture and engineering. The most famous invention that they built was the aqueducts. These structures were used to carry water to civilians for everyday use. They carried one cubic meter of water a day to each pers on, which is more than people nowadays receive. Other great structures built ...

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IBM Indiana and Telecommuting essays The purpose of this case study is to explore the benefits of and problems with telecommuting. It also provides an understanding of the importance of technological support in making telecommuting successful. Technological advances have made it feasible to redefine where work is done. The traditional notion of an office as the place where someone goes to work seems to be going the way of the buggy whip, the eight-track tape, and the stenographer. Companies such as Procter portable computers, cellular phones, and fax machines all enable remote or mobile work. This paper will elaborate on how IBM – Indiana implemented telecommuting, perspectives of the employees, perspectives of IBM, advantages to society, the effectiveness of Wiley's leadership, the mobility concept, and tips for managing in the new environment. Why did IBM-Indiana decide to adopt telecommuting? In 1993 IBM-Indiana was contemplating further head-count reductions on top of earlier drastic decrease in staff. The goal was to reduce worldwide employment to 225,000 by the end of 1994. IBM real estate manager John Frank proposed an alternative option to lying off additional staff. His proposal could possibly save the required overhead expense by reducing the required amount of office space by allowing employees telecommute from offices in their home. This proposal was accepted and implemented for some 300 people in three months' time. The technology was available to enable IBM to redefine the concept of the traditional office; portable computers, cellular phones, and fax machine...

A Step-by-Step Guide to Saying Dad in Chinese

A Step-by-Step Guide to Saying Dad in Chinese Family relations are important in China, and traditionally, the father is the head of the household. There are many ways of saying father or dad in Chinese, but the most colloquial way is the focus of this article.   Chinese Characters çˆ ¸Ã§Ë† ¸ ( bba)  means dad, or father, in Chinese. It is an informal term. The character is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese. Sometimes,  Ã§Ë† ¸Ã§Ë† ¸ is colloquially shortened to just  Ã§Ë† ¸. Pronunciation The pinyin for çˆ ¸ is b, which means the character is pronounced in the 4th tone. But when saying çˆ ¸Ã§Ë† ¸, the second çˆ ¸ is unaccented. Thus in terms of tone numbers, çˆ ¸Ã§Ë† ¸ can also be written as ba4 ba.   Other Terms for "Dad" As mentioned earlier, there are other ways to say dad in Chinese depending on a degree of formality and region. Here are a few examples: çˆ ¶Ã¤ º ² (fà ¹qÄ «n): father, a more formal term çˆ ¹ (diÄ“): dad, also informal and a regional term   Sentence Examples UsingBba WÇ’ b shà ¬ yÄ «shÄ“ng.我çˆ ¸Ã¦Ëœ ¯Ã©â€  «Ã§â€Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š(traditional Chinese)我çˆ ¸Ã¦Ëœ ¯Ã¥Å' »Ã§â€Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š(simplified Chinese)My dad is a doctor. TÄ  shà ¬ wÇ’ bba.ä »â€"æ˜ ¯Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Ë† ¸Ã§Ë† ¸He is my father. Regarding this last sentence, note that when you are saying my father, my mother and so on, you normally dont add çš„ to indicate familiarity, ie: ä »â€"æ˜ ¯Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å¡â€žÃ§Ë† ¸Ã§Ë† ¸. Its not technically wrong, but its also not usually said amongst native speakers.

Language and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Language and Culture - Essay Example Both Tan and Rodriguez had to fight with their internal struggles; their desire for speaking their native language and the need to speak the language of the society they lived in. The major difference between them was in their perceptions of the significance of preserving their family language. The titles chosen by both writers for their stories also define their feelings. Tan names her story â€Å"Mother Tongue† which has a more emotional feel to it, whereas Rodriguez opts for a more straightforward title of â€Å"Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood† in which you can’t really feel emotion but the story does explain all his feelings and the emotion is built as the story progresses. It is a recollection of various memories that convey Rodriguez’s point of view. Tan and Rodriguez realize the intimacy of their native language at different times of their lives. During her talk on her book â€Å"Joy Luck Club†, her mother was sitting in the audience. At that time she realized that the way she used English language was different depending on who she was talking to. At home she used a broken form of the language whereas for the society she preferred more formal English. She concluded that it had become a language of intimacy, different English for the family which was a language she had grown up with. Tan understands that she never lost the importance of the family language and the role it had played in her life, as she says â€Å"it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth† (Tan, 431). On the other hand Rodriguez realized the role of his family language when he was much younger. Like Tan his identity also altered as he stepped inside his home. When his mother used to call out to him in Spanish he felt at home and his mother’s words would comfort him. He felt sure of his family identity and feared the language of the society. Rodriguez unlike Tan lost this feeling of intimacy early in life. Both the writers felt guilt when they averred a discriminating identity towards their family. The reason they did that was both their parents could not speak English properly. Tan describes her mother’s English as very ‘limited’. It was this broken language that limited Tan’s perception of her mother. She uses words such as â€Å"broken† and â€Å"fractured† to explain her mother’s English which shows that she is very ashamed by it. Tan believed that the quality of her mother’s English was directly related to the quality of what she said and this must reflect badly on her. She could not express her thoughts perfectly thus making her thoughts imperfect as well. Her beliefs were reinforced by the way people used to treat her mother. T an states plenty of empirical evidence in her story. She wrote that people in stores, restaurants, banks did not give importance to her; sometimes they would even ignore her, pretending that they did not hear her. Rodriguez writes about similar situations; he too was embarrassed of his parents when they spoke the language of the society. It would make him feel that his parents were not powerful and could not protect him. He also supports his feelings with the society’s behavior towards his parents. Rodriguez uses a strong language and some Spanish words as well including â€Å"gringo† and â€Å"pocho†. Both Tan and Rodriguez understood later in life how very wrong they were about their parents, at one point Tan said â€Å"my mother's English is perfectly clear. ... It's my mother

