1st Great Awakening of the 18th Century Assignment

1st Great Awakening of the 18th Century - Assignment Example They also had a great influence on the government by seeking legislative laws that favored their operations.Their religious views condemned the evils in the society as at this time slavery was at its peak. They threatened to hellfire and brimstone for those who did not repent. They also brought division in the Church of England leading to the emergence of the Methodist church. It also saw the formation of the first African Baptists churches in states such as southern Virginia. It also resulted in a better reflection of God and salvation through Jesus Christ. The great awakening played a vital role in the upcoming religious revolution. Many people developed a greater sense of God and were passionately and emotionally connected to him through salvation. It also led to a greater appreciation of women in the society although they were not allowed to preach as at that time. The leaders such as Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards kept the memoirs and diaries of their preaching as they traverse d across the great Atlantic and American states. The 1st great awakening, therefore, created a more passionate relationship with people and God. It also led to a better understanding of salvation and establishment of the Baptist church. A new seed had been planted in which religion thrived. The future of religion seemed promising, yet polarizing individuals on religious lines. Additionally, the preaching was meant to bring more people to Christ and condemn the evil in the society resulting to fear among the colonizers.

Dead Poets Society Essay Example for Free

Dead Poets Society Essay Dead Poets Society made a huge impact on how I see things now. I secretly branded Mr. Keating, as the Epitome of teaching, every students dream is to find a teacher like Mr. Keating. Eventhough his teaching style is unconventional, you would really learn something. Hes not like your typical teacher who teaches by the book, because for me, Mr. Keating IS the book. All his lectures are inspirational, he teaches things that would not just help you academically, but also emotionally. He reminds me so much about my Highschool history teacher, a very father-like person, very comical, easy to hang with and lastly he encourages us to pursue our dreams, even though our dreams are impossible. Mr. Keating and my highschool teacher made me realize that there are no limits when we talk about achieving what we want and reaching for our goals, the only hindrance would be ourselves, the fear of not succeeding. So that in the end, we would have little regrets or non at all. I think that its one of the many factors that led me to put Dead Poets Society as one of the must-watch movie list for me. At first thinking outside the box was such a cliche for me, but after watching it, I try to apply that idea to everything I do. This story is very suitable for us, teenagers. Who are currently in that state where we are still confused of what we really want for our future. Add up the nerve wrecking peer pressure, love, parents, homeworks, proffessors, organizations and the like, which contributes to our decisions.

Reflective Essay on Reality Shows

Reflective Essay on Reality Shows Reality Shows should be Banned The main essence of reality shows is to put ordinary people in a social confined setting with extraordinary environment and activities with the aim of entertaining audiences with the illusion that what is going on is not scripted nor rehearsed. Most reality shows attempt to convince the audience that the participants of the show are being pushed to their physical, emotional or physiological limits in order to complete a specific task or attain a certain goal of which audience cheer on their favorite participant. With the change in times and technology most reality shows have gone over board and have forgotten the basic concept of reality shows and are now focusing more on entertainment than reality that has lead to increase in sexual exposure, humiliation and immorality. Reality shows have lost their way from original series like survivor to the new mediocre series of two celebrities living in a farm yard for a week. Reality TV has joined the ranks of day time entertainment and has l ost the spark of spontaneous originality from other forms of scripted entertainment. Additionally, the most famous reality shows worldwide are big brother and Idols; these two are examples of scripted and well rehearsed reality shows. In the just concluded episode of idols a judge was dared to sing out of the blue and it so happened just by â€Å"coincidence† that the band started playing a song which the judge joined in emphatically without hesitation. The crowed cheered and applauded for the â€Å"unexpected† performance by the judge. Such reality T.V. shows give viewers and more so children false hope of a â€Å"happily ever after† reality were heroes and heroines live thus insulting the intelligence of the viewers. In the case of big brother viewers are subjected to sex as a form of entertainment. Relationships formed in the big brother house give the participant a better chance of winning the competition and increase his/her ratings thus the audience spends time and money voting for the participant so they can enjoy seeing the participants relationship grow. And due to the full disclosure nature of the show all activities are broadcasted and shown live on our T.V. sets exposing and encouraging our youths, young adults and children to sex, immorality and promiscuous behaviors. Furthermore, the common comic saying â€Å"its funny until someone gets hurt, then its hilarious† comes to life in most reality shows. Producers of reality shows capitalize on the demise and misfortunes of participants. When a contestant falls down or gets hurt in anyway it is taken as a form of entertainment or comedy not knowing the humiliation and psychological trauma they instill in the participant. Examples of such shows are â€Å"show me the funny† â€Å"Real T.V.† and â€Å"Fear factor†. Show me the funny capitalizes on bloopers of home made videos which show family member having accidents such as hitting each other being bitten by a snake or having a ball hit them on their faces. Turning such perilous or even fatal accidents to o form of humor encourages children to view violence and accidents as vivacious events and not the precarious activities they are. Producers also capitalize on the eviction or the inability of a participant to complete a cer tain assignment. The humiliation and reaction of a participant being evicted or accepting defeat is a high point of most reality T.V. which is morally and ethically wrong. The failure of a fellow human being should be frowned upon and not celebrated. The planned scripting and acting that happens in reality T.V. shows insults the viewers intelligence. A good example of this is the most popular TV show on the planet, the WWE wrestling. Such shows give the viewers the misapprehensions that what is going on is ad hoc, spontaneous and impulsive and yet they are not. The physical abuse that is entailed in the WWE wrestling show is unfeasible, ridiculous and impracticable. No human being can with stand such maltreatment and continue to show aggression to his opponent with full body strength. Majority of the audience know that such reality shows are scripted and premeditated but to the young and young at heart, the level of belief and credence they have in reality shows is hazardous to their mental capability to distinguish authentic violence from fictional performances. Such reality shows affect the social interactions of youths. They encourage violence as a form of entertainment and not the atrocious, offensive conduct that it is. Suc h Reality shows have promoted violence in children which has consequently increased gang related bloodshed in America and violent behavior schools. Though most violent reality shows try and warn the audience against performing their impractical physical fetes and aptitude, audiences cannot help but to try out what they see on T.V. and in turn end up hurting themselves and others in the process. Contrarily the banning of reality shows would give us false hope of protecting our children from the bad aspect of â€Å"sex and violence† because it is not only in reality shows that our children are exposed to sex and violence, technology has made it possible for our children to access sexual contents and violent games and videos via the internet. Though banning reality shows would reduce the amount of sexual content they would be exposed to it would only pave way to new forms of sexual and violent entertainment which would conveniently reach our children. Reality TV shows are one but not the most sexually explicit forms of entertainment, so we should not elude our selves that banning reality television would solve the problem, it will only reduce it for a some time, until other forms of explicit entertainment come along. Banning reality TV will be breaking of international laws. It would be an infringement of basic rights, freedom of speech. Every and all human have the right to express themselves in a way they deem fit and so by banning reality TV show we would contravene with their democratic right to convey their grievances and views. With this in mind it would be erroneous to ban the shows since most of the producers know their rights and follow them to the latter, this will convey the violation of these rights and hence it will be impracticable. The viewers too have the absolute right to watch these shows and amuse themselves; banning these shows will create an international outcry from the viewers who derive pleasure from these shows, it will also be in breach of the viewers rights. We should also take heart in the fact that most people will se right through scripted reality shows. We live in an informed world where information is at our finger tips. The shallow scripts and predictability of mediocre reality TV are clichà ©s and with time audiences will distinguish between scripted premeditated and organized reality TV shows and the real thing. At the end of the day if a reality show does not appeal to your everyday life and situation then one should know that the show is scripted. More so with information and technology easy accessibility most viewers get to know the hollowness of reality TV shows and watch them primly for entertainment. This makes the banning of the shows irrelevant and unimportant because to the viewers they are more or less a form of amusement. Finally we need to accept that reality shows have fallen from grace and are not what they used to be. We need to ask ourselves who is to blame, the producers who make the reality TV shows or we the audience who give the producers reason to dramatize reality in a sexually immoral way that that affect the behavior and morals of our young. If the producers made real reality shows that speak to the day to day events of our lives would we watch them with the same interests we watch the current scripted shows? Would we still enjoy the true conflicts triumphs and struggles or are we already hooked to the soap opera type of reality TV that is being broadcasted through out the world/ are we our own worst victims, influencing the increase of sex violence and immorality that is reality TV shows? Or should we shift the blame to those who produce the shows? If we didnt create a market for low quality TV productions would our children be exposed to such appalling entertainment range? The question remains would it help if reality TV was banned? References Murray, S. Ouellete, L. (2008). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture.(2nd Ed). New York, NYU Press.

Ghost Story of Vietnam Veteran Haunting Lakewood, Ohio Essay -- Urban

Vietnam Veteran Haunting Lakewood, Ohio Perhaps some of the best stories told are classified as urban legends. Urban legends have become a part of culture, and a way to tell stories. They can tell us things about ourselves and about how we lead our lives. They serve to entertain us, but can also teach us lessons, such as morals to live by. Urban legends are passed on between generations, and become a part of the oral history of a place. Whether the stories are true or not, urban legends are often taken to hold at least some truth about a culture. No matter how radical some of the stories may be, people often take the urban legends to be true. People may take these stories to be true simply for entertainment purposes, but mostly because the morals the stories teach are important. Urban legends can become a part of the place where they originate, and can help define a culture, and shape its history. There a number of urban legends from where I live in Cleveland, Ohio, but one struck me more than others. The man who told me the story had attended the same high school as I, St. Edward High School, an all-boy high school, in Lakewood, Ohio. Lakewood, Ohio is a suburb of Cleveland located directly on Lake Erie. It is a small town that does appear to have anything special about it. It was very hard to find an urban legend concerning this small town where I attended high school, but my friend’s father knew the perfect story. He was born and grew up in Lakewood, and so knew the area very well. He had not heard the legend before attending St. Edward, but heard it during his first week of high school. After that, the story became so common, that it did not seem weird to him. The students of the school simply seemed to acc... ...am Vet from Lakewood became a famous story not only in the halls of St. Edward, but throughout the city of Lakewood. With the ghost of the vet haunting Lakewood Park, the entire city was haunted by the tale, with sightings of the ghost being made by many different citizens. However, the story is special to St. Edward because it is believed that the vet who committed suicide attended St. Edward High School before going to war. Urban Legends help to tell a history and share a culture with those who listen to them. The Legend of the Vietnam War Vet did just this. The story was easily relatable to kids of the area, as most kids either attended Lakewood High School or St. Edward. The story of the Vietnam Vet from Lakewood is one that has served to create a culture for Lakewood, Ohio, and is one which will live on in the city, and the halls of St. Edward High School.

Differential Association Theory Essay

1. Differential Association theory would explain the burglar’s behavior by first looking at their social structure. Their social structure can affect everything; it can influence their close relationships, open them up to objective opportunities and could be seen as the main attribute that affects their learning process in behavior. A. Most of the people in these interviews are poor, young males with similar social structures. Growing up on the streets and in bad neighborhoods can influence the interactions that each of these people will have. These interactions can result in definitions favorable to crime because these people are beginning to surround themselves and interact with people who are already doing illegal actions. (Hagan, p.89). In the article it gave an example of how a group of friends may be doing coke and once it runs out someone in the group, that has developed their own belief in what’s right and what’s wrong, suggests doing burglary in order to get some money for more coke. A new person within the group may feel pressure in continuing in order to maintain their status and relationship with the members in the group. Here they are learning new attitudes and accepting new values that are favorable to crime (Hagan, p. 89). The behavior being learned is that burglary can help with any immediate needs and together they rebel against the law. The new member may now start to change what they believe is right and wrong and could begin acting in more frequent illegal actions. These burglars have the belief that burglary is okay because it is a matter of â€Å"day to day survival†. This shows that they have their own interpretation on what they think is right and wrong which is a learned definition favorable to crime. In the interview Wild Will proved this theory by describing that when he is in need of money he thinks to himself, â€Å"How do I know how to get money quick and easy?† He at one point had to have learned that an immediate fix to a bump in the road, which is justified in his mind, is to perform a burglary. Larry Harris would agree when he says that it is just something you have to do to get by. Neither of these men views burglary as something wrong but as something you do in order to survive. B. When it comes to the techniques that people learn in committing crime several burglars said that it is something that you just get better at over time. Wild Will stated that when he goes to rob a house he likes to stake out the house and call it in order to see if someone is home. This may have been a technique he had picked up from  someone else that he went and did a burglary with. Several participants in the interview confessed that if they had a friend that had a burglary set up that they would be willing to do it with them if given the offer. This is an incident where you could say that a person may have the opportunity to learned new strategies and techniques that have worked for someone else in the past. Another technique that gets learned on the streets is the ability to maintain and develop status. One of the participants shared that it is mandatory to be perceived as â€Å"hip†. People on the streets learn through interactions with each other what it takes to be hip and be seen as someone with high status. 95% of the participants confessed that they spend the money that they steal on things that give them the image of â€Å"high-living†. During the interview several things were revealed as things to do in order to gain that high status. These burglars can learn these techniques such as doing drugs, having sexual partners, the right styles and brands, and a car and car accessories, as things to pursue in order to gain that respected status in the street culture. C. It is already made clear that these burglars live in poor neighborhoods and are living on the streets which give them more objective opportunity than someone that is in a nicer well off neighborhood. Due to their neighborhood, it exposes these burglars to people that are promoters to committing crime (Hagan, p.90). Most of these men have also admitted that they are â€Å"too lazy† to maintain a real job so sources of income are limited within the household. Because of this most of these participants say that they are acting on illegal action, like burglaries, in order to gain money for food and clothing for their family. As for subjective opportunities not everyone would look at something as an opportunity to commit a crime but Larry William says it best in his interview when he is describing what he does when he is in need for money, â€Å"There it is! There’s the house†. He automatically looks for a target and sees it as an opportunity to immediately fix his problem whereas another person wouldn’t think of that as an option. Another subjective opportunity that these burglars have is the fact that their social bonds are also partaking in these acts and so they have multiple opportunities in performing a burglary when they are present with more opportunities given by their friends.

