Research into the Marketing Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research into the Marketing Environment - Essay Example Therefore, the marketing mix designed cannot be uniform. To cater to the needs of different customers, companies have to rely on market segmentation. The markets may be segmented on the basis of demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behaviouristic. The markets can be segmented based on other factors as well such as geography. Let us look into PepsiCo as a particular company and it is affected. In this study, PESTEL analysis will be used to understand the effect of macro environment on PepsiCo and then suggest ways by which it can achieve smart objectives. PepsiCo is a multinational food and beverage corporation with its headquarters in the United States. Best on net revenue it is second largest food and Beverage Company in the world. Its revenue based on the 2013 data was 66,415.00 million USD and Gross profit levels were 35,340.00 million USD (PepsiCo Inc., 2014). Starting from its incorporation in Delaware in 1919 PepsiCo now has its presence in almost all countries starting from USA to New Zealand. PepsiCo has performed so well goes on to show that company has effectively and efficiently catered to the needs of various customers in various environments. It has understood the customer’s mentality correctly and has developed products that cater to their taste buds. For example, to be successful in Chinese market the company started manufacturing potato chips that are cucumber flavoured and which is not available in other countries. They got the idea of this flavour from a common Chinese dish named as â€Å"pai huanggua† (shredded cucumber) and surprisingly it is one of its best selling potato chips products in china (Ho, 2013). They have developed marketing strategy including use of celebrities with whom the customers can relate to for brand endorsement. For example, in their campaign for European market they have used David Beckham, for their campaign in India they have used celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar who have mass