Leadership Style of Larry Page of Google Research Paper

Leadership Style of Larry Page of Google - Research Paper Example Even before discussing the leadership style of Larry Page with respect to the organizational culture of Google, it is important to understand different types of leaderships. Usually leadership styles are analyzed on the basis of two parameters, namely goal orientation and behavioral orientation. Based on these two parameters, there are four types of leadership styles such as autocratic, participative, country club and impoverished leadership (Buelens, Sinding, Waldstrom, Krietner, & Kinicki, 2011). In case of autocratic leadership, there is a high amount of value for goal but a low level of value for the behavior of people. Such leaders are goal oriented, but there is very little care for employee satisfaction. In case of impoverished leadership, there is low goal and behavior orientation. Such leaders show a very low level of commitment towards the employees and the organizational objective. In case of country club leadership, there is low goal orientation but a high level of behavi or orientation. Here the leaders show a high level of care towards the employees and ask the employees to maintain discipline and encourage them to accomplish goals rather than actively participating in the accomplishment of goals. The last but not the least, there also exists participative or team leadership. In case of team leadership, the leaders show a high level of care for the employees. But the leaders also expect full commitment on the part of the management and team towards the organizational goal achievement.... In case of country club leadership, there is low goal orientation but a high level of behavior orientation. Here the leaders show a high level of care towards the employees and ask the employees to maintain discipline and encourage them to accomplish goals rather than actively participating in the accomplishment of goals. The last but not the least, there also exists participative or team leadership. In case of team leadership, the leaders show a high level of care for the employees. But the leaders also expect full commitment on the part of the management and team towards the organizational goal achievement. Also, the leaders actively participate in the goal accomplishment activities and believe in leading by example (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). Based on the above discussion, it can be easily understood that the leadership style followed by Google and Page is team or participative leadership. Google has a relatively informal organizational structure and it encourages the employees and managers to take their own initiatives. In such a way the leadership team of Google including Page encourages team participation and a self-driven attitude where the employees can take major decisions without consulting the seniors. Such leadership style coupled with relatively informal organizational culture has probably helped Google to reach the pinnacle of success. However, it is to be added here that as an organizational objective, Google shows respect and care for the employees and their personal lives. Apart from healthy payouts, Google also provides various top class facilities and monetary and non-monetary incentives to the employees. In this way Page and the management team are able to build an organizational culture

Marketing is every thing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing is every thing - Essay Example Technology plays a major role in marketing as it reduces cost at the same time enhances sale. Wide variety of choices for customers makes marketing an important tool for communication. Time of blasting decision and capricious change the new marketing is the reply to these problems. It also says how to do effective marketing by pulling in quality individuals, producing new plans, and forming quality relationships with the customers. One very good example cited out here is the case for telephone manufacturing company called Gluco and Pumpco. Gluco was very keen on building quality relationships with their clients where as Pumpco was only concerned about shelling out money from their customers. We get an insight as to which organization is skilled, responsive and overall sorted out? Which organization might I rather work with? Another point that been highlighted is that marketing must be handled with appreciation. Though marketing is done in order to compete with one another, it should always be respected by the counterparts. The last fact that has been highlighted is that leadership forms an important part as well. A market leader will always influence the consumers. It sets the trends in the market and the followers always change according to the market leader’s strategies. This article was mainly chosen by me in order to understand the importance of marketing. As the name suggest, marketing is key to every business’s success. The author has highlighted many factors such technology, quality and leadership which influences and helps in the marketing a product or a company at large. The way the facts have been highlighted has helped me understand marketing in a much more practical

An Approach to Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Approach to Morality - Essay Example They are self-conscious, reflecting on their past and future, on life and death. Before discussing them as good or bad it is essential to describe what do we mean by being "good" or "bad". (Gmez-Lobo, p. 1-3) I believe being good means to fulfill the criteria of morality, that is, the customs, habits, aims, and values adopted by a given society, or, stated differently, the quality of rightness or wrongness the society attributes to the acts and attitudes of an individual as these conform or fail to conform to prevailing custom. In a moral sense "Bad" is contrasted with "Good". If an orderly, rational universe is postulated, and particularly if it is assumed that there is an omnipotent and beneficent creator, the bad or evil disrupts the order and results in sorrow, distress, or calamity. In a derived sense, being bad is equated with any suffering or other misfortune. Its cause and what can be done about it are perennial philosophical and theological problems. (Cooley, p. 61-63) Observing the above criteria I believe that nature has created human beings with both negative and positive potentials. He is provided with all awareness of ethics and morality but, somehow, possesses a natural inclination towards bad deeds also. This tug-of-war between good and bad constitutes his life pattern and the ultimate end. Moreover, I have observed that these potentials of goodness and badness may be augmented or mitigated, unknowingly, due to the type of environment and brought up an individual comes across. No child is a born criminal or saint, but most definitely it's his type of environment and the kind of brought up given to him or her by the parents determine his negative or positive responds towards the society. David T. Lykken, a professor of psychology considers the psychopath as a hero and believes that "The psychopath and the hero are the twigs of same branch." He thinks so as both are comparatively daring. He believes such behaviors develop as a result of the t ype of brought up given to a child by his parents. (Akers and Lanier, p. 397-402) In my opinion human beings are not angels. Angels by nature are not inclined towards bad deeds or sins, but human beings have this natural inclination, which he mostly controls successfully but at times these negative desires overwhelms his positivity and compel him towards being bad, this is why, concept of crime has been a part of society ever since people began to live together in groups. Where there is involvement of human mind the potential of crime is there as it is rightly said by a British poet W. H. Auden that "Evil is unspectacular and always human and shares our bed and eats at our table". (Nietzsche & Kaufman, p.167) To conclude I would say that there cannot be love without the possibility of hate, or good without the possibility of evil. One cannot choose to excel unless there is the possibility of failure. To deny the possibility of moral evil is to deny human freedom. Yet in the exercise of freedom, innocent persons are maimed or killed. The consolation of the topic is that although evil is real, God does not will it and actually suffers with humankind, and that a person's faith in God's goodness will be vindicated in the life hereafter. In order to overcome evil people need to fight with the devil inside them instead of blaming and accusing others. Works Cited Akers, Timothy A.,