Chicano Diffention essays

Chicano Diffention essays As a result of the changing demography of Latino students within California's school system, it has become apparent that other changes have also taken place due to this shift in population that affect the academic needs of the Chicano/Latino population at the elementary, secondary and post secondary segments of the educational system. Humanity has been enduring an ongoing battle for centuries: the strained relations among the races. Despite efforts to put the past behind, signs remain at nearly every stage that there still exists a strong sense of racial conflict. While many Caucasians do not see the problem being as severe as it is represented, Latinos argue that the lighter skinned race has yet to fully embrace the situation. Caucasian Americans do not interpret racism as a big problem, therefore, they do not see a need for government intervention. The fact of the matter is, there is a clear problem regarding the proper and efficient integration of Latinos into the educational s ystem. In the past, children's racial viewpoints have routinely been shaped by their parents' perceptions. This is usually how racial prejudice is passed down from generation to generation. However, a portion of today's teens appear to be breaking free of this inheritance by voicing their own opinions about race relations. While racial hate crimes continue to run rampant, which is related to the Latino population growth among California schools, the newer generation tends to believe there is less interracial tension than do their parents (Farley 88+). What has instigated this considerably lax attitude among the California's younger generation is not quite clear; yet a TIME/CNN poll has discovered that the adolescent population is far more forgiving of racial prejudices than their adult counterparts. Of twelve hundred, eighty-two adults and six hundred one teenagers aged twelve to seventeen, the younger sect demonstrated a considerable amount of r...

Free Essays on Waiting For Godo Essay

Waiting for Godot: A Social Critique One of the few unarguable intents of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is the author’s desire to impact his audience. With floating images, an obscure story line, and nonsensical dialogue, the reader is continually delving into Beckett’s text for further meaning in the play. Ironically, Beckett’s absurdist messages suggest that it is this sort of search for order in an irrational universe that will only lead to conflict. Within his play Beckett makes several attempts to satirize human beings’ need for order. He targets both religious organization and social structure. More specifically, in Waiting for Godot, Beckett criticizes the institution of western capitalism through the relationships of his characters. Samuel Beckett’s existentialist ideas clearly influenced his writings. The movement’s stress of the individual existence and its portrayal of human beings as totally free and responsible for their own actions does not promote rules in life and structured institutions. The belief in the irreducibility of experience to any system is also at the core of existentialist thought. Thus, reducing people’s lives to economic classes and containing them in this social hierarchy violated existentialist ideas. Beckett places each of his main characters in defined Marxist roles to illustrate this point. Karl Marx’s theories are based on the conviction that socialism is inevitable. He, like existentialists, emphasized individualism. Marx went as far as to claim the individual as the highest being. According to his theories, Marx viewed all of history as torn with conflict. This chaos out of a search for order is very much an existentialist idea. Traditional Marxism places the rich bourgeoisie against the poor proletariat. In this play, both Godot and Pozzo represent an aristocratic ruling class. Vladimir, Estragon, and Lucky are the exploited laborers who are at the mercy of their r... Free Essays on Waiting For Godo Essay Free Essays on Waiting For Godo Essay Waiting for Godot: A Social Critique One of the few unarguable intents of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is the author’s desire to impact his audience. With floating images, an obscure story line, and nonsensical dialogue, the reader is continually delving into Beckett’s text for further meaning in the play. Ironically, Beckett’s absurdist messages suggest that it is this sort of search for order in an irrational universe that will only lead to conflict. Within his play Beckett makes several attempts to satirize human beings’ need for order. He targets both religious organization and social structure. More specifically, in Waiting for Godot, Beckett criticizes the institution of western capitalism through the relationships of his characters. Samuel Beckett’s existentialist ideas clearly influenced his writings. The movement’s stress of the individual existence and its portrayal of human beings as totally free and responsible for their own actions does not promote rules in life and structured institutions. The belief in the irreducibility of experience to any system is also at the core of existentialist thought. Thus, reducing people’s lives to economic classes and containing them in this social hierarchy violated existentialist ideas. Beckett places each of his main characters in defined Marxist roles to illustrate this point. Karl Marx’s theories are based on the conviction that socialism is inevitable. He, like existentialists, emphasized individualism. Marx went as far as to claim the individual as the highest being. According to his theories, Marx viewed all of history as torn with conflict. This chaos out of a search for order is very much an existentialist idea. Traditional Marxism places the rich bourgeoisie against the poor proletariat. In this play, both Godot and Pozzo represent an aristocratic ruling class. Vladimir, Estragon, and Lucky are the exploited laborers who are at the mercy of their r...

A Guide to French Words for Beverages

A Guide to French Words for Beverages Its no secret that the French love to eat and drink. By learning the vocabulary for common beverages and food, youll develop a deeper appreciation for this tasty aspect of French culture and make sure you never go hungry while traveling. This guide some of the most common words and phrases associated with eating and drinking, as well as links to sound files to practice your pronunciation.   Vocabulary   There are a handful of verbs youll use frequently when discussing food and drink, including  avoir  (to have),  boire  (to drink),  prendre  (to take), and  vouloir  (to want). If youre a true foodie, you may also want to learn more about how to talk about wine and coffee in French. la và ´tre!  Ã‚  Cheers! To your health!avoir soif  Ã‚  to be thirstyune boisson   drink, beverageun apà ©ritif, un apà ©ro (informal) cocktail, before-dinner drinkune bià ¨re   beerune boisson gazeuse   soda, pop, soft drinkun cafà ©Ã‚   coffee, espressole champagne   champagneun chocolat (chaud)   hot chocolateun cidre   hard ciderun citron pressà ©Ã‚   lemonadeun digestif   after-dinner drinkleau   watereau du robinet   tap watereau plate   still / plain watereau gazeuse   sparkling / mineral waterun express   espressoune infusion   herbal teale jus   juicele lait   milkune limonade   lemon soda (like Sprite or 7-Up)un pastis   anise-flavored apà ©ritifune pression   beer on taple thà ©Ã‚   teale thà © glacà ©Ã‚   iced teaune tisane   herbal teale vin  Ã‚  Ã‚  winela  gueule  de  bois   hangover​

The United States Economic Development in the World War II Essay

The United States Economic Development in the World War II - Essay Example This essay outlines the efficiency of the economic policies of American government in war and post-war period, that led to strongly improved performance of the economy in the world. There are several reasons that led to wage rise during the Second World War. One reason that led to the rise in wage rates during the Second World War was the increased efficiency in jobs. Millions of residents of the United States of America who worked in occupations that were less productive moved to more efficient occupations. By acquiring efficient jobs, they earned more from their occupations. During the Second World War, wages also increased because productivity was equally improved. The improvement in productivity was brought about by better technologies that were put in place. The United States of America got its resources using an array of methods. One of them was excessive use of taxation. High taxes were imposed on workers as a way of mobilizing resources. The Congress collaborated with Roosevelt to impose heavy taxes as a way of mobilizing resources. The rates of marginal taxes increased from 81 per cent to about 94 per cent during the entire duration of the Second World War. The income level that was subjected to tax was also lowered Following the World War II, the increase in the demand of consumers for commodities fueled a robust economic growth. One industry that benefited from the consumer demand was the motor vehicle industry. To add to that, electronic and aviation industries witnessed enormous growth. ... The army was well marshaled to a force that was feared in the battlefield during the entire season of the war. By the year 1945, the military of the United States of America comprised of at least 13 000 000 million men, in addition to women who were in unison. This jump started the successful tradition in battle fields the United States of America has enjoyed till today. The industrial strength of the United States was also a crucial factor that was observed not only during but also after the Second World War. As much as they imported most of the resources they used outside the nation, their Gross domestic product stood the highest across the entire world. This margin was very large compared to those of other parts of the world (Young, 2013). During the post war era, the industry was transformed into an economic powerhouse still being witnessed today in the United States of America. These are of the reasons that led to the success of the United States as far as economic growth was co ncerned. They were able to recognize some of the gaps by other countries which they filled well. The post war prosperity that was witnessed in the United States of America after the Second World War was such a golden chance to the capitalists. This was attributed to maturity in bonds of about 200 million dollars from the years between 1945 to 1973.These bonds were financed by their work force that was educated. The post war prosperity and economic growth was also brought about by the increased number of farm workers who secured jobs in cities and towns across the United States of America. Before the Second World War, the economics of the United States ditched into a great depression. This occurred in the period between 1929 to 1941.In 1932, the

Share Trading Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Share Trading Assignment - Essay Example For the theoretical analysis, the LSE provided all the performance charts for all the companies highlighted and presented in this paper. For the fundamental analysis, the LSE provided all the data in terms of income statements, profit and loss accounts, as well as balance sheets for all the companies stated and highlighted in this paper. A common trend in the investment market in the UK has shown that the trading of securities has been increasing in recent years. The London stock market (LSM) has been in existence for the last 300 years. Many people believe that the LSM holds the ideology where the rich get richer by owning percentages of firms in the financial market. However, due to the introduction of pro trading skills, the LSE has changed its identity allowing an open avenue for any suitable investor to play a vital role in the investment and financial market. The mechanisms of trading in the stock market have been complicated for these investors, a phenomenon that has increased the risks of investment. However, the study of the theoretical and fundamental analysis makes the comprehension of the securities trading mechanism easier to absorb. In this paper, these two phenomena have been identified and explained comprehensively and a comparison analysis has been made to further explain how trades can be made in the London stock market. A case study has also been outlined to determine the two analyses by using 100,000 pounds in the UK local trading floor. A stock is a portion in the proprietorship of a company. Stocks characterize a privilege on the companys properties and earnings. As an individual acquires more stock, their proprietorship stake in the establishment becomes larger. It should be taken to account that the terms stock shares or equity represent the same thing. Most stocks are transacted on exchanges, which are dwellings where customers and vendors set and decide on a price. During the previous few years, the typical persons concern in the

Globalization at general electrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Globalization at general electrics - Essay Example First, GE chose to invest aggressively in foreign expansion for the obvious reason of desire to grow the company. Foreign investment results in more branches of the company, and this is directly linked to increased revenues for the company due to the additional branches, which will generate additional profits for the company (Rugman & Collinson 2008). Therefore, GE bought other companies in various countries, which were in a financial jeopardy, and were on the verge of collapsing. GE bought the financially unstable companies at a faster rate, mainly because, this was the only opportunity it had to acquire those companies and expand, since these would be seized by other companies, if GE would not act fast. This is a strategy, which GE used to ensure that its expansion was rapid. Aggressive expansion of GE might have been aimed at ensuring that the company moves closer to most of its customers, since this would be easier and cheaper for the company to address the various concerns and n eeds of its customers, while increasing its total sales revenue. In addition, international expansion by GE was intended for the company to increase its customer base, since this would acquire more and new customers in the new geographical locations that it established itself. In addition, GE chose to expand because of the company’s wish to deal with their foreign markets on a higher level. By adopting globalization, GE wanted to prove that the relationship between the company and its foreign markets was strong enough to allow the country to directly invest in the foreign countries, while being assured of profits. Rugman & Collinson (2008) argued that it not enough for a company to be shipping its products to foreign countries. Instead, a company should consider getting closer to its customers in the foreign markets, and establish a close relationship with them, to boost revenue and address consumer needs appropriately. Finally, GE might have chose to expand internationally i n order to save on the costs it incurred in the form of wages for its employees. Employees in other countries outside the United States are paid lower salaries and wages, mainly because of the economic status of their country, which is usually lower, compared to the United States. Therefore, most American multinationals choose to expand outside the United States in order to explore these lower wages (Rugman & Collinson 2008). Question 2 According to Birkinshaw, Braunerhjelm, Holm & Terjesen (2006), the corporate headquarters of a company plays a valuable role in influencing the relationships between the company and the financial markets, as well as its stakeholders. Stakeholders of a company include customers, as well as the competitors of the company, which are the most important stakeholders of a company. Therefore, by moving its headquarters to foreign markets, GE wanted to influence the relationship with its customers in the foreign countries. This would result in a stronger rel ationship than the one that existed previously. Most companies claim that the decision to move their headquarters to foreign countries is influenced by their desire to be in close proximity with their international customers (Rugman & Collinson 2008). In the case of GE, like most companies, this company has moved most of its headquarters of its other businesses from the U.S.A. to other foreign countries.