Acting For The Camera Film Studies Essay

Acting For The Camera Film Studies Essay The goal of the Meisner technique has often been described as getting actors to Live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. (Silverberg 1994: 45), Critically examine this statement, with reference to at least three different screen dramas. It is the writers belief that to attempt to examine the statement a brief recap on Meisners acting predecessors should be included in this essay. Arguably Stanislavski can be called the foundation of modern acting techniques. Challenging himself to become a better acting practitioner than the melodramatic thespians of his time .Stanislavski found that they didnt form a connection to their character or the other actors and directed their dialogue directly at the audience .Through taking notes and trial and error; he came up with an acting system. He was greatly responsible for the revolutionary change in Russian theatre, making it more accessible to the masses. Many of his principles called upon the actor to draw upon their own experiences and take an analytical approach to the character to be portrayed. He created the If principle, what would you do in a situation out with your experience but is faced by the character. This principle challenges the actor to use their imagination .Stanislavski wanted actors to draw upon their own life experiences to create the truth of their character and not to invent falsehoods. His subsequent students and followers used and developed his techniques. When these teachings crossed continents into America they were altered, whether through linguistic translation or artistic interpretation. Stella Adler was a strong follower of his teachings and travelled to Europe to learn his techniques firsthand. Through working with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, Meisner built upon the Stanislavski system and developed his own technique. The Meisner technique is about the actors truthful reactions within an imaginary circumstance.Stanislavski`s system comes across as regimented and over analysed with actions /reactions preordained before being performed in comparison. Though there are more similarities than differences of these two practitioners techniques at the core. Both believe that the actors own life experiences should be draw upon to bring truth to their character. By reacting instinctually when in character within the parameters of the text under the imaginary circumstances fresh discoveries can be made. Discoveries about the characters behaviour and the actors subconscious interpretation of their reasoning. Even through intense analysis of the text, these discoveries might not have been brought out through intellectual study. This is the heart of his technique ,finding behavioural truths which freely happen when the actor is in the moment. The ultimate goals of these practices are to bring truthfulness and believability to the character. If the actor takes on this truth of character action /reactions and fully believes it themselves ,then the audience will also. In the theatre it is generally stated that the performance is life compressed onstage but for acting on camera this must be refined. The camera can follow the action up-close and pick up on moments of doubt or an actor going through the motions. The actor isnt banging it out to the cheep seats but striving to produce a condensed realistic piece of acting. The combination of the actors own life experiences and the character`s creates this living real life under imaginary circumstances. My first example of Meisners technique in action on screen was found in the Crying Game (1992) directed by Neil Jordan. A disillusioned member of the Irish republican army tries to drop off the radar and is pursued by fellow agents. After aiding in the kidnapping of a black British soldier ,Fergus forms a bond with his captive and agrees to look up his girlfriend if negotiations for his release fall through. The prisoner Jody escapes but Fergus cant bring himself to shoot his new friend but Jody is tragically killed by his own army when they accidently run him over. Fergus looks up the girlfriend Dil and almost immediately forms a relationship with her. When He discovers that he isnt the only one keeping secrets ,Fergus continues with this affair with his new love. The reveal in the film was shocking at the time as this new love Dil was actually a man. The scene that caught my attention was the kissing scene between Dil and Fergus . When Fergus says to Dil be a good girl, go inside. Dil looks directly into his eyes and replies, only if you kiss me. Fergus is taken aback by the directness of the statement and takes a moment to recover, moving forward to kiss her. He is loving but surprised and confused and it is evident on his face. The confusion that stems from kissing another man is made apparent by the snort Fergus makes and his downplaying of the significance of the kiss by asking, are you happy now? Dils reply, delirious is charged with anger at Ferguss reluctance to embrace his feelings. The scene is important for the way in which the feelings of the characters, rather than the words they say, portray the meaning of the scene. Dil and Fergus moving towards and away from each other, looking at each other but refusing to touch and make physical contact, the awkward and defiant postures they adopt, all show the physical and emotional attraction that exists between them, and Fergus repulsion at the idea of kissing a man. Both are highly emotional and make that emotion available to each other and the audience with only a secondary use of language. The scene is a remarkable achievement for the way in which it portrays the surprise and adventure, and the newness of the experience. The characters appear not to know what will happen, and yet are alive and expectant to what that might entail. They are prime examples of Meisners statement that, the quality of your acting depends on how fully you are doing what you are doing, . The second example is from Moon (2009) directed by Duncan Jones Set in the near future, earth natural recourses have been exhausted and the moon is now being mined. Loan astronaught Sam Bell is isolated and shut off from earth as communication is down. As he approaches the final month of his contract Sam has an accident outside in a moon vehicle. Waking up in the medi lab he slowly starts to realise all is not right when the computer tries to keep him confined. Venturing outside Sam finds the injured Sam and brings him back to the lab. Is Sam loosing his mind or is the company abusing their power by cloning him. Who is the real Sam and will the company let more than one version exist. In the chosen scene for this example the Sam who has been injured and almost completed his term is confronting the newly awaked clone Sam. Injured Sam is still not sure what he is experiencing is real while clone Sam is struggling to work out why this is happening. Even though this is a scene involving the same actor and the interaction are being imposed upon each other ,the momentum is not lost and the technology of the scene doesnt draw focus from the acting.Meisner trained Sam Rockwell gives two wholly believable distinctly different performances in this scene. A man loosing his mind against one who is struggling to maintain his sanity. The battle of wills while they fight over music is well choreographed and an extreme example of acting truthfully under imaginary circumstances. A third example of Meisners technique comes from his own performance in The Story on Page One (1959) directed by Clifford Odets. A married Jo Morris is a woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage to a domineering man who is abusive to their young daughter has an affair .Through a series of unfortunate events her lover Larry Ellis ,accidently kills the husband and they decide to cover up Larry`s presence .What follows is the subsequent trial by the legal system and tabloid press .Larrys domineering mother initially interfered in his budding relationship and causes more problems for the lovers during the trial. In this film, Meisner plays Phil Stanley the prosecuting attorney. After the accidental killing by Gig Young of his lovers husband, Meisner puts on a remarkable performance in the courtroom scenes. In scene after scene, the questioning and cross examination of Gig Young and the other witnesses in the case is carried out convincingly and intensely. Meisners technique, as demonstrated by the three screen performances used as examples in this paper, therefore lives up to Meisners own claim that acting should be to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. The actors all appear to be reacting to genuine impulses and motivations, guided by their feelings and by compelling motivating factors.