Mercury Contamination in Fish Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mercury Contamination in Fish - Research Paper Example The paper is based on two studies carried out in Bangladesh and the U.S. In the first study, Rees et al. (2007) aimed at elucidating how toenail mercury is related to dietary fish consumption in New Hampshire. In the second study (Bangladesh study), Shamshad, Shahidur, and Tasrena, (2009) focused on determining the level of trace elements (including mercury) in fish feed and shrimp sampled from aquaculture ponds. Mercury is an established heavy metal, environmental pollutant with deleterious health effects in human beings (Eisler, 2006). Mercury toxins lead to neurological impairment in humans (National Research Council, 1978). Mercury in contaminated fish food consumed by pregnant women may affect the unborn baby’s brain and nervous system. Children who were affected by mercury while in the womb have poor cognitive thinking and memory and reduced concentration (Health Effects, 2012). Studies have proved that adults, children and developing fetuses are in danger of mercury intoxication (National Research Council, 1978). Schmitt, Stricker and Brumbaugh (2011, p. 1) argue that methyl mercury concentrations in some U.S species of fish (Micropterus dolomieu and Hypentelium nigricans) â€Å"are significantly high to represent a threat to human health and wildlife†. The U.S has a high risk of suffering from mercury intoxication consumed from fish compared to Bangladesh, in spite of Ba ngladesh having more fish than the U.S. Studies on mercury intoxication are essential because they enable stake holders to devise preventative measures. Thus, this paper examines the effect of mercury toxins in fish in Bangladesh and the U.S. The graph below is an example showing comparing levels of mercury in blood lead and the risk for autism in children. The graph indicates a significant correlation between the two variables. Figure 1: Graph indicating the distribution of Hg levels in ‘charge children’, comparing four groups: regressive autism, autism of early onset, general population controls and developmentally delayed children. Source: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.highlight/abstract/1773/report/F Materials and Methods The Bangladesh study assessed the level of trace elements content in fish feed and shrimp sampled from aquaculture ponds in Bangladesh by the use of Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (FAAS), Cold Vapor Absorpti on Spectrometer (CV-AAS), and Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (HG-AAS). The study was based on the theoretical assumption that since tannery and poultry waste are used as fish feed in Bangladesh, there is an accumulation of toxic contaminants in cultured fish posing food safety risk. Toxic metals including mercury are used in the manufacture of tanneries, dye production, textile dying and paper and pulp mills. Two samples of Shrimp and twelve samples of the feed were collected from different aquaculture sites in Bangladesh. The sample was washed by de-ionized water and then air-dried. They were then analyzed using FAAS, CV-AAS and HG-AAS (Shamshad, Shahidur, & Tasrena, 2009). The American study was conducted as follows: method one; participants observed a 3 day diary of water and seafood consumption which facilitated the calculation of the average consumption of finfish and shell fish on a weekly basis. Method two; the average weekly consumption of fish (shell fish , tuna and dark fish) was estimated using semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Method three; the weekly consumpti

An Approach to Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Approach to Morality - Essay Example They are self-conscious, reflecting on their past and future, on life and death. Before discussing them as good or bad it is essential to describe what do we mean by being "good" or "bad". (Gmez-Lobo, p. 1-3) I believe being good means to fulfill the criteria of morality, that is, the customs, habits, aims, and values adopted by a given society, or, stated differently, the quality of rightness or wrongness the society attributes to the acts and attitudes of an individual as these conform or fail to conform to prevailing custom. In a moral sense "Bad" is contrasted with "Good". If an orderly, rational universe is postulated, and particularly if it is assumed that there is an omnipotent and beneficent creator, the bad or evil disrupts the order and results in sorrow, distress, or calamity. In a derived sense, being bad is equated with any suffering or other misfortune. Its cause and what can be done about it are perennial philosophical and theological problems. (Cooley, p. 61-63) Observing the above criteria I believe that nature has created human beings with both negative and positive potentials. He is provided with all awareness of ethics and morality but, somehow, possesses a natural inclination towards bad deeds also. This tug-of-war between good and bad constitutes his life pattern and the ultimate end. Moreover, I have observed that these potentials of goodness and badness may be augmented or mitigated, unknowingly, due to the type of environment and brought up an individual comes across. No child is a born criminal or saint, but most definitely it's his type of environment and the kind of brought up given to him or her by the parents determine his negative or positive responds towards the society. David T. Lykken, a professor of psychology considers the psychopath as a hero and believes that "The psychopath and the hero are the twigs of same branch." He thinks so as both are comparatively daring. He believes such behaviors develop as a result of the t ype of brought up given to a child by his parents. (Akers and Lanier, p. 397-402) In my opinion human beings are not angels. Angels by nature are not inclined towards bad deeds or sins, but human beings have this natural inclination, which he mostly controls successfully but at times these negative desires overwhelms his positivity and compel him towards being bad, this is why, concept of crime has been a part of society ever since people began to live together in groups. Where there is involvement of human mind the potential of crime is there as it is rightly said by a British poet W. H. Auden that "Evil is unspectacular and always human and shares our bed and eats at our table". (Nietzsche & Kaufman, p.167) To conclude I would say that there cannot be love without the possibility of hate, or good without the possibility of evil. One cannot choose to excel unless there is the possibility of failure. To deny the possibility of moral evil is to deny human freedom. Yet in the exercise of freedom, innocent persons are maimed or killed. The consolation of the topic is that although evil is real, God does not will it and actually suffers with humankind, and that a person's faith in God's goodness will be vindicated in the life hereafter. In order to overcome evil people need to fight with the devil inside them instead of blaming and accusing others. Works Cited Akers, Timothy A.,

Hollywood movie history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Hollywood movie history - Essay Example The "Hollywood movie history" essay traces the history of this land from the 1870s to 1960s and describes the salient points in its development. In 1910, film maker D.W. Griffith working for Biograph Company, came to Downtown Los Angeles, and with his acting troop to shoot films. Thus it was Griffith who shot the first ever movie in Hollywood, then without a studio. The film was called â€Å"In Old California†. It was a Biograph melodrama. The movie troop stayed there for several months before going back to New York. The oldest company, still existing in Hollywood is Nester and Centaur Films based in Gower Gulch and founded by William Horsley. This company created the first film laboratory in Hollywood. Nester Company started the first film studio in Hollywood in 1911.The studio functioned from an old tavern on the corner of Sunset and Gower. It was from here the early Hollywood legends like D. W. Griffith, (the director credited with the evolution of the film language, throug h his classics like â€Å"The Birth of a Nation’, â€Å"intolerance†), and Cecil B.Demille, known for his biblical epics, regularly started making films. Before the World War 1, movies were made in different cities of the United States. But many factors attracted, film makers to Hollywood. One of the major factors was that, they could evade the fees imposed for film making by Thomas Edison who had the patent for movie making process. â€Å"Going west had serious impulses of escapism in it: to get away from the Motion Picture Patent Company and the gangsters who had sought to organize film making in the East.†