Background research on Center of Residence life Essay

Background research on Center of Residence life - Essay Example Center for Residence Life also organizes activities that are directly related to developing the surrounding environment and community near the campus. The number of staff working in the Center for Residence life is quite large and includes full time and part time staff members (Crawford, 2011). The main competitors of the Center for Residence life include community service centers and also other student activity programs within the campus. This is because as the center struggles to gather a loyal customer base, the students have a variety of activities to choose from and may not necessarily take part in the activities of the Center for Residence life (Crawford, 2011). Outside community activities also appeal to a huge number of students who are looking for fun and do not necessarily wish to be involved in community development. Also, clubs and societies reduce the number of students that het involved in Center for Residence life plans and activities. Participants in other clubs and societies find their participation time consuming and thus they cannot juggle handling another activity such as those organized by the Center for Residence life. (Crawford, 2011) The company’s customers mostly consist of students within the campus. This is so because the company was started in the campus and hence has a huge customer base from the campus. These students have either enrolled in the campus or are part of the campus alumni. Other customers for the company include students from other campuses (Crawford, 2011). This is in an effort to promote cross-campus interactions and build healthy relationship networks amongst students in campus. Community members around the campus are also part of the customers that that the company boasts of. This is due to the fact that the activities of the Center for Residence life are considerate of community development activities and thus involve the public in some of its

LGBTQ blog post Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LGBTQ blog post - Essay Example The plight of homosexuals has continued to roll over the decades and even the 21st century is seemingly no different. The social stigmatization that homosexuals receive in the contemporary society cannot be overlooked. Immediately one is identified as a gay or lesbian that becomes the genesis of their stigmatization. Many people even in the countries that boast of being developed still view lesbians and gays as malevolent and a lot of dereliction is directed to them. Different people have postulated unfounded opinions and judgments concerning homosexuality. Some think it is a developmental problem that has psychological contributions. Others have had several questions unanswered concerning the issue of homosexuality. â€Å"†¦..what factors contributed to its purported prevalence? Was it a holdover of primitive instincts usually found only in ‘uncivilized’ groups? Or was it an effect of modern life?’’ (Kaufman and Terry 27). These demonstrate how much people have pondered about the issue which has resulted into faulty perceptions about the gay and lesbian people as w ell as the transgender. With different persons coming up with diverse explanations, stigma and disgrace has been the order of the day in the homosexual world. As reported in the International Journal of Sexual Studies, gay parents are more susceptible to stigmatization. The outcome of this empirical study conducted to determine the extent of social stigmatization of the gay parents revealed much more that what had been hypothesized. People tend to look at the gay parents as ‘undeserving’ parents who are misleading examples to the society. It is not any news to hear that some countries have declared homosexuality illegal and that those found oriented to this sexual bearing should be sentenced to death. Uganda is one of the countries that surprised the world by its coarse laws

The divine life ventures Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The divine life ventures - Research Proposal Example The Divine Life Ventures Research Proposal Dreams are never dependent upon eyes, rather they are born by the visions. We, in TDL Ventures believe in this and it is the core objective behind setting up this organization. In order to convert this idea into reality, we intend to conduct a research so that we would be able to assess our internal and external factors that will be expected to help us out in making this non-profit organization a success.Importance of Research Selection of a correct research approach is of vital nature, as the chances of success are so much dependent on this. A correctly used research method will enable us to have an exact picture of the future structure. Therefore, we it is inevitable for an organization to have a correct measure or use a suitable research approach to ascertain about the certain important current and future factors of the business. An organization, whether commercial or non-profit, is always formed by believing on some assumptions. For bein g successful, these assumptions need to be realistic and practical. Mostly, the research work provides a framework for these assumptions, therefore, research approach is always unavoidable. Research Approach For the desired purpose, we will use exploratory research. The reason is, there is not so much work available to be used as reference for this unique idea. However, we will refer to some secondary sources of data as well, but that would be very limited, only to the extent of taking some guideline for a particular direction in research. Our research will help us out in finding some new ways to do something for the blind or visually impaired people. Their needs, wants and ways of recreation will be explored by this exclusive study. Moreover, by knowing them from the inner, we would also be able to address their problems in a better way and this is the purpose of this study and of course, the objective of formation of this organization. Let’s discuss how this approach and th e intended research will validate the basic strategic tools of our organization in for future. Vision, Mission and Values Vision statement states what a company looks to be in a long term scenario. Therefore, as we at TDL wants to touch the heights in order to provide best services to our handicapped users without getting a single penny profit over our investments. Therefore, through this exploratory study, we will definitely be finding out ways how to explore new ways to do all this. Mission is somewhat what we want to do by our organization. So it is also very clear that we want to provide best services like transportation, leadership training and personal development so that they could make their own status in society and could spend their lives as a normal man does. Lastly, we can also strive to translate our core values in a more meaningful way by exploratory study and the conduct of research. Defining the target market is not a big deal, but finding out new and better ways to serve them is the matter of great consideration. As the chances of improvement are always there in the quality, lead time and magnitude of the future need. So the question for analysis is, HOW CAN WE ESTABLISH OURSELVES AS A BEST SERVICE PROVIDER FOR THE HANDICAPPED, BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS? Answer of this question is revealed through the following lines. Internal Environment Analysis Internal environment analysis in research can include the discovery of new and improved infrastructure, minimization of turnaround time, trained and well equipped staff, modern machinery, state of the art software, latest researches equipped library, a separate and effective research and development department and a visionary leadership at all the departments and across the beard in organizational hierarchy. External environment Analysis External environment is also very important as far as some analysis for a newly established non-profit organization is

Background research on Center of Residence life Essay

Background research on Center of Residence life - Essay Example Center for Residence Life also organizes activities that are directly related to developing the surrounding environment and community near the campus. The number of staff working in the Center for Residence life is quite large and includes full time and part time staff members (Crawford, 2011). The main competitors of the Center for Residence life include community service centers and also other student activity programs within the campus. This is because as the center struggles to gather a loyal customer base, the students have a variety of activities to choose from and may not necessarily take part in the activities of the Center for Residence life (Crawford, 2011). Outside community activities also appeal to a huge number of students who are looking for fun and do not necessarily wish to be involved in community development. Also, clubs and societies reduce the number of students that het involved in Center for Residence life plans and activities. Participants in other clubs and societies find their participation time consuming and thus they cannot juggle handling another activity such as those organized by the Center for Residence life. (Crawford, 2011) The company’s customers mostly consist of students within the campus. This is so because the company was started in the campus and hence has a huge customer base from the campus. These students have either enrolled in the campus or are part of the campus alumni. Other customers for the company include students from other campuses (Crawford, 2011). This is in an effort to promote cross-campus interactions and build healthy relationship networks amongst students in campus. Community members around the campus are also part of the customers that that the company boasts of. This is due to the fact that the activities of the Center for Residence life are considerate of community development activities and thus involve the public in some of its

The divine life ventures Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The divine life ventures - Research Proposal Example The Divine Life Ventures Research Proposal Dreams are never dependent upon eyes, rather they are born by the visions. We, in TDL Ventures believe in this and it is the core objective behind setting up this organization. In order to convert this idea into reality, we intend to conduct a research so that we would be able to assess our internal and external factors that will be expected to help us out in making this non-profit organization a success.Importance of Research Selection of a correct research approach is of vital nature, as the chances of success are so much dependent on this. A correctly used research method will enable us to have an exact picture of the future structure. Therefore, we it is inevitable for an organization to have a correct measure or use a suitable research approach to ascertain about the certain important current and future factors of the business. An organization, whether commercial or non-profit, is always formed by believing on some assumptions. For bein g successful, these assumptions need to be realistic and practical. Mostly, the research work provides a framework for these assumptions, therefore, research approach is always unavoidable. Research Approach For the desired purpose, we will use exploratory research. The reason is, there is not so much work available to be used as reference for this unique idea. However, we will refer to some secondary sources of data as well, but that would be very limited, only to the extent of taking some guideline for a particular direction in research. Our research will help us out in finding some new ways to do something for the blind or visually impaired people. Their needs, wants and ways of recreation will be explored by this exclusive study. Moreover, by knowing them from the inner, we would also be able to address their problems in a better way and this is the purpose of this study and of course, the objective of formation of this organization. Let’s discuss how this approach and th e intended research will validate the basic strategic tools of our organization in for future. Vision, Mission and Values Vision statement states what a company looks to be in a long term scenario. Therefore, as we at TDL wants to touch the heights in order to provide best services to our handicapped users without getting a single penny profit over our investments. Therefore, through this exploratory study, we will definitely be finding out ways how to explore new ways to do all this. Mission is somewhat what we want to do by our organization. So it is also very clear that we want to provide best services like transportation, leadership training and personal development so that they could make their own status in society and could spend their lives as a normal man does. Lastly, we can also strive to translate our core values in a more meaningful way by exploratory study and the conduct of research. Defining the target market is not a big deal, but finding out new and better ways to serve them is the matter of great consideration. As the chances of improvement are always there in the quality, lead time and magnitude of the future need. So the question for analysis is, HOW CAN WE ESTABLISH OURSELVES AS A BEST SERVICE PROVIDER FOR THE HANDICAPPED, BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS? Answer of this question is revealed through the following lines. Internal Environment Analysis Internal environment analysis in research can include the discovery of new and improved infrastructure, minimization of turnaround time, trained and well equipped staff, modern machinery, state of the art software, latest researches equipped library, a separate and effective research and development department and a visionary leadership at all the departments and across the beard in organizational hierarchy. External environment Analysis External environment is also very important as far as some analysis for a newly established non-profit organization is