Typical Dreams Essay Example for Free

Typical Dreams Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One way to study dreams is to study their content. This can be done by laboratory studies in which sleepers are awakened during REM sleep and their reports are tape recorded. Subjects can also keep a dream diary in which they write all they can remember about their dreams. These different methods have revealed some interesting facts about the nature of dream content.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What causes you to dream the things you dream? That question cannot be answered as yet (see Rados Cartwright, 1999). Research can point to individual cases where the dream content is obviously related to immediate events in a person’s life, but the reason why a lot of dreams occur is something of a mystery. One explanation of dream content proposes that during REM sleep specific brain neurons are activated, such as those involved in running or laughing or hearing. In an attempt to make sense of this specific neural activation, the brain produces a dream based on a synthesis of the stimulation present. Called the activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming, this view does not account for the seemingly random dream content that often occurs, and it is consistent with the neurological changes known to accompany REM sleep (Hobson McCarley, 2001). However, it does not explain the coherence, detail, and purposefulness common to many dreams. Studies of dream content must now recognize that dreamers may alter their content while they are actually dreaming.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For most people, the content of their dreams is beyond their control. How often have you gone to bed wishing you could dream about a particular someone, or afraid you might dream about an especially distressing subject? Sometimes in dreaming we think ourselves that â€Å"this is a dream.† Yet in the morning if we remember the dream and recall thinking that we knew it was a dream at the time, we find that we still accepted the content as plausible, even if events in the dream would be unlikely or impossible in real life. Some people are able to carry this awareness during dreaming a step further: they claim the ability to know when they dreaming and to actually control some or all of the content of their dreams. This is called lucid dreaming. In the past such claims have attracted little interest from dream researchers because there seemed no way to test these assertions. However, working with the sleep research lab at Stanford University, Stephen LaBerge, a lucid dreamer, was able to demonstrate his special ability. LaBerge told the researchers that during the dreams he would suddenly become aware that he was dreaming and that he could signal the researchers of this awareness by a prearranged pattern of eye movements. They agreed on a mixture of horizontal and vertical eye movements that he would use when he knew he was dreaming. The probability that the particular eye movement pattern would appear by chance was infinitesimally small. During the night the researchers watched the EEG records, and in one of the REM sleep periods, to their excitement and delight, they saw the coded eye movement pattern (La Berge et al., 2001). Other lucid dreamers have since been identified and are being studied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is known how many people have the ability for lucid dreaming. Surveys based in self-report provide estimates of between 15 and 28%. Laboratory studies of lucid dreaming usually design by asking people if they frequently are aware of their dreams while dreaming. Those who say that they have that ability are tested in the sleep laboratory, and most are able to demonstrate their lucid dreaming ability using some prearranged signal (typically an eye movement code, sometimes a respiration pattern). These studies have found that lucid dreamers are not lucid in all of their dreams; in fact, the majority of their dreams are nonlucid. Many subjects can become aware of their dreaming, but few can manipulate their dream content. Still, some studies have been successful in giving instructions about specific dream content to lucid dreamers and having them dream about those subjects. When lucid dreams occur, they are more likely to be in the longer REM sleep periods toward morning. Researchers hope to discover how lucid dreaming is possible because phenomenon has something interesting implications for our understanding of consciousness. For in essence, the lucid dreamer is partly in one state of consciousness, the dream, and partly in a totally different state of consciousness, the awareness of the dream. A practical application of this research might be an understanding of the process so that many dreamers could learn how to control their dream content (Galvin, 2002). Discussion Why people dream?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although most dreams do not have overt sexual imagery, Freud nevertheless believed that most adult dreams can be â€Å"traced back by analysis to erotic wishes.† In Freud’s view, a gun, for example, might be a disguised representation of a penis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although Freud considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflicts, his critics say that dream interpretation leads down a blind alley. Some contend that even if dreams are symbolic, they can be interpreted almost any way one wishes. Others maintain there is nothing hidden in dreams. A dream about a gun, they say, is a dream about a gun. Even Freud, who loved to smoke cigars, acknowledges that â€Å"sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Freud’s theory of dreams is giving way to newer theories. One of these sees dreams as information processing: Dreams may help store and remind our day’s experiences. Preceded by stressful experiences, REM sleep rises (Palumbo, 2001). What is more, there is â€Å"consistent and compelling evidence† that REM sleep facilitates memory for unusual or anxiety-arousing material (McGrath Cohen, 1999). In one experiment, people heard unusual phrases before bedtime and then were given a memory test the next morning. If awakened every time they began REM sleep, they remembered less than if awakened during other sleep stages (Empson Clarke, 2000). A night of solid sleep (and dreaming) does, it seems, have a justifiable place in a student’s life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another reason why we dream is because of physiological function. Perhaps dreams give the dead to the world brain with periodic stimulation. Stimulating experiences and develops and preserves the brain’s neural pathways. This theory makes sense from a developmental point of view. Infants, whose neural networks are just developing, spend a great deal of time in REM sleep.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Still other physiological theories propose that dreams occur from neural activity that scatters upward from the brainstem. According to one version, this neural activity is random, (Hobson, 2002). Psychologists Martin Seligman and Amy Yellen (1999) note that the seconds-long bursts of rapid eye movements during REM sleep coincide with bursts of brain activity, people report vivid experiences, usually dramatic hallucinations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Given these visual scenes, our cognitive machinery weaves a story line. Mix in the emotional tone provided by the limbic system (which becomes active during REM sleep) and—voila!—we dream. This helps explain many of our dream experiences, such as the sudden and bizarre changes in scene (triggered by a new visual burst). Dream reports by Seligman’s University of Pennsylvania students confirm that the most vivid dream images are the surprising, discontinuous aspects of the dream; other less vivid images we presumably conjure up to string the visual bursts together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The function of dreams provokes vigorous debate, but the disputants all agree that we need REM sleep. Deprived of it by repeated awakenings, people return more and more quickly to the REM stage after falling back to sleep. When finally allowed to sleep undisturbed, the literally sleep like babies, with increased REM sleep—a phenomenon called REM rebound. The withdrawal of REM-suppressing sleeping medications also increases REM sleep, but with accompanying nightmares. Most other mammals also experiences REM sleep and REM rebound. Animals’ need for REM sleep suggests that its causes and functions are deeply biological. That REM sleep occurs in mammals (and not in animals such as fish, whose behavior is less influenced by learning) also fits the information-processing theory of dreams. All of which serves to remind us once again of a basic lesson: Biological and psychological explanations of behavior are partners, not competitors. III. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The interpretation or analysis of dreams remains one of the most controversial topics in psychology. A number of disparate views on this subject exist, ranging from the notion that all dreams are interpretable in a psychoanalytic framework to the idea that dream content is essentially randomly generated from the memory stores of the brain and thus meaningless. We adopt a position somewhere in the middle of this controversy, we believe that dreams have meanings and somebody can interpret it. _________________________________________________________________ References: Rados, R., Cartwright, R.D. (1999). Where do dreams come from? A comparison of presleep and REM sleep thematic content. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 433-436. Hobson, J.A. McCarley, R.W. (2001). The brain as a dream state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1335-1348. La Berge, S. et al., (2001). Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during REM sleep. Journal of Mind Behavior, 7, 251-258. Galvin, R. M. (2002). Control of Dreams may be possible for a resolute few. Smithsonian, pp. 110-117. Palumbo, S.R.   (2001). Dreaming and memory: A new information-processing model. New York: Basic Books. (p. 157). McGrath, M.J., Cohen, D.G. (1999). REM sleep facilitation of adaptive waking behavior:   A review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 24-57. (157). Empson, J.A.C., Clarke, P.R.F. (2000). Rapid eye movements and remembering. Nature, 227, 287-288. (p. 157). Hobson, J.A. (2002). The dreaming brain. New York: Basic Books. (p.158).

The impact of an economic recession

The impact of an economic recession Abstract Purpose The aim of this report is to evaluate the impact of an economic recession on the current tendering practices of UK contractors. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review of the topic was undertaken to form the research hypothesis and a number of research questions. This was further developed through two interviews with industry specialists which formed the basis for cognitive mapping which when mapped can then assist in forming a questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted and upon receiving positive feedback the questionnaire survey was completed. Key findings The results show that clients and contractors are reverting back to type and that the advances made by the Latham and Egan reports has stalled as price has become more important than quality once again. Public sector contracts have been observed to offer considerable opportunities for contractors as the client has a triple A rating and the projects are typically long term which can help contractors to survive the recession. Implication for practice The construction industry cannot obstruct change but needs to embrace it and adopt and improve existing practices which can benefit all the stakeholders. Comparable to the Latham and Egan reports, a new report needs to be completed which can aid the construction industry so that the effects of this recession are felt for the shortest time possible. Originality/value The literature review and cognitive mapping provide a detailed insight into the topic but due to time constraints the quantitative analysis does not contain an adequate amount of responses to be relied upon. 1. Introduction The construction industry is constantly evolving as a result of; a levelling of the trade cycle, methods of placing contracts, increased emphasis on quality, experience and innovations, increased competition among firms and a change in clients buying behaviour (Yisa, Ndekugri Ambrose, 1996). In addition to the changing attitudes of clients in construction which was promoted by the Latham and Egan reports the economic climate has brought additional difficulties to the industry. Clients have become more advanced and are continually seeking improvements within the industry to meet there needs. They have also realised that during difficult times, they can use their dominance to acquire a better deal (Woods Ellis, 2005, pp.321). This report presents a study aimed at evaluating the impact of an economic recession on current tendering practices of UK contractors. The hypothesis of this research is; That the construction industry has adapted and improved in the last number of decades but will have to continue to do so in the face of new challenges. The research questions include; What are the main factors considered by contractors when deciding to tender and how does an economic recession alter these? e.g. Below cost tendering. How can lean construction, partnering and supply chain integration be used in construction to add value? How has a change in procurement methods been used to improve tendering practices in construction? It was decided to combine qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to receive a greater understanding of the topic. The approach employed is that qualitative research facilitates quantitative research by providing a hypothesis or assists measurement by suggesting questions (Oyedele, 2009). The hypothesis was established through reading relevant journals and this was developed further through carrying out two interviews which when mapped assisted in forming a questionnaire. This questionnaire was completed by a number of industry personnel in order to facilitate further analysis through factor analysis which followed on to regression analysis. The report provides a detailed analysis of relevant literature aswell as two detailed interviews with industry specialists. Due to time constraint however the quantitative analysis was limited to fewer questionnaires than would have been liked so the results are helpful but not to the standard that would be required for this report to be become significant to industry. A future quantitative analysis is recommended in order to make use of the work to date and complete the research. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Tendering Practices The construction industry has evolved greatly in the last number of decades and this has been mostly due to changes in the economy and how the construction industry and others viewed it. There was an obvious need for change following previous recessions and a common agreement that the industry was failing to meet all the stakeholders needs. 2.1.1 Construction Industry Reports The different reports which have been published in an attempt to improve the construction industry and consequently tendering practices are discussed by Cooke Williams and shown below in Figure 2.1. (Cooke Willams, 2009, pp.5). Naoum (2003, pp.72) highlights the Egan report which was published in 1998 and how it compares the construction industry to that of the 1960s manufacturing industry. This theme of the construction industry lagging behind its industry counterpart is evident in not only tendering practices but many other aspects (Emmitt Jorgensen, 2008). Lathams (1994) main focus was that there needs to be a win-win mentality between the client and the contractor whereas Egan (1998) focused on how quality and efficiency could be improved within the industry. This led to a more client focused approach which Oyedele Tham (2005, pp.53) feel aided in creating a more integrated process within construction. 2.1.2 Changing Client in Construction Awareness and competition between contractors has allowed the client to become more advanced and to seek improvements within the industry to meet there needs (Yisa, Ndekugri Ambrose 1996, pp.51). The client has realised that during difficult times, they can use their dominance to acquire a better deal (Woods Ellis, 2005, pp.321). The largest client for the construction industry at present is undoubtedly the public sector and this is discussed by RICS in their third quarter report for 2009 when they use the headline, Public sector workloads continue to support construction activity, (RICS, 2009). This fact was also noted by Naoum in 2003 when she noted that despite a decline in public spending the public sector was still the largest client, (Naoum, 2003). The changing face of the client can be traced back to the early 80s where there was a rapid privatization of government bodies such as the NHS, prison services, water services, schools, etc, (Yisa, Ndekugri Ambrose, 1996, pp.54). These clients sought further changes in tendering practices as their emphasis was on speed, value based services and cost-time-quality performance and a move towards partnering (Langford Fellows, 1993). 2.1.3 Current Tendering Practices (Edum-Fotwe McCaffer, 1999) discuss how tendering has transformed from the 1960s whereby private and public jobs were awarded solely on competitive tendering to a situation whereby a variety of issues are evaluated. There has been an industry wide shift from lowest price wins mentality to a multi criteria selection. Naoum (2003, pp.72) goes into further detail by outlining the disadvantages of using price-based competitive tendering. The traditional forms of contract have been adapted (JCT 98 standard form JCT 2005) to accommodate change in the industry but the Latham report regarded the NEC contract as having the best potential for achieving a positive outcome for all the stakeholders, (Cooke Willams, 2009, pp.7). The change in procurement methods are shown in the late 90s in Figure 2.3 (Yisa, Ndekugri Ambrose, 1996, pp.55). This change can be contributed to the need for a more integrated and less fragmented approach as the main contractor is managing both the design and construction activities and can promote contractor led innovation. Risk, which is increasingly important in a recession is being shifted away from the client and towards the contractor under Design Build and Private Finance Initiatives. 