Transport and Maritime Traffic Essay Example for Free

Transport and Maritime Traffic Essay Cost is an important factor which trading industries will have to consider. In Europe and North America the proportion of development of road and rail is the highest at 25 to 35 per cent. Thus, trade is predominantly transacted by road and rail. Cargo between countries without a common border is carried mainly by sea because of the growth rates for air freight are more than double those for shipping in recent years. In comparison to transporting via ocean freight and air freight, maritime traffic is considerably much cheaper. Airlines bills a chargeable weight. Chargeable weight is calculated from a combination of the weight and size of a shipment. Whereas, sea carriers charge per container rates for shipping in standard containers. For example; while a standard shipment shipped from Singapore to Europe costs Sgd5000, the same shipment might cost up to Sgd35,000 via air freight. While weight can factor into the price from sea carriers, their charge tends to be based more on the size of a shipment. Thus, with larger and heavier shipments, it is much cheaper to ship by sea. Thus, the main advantage of marine transportation is its economies of scale making it the cheapest per unit of all transport modes which is one of the important factors as to why maritime traffic is growing. According to data statistics UK, US, EU, NZ and many other countries marine government data statistics show that maritime traffic holds the highest transportation statistics in the country. Growth in World Trade via globalization As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, the main reason behind the growth in maritime traffic is the growth in globalization. In the past, the WTO provided a new cycle to world trade whereby China’s economic opening led to their admission to the WTO in 2001 causing its exports to increase 4times within 5 years. Another example of integrated markets boosting international trade are exports from Mexico to the USA within 6 years of NAFTA being established. This measure taken by WTO helped newly-industrializing emerging economies, particularly China and India, for energy and mineral resources. These resources had to be transported regionally via marine traffic. This led to increasing quantities of goods being transported from far-distant countries via ships. (http://worldoceanreview. com/en/wor-1/transport/global-shipping/3/WTO). The growth in globalization causes the growth in maritime traffic as well. This had and is still causing a steady growth in maritime traffic as well. This is evident via the statistics review by the United Nations marine trade which shows that Around 80 per cent of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and the percentage is even higher for most developing countries. Thus, globalization has played a huge role as to why maritime traffic has and is growing. †¢Effective mode of transportation Physical properties of the various modes of transportation available also play a key role as to why maritime traffic is growing. Due to the physical properties of water conferring buoyancy and limited friction, maritime transportation is the most effective mode of transportation to move large quantities of cargo. The approximate maximum takeoff weight for air cargo planes is~910,000. worlds longest, heaviest trains. Demonstration union train-WTO†). Road transportation have both weight and distance constraints which will be the least option to consider for bulk and far distance transportation. Whereas, bulk carriers ships are designed to carry specific commodities. They include the largest tankers, the Ultra Large Crude Carriers which are up to ~500,000 dwt. (Aragon, James R. ; Messer, Tuuli Anna (2001). Masters handbook on ships business. Cambridge, Md: Cornell Maritime Press). In July 2009,the global merchant fleet consisted of a total of 53,005 vessels. In all, the global merchant fleet has a capacity of ~1192 million dwt. (http://worldoceanreview. com/en/wor-1/transport/global-shipping/3/). Thus, it is evident that maritime transportation is the only feasible mode of transportation for bulk shipping such as coal, minerals, oil tankers and other bulky goods for companies which needs to ship a large amount of goods at once, with longer lead times. This is one of the reasons as to why there is a growth in maritime traffic. (III)Conclusion Despite the fact that maritime transportation has high terminal costs since port infrastructures are among the most expensive to build, maintain and improve; maritime traffic is growing. As mentioned above, due to reasons such as cost efficiency, global trading and most effective transportation of heavy and bulky goods with long lead times; as long as there is world trade there will definitely be a demand and growth in maritime traffic.