2.1.4 Decision to Tender A contractors decision to tender can greatly affect their balance sheet at the end of a year. Projects are becoming more expensive and time consuming to tender for and the factors which need to be considered are highlighted in Figure 2.4 (Cooke Willams, 2009, pp83-86). Hughes (2004) found that the average contractor will spend 3% of turnover on winning work. He also suggets that traditional competitive tendering is much more expensive than design and build as there is considerably more competition and a lower success rate. Walwork (1999) argues that there is equal importance between right project and right price in order to make a profit. Kometa et al, (1996, pp.273) evaluate the need for the clients financial stability to be discussed in greater detail. They draw attention to the risk of late payments or client insolvency. This point is highlighted by Shepherd (2009) when he states in a correspondence that; Undertaking such large tenders, where procurement costs are north of  £5m, takes a lot of thought and consideration. The client will have to show, for example, that they are organised and appear to be an efficient procurement authority. In a recession we will become a more discerning bidder as cash is tighter and projects more sought after. Happy to discuss more as is fit. Cheers, Andrew. 2.1.5 Below Cost Tendering Whitten (2009) writing for Construction News explained how The Civil Engineering Contractors Association has warned of an emerging trend of firms pricing below cost. They believe that for some organizations it is a matter of short term survival but that if it continues there will be an increase in disputes and a decline in investment in training and technology. Client and contractor relations have significantly improved in the last ten years but; will be stretched to breaking point if we see clients take advantage of the recession and of declining workloads to push for bargain base ­ment prices. Both Whitten (2009) and Scully (2009) argue the point that below cost tendering is unsustainable and will increase the risk of contractors facing insolvency. Reductions in material and plant costs have been exceeded by the drop in tender prices. Insolvencies are predicted to occur firstly among contractors who tender correctly but fail to win the contract and then among those who win the contract with unsustainably low bids (Whitten, 2009). 2.2 Impact of an Economic Recession on the Construction Industry A recession impacts on every sector but none more so than the construction industry as it is relies on large capital expenditure for its lifeblood. This results in a reduction in the number of projects along with an increase in the cost of borrowing to repay loans and pay wages (Ren Lin, 1996). RICS reported recently on their website (1st October 2009) that tender prices for new construction work will not rise until 2011 and that pre-recession levels wont be seen in the next five years. It was noted that if public spending was cut it would have a detrimental effect on the construction industry. 2.2.1 Economic Recession in Construction A recession can be caused by many factors but the underlying reason is high inflation. The construction industry is labour intensive and owing to unions demands for higher wages through government agreements, wages do not increase due to demand but social factors and move in one direction. This is the main cause of inflation in construction costs. Ren Lin (1996) illustrate this relationship in Figure 3.1.1 for the last recession of the late 80s and early 90s. The UK Governments policy has been to provide a fiscal stimulus by increasing spending on large public projects so as to inject money into the economy which will filter down through all sectors (McFall, 2008). Green (2009) forecasted that the recession will match up to the recession of the late 80s and early 90s but that it will recover quicker. Once again public spending is the underlining reason for the upturn but it is questioned whether the continuous spending can be sustained. The logical relation between high inflation which causes a rise in borrowing costs and a reduction in construction investment and thus a fall in the construction cycle is shown below in Figure 3.1.2 (Ren Lin 1996). 2.2.2 Lean Construction Supply Chain Integration Lean construction is an adaptation of lean industry which is used aggressively by large car manufacturers to great affect (Emmitt Jorgensen 2008). It is particularly relevant in a recession as it can be used at every stage and its main focus is to eliminate waste from the production life cycle so that value is added to each process, leading to lower costs, shorter construction periods and greater profits (Cartlidge, 2002). It is shown below in Figure 3.2 how lean construction can be applied to different sectors of the construction industry (Cooke Willams, 2009, pp.105). Lean construction benefits tendering as it promotes innovation and off-site production which reduces over all costs and provides increased quality to the client. Practices such as downsizing, out-sourcing, de-layering and re-engineering have been widely used within both construction companys and specific projects (Thorpe et. al., 1998). The use of sub contractors has increased as there is less overheads involved (Langford Male, 1992). The benefits of partnering can be applied to co-contracting (main contractor-sub contractor) and supply chain integration (contractor-supplier), (Edum-Fotwe McCaffer, 1999). This allows greater flexibility as both partners are working for a common goal and greater economies of scale can be achieved when tendering as contractors will have their own list of preferred suppliers or sub contractors which allows them to price new projects quickly and efficiently. As suppliers account for such a high percentage of building costs their involvement at an early stage should be welcomed as they can contribute new ideas, products or processes (Cartlidge, 2002). Green May (2005) propose that three models can be applied to the adoption of lean in construction: a lean model of waste elimination, partnering and structuring the context. 2.2.3 Partnering in Tendering Partnering has been widely adopted in tendering in the last number of years as it offers the opportunity for improving the project outcome aswell as benefiting the whole supply chain (Dozzi et al., 1996; Larson and Drexler, 1997). It utilizes each participants expertise and resources so that the required business objectives can be met or exceeded (Bennett Jayes, 1998). Cooke Williams (2009, pp.45) highlight the crucial elements of partnering which are reproduced in Figure 3.3 and they note that without all these elements, it is not partnering but merely an alliance. Partnering follows on from the previous sections as continuous improvement is achieved through lean construction, innovation and learning, problem resolution is promoted through use of the NEC3 contract and finally mutual objectives relates to a contractors decision to tender which is extremely important so that the appropiate parties are working together. The benefits to construction companies is that they can share the risk of tendering with another company who may otherwise be tendering against them and have expertise in a certain area which would otherwise have to be paid for. As highlighted previously, future spending in construction is heavily reliant on the public sector which following the Latham and Egan reports is trying to adopt a team-building approach which promotes partnering. Due to the economic recession in UK construction, companies have been using partnering to expand into global markets which have not been as widely affected. In a bid to reduce risk most companies form local partnerships so as to utilize local knowledge as well as reducing the costs associated with labour transfers (Edum-Fotwe McCaffer, 1999). While a more open relationship now exists between the different participants of a construction project Wood Ellis (2005, pp.324) estimate that it will still be some time before a fully genuine relationship exists as there is an engrained culture of mistrust and deception. Successful partnerships offer the opportunity for repeat work but the client must be assured that tenders remain competitive within the relationship of trust. 2.2.4 Strategic Tendering Project Mix Strategic tendering and project mix become even more crucial to a companies success during times of a recession. As the private sector feels the impact of a recession firstly and for a slightly longer period it is in a companys long term interest to carry out a more aggressive bidding policy towards the public sector (Ren Lin, 1996). Another advantage of the public sector is its transparency and openness during the tender stage. While the public sector may be susceptible to mal-practice, construction companies know that they will be impartially assessed and receive feedback under new regulations (Statutotory Instrument, 2006). Strategic planning can be very beneficial as it seeks to align a company in a certain direction. In todays climate contractors need to evalute the client when deciding to tender as many contractors have commenced work on a project only to instructed to withdraw as the funding has been restricted (Edum-Fotwe McCaffer, 1999). A number of contractors have also begun to take on jobs at cost or even a loss in an effort to win work with the chance of repeat work. Also this keeps the company name in circulation and also to hold onto valued staff that might otherwise have to be made redundant. Shepherd, the bid manager for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is of the opinion that; Large procurement projects, such as BSF, lose some of the benefits of group procurement by being so expensive to procure. This creates a barrier to entry, which in some ways may affect the value in the procurement. The flip side is that for a contractor, you know you will be involved in a procurement process where you have a realistic chance of winning and that your scale delivers value. 2.2.5 Innovation Learning in Construction One of the most revolutionary changes in tendering has been the use of e-tendering which has been used most notably on the multibillion pound development for the Olympic Games in London 2012. Innovation in tendering can offer many advantages as it provide substantial resource savings to a major part of the supply chain, with the key benefits being enhanced communication, time savings and reduced costs (Stephenson Tindsley, 2008). IT has aided smaller companies in allowing them to compete with their larger counterparts in certain areas. Thorpe et. all (1998) argue that construction has yet to receive the full benefit of IT advancements compared to other industries. Due to the competitive culture in the construction industry, up until recently there has been a lack of organisational learning which promotes the sharing of knowledge and experiences between companies (Barlow Jashapara, 1998). There has been very little research into organisational learning but Poyner and Powells (1995) report emphasised its importance in providing competitive advantage which is especially relevant in an economic recession. 3. Research Methodology The research objective is to evaluate the impact of an economic recession on the current tendering practices of UK contractors. In order to receive a greater understanding of the topic we are combining qualitative and quantitative research methods. The approach employed is that qualitative research facilitates quantitative research by providing a hypothesis or assists measurement by suggesting questions (Oyedele, 2009). The research hypothesis was established through reading relevant journals and this was developed further through carrying out two interviews with industry specialists which when mapped can then assist in forming a questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted and upon receiving positive feedback the questionnaire survey was completed. Figure 3.1 Research Methodology. The literature review was sourced in the Queens, university library from textbooks, databases, journals, magazines and the internet. This source was particularly valuable as it allowed the author gain instant access to a vast array of websites, on-line articles, publications, current news etc. 3.1 Unstructured Interview Following on from the previous chapter, two unstructured interviews were completed by industry specialists. The main aim is to develop a greater understanding of the subject in addition to the literature review and to stumble upon any differences between the two. This type of interview has no set format beyond the opening question but the interviewer may have some key questions which they can use to keep the interviewee on the topic. The interviewer is receptive to the interviewees responses and the interview follows a conversational style. Both interviewees are employed by the largest privately owned construction company in the UK with offices also in India, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The company has an integrated capability thus allowing a holistic view of construction. The first interviewee is a project manager who has experience of tendering with Lagan and Farran construction and is currently working alongside NIW on a large PFI project valued at approximately  £130 million. The second interviewee is a bid manager for on the building schools for the future framework (BSF). He is leading a team on a project worth over  £1 billion with a budget of  £5.6 million. 3.2 Qualitative Research Cognitive Mapping Yin (1989) observes that in qualitative research the broadest question should be stated so that data can be drawn from a number of sources such as: archival records, direct observation, documents, interviews, participant observation and physical artefacts. Qualitative research is any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The interviews form the basis for the cognitive mapping and allow a greater understanding of the subject. 