Consumer Behaviour and Sustainability Content

Consumer Behaviour and Sustainability Content 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. BACKGROUND In todays businesss world, one of the most challenging tasks for marketers is to understand the customers buying behaviour. What goes into the humans black box: what cause them to make the decisions of buying or not buying? Is it based on values, views which dominate the market today or purely rely on his/her demands, needs and wants or modern societys environment changes influences? These are all reflecting consumers buying behaviour. Hence, a proper knowledge of consumers behaviour will be a vital key to gain competitive advantage in the global business environment. To better understand consumer behaviour and what factors influence it, this article will be centered on three theories self theory, consumer decision-making and fashion theory. Literally all three theories relates to the process of buying behaviour which reflected through consumers perceptions. Self theory is ourselves performing as a system and creates a model of what we believe and understand for the outside world. Consumer decision-making is a concept that let us understand how customers choose and make the decision to buy or not buy in the full process. Fashion theory is all driven by the societys innovativeness. Indeed, all three theories are very important in making marketing strategies due to it is a key to the success of any business. 1.2. AIMS This article will be analyzed together with researchers diary to understand the prospects of consumers behaviour based on researchers own shopping experience. Below are the aims on this report is focused; The main concept of each theory and its influences in the consumer behaviour; Integrate researchers shopping experience and combine theory to analyze real consumer behaviour; 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 THEORY OF SELF 2.1.1 CONCEPT In simple words, self is a mirror image of me. It is an internal view of my own personality. It is considered an epicenter of all the perceptions. It is encapsulated image of humans personality. The self is a perpetually shifting dynamic system that is more like the flow of a river in which patterns emerge and disappear than a static backdrop (Kelso, 1995, p. 1). According to Mead (1934), the self is not a matter whereas it is prototype or procedure. As Goffman points out, the self is a sacred symbol in this society (1959). Self is a key factor which is responsible for fulfilling or meeting the most important emotional energy objective. That is why one critically mentioned the inadvertent rediscovery of self in experimental social psychology (Hales 1 98 1 a). It is nearly impossible to understand self on its own, as it provides philosophical foundation for social-psychological investigation into the self concept. Self concept theory also refers to theory of self -evaluation. Self concept is a complex of human thoughts about its own self. It denotes the totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object (Rosenberg 1979, p. 7). Self is all about having our own perceptions about our own selfs. It is an inside view of a human which relates to an intangible world. From (1956) described self-concept as life being aware of itself. Self concept is not an individuals viewpoint whereas it is made up of multidimensional prospective as actual-self (how a person perceives herself) , ideal-self (how a person would like to perceive herself), social self (how a person presents herself to others), and global-self attitude (self-esteem or self-satisfaction expression, etc.). (Joseph, 1982) Self theorists essentially define self-concept as an attitude one holds about or toward ones person (self), this attitude consisting of cognitive components (knowledge, belief), affect ive components (evaluations), and behavioral-motivational components (predispositions or tendencies to respond). (Ivan, 1971) 2.1.2. SELF-THEORY IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Self image/product image on brand/product preferences The self-concept is basically a cognitive structure which is in many ways associated with strong feelings or behaviours. Consumers make choices are in the connection with self-concept which is cognitive appraisal attributes about oneself in the attachment to different brands. This means a consumer may purchase some product as he feels that product enhances himself, and this consumer may not like to shop in a certain store due to the reason that he feels the stores products are not as the same level as he is at or not fit into him in terms if representing his image. (Edward, et,al.1968) And this is the image of self as individuals express themselves by choosing brands whose personalities are perceived to be congruent with their own personalities. (Ahmad, et.al, 2001) Since people have their own personalities, product/services is assumed to its own personality image as well. This personality is represented in the product/services attributes like conventional, posh, trendy, casual etc. The products personality is also represented into extended functions like tangible costs, benefits like quality, space, price and performance. These functions are not only the representatives of products/services image but also features in other factors like advertising, stereotype of the users, other marketing prospects, etc. This type of product image has been interacted with consumers self-concept and effect a so-called self-image/product image congruity, in which influence the consumers product preference and purchase intention. (Joseph, 1985) Self-esteem and Self-consistency V.S. Purchase Motivation If a product image is close to self-image, it will be named as self-congruity while as if a product image is close to ideal self-image, it will be named as ideal congruity. It is argued that self-congruity (SC) affects purchase motivation through the activation and operation of the self-consistency motive. In contrast, ideal congruity (DC) affects purchase motivation through the mediation of the self-esteem motive. (Joseph, 1985) Various self/image congruity illustrations will cause various purchase motivations among consumers. If a consumer has high self-esteem, he will purchase a positively valued product in order to keep his positive self-image. However, he will never purchase certain product which is negatively valued product as he wants to avoid negative self-congruity. Take an automobile as an example, a high self-esteem customer will always buy a good ideal car in order to satisfy others or societys point of view as it is important for him to maintain the status in his surroun dings. He will never buy a car which projects a lower image in comparison to his self-esteem. However, from the perspective of self-consistency, consumer will be always motivated to purchase a product either positive or negative image as it is important that the product itself should be reflecting his/her self-image belief. A table has been illustrated from Joseph (1985) is clearly stated the relationship in the purchase motivation and customers own image/personality. Source: (Joseph, 1985) Discussions Since the self-concept has been divided into multidimensional perspectives, researchers have studied a lot on different self-dimensions to find out any relationship to the consumers behaviour. Therefore, it turned out the product image/self-image can not always satisfy consumers to purchase certain product under his intention all the time. Some researchers argued that consumers are not only seeking the product which is close to self-image. Sometimes, consumer does not choose the product which represents him, but rather certain product which is related to his ideal self-image due to that the relevant self-image dimension is negative. (Laird, 1974) This has brought us into the considerations that social factors, status, environment have changed consumers actual purchase into the ideal purchase in order to match up with the reality or society though this is similar like self-esteem concept in the above part. Researchers have also argued that people purchase some branded product is not due to the perception of him, as it might be the cause of post-purchases effects. This means after purchase, consumer has taken its product-image into his self-image to represent himself instead of pre-purchase effect. It is the product-image causing the effect instead of self-image cause the purchase of the product. 2.2. CONSUMER DECISION MAKING 2.2.1. CONCEPT Decision making for a consumer has never been so complicated since high technology development in the global commercial industry. Similar products within same functions among various brands in retail outlets and shopping malls have created more choices for a consumer. And retailers are becoming competitors to each other by using various promotion methods like advertising, direct mails and leaflets of information on goods and services attract customers to purchase. With the development of information system, the choice for decision making for a consumer becomes much more complex due to the electronic format on products display. (Steven, 1996) An organization which embraces the marketing concept tries to provide products that satisfy customer needs through coordinated sets of activities that also allow the organization to achieve its goals. Customers satisfaction is the major aim of the marketing concept. (Dibb et al., 1994) It is a process in which both the parties are benefited by exchanging if buyer intend to purchase something of value from the seller, in return seller must get something of value. (Table 1 and Table 2) In order to grow in an efficient way, organizations always try to find out the reasons of why consumers make such purchase decision or why not. The key to drive a companys growth is to understand the elements that motivate into consumers buying decision. Only under such condition can a leader of the company to smartly arrange the allocation of the resources and supportive activities. (Todd, el,al,2005) Purchase a product involves a decision-making process among consumers. According to Paul (2007), there are four chains related to such decision making process: Search for alternatives, Evaluation of alternatives, Purchase, and outcomes of the purchase. The chart below has been a good example of a decision-making of motorists buying gasoline. Source: (Paul, 2007) Decision-making process has been largely influenced by the modern communication tools among companies. As from the view of marketers perspective, what is important is not simply understanding the nature of the decision process, but how this influences the individuals responses to advertising communications. (Keith) Hence, a proper understanding of consumers decision-making now is becoming much more and more complex and interesting. 2.2.2. CONSUMER DECISION MAKING IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Consumer decision styles: Below is a chart which will explain two types of influences that motivate consumers buying behaviour: tangible and intangible factors. Elements that influence consumers buying decision: (Todd, et,al.2005) Researchers also found that peoples choices over the products perceptions are various according to different nations. According to Sproles and Kendall (1986, p. 268), a consumers decision-making style is a mental orientation characterizing a consumers approach to making choices. They developed eight basic elements that influence consumers buying decision which are: quality conscious, brand conscious, fashion conscious, recreational and hedonistic orientation, price conscious, impulsive and careless tendencies, confused by over-choice and brand loyalty. (Cheng-Lu, et,al, 2004) This means any element or combinations of them among these eight mental characters can be the final decision of a buyers choice depend on what he is focusing on. Howard and Sheth Theory of Buyer Behaviour: Brand Model This model made by Howard and Sheth has considered various factors into the consumers decision making over a product. In the chart below, there are seven factors shown its relatives to a decision making of a buyer. And under this model, three situations have been composed to illustrate buyers decision of purchase over the products brand: Routinized Response Behaviour Brand Familiar, Limited Problem Solving new and unfamiliar brand in a familiar product class, and Extensive Problem Solving unfamiliar brand in unfamiliar product class. Under the theory, attitude has been considered as the sum of a number of dimensions. Attitude is like intention which equals to what level of motives of satisfying a customers needs inside of the mind. Source: Paul (2007) Rationality Behaviour Some researchers are questioning that what is the rationality decision making? Does rationality also involve in the buyers purchase decision-making? According to Keith (2007), the assumptions of rationality are that people strive to maximize utility and have perfect knowledge in the search for the optimum solution. By using the decision rules, a choice has to be made through a set of alternatives considering each alternative with certain criteria singling out the best suitable one in the process of a rationality decision making. It is always a process in the search and chooses over the factor of satisfaction. However, the existence of the debate between rationality behaviour and emotional conscious is always been argued. It might be possible for a customer that make a rational purchase, but some people would argue that there is certain existence degree of emotional impulses result in the choice among the alternatives. In this situation, decision-making under the consciousness of rationality and emotion sensual have gathered more researchers into the investigation to study consumers decision making in a comparative way. (William, 1998) Discussions: Researchers find out that various countries decision making style on consumers are different. However, due to the degree of economy of a country, consumers decision making on the products according to the eight characters are not exactly right since those features are more applicable to those countries where are more developed. Differences in culture and infrastructure of the retailers have also illustrated the various shopping experiences on decision making of the consumers. Take Indias retailers as an example, most of the shops are in small sizes and family owned. There is not so much space for consumers to compare with various choices inside of the store, and usually consumers buy the products with predetermined list on hand and expected prices to choose from the products in store. People always buy the cloth and put it into tailor shop to do the designs instead of buying the ready ones. Hence, searching for a universal instrument that can describe consumers decision-making styles among a wide domain of cultures is problematic. (Steven, et, al. 1996) Online shopping environment allows marketers to build interactive tools for consumers to make decision in a new transformation way. Consumers make online shopping decision has changed the traditional way that online interactive tools have allowed consumers to compare products in depth and purchase a quality product in an efficient way. However, this suggests that interactive decision aids have the potential to drastically transform the way in which consumers search for product information and make purchase decision. (Gerald Valerie, 2000) This also has carried out a future research on the relationship between consumer decision making and behaviour in the settings of virtual world. Some researchers believe that purchase behaviour includes consumer decision process while others argue that for many purchases, a decision process has never occurred, not even on the first purchase. This is due to several reasons: necessity purchase, culturally-mandated lifestyles purchases, purchase because of childhood preferences acquirement, purchase of recommendations, or random purchase, etc. (Richard Donald, 1979) 2.3. FASHION THEORY 2.3.1. CONCEPT Fashion in a theoretic term is a culturally endorsed form of expression, in a particular material or non-material phenomenon, which is discernible at any given time and changes over time within a social system or group of associated individuals. The typical examples to express fashion are clothing, dresses and adornment. The popular adoption for fashion is under the term of clothing, and normally, clothing and fashion are synonymous terms. Also, fashion is expressed in other ways between material in nature like furniture and non-material context like art appreciation. According to the researchers, there are two dimensions inside of fashion: fashion object and fashion process. Literally to understand, fashion object is a specific object such as a dress/a coat, etc. Due to its special appearance or particular style, it is named as fashion object. It represents the fashion at that point of time. In order to identify fashion process, a cycle below has been drawn to better understand the cycle of fashion process. (Charles Lawrence, 1980) 3). Early Adoption by Fashion Leaders. 4). Diffusion of the fashion through social networks; 5). Fashion Decline of that object 1). Public Acceptance of a potential fashion from origination 2). Introduction of a fashion innovation Modern individuals new lifestyles have been translated by the fashion designers into new fashion concepts in todays society. And such new process has composed the fashion process into another new framework. The fashion process in a new framework has been re-conceptualized as fashion transformation process model. This model, combined with symbol interactions (SI) theory, has built some new predictions regarding the fashion industry. Fashion changes will also change the relationship between individuals (various in society) and society as a whole which is affected by two factors: micro-level (individual) and the macro-level (socio-dynamic) forces. (Fletch, et,al. 2002) Fashion, empirically speaking, changes due to the high demands of micro forces in individuals expectations such as fashion designers, innovators or wearers. How quick to change fashion is not only depends on those micro-level factors but also on a social trends which are considered as macro-forces in society such as needs to conform, pressures from others want to be the same or different from others in the society. However brand effect is always connected with micro-level subjects who are considered through an individual on how important he values a brand on what level to match with himself in society. After all, all these factors are changing the fashion sector and influence consumers buying behaviour simultaneously. (Appendix 1 Appendix 2) Fast fashion industry has contributed a lot into the consumers buying behaviour in these years. Fashion means designer shops or retailers change all styles in the shop/floors within every two weeks or even shorter period. This has generated a lot of revenue to those retailers by selling cheap amount of quantities of clothes to various people who prefer to change clothes all the time, especially in the young generations. Shops like Primark, HM, Top shop and New Look are classic retailers working on fast fashion trend and all of the shops are competitive to each other due to similar fashion in the markets. And people do like shopping in these shops not only of the cheap prices attraction, but also because of the fast changing new styles. (Louise, Grete, 2009) 2.3.2. FASHION THEORY IN CONSUMER BEHAIVOUR Fashion Clothing Involvement The fashion clothing involvement has been suggested as one of the main subjects that can confirm purchase behaviour among buyers. It can be learnt through the attached feeling toward consumer-fashion clothing. It is important to learn the fashion clothing involvement among various people as it is the main driver which influence the societys fashion adoption process and involvement is potentially an important area as it represents an important symbolic consumption area for consumers. To better understand consumers purchase behaviour, it is a key to know his involvement in fashion clothing. Apart clothing served as a protection of warmth, it is represented other functions such as social status for an individual and what he looks like (professional, casual, etc.). Therefore, research on such consumer behaviour is also seen as the major role of marketing companies to understand and provide right choices for the customers. ( OCass, 2000) Involvement is valued as the factor to boost customers motivation and a base to better understand bi-lateral relationships between sellers and buyers in the markets. It is also a fact to drive individuals growth and satisfaction as well as personal goal-oriented behaviour. Hence, it is a vital task for marketers to understand such fashion clothing involvement in the marketing environment. Luxury Brands in Buyers Behaviour The market for luxury branded products has never been so demanded in the last ten years. The most suitable reason of people behind the luxury brands is because of the fact of social status symbol. Research found out that luxury brands are not only purchased by the rich older generations, but also younger generations who are crazily enjoying the purchase behind the brands. In order to target more younger generations into the shopping branding list, marketers start to focus on diffusion brand: an extension of a brand. This means a new product is introduced under the name of an existing brand. (Aaker 1991) A diffusion brand is a step-down brand extension of an existing luxury brand in similar product categories, which aims to establish a close connection with the parent brand as a luxury product. (Fernie et al. 1997, Speed 1998) However, the differences can be varied into quality and price to fit more into the market under the same line of a luxury brand such as Armani Exchange under th e luxury brand of Armani. This is also to fit into society and adopt more acceptance from the buyers in the society among young generations. Media Celebrity Influence Consumers follow media and celebritys fashion is very common in modern society. Marketing tools put massive presences of new trend fashion into media channels like (advertising on magazines, newspaper) have largely boosted consumers buying behaviour in recent years. And consumers are would love to follow the trends due to its the societys trend. For celebrity, due to her/his nature of job profile, clothes for socializing are only worn few times and their massive presences on media have also brought the newest fashion trend among the followers in young generations, and this at the same time boost similar kind of products production into a good selling. (Louise Grete, 2009) Discussion Researchers also argued that SI theory in the fashion process transformation has not fully solved the relationship between two forces. This is expressed as such questions like: if a customer is concerning culture factor into the fashion, what will be the process related to a fashion product? What will be the features of the image, product/buyers result in the influence of such process? Are there differences between fashion innovators and fashion followers in terms of tolerance of symbolic ambiguity, need for uniqueness, and other related characteristics? The combination of SI to new fashion process model is not so clear on such situations. Future more studies will be focused as well as re-conceptualize the process model related to fashion change. As fast fashion exists, there is more and more concern on the increasing textile waste which needs to be dealt with. This term is named as disposable fashion. Researchers started to question the relationship between fast fashion and environment sustainability issues. Is such fashion valuable to the market as well as consumers concern? To maintain a good environment, fast fashion properly needs to re-define its own meanings into the society. And this needs those retailers to understand the importance of reducing the volume of textiles waste. (Louise Grete, 2009) 2.4. DIARY V.S. THEORIES According to researchers own shopping experience, his emotional impulse has driven him into that specific product. At the same time, style and design, expected price range have been composed as the factors to motivate researchers buying. And emotional factor has always been the debate between rational behaviour and emotional conscious. According to William (1998), while most consumer researchers have favored a rational information processing model of buyer decision making and behaviour, a few also tried to understand consumers in more emotional and sensual terms. However, the emotional consciousness has never been empirically tested as there is little research work focusing on this. Hence, researchers own experience has challenged that there was certain level degree of emotions factors drive him to purchase the products in the market apart from other factors. Brand preference is another factor motivating purchase behaviour. Though there is an emotional feeling inside toward brand preference, it is still brand itself influencing researchers buying behaviour as a lot of people like researcher believes that a product under a good brand always contains the feature of quality. Brand preference in here is expressed both in the self-concept and fashion theory. According to researcher, an un-planned purchase in Zara meant two elements in the behaviour: fashion style toward and self-concept image. As researcher has seen students wearing similar kind of style in university, he bought the similar kind of products in Zara. From the fashion perspective, this is because of brands orientation while as from the self-concept perspective, researcher has certain feeling that he wants to be fashionable status or looking good in the university. And that is the process from actual self to ideal self images changing process. This means researcher is very carin g for the fashion trend in the market. Individuals express themselves by choosing brands whose personalities are perceived to be congruent with their own personalities. (Ahmad, et.al, 2001) Researcher also experienced certain brand he does not like due to the unfamiliar and that brand he considered is not fit into his own personality. This once has clearly proved the theory of self that product/brand image will influence consumers behaviour since consumer has his own view of himself in the market although factors like price and quality is also the concerns inside of self-image sometimes. In the course of shopping experience in House of Fraser, factor like environment of the shopping mall has also driven researcher getting his own products. This could be the design of the mall and emotion consciousness inside of consumers mind which make decisions of buying certain product in specific store/shopping mall. Although cognitive factors may largely account for store selection and for most planned purchases within the store, the environment in the store and the emotional state of consumers may be important determinants of purchase behaviour. (Elaine Anil, 1997) This can also be the future research topic as the combinations of environmental elements and emotional driven forces in the expression of consumers behaviours. 3. CONCLUSION After all, there are three findings beyond theories: All theories are correlated: It has become very important for researchers to cover all the theories while doing market research. As at some point these theories show acquaintance to each other. -Some uncovered factors: It has been discovered most situations in consumer behaviours can be explained related to the theory mode. But there are still some other factors (environment in the store/emotional consciousness) needs to be researched in the future to carry out a better understanding on consumers behaviour. Brand preferences: It has been spoken in all three theories; this means that people would like to purchase brands all the time and brand power is massive and beyond considerations. That is why fashion is about brand, personality is about brand and decision-making is about brand. The topic of consumers behaviour will always remain an interesting topic for marketers. Marketers are still not able to understand the central processing unit of human fully, where all the analysis takes place about purchasing a product or service. It needs a constant research and deep understanding of human mental map. Its a saying Nothing is permanent in this world same applies to human buying behaviour. Demand for a change in human nature will always disappoint researchers. The processing in the black box is like phase, one phase finishes another comes with different influencing factors. REFERENCES A. Cholachatpinyo, I. Padgett, M. Crocker B. Fletcher, 2002, A conceptual model of the fashion process part 1: the fashion transformation process model, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, [e-journal], 6(1), pp.11-23, Available throughà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡Emerald Database, [Accessed 10th, December. 2010] A. OCass, 2000, An assessment of consumer product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing, Journal of Economic Psychology, [e-journal] 21, pp.545-576, Available through: Elsevier Database, [Accessed 10th, December, 2010] Ahmad Jamal, Mark M.H. Goode, (2001), Consumers and brands: a study of the impact of self-image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction, Marketing Intelligence Planning, [e-journal], 19(7), pp.482-492, Available through: Emerald Database, [Accessed 07th, December, 2010] Bailey, L., Seock, Y. K., (2010) The relationships of fashion leadership, fashion magazine content and loyalty tendency, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, [e-journal] 14(1) Available through: Emerald Database [Accessed 03rd, December, 2010] Brown, S., 1995. Postmodern Marketing. London:Routledge. Charles W. King, Lawrence J. Ring (1980), The Dynamics of Style and Taste Adoption and Diffusion: Contributions From Fashion Theory, Advances in Consumer Research, [online], 07, pp.13-16, Available through: Association for Consumer Research, [Accessed: 10th, December, 2010] Cheng-Lu Wang Noel Y.M. Siu and Alice S.Y. Hui, 2004, Consumer decision-making styles on domestic and imported brand clothing, , European Journal of Marketing, [e-journal], 38(1/2), pp.239-252, Available through: Emerald Database [Accessed 09th, December, 2010] Cova, B,. Cova, V., (2002) Tribal Marketing: the tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing, European Journal of Marketing, [e-journal] 36 (5/6), pp. 595-620. Available through: Emerald Database[Accessed 03rd, December, 2010] David B. Wolfe, Rajendra Sisodia, (2003), Marketing to the self-actualizing customer, Journal of Consumer Marketing, [e-journal], 20(6), pp.555-569, Available through: Emerald Database, [Accessed 04th, December 2010] Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W.M. and Ferrell, O.C. (1994), Marketing Concepts and Strategies, 2nd European Edition, Houghton Mifflin, London and Boston, E. Laird Landon, Jr. (1974), Self Concept, Ideal Self Concept, and Consumer Purchase Intentions, The Journal of Consumer Research, [e-journal], 1(2), pp.44-51, Available through: JSTOR Database, [Accessed 07th, December, 2010] Edith Cheong and Ian Phau, 2003, Young Status Consumers Evaluation of Diffusion Brands: The Effects of Consumer Innovation, Conference Proceedings Adelaide, [online], Available through: www. smib.vuw.ac.nz:8081/WWW/AN