3.3 Quantitative Research Questionnaire Survey Creswell (2003) explained quantitative research methods are used to test or verify theories or explanations identify variables to study, relate variables in questions or hypotheses use statistical standards of validity and reliability, and employ statistical procedures for analysis. The next step was to formulate a preliminary questionnaire based on the main topics raised in the literature review and interviews and this was used to conduct a pilot study. Slight modifications were made following the pilot study and a final questionnaire was produced which contains thirty eight factors that can be considered as significant in impacting on the tendering practices of UK contractors. In the questionnaire, the rating of the factors was done on a five point scale ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 represents strongly disagree, and 5 represents strongly agree. Respondents who had no opinion concerning the factors could select the answer of indifferent. The third section of the questionnaire will be used in our regression analysis and it involves establishing a relationship between the different factors of our analysis. The final section allows respondents to write additional comments on any outstanding issues which had not been brought up in the questionnaire but which they felt were important. A total of forty one respondents replied to the questionnaire and despite this being lower than was wished, due to time constraints the statistical analysis had to be completed nonetheless. Shown below in Table 3.1 are the total number of respondents and a breakdown of their characteristics. 4. Qualitative Results and Analysis Cognitive Mapping Cognitive mapping allows the analysis of large amounts of qualitative information and can be used to structure messy or complex data for problem solving. It is especially useful as a note taking method during interviews and assisting the process by increasing the understanding of the subject (Ackermann et al., 1992). Decision explorer is a tool which allows relationships to be pictured relating to a subject. Data entry is provided using concepts, which capture the core aspects of a notion. The concepts are then linked to show the relationship and factors of importance between ideas (Brightman, 2002). Figure 3.1 shows the three methods which can be used to question where a concept is leading towards. For the purpose of this analysis the method Action Outcome was utilized as it was felt that it is best suited to exploring the subject and discovering the goals/outcomes. Once completed, debate and reflection can then follow on the most important factors which have been established. 4.4 Analysis Discussion Using the maps in the previous section the main factors can be discussed and their influence on other concepts. 4.4.1 Central Concepts Analysis Central analysis reveals the concepts that have been linked the most times with other concepts and means that the concepts listed below have the greatest influence on the analysis. A central analysis was conducted and the following top five concepts were revealed: Change in Contractor Client Attitudes 20 from 39 Concepts. Contractors Using below Cost Tendering 19 from 35 Concepts. To Remain Lean and Competitive During the Recession 15 from 31 Concepts. Economic Recession 14 from 32 Concepts. Increased Likelihood of Repeat Work 14 from 29 Concepts All these top five concepts are directly related as the economic recession and change in attitudes has resulted in contractors using below cost tendering and lean construction to remain competitive during the recession with the increased likelihood of repeat work. The main issue/driver mentioned in the interviews was the economic recession which as stated in my literature review impacts severely on the construction industry as there is a reduction in the number of projects along with the cost of borrowing to repay loans and pay wages increasing (Ren Lin, 1996). This logical relation was explained in my literature review and is illustrated in Figure 4.1. The change in attitudes from both the contractor and client was also discussed with Latham (1994) trying to adopt a win-win mentality and Egan (1998) focusing on improving quality and efficiency and creating a movement for change. This change from the 1960s mentality whereby private and public jobs were awarded solely on competitive tendering to a situation whereby a variety of issues are evaluated (Edum-Fotwe McCaffer, 1999) has put additional pressure on contractors forcing them to retain quality and project time but reduce their tenders to below cost if necessary. Clients are having a greater participation and have requested a less fragmented approach which has resulted in a change of contracts to a more frequent use of design and build (Yisa, Ndekugri and Ambrose, 1996). Interviewee No.2 feels that clients are manipulating the current climate in order to get the same quality of work done cheaper whereas Interviewee No.1 is of the opinion that it is the contractors who are quick to adopt below cost tendering in an effort to hold onto staff as other projects are completed. The concept of remaining lean and competitive during the recession is extremely important and is discussed in great detail in my literature review. Cartlidge (2002) describes how lean construction eliminates waste so that value is added to each process, leading to lower costs, shorter construction periods and greater profits. The concept of leanness incorporates reduced bid frequency as overheads need to be reduced. Walwork (1999) and Interviewee No.1 both stress the need for contractors to select the right project which will then give a greater chance of success. Innovation can reduce costs through organizational learning (Barlow and Jashapara, 1998) but both interviewees felt that as overheads need to be reduced innovation should come from your supply chain which have budgets for research and development. As discussed in my literature review suppliers involvement should be welcomed at an early stage so that they can contribute new ideas, products, or processes (Cartlidge, 2002). Increased likelihood of repeat work was felt by Interviewee No.1 to come through partnering which allows a greater outcome for the whole supply chain (Dozzi et al., 1996; Larson and Drexler, 1997). A better outcome is achieved as the required business objectives can be met or exceeded (Bennett Jayes, 1998). Interviewee No.2 felt that early involvement with the client allowed links to be established thus leading onto repeat work. 4.4.2 Domain Concepts Analysis The domain analysis counts the highest number of links in and out of a concept and establishes connections with other issues within its immediate domain. It analyses local complexity but fails to examine the wider context of the subject. A domain analysis was conducted and the following top five concepts were revealed: 8 Links around 1 Change in contractor client attitudes 2 Contractors using below cost tendering 6 Links around 3 Increased public spending 4 Partnering and increased communication 5 To remain lean and competitive during the recession The previous central results determined the concepts with the greatest influence on the entire map and therefore it follows that these should have the highest number of links. Changes in attitudes, below cost tendering and lean construction were central to my literature review and interviews and this is why they have been highlighted here. The drivers for change are changing attitudes and below cost tendering with lean construction providing a number of strategies to improve through off-site manufacturing, innovative design and assembly, pre-fabrication, supply chain integration and pre-assembly (Cooke and Williams, 2009). The governments policy of increased public spending was noted by both interviewees and McFall (2008) in my literature review as offering a company strategy to survive the economic recession. RICS (1st October 2009) reported that tender prices for new construction work will not rise until 2011 and that if the public spending was cut it would have a detrimental effect on the construction industry. This is further supported in my literature review which states that strategic tendering and project mix is even more crucial during a recession. Ren and Lin (1996) judge that it is in a companys long term in

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