What is Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation Essays -- Biology E

What is Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation Sleep is one of the things that most students can say they do not get enough of. It is a time for us to rest and for a few blissful hours hopefully forget about the stress and worries of school and life. Unfortunately, due to too much work or too much studying to do, often enough, we do not get the amount we need each night to be fully rested the next day. But we have learned to cope with the sleep deprivation by drinking coffee in the morning to wake us up. Even though we are awake, how well can we function throughout the day when we have only had less than five hours of sleep? How much does our behavior change without enough sleep? Before we get to what the effects of sleep deprivation are, let us first look at what sleep is. Sleep is controlled by neurotransmitters, which act on different neurons in the brain. Some of these neurotransmitters produced, such as serotonin and norephinephrine keep the brain active while we are awake. Researchers think that adenosine builds up in our blood while we are awake and the gradual breakdown of it causes drowsiness. There are five stages of sleep: stage 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM or rapid eye movement sleep. During stage 1-4 of sleep, our brain waves become slower and slower until we switch to REM sleep. At that point, our breathing is more rapid and irregular and our eyes move rapidly under our eyelids. (1). Circadian sleep rhythm is the internal body clock that is controlled by the hypothalamus. Every twenty-four to twenty-five hours, the cycle repeats itself, which can be effected by light exposure. It is thought that light will reset the clock of your body. The low-point of the rhythm is in the morning, which is thought to help you stay... ...ent because without it, how can you study, do well on an exam or participate in discussions? The only effect of sleep deprivation that you can slightly counteract is drowsiness, which can be reduced by drinking coffee or anything that may have caffeine. Napping in the afternoon can help reduce some of the effects, but it is better to keep those naps short or else, you may end up more tired and groggy than before. So, without enough sleep our behavior will change making us worse students. Therefore, we can conclude that we all need more sleep! WWW Sources 1)http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/understanding_sleep_brain_basic_.htm, 2)http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic444.htm, 3)http://www.nature.com/cgi taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v403/n6770/full/403655a0_fs.html, 4)http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/groups/sleep/wellcome.htm,

The Population Problem Essays -- essays research papers fc

The Population Problem Two hundred years ago, Thomas Malthus, in An Essay on the Principle of Population, reached the conclusion that the number of people in the world will increase exponentially, while the ability to feed these people will only increase arithmetically (21). Current evidence shows that this theory may not be far from the truth. For example, between 1950 and 1984, the total amount of grain produced more than doubled, much more than the increase in population in those 34 years. More recently though, these statistics have become reversed. From 1950 to 1984, the amount of grain increased at 3 percent annually. Yet, from 1984 to 1993, grain production had grown at barely 1 percent per year, a decrease in grain production per person of 12 percent (Brown 31). Also strengthening to Malthus' argument is the theory that the world population will increase to over 10 billion by 2050, two times what it was in 1990 (Bongaarts 36). Demographers predict that 2.8 billion people were added to the world population between 1950 and 1990, an average of 70,000 a year. Between 1990 and 2030, it is estimated that another 3.6 billion will be added, an average of 90,000 a year (Brown 31). Moreover, in the 18th century, the world population growth was 0.34%; it increased to 0.54% in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century to 0.84% (Weiskel 40). Neo-Malthusians base their arguments on the teachings of Thomas Malthus. Of the Neo-Malthusians, Garrett Hardin is one of the most prominent and controversial. Hardin's essays discuss the problem of overpopulation and the effects it will have on the future. In Lifeboat Ethics, he concludes that continuous increases in population will have disastrous outcomes. Neo-Malthusian arguments come under much scrutiny by those who believe that the population explosion is only a myth. Those who hold these beliefs state that the evidence Neo-Malthusians use to justify their views is far from conclusive. Critics hold that the Neo-Malthusian call for authoritarian control is much too radical. Thus, these critics belittle the theories of Neo-Malthusians on the basis that population is not a problem. However radical Hardin's theories may be, current evidence shows that he may not be too far off the mark. It is hardly arguable that the population has increased in the past few decades, for current statistics show that this a... ...gy, November 1993, pp. 88-92. Day, Henry C. The New Morality: A Candid Criticism. London: Heath Cranton Limited, 1924. Douglis, Carole, and Gaylord Nelson. â€Å"Images of Home.† Wilderness, Fall 1993, pp. 10-23. Hardin, Garrett. Stalking the Wild Taboo. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1978. Hardin, Garrett. The Limits of Altruism: An Ecologist's View of Survival. London: Indiana University Press, 1977. James, Daniel. â€Å"Close the Borders to all Newcomers.† Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Political Issues. Ed. George Mckenna and Stanley Feingold. 9th ed. Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1995. Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population. Ed. Phillip Appleman. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1976. Mandel, Michael J., and Christopher Farrell. â€Å"The Price of Open Arms.† Business Week, 21 June 1993, pp. 32-35. Morganthau, Tom. â€Å"America: Still a Melting Pot?† Newsweek, 9 August 1993, pp. 16-23. Thomas, Rich, and Andrew Murr. â€Å"The Economic Cost of Immigration.† Newsweek, 9 August 1993, pp. 18-19. Weiskel, Timothy C. â€Å"Can Humanity Survive Unrestricted Population Growth?† USA Today Magazine, January 1995, pp. 38-41.

Owen’s perception on religion based on Anthem for Doomed Youth and Futility Essay

How would you describe Owen’s perception on religion based on Anthem for Doomed Youth and Futility? Owen questioned the existence of religion through different ways in both poem. In Anthem for Doomed Youth, he used war related images to replace what a ‘normal’ funeral would have which in contrast shows the absence of religion. For Futility, he questioned the existence of God when it is needed. Both expression suggests he was not a follower of religion instead he has a strong point of view on it. His view on religion could be impacted by the despair that was caused by war. The tone of the first stanza in Futility was very gentle. The image of the sun suggests light, warmth, hope and even god himself. Owen personified the sun as â€Å"old† and â€Å"kind† adding warmth to the tone. The warm tone of the first four lines of the poem suggests he once had faith in religion even in â€Å"France† which could be a reference to war. â€Å"Until† the soldier was killed on this â€Å"morning† and this â€Å"snow†. The word â€Å"morning† sounds like â€Å"mourning† creating a sad imagery and â€Å"snow† which suggests the cold, the opposite of warmth, the devil. Although the soldier’s life was already taken he still had faith in god, he believed there â€Å"might† be a possibility that the sun, the god could bring life from dead again. Moving on the second stanza, the change of tone is very obvious. This is suggested through the demanding word â€Å"think†. The harsh â€Å"k† sound conveys the frustration and desperation the poet has for god. â€Å"Seeds† suggests growth and â€Å"clays of the cold star† is a biblical imagery because man are made from clay, both suggests the beginning of life. If the sun is the mother of creation why can’t he resurrect this soldier yet God himself rose from the dead? Yet the many stories of God healing man from all sort of diseases are given life again but not this fallen soldier whose body is â€Å"still warm†? Owen described the body as â€Å"so dear-achieved†, this is a praise to god’s creation. Why could god create such majestic mankind yet he could not bring life back to the solider? Here Owen repetitively questioned and mocked the existence of god, where is he when he is needed? â€Å"Was it for this the clay grew tall† this line is very important because it links to the title of the poem, Futility, what is the point of life when it ends in death, again a heavy tone of mockery is hinted through this line. Owen described the sunbeams as â€Å"fatuous† again the pointlessness of the sending warm to mankind when all they do is brutally destroy each other, indirectly calling god foolish and questioning his existence. Rhetorical questions are repetitively used to express the poet’s frustration, the pointlessness of life and to make the reader’s think. ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ the title is a juxtaposition as a opening to a poem full of irony. Throughout the entire poem Owen compared religious rituals to striking war imagery suggesting religion are not the saints they claim to be,instead just like war they are also covered in blood and sins. Owen opened the poem with a rhetorical question emphasizing on the worthlessness of the lives of the soldiers. The intention of â€Å"Passing-bells† was to bring attention that the soul is now passing to the other world and scare the devil away from obtaining this soul yet Owen compared the bells to â€Å"monstrous anger of the guns† and â€Å"stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle†. The word â€Å"monstrous† suggests destruction,death and evilness. Alliteration was used to mimic the sound of gun fires. Using these evil death related imagery as a substitute for â€Å"passing bells† suggests the devil have already obtained these souls,the evil won. The soldiers died as a â€Å"cattle†,could be linked to religious rituals such as sacrifice. But not sacrificing for the kind but the evil. â€Å"Hasty† was used to describe the eulogy for the soldiers,there’s no time for respectful eulogy,the war would not stop for one fallen soldier or even hundreds it will still go on. These soldiers are just sacrifices to the bigger image since the churches at the time supported war,they believed it was rein-acting the bible,they believed these deaths were worth it because they thought it will bring them to a better place. Again the irony,churches were suppose to spread peace yet they were the one who supported violence,they supported the evil acts. â€Å"No mockeries† for the soldiers because their deaths have no dignity nor honour. It also suggests the attitude Owen has for religion, â€Å"mockeries† as these religion rituals are just for the surface. These rituals does not make their deaths more honourable, does not take away sorrow from their family ,does not bring their lives back. The confusing comparisons Owen listed throughout the poem by substituting evil images for religious rituals makes the reader question if there is a difference between light and dark,could it be the same thing? Could the church be the devil in disguise? All these religion rituals at a funeral could be a mask for the dirty works of the devil,as a comfort for the family believing that their loved ones died honourably when their bodies was simply lined up and thrown into the underground which links to hell,going back to who they served in the war the devil. These two poems both expressed Owen’s perception on religion very clearly. He questioned the existence and purpose of religion.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS1. PURPOSE22. SCOPE23. REFERENCES24. TERMS, DEFINITIONS & ABBREVIATIONS35. RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY36. RECORD & DATA KEEPING37. DOCUMENT CHANGE HISTORY38. ASSET MANAGEMENT DEFINITION49. STAKEHOLDERS410. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS411. ASSET MANAGEMENT QUALITY FRAMEWORK512. ASSET MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES513. ASSET MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROCESS1014. ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT1115. ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COMPONENTS1116.CONCLUSION18| LIST OF FIGURES Figure 21: Scope of Asset Management Framework (PAS55)2 Figure 121: Rand Water Supply and Purification Systems6 Figure 122: Asset Management Plans7 Figure 123: Asset Management Planning and Management Structure8 Figure 124: Organogram9 Figure 151: Asset Management System Components12 1. PURPOSE The purpose of this document is to provide a framework for the adoption and implementation of asset management for Rand Water’s physical asset portfolio. 2. SCOPEThis framework applies to physi cal assets associated with production infrastructure under the jurisdiction of Rand Water. Assets consist of buildings and property, pipelines, civil structures, mechanical equipment, electrical equipment water treatment process plants, and automation equipment. It excludes human assets, financial assets, information assets, intangible assets, and movable equipment. Figure 21: Scope of Asset Management Framework (PAS55) 3. REFERENCES The following documents must be read in conjunction with this Framework. Document Title| Document No. Location| Quality Management System Requirements| ISO 9001:2000 | RW Library| Environmental Management System Requirements| ISO14001:2004| RW Library| Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations| OHS Act (85 of 1993)| RW Library| Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series| OHSAS 18001:2007| RW Library| International Infrastructure Management Manual – South Africa Edition 2006 | ISBN No:0-473-10685-X| RW Library| Asset Management Part 1: Specification for the optimized management of Assets| BSI PAS 55-1:2008| RW Library| Asset Management Part 2: Guidelines for the application of PAS 55-1| BSI PAS 55-2:2008| RW Library| Rand Water – Strategic Asset Management Process Guides – Know Your Assets| RW SAM 60001 BPM SIS| RW Library| 4. TERMS, DEFINITIONS & ABBREVIATIONS These are terms used in the organization & are unique to the company terminology, business and culture. AMAsset ManagementAMFAsset Management Framework AMPAsset Management Plan KPIKey Performance Indicators O&MOperations and Maintenance R&DResearch and Development RWRand Water SAMStrategic Asset Management 5. RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY The Chief Executive is accountable and Portfolio Heads are responsible for the implementation of Asset Management in RW. The General Manager: Strategic Asset Management is responsible for the implementation of Strategic Asset Management with regards to production infrastructure under the jurisdiction of Ra nd Water. 6. RECORD & DATA KEEPING Record Document| Form/Doc Number| Location | Retention Period| | | | | | | | | 7. DOCUMENT CHANGE HISTORYThe following table contains the history of this document with a description of each revision. Date| Previous revision number| New revision number| Description of each revision| 23 Sep 2010| N/A| 0| First draft| 17 Nov 2010| 0| A| Second draft| 10 Dec 2010| a| B| Third draft| 17 Feb 2011| b| C| Fourth draft| 9 Mar 2011| c| D| Fifth draft| 8. ASSET MANAGEMENT DEFINITION The following definition for asset management is adopted, based on PAS 55: Asset Management is the systematic and coordinated activities and practices through which Rand Water optimally manages its assets, their associated performance, risks and expenditures over their lifecycle for the purpose of achieving its organizational strategic plan. 9. STAKEHOLDERSThe following stakeholders are relevant to asset management: * Customers who purchase water from Rand Water; * Suppliers and s ervice providers; * Government; * Standards authorities; and * Auditor General of South Africa. 10. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS The following legislation and regulation are relevant: Annual Financial Statements are required to be prepared in compliance with the South African Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (SA GAAP), the Water Services Act No 108 of 1997, Companies Act No 61 of 1973, and the Public Finance Management Act No 1 of 1999 as amended. The Constitution (and its amendments) secures the right of every Citizen to sufficient water;The Water Act ensures that everyone has access to water, water resources are conserved, protected and managed, proper water resource planning takes place, the costs of managing and developing the resource is addressed and that water resource institutions are established. The Water Services Act defines the rights to basic water supply, the setting of national standards and norms, water services planning, regulation of water services, e stablishment of water boards, the monitoring of water service provision and the promotion of effective water resource management and conservation. The Water Services Act is supported by the Strategic Framework for Water Services which sets out an implementation framework for the Act and gives effect to the regulation of water services delivery.The principle objectives of the PFMA are to secure transparency, accountability, and sound management of the revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities of the institutions to which this Act applies. In terms of this Act, from an asset management perspective Rand Water is: * responsible for the effective, efficient, economical and transparent use of the resources of the department, trading entity or constitutional institution; * responsible for the management, including the safe-guarding and the maintenance of the assets, and for the management of the liabilities; The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) (85 of 1993, Construction Regulat ions) state that: the owner of any â€Å"structure† (incl. nfrastructure such as waterworks, buildings, drainage works and roads) to maintain such structure in a manner that the structure remains safe for continued use and such maintenance records shall be kept and made available to an inspector for continued use. 11. ASSET MANAGEMENT QUALITY FRAMEWORK The development of an ISO Standard for Asset Management is currently in progress. The ISO Standard development is being led by the British Standards Institute (BSI) as secretariat and there are 22 countries participating and 14 countries observing. South Africa is participating with representation from the SABS. The ISO standard is expected to be launched in late 2011. The final ISO standard is expected to be substantially aligned with the current PAS55 specification for asset management, which has widespread adoption around the world by both public and private enterprises.Rand Water will adopt the PAS55 specification as an int erim framework for the implementation of asset management until the launch of the ISO Quality Standard for Asset Management. Once the ISO Quality Standard has been launched, Rand Water can evaluate the formal adoption of the Quality Standard within the organization. 12. ASSET MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The strategic assets of Rand Water work together as one large system, for which custodianship is assigned to the Senior Manager Assets. However, the Rand Water assets can currently be split into 4 main supply systems and 2 main purification systems, on the basis of geography and function.The systems are the following: * Eikenhof Supply System * Zwartkopjies Supply System * Palmiet Supply System * Mapleton Supply System * Vereeniging Purification System * Zuikerbosch Purification System These systems are shown in the figure below. Figure 121: Rand Water Supply and Purification Systems The management objectives of the Supply Systems are somewhat different from the m anagement objectives of the Purification Systems. The management objectives of the Supply Systems are focused on satisfying commercial customer service levels, managing current and future user demand, and managing water delivery including water conveyance, pumping, storing, and end user delivery control.The Purification System management objectives revolve around managing the purification of raw water to agreed quantity and quality service levels. Given the vast magnitude of the assets under Rand Water control and the different management objectives, it is prudent to split the asset management planning responsibility according to the different supply systems and then roll these plans up into a consolidated Asset Management Plan (AMP) for the entire organization. This is shown schematically below. Eikenhof Supply System AMP Zwartkopjies Supply System AMP Palmiet Supply System AMP Mapleton Supply System AMP Vereeniging Purification System AMP Zuikerbosch Purification System AMP Rand W ater Consolidated AMP Figure 122: Asset Management PlansAlthough the management objectives and the planning are logically split according to the functional areas above, the technical expertise is asset type specific and cuts across the different functional areas. Seven areas of technical expertise have been identified below and a detailed breakdown of assets is provided in Annexure A. : 1. Buildings and Property; 2. Civil Structures; 3. Pipelines; 4. Electrical Equipment; 5. Mechanical Equipment; 6. Process Plant; and 7. Automation Equipment. In order to effectively manage the asset portfolio, planning should done by functional area, with each functional area being assigned to one Asset Management Planner.The technical expertise of managing the assets is best arranged by asset group and should be headed by an Asset Manager. The Asset Management Planner should have expertise in planning and the primary management responsibility of developing and implementing Asset Management Plans fo r each Supply System. This includes defining service levels, forecasting demand, integration, optimised decision making, and developing long term financial plans. The Asset Manager should have a strong technical background in design, rehabilitation, and maintenance of the asset group and the primary management responsibility of optimally managing the lifecycle of the asset group, bearing in mind the priorities and constraints of each Supply System.This includes managing condition data collection, assessing asset risk, setting standards, and the development of maintenance and rehabilitation strategies. These two groups will interact in a matrix structure as shown below. Figure 123: Asset Management Planning and Management Structure It should be noted that the Asset Managers help the Asset Management Planners develop the best asset management strategies to achieve the specific objectives of the Supply System. For example, the strategy to manage pumps in a Supply System may be differen t from the strategy to manage pumps in a Purification System as the pumps pose different risks to the achievement of the management outcomes.Even between two different Supply Systems, similar pumps may have different strategies as they may pose different risks to each particular Supply System. The organogram under the Senior Manager Assets is shown below. Figure 124: Organogram There is substantial integration required between all the units under the Senior Manager: Assets to implement effective asset management practices. These interfaces will mature with the implementation of a structured asset management improvement process. 13. 14. ASSET MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROCESS Rand Water is at the initiation stage of the implementation of asset management as a holistic practice across its structure.A new structure has been formed under a strategic asset manager and the mandate has been given for the structure to implement asset management best practice. The strategic asset manager now ne eds to proceed with the implementation process. The process for the adoption of asset management within Rand Water follows the approach advocated by PAS55 with additional guidance from the IIMM. The process starts with the development of an asset management policy that is aligned with the strategic objectives of the organization. The policy then guides the development of an asset management strategy, which is a set of actions, to enable asset management within the organization.The strategy needs to be implemented in a manner that develops internal capacity in the organization to execute the asset management practices as a part of everyday business. A process of improvement management then needs to be adopted to ensure that the asset management capabilities are further developed and refined with time. The asset management strategy implementation will require substantial change management to raise the capability from awareness through to integration. The process is shown in the table below. | Asset Management Policy| Asset Management Strategy| Strategy Implementation| Improvement Management| What is it? | Broadly outlines how and why AM will be undertaken across the organisation as a whole. | Specifies actions to be undertaken to improve AM capability to achieve specific objectives. Implementation of the identified actions . | Continuous refinement of the strategy and implementation of revised actions. | Objective| Provides the organisational foundation and mandate to undertake AM in a structured and coordinated manner. | Develops a structured set of actions aimed at enabling AM within the organisation. | Develops internal capability to implement and sustain AM practices. | Refines AM capabilities through continuous structured improvement management. | Description| * Organizational context, importance of AM * Organizational vision and goals and AM vision and goals * AM policies underpinning AM goals * Key performance measures for policies incl. imeframes * AM re sponsibilities and relationships * AM integration with business processes| * Description of current practices * Description of required practices to achieve AM vision and goals * Identification of the gap between current practices and future vision * Identification and description of strategies to close the gaps in a structured manner| * Raising of awareness across the organization * Developing of technical understanding * Embedding of AM practices through application * Integration of AM practices to achieve multi-disciplinary AM benefits| * Optimisation of AM practices through refinement and enhancement * Innovation of new and best practices that deliver step changes rather than incremental change| 15. ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT The asset management strategy specifies the actions that need to be undertaken to develop, improve and embed asset management capacity within the organization in order to achieve the corporate objectives.The process of strategy development is to assess the organization’s asset management system by means of an asset management practices audit, which compares the organization's current asset management practices against the requirements of PAS 55 and international best practice. The audit is made against the asset management system components that comprise asset management within the organization. The identified best practice â€Å"gaps† are prioritized and programmed in an asset management strategy to drive improvement. Furthermore, the audit provides a benchmark to measure organizational improvement and maturity annually. 16. ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COMPONENTS The asset management system is a whole of life asset management framework that reflects the management and control level in the organization as well as the different stages of the asset lifecycle i. e. he system addresses the strategic, tactical and operational management of the organization as well as the planning, implementation and asset care phases o f the asset lifecycle. Note that the disposal stage is included under the asset care phase. The asset management system components illustrated below provide a high level structure for the strategy development. Each component should be reviewed in detail to determine the level of maturity of current practices, the best appropriate maturity level, and to define the actions required to achieve best practice. The components are shown in the figure below and described in greater detail in the text that follows.FIGURE PROVIDED SEPARATELY Figure 151: Asset Management System Components Strategic Management Components Asset Management Policy and Strategy An Asset Management Policy is a description of an organisation’s approach to Asset Management. It provides both the link between the overall organisational strategic plan and an effective Asset Management Plan, and also provides the start of the rationale that ultimately justifies every Asset Management activity the organisation under takes. An Asset Management Strategy documents the organisation’s overall approach to managing physical assets. It describes how the Asset Management Policy is to be implemented.As such it needs to be closely aligned with that policy as well as linking to other associated higher level strategies (e. g. operational strategic plans etc. ) Risk Management Policy A Risk Management Policy is a description of an organisation’s approach to Risk Management. It addresses the management of risk between the strategic, tactical and operational level of management and the linkages between these levels. It is closely aligned to the Asset Management Policy. Statutory Compliance Organisations must be fully aware of the duties imposed under legal instruments for all of their activities and must ensure its systems and procedures fully comply with the requirements.The organisation should have a system for identifying the laws and regulations applying to all activities involved with physic al assets and to ensure its systems and procedures comply with the requirements. Organisational Alignment and Commitment Organizational alignment and commitment across the organization is essential for the successful implementation of asset management. The Asset Management Policy, Strategy, and Plans should be aligned with corporate objectives. The asset management strategy implementation should be overseen by a steering committee with representation by departments including finance, corporate, planning, maintenance, operations, and project management. Asset management information and plans should be widely available and used across the organization to inform strategic and tactical plans across the organization.A strong commitment to an asset management improvement process by senior executive management, backed by the availing of adequate resources to implement the process, has proved to be a significant determinant of asset management success and lead to the realisation of asset ma nagement benefits. Asset Management Structure and Responsibilities The definition of roles and responsibilities for the implementation of the Asset Management Strategy is necessary to ensure clarity of purpose and to manage interfaces between line functions. Asset management KPIs should strengthen the accountability towards the implementation of the strategy. Customer Service Level ManagementThe setting and management of Customer Service Levels have substantial influence on the Asset Management Plans, which have the objective of providing the desired level of service in the most cost-effective manner (IIMM). The setting of Customer Service Levels should be undertaken in a consultative basis with customers and should reflect customer expectations. Improvement Actions and Management of Change Improvement actions and management of change are the combined processes, systems and procedures in place in an organisation to specifically deal with corrective actions, preventive actions and co ntinuous improvement actions. Financing StrategyThe financing strategy should quantify the total cost of asset ownership and the funding needs for additional capacity, level of service changes, asset renewal, and maintenance and operations over a long term planning period (20 years). The impact on funding sources and tariff setting should be determined to manage the surplus/deficit and to maintain financial sustainability over the long term. Investment decision making should incorporate organizational risk and triple-bottom-line consequences in the analysis framework. Skills Enhancement and Management Skills Enhancement and Management refers to the processes utilised to manage personnel training and development, along with staff retention systems. Tactical Management Components Subgroup: Planning Demand ForecastingDemand forecasting is the estimation of the change in demand based on population and land use change within a long term planning horizon (20 years). Demand forecasts incor porate several demand influences including service level changes, pricing, customer types, and consumption trends. Several demand forecast scenarios are developed and associated risks are quantified. Failure Prediction (capacity) Capacity failure prediction is the evaluation of capacity against forecast demand to predict failure time and the associate risks thereof. Failure Prediction (condition) Condition failure prediction is the prediction of asset decay and the associated risks of asset deterioration over time along with the dentification of appropriate asset strategies to manage the risks. Strategic Maintenance Planning The Strategic Maintenance Plan documents the continuing suitability, adequacy, effectiveness and efficiency of the Asset Care function by addressing formal compliance audits results, performance against KPIs, incident results, progress against previous management reviews, and plans for improvement. Reliability Engineering ; RAM analysis Reliability, Availability , Maintainability (RAM) Analysis provides organisational risk based assessments to highlight which assets are providing optimised return on investment and are being administered effectively at lowest cost.It involves understanding the concept of the three critical factors and how each affects the other. RAM can be applied at any point in the project lifecycle from concept to operation. However, it is most cost-effective at the early detailed design stage when the required operating parameters are known, equipment designs/vendors have been selected and engineering feedback from the RAM study can still be effectively and efficiently incorporated into the overall design. Asset Lifecycle Analysis Life cycle analysis involves the analysis of all costs associated with owning an asset. It is the sum of all recurring and non-recurring costs over the full life span of an asset or system.It includes the purchase price, installation cost, operating costs, maintenance and upgrade costs and the salvage value at the end of ownership or its useful life. Optimised Decision Making Optimised Decision Making is the process of identifying and prioritising projects/interventions required to manage risks at optimal timing, along with multi-criteria prioritisation based on lifecycle cost and triple-bottom-line based consequence analysis. The decision making is integrated across service disciplines and functional areas to derive the optimal project/intervention program that results in the best investment for the organization. Investment AnalysisInvestment Analysis refers to the evaluation framework and financial analysis used to evaluate the viability of the investments and to inform investment decision making. Investment analysis includes financial modelling and the quantification of net present value, benefit-cost ratios, risk reduction benefits, societal benefits, etc. Asset Management Plan The Asset Management Plan informs the organization of how the assets will be managed over t he long term (20 years) along with a short term implementation plan (5 years). The Asset Management Plan highlights the changes in demand, service levels, and asset condition along with the risks that these pose to the organization.It quantifies the long term funding needs and constraints and explains how the funding will be prioritised between the competing needs. It provides a prioritised short term (5 year) project/intervention program for implementation. It also incorporates the asset management improvement plan, which guides the organization on the practices to improve over the short term. Subgroup: Implementation Lifecycle Design Optimisation Lifecycle Design Optimisation is the process of incorporating lifecycle analysis, maintenance strategy, and maintenance constraints into the design phase to ensure that infrastructure is designed in a manner that minimises the long term lifecycle cost of asset ownership. Operational Readiness and CommissioningOperational Readiness is a st ructured systemic process that is used to prepare for the project operational phase. It is used to ensure that new or modified assets or systems are able to commence operation in the desired and expected manner. It is an integrated, proactive, considered approach to projects that ensures that people are operationally ready, systems are operationally ready, and assets are operationally ready. Commissioning is an integral part of the Operational Readiness process that refers to the execution of the testing, dynamic verification and acceptance plans for the assets to ensure the asset has been delivered to the required quality and performance criteria. Equipment StandardisationEquipment Standardisation describes the continual improvement method of reducing the cost of inventory and maintenance, by reducing instances of machinery, materials or spare parts that are one-off or stand-alone compared to others in use at a site. When equipment is standardised, one suite of spare parts can be u sed, and training for personnel is reduced, which in turn reduces overall maintenance cost. Subgroup: Asset Care Maintenance Performance Management (KPIs) Performance metrics (KPIs) are measures of an organisation's activities and performance and enable maintenance performance to be monitored against specific targets. Asset StrategiesAsset Strategy Development is the process to ensure that appropriate maintenance activities are performed with optimum effectiveness and efficiency to allow an organisation to achieve its business objectives at the lowest asset lifecycle cost. Failure Analysis and Root Cause Mitigation Failure Analysis and Root Cause Mitigation is the identification of potential costly failures and mitigation of all possible root causes of such failures. â€Å"Apollo Root Cause Analysis† is an event-based problem solving technique widely used as a leading practice to identify failure modes and effects on the process. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) are reliability based techniques and products that can be used to solve a wide range of reliability problems. Reliability Centred MaintenanceReliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) is a process that is used to determine what sort of maintenance needs to be carried out on any physical asset with a focus on preserving its system functions, rather than preserving the equipment. RCM is a logical, structured framework for determining the optimum mix of applicable and effective maintenance activities needed to sustain the desired level of operational reliability of systems and equipment while ensuring their safe and economical operation and support. External benchmarking Benchmarking is a continuous improvement tool that is used to achieve improved performance by measuring the organisation against other organisations that are identified as exhibiting leading practice worldwide. SustainabilitySustainability is the evaluation of the envi ronmental, economic and social impact of the assets and the extent to which the triple-bottom-line elements are incorporated in the organisation’s practices. Loss Mapping and Analysis All organisations are working to get competitive returns from their investments in assets. The complexity in plants and equipment through process automation and technology has substantially increased the number of problems that can cause production problems. To identify the source of the problems which contribute to major losses is a very important criterion to prioritise the process improvement projects. Maintenance/Operations Integration Maintenance/Operations Integration is a management principle with derivative actions, and is designed to combine the organisational functions of theOperations and Maintenance groups in order to become more effective and efficient. Integration ensures that the human resources of both departments have a clear, common and collective purpose to improve the equipme nt performance, and subsequently the benefits to the business. Operational Risk Analysis (compliance, contingency plan, risk management) The Operational Risk Management (ORM) process is undertaken to identify and quantify risk exposure and then develop suitable strategies, plans and procedures to maximise its upside and minimise its downside exposures. Operational Management Components Subgroup: Planning Planning Data Collection (condition, usage, risk)Planning data collection refers to the collection of information for planning purposes, which usually includes condition, usage, and risk data amongst other data. This information typically covers the entire asset group and is used to identify projects/interventions that need to be implemented over the planning horizon. Planning Information Management (condition, usage, risk, GIS) Planning Information Management refers to application of systems to manage planning information. Due to the different nature of planning and maintenance dat a, planning data typically does not reside is a CMMS, but rather resides within a GIS and planning database. Linkages between systems are important to allow the transfer of data for planning and analysis. Subgroup: ImplementationMaterial and Contract Management (vendor reliability, material management) Vendor Reliability refers to the capacity and capability of a vendor (or group of vendors) to consistently supply goods and services to the client in a timely manner as per defined specifications and standards. Materials Management is the complete set of processes and procedures that are used to ensure that resources other than personnel, tools and equipment are readily available to support all maintenance activities. Subgroup: Asset Care Maintenance Information Mgmt (CMMS) Maintenance Information Management entails acquiring, organising, maintaining and retrieving maintenance information.A Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a system to assist with the effective and efficient management of maintenance activities through the application of computer technology. It generally includes elements such as a Work Order system, as well as facilities for scheduling Routine Maintenance Tasks, and recording and storing Standard Jobs, Bills of Materials and Applications Parts Lists, and other associated features. Maintenance Identification and Prioritisation Maintenance Identification is the process of defining what needs to be done to an existing asset to either ensure it remains in a state whereby it can perform its stated function, or can be efficiently returned to such a state.Maintenance Prioritisation is the process of determining a ranking or rating for a defined amount of work, based on an objective assessment of the importance of the work, in terms of the impact failure of the asset would have. Asset Criticality can be incorporated during this prioritisation process. Preventative Maintenance (inspections, work management) Preventive Maintenance is t he systematic care, servicing and inspection of equipment for the purpose of maintaining it in serviceable condition and detecting and eliminating failure modes. The ultimate goal of doing preventive maintenance is to keep the equipment running to its required function and operational standard. Work management covers all procedures that are followed to ensure that maintenance work is carried out in an efficient and effective manner.Work execution procedures are usually enacted by maintenance supervisors or coordinators and apply to work being done under the authority of properly planned and scheduled work orders. Planning and Scheduling (budgeting, short and medium-term planning, scheduling) Maintenance planning and scheduling includes the budgeting, planning and scheduling of equipment maintenance strategies to ensure that activities are performed with optimum effectiveness and efficiency. Health, Safety and Environment Health Safety and Environmental (HSE) management encompasses t he systems and procedures that are adopted to reduce the risk of causing harm to people and the environment that may be associated with the way in which maintenance activities are carried out. Condition Based MaintenanceCondition Based Maintenance is an equipment maintenance strategy based on measuring the condition of equipment in order to assess whether it will fail during some future period, and then taking appropriate action to avoid the consequences of that failure. The condition of equipment could be monitored using Condition Monitoring, Statistical Process Control techniques, by monitoring equipment performance, or through the use of the Human Senses. The terms Condition Based Maintenance, On-Condition Maintenance and Predictive Maintenance can be used interchangeably. Autonomous Maintenance Autonomous Maintenance refers to the management routine and minor maintenance of equipment without the need or requirement for intervention from a dedicated maintenance team. It is the ru nning repairs and adjustments that can be performed by the operators, before, after and during the use of the machinery.To enable these tasks to be completed effectively, operators need to be trained in the types of adjustments and repairs they are expected to perform, and given a degree of ownership of the equipment. Autonomous maintenance relies heavily on training and education to be able to identify the difference between normal and abnormal operation of the equipment they are operating. Organizational Support Components Information Architecture and Business Process Information Architecture is the flow of information and defines where and whom will be updating various data fields to ensure accurate information and accountability as it flows through various systems (GIS, CMMS, etc. ) Information flow mapping and allocating responsibility for data management increases the quality of the information.Business Process mapping identifies the process of tasks and responsibilities for t he implementation of key processes in the business. 17. CONCLUSION This document provides a framework for the adoption of a structured approach to implement asset management best practice within Rand Water. The document clarifies the scope of asset management, identifies a quality framework to adopt, describes the high level structure and responsibilities, defines an improvement process, and defines the asset management system components that should be developed in the improvement process to implement a whole of life asset management approach within the organisation.The implementation process required to adopt and embed asset management practices in a structured manner is described in this document and is the recommended way forward for Rand Water. Annexure A:ASSET PORTFOLIOS The following table lists a comprehensive collection of Rand Water’s Strategic Assets. The Assets of Rand Water can broadly be grouped into the following portfolios (in alphabetical order): Buildings and Property| Civil Structures| Pipelines and Servitudes| Electrical Equipment| Mechanical Equipment| Process Plants| Automation Equipment| Access control Air conditioning CarportsCCTVElectricsEngine Rooms Estates Farms Fencing Fire protection Furniture GardensHostels Houses Interior decorationIntruder detectionLandOffices Passive SecurityPavingPlant uildings SewageStoresWorkshops Encroachment | Balancing TanksBarrage structureBridgesCarbonation baysConditioning baysControl WorksCanal Engine RoomsFiltersForebayFlocculators OverflowsPlant structuresRailway sidingsReservoirsRoadsSediment tanksSumps| Air valvesBreak pressure tanksConnectionsCulvertsDeviationsElectrolysisFlow controlIn-line filtersInner liningsIsolation valvesJunctionsMeter chambersNon-return valvesOuter coatingsPipe manufacture plantPipelinesPipeline protectionPressure controlProtectionScour chambersScour valvesServitudesSurveyTunnelsValve chambersWater hammer systemsWater lossesEncroachment| BatteriesBattery chargersCabl ingControl desksControl panelsDistribution boardsEarthingElectricity supplyEmergency generatorsEnergy meteringEnergy managementHarmonic filtersHydro power LightingLightning protectionLV switchgearMimicsMinisubsMotor control centresMotorsMV switchgearPower factor correctionProtectionReticulationRing main unitsSubstationsTransformersUPS’sVSD’s / soft starters| ActuatorsBlowersCompressorsConveyorsCranesCrushersDesludge bridgesDust extractionGatesPipeworkPressure vesselsPumpsValvesNon return valvesSteelworkThickenersSump pumpsVehiclesEarth moving| AmmoniaCarbonationChlorineFerric ChlorideGAC filtrationLime burningLime slakingMembraneMilk of lime dosingOzonePoly ElectrolyteRWW treatmentSand filtrationSodium hypochloriteUltra violet lightChemical supplyChemical quality| ArchestraCommunicationControl CentresControl schemesFlood controlFlow meteringHuman Machine InterfacesInstrumentation PLCScadaInsql data historiansIndustrial networks Industrial serversIndustrial softwareSW c onfiguration controlTelemetryIntelligent control|