a 1000 mile drive in the wrong direction :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As of late I have been feeling an immense hole in my life. My life journey feels as if it is nothing than a jumbled-up mess of confusion, heartbreak, betrayal, and lies. So with a life full of loss, like any normal college student would do, I joined the pity-party bandwagon and felt sorry for myself. In my â€Å"destined to roam the earth alone and useless† state I was positive there was nothing that would ever change my dreary outlook on life. I read a few books, prayed like crazy, talked to my parents, and even broke-down and sought advice from my crazy teenage sisters, but nothing changed. Alas a light glimmered though the dark mood I was in, and there was a sliver lining of hope on the distant horizon. That light was Waldorf’s very own Pastor Char.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’m not going to lie to you (and I don’t think pastor Char will be opposed to me telling the truth) -I went to her in desperation. I don’t know what it is about the â€Å"pastor† title, but I guess you just assume that they will instantly make everything better. Alas my assumptions failed me, Pastor Char did not have an answer to all the problems consuming my life or magic prayer that cured everything ailing me, but she did have a good dose of something that I think a lot of people need-honesty. I know it sounds crazy, but Pastor Char does not know everything. Fortunately she does have great insight, and I as I have found that I am not the only one in a bit of a faith struggle I have decided to share what I found with you. Bad advice is still advice, so take it for what it is and enjoy my pearls of knowledge (with a little help form Pastor Char). There are several times when the Bible talks about God sending people into the wilderness for some sort of faith journey. As I understand it, some poor lost soul wanders into the woods to find a new relationship with God, and wham bam thank you Ma'am, they’re healed. I read a bunch of these â€Å"wilderness journey† stories and, well to be honest I thought they were crap- I know I am in dangerous territory at a Christian college, but no worries my skeptic friends†¦I will vindicate my harsh accusations. My problem lies in the journey, or lack there of.

The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives

For most parts of history, government financial executives have been taken as scorekeepers, and made responsible for collecting, processing and reporting the financial information that used by elected officials and senior managers who use them in making their decisions. The question is whether their role has now changed with the present importance of information technology. (From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) Now there is increasing evidence of the importance that information technology is getting in public administration and this is resulting in more and more insistence from the public that government financial executives have a greater say in all decision making activities of the government. The finance executives are now the individuals to lead the charge for getting an entrepreneurial type of government and have it judged based on its performance. For most of the finance executives now, the changes are leading to redesigning of entire processes related to finance, introducing best practices for financial management, improving and integrating financial management with other information management and in certain cases even shifting the responsibility of all financial operations to outsiders. The trend is now to change finance functions in a manner that control functions for financial expenditures are built into non-financial processes so that the non-financial manager also has to take up responsibility for the activities. From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) This provides a lot more freedom to the finance experts to use their expertise for the purpose of finance. The attempt here is not to demean the traditional duties of government financial executives, as it is always important to comply with accounting and financial reporting that is required, make correct cash reconciliation and process all financial transactions in time. Yet, these activities were generally thought to be only the regular duties of the finance executives. (From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) There are also finance officers at different levels and the state or provincial level executives who are the link to the local finance officers from the top. They meet rarely – generally once a year during annual conferences of some type or the other. The importance of these executives is in the fact that they represent their association at official ceremonies. (State and provincial representatives (Profiling GFOA)) The importance of financial officers is being increasingly recognized and in the preface to the GAAFR 2005, which is the set of guidelines to be followed. There are the summarization and specific revisions as also updates of the text of the 2001 edition: there is addition of all the amendments that were earlier included in the GAAFR Update supplement; there has been addition of new material which are connected to the GASB statements from 39 through 45; there has been addition of new material based on the guidance that had been given in the comprehensive implementation guide as given in the GASB 2004; that included a guidance that was given for the first time in relation to GASB statement 40; there was addition of a new section related directly to all school district issues; there was reworking of a significant number of chapters; the set of references to original material was increased to a large extent so that research on the subject could become easier; an expanded and revised glossary and a redesigned index. (Making the most of the New Blue Book) Thus the importance of the finance executives in operation of the government is certain ly realized and steps are being taken to help them in operation of their functions. This is because of the present importance of the functions of the finance executives which helps the government in various ways like helping operation managers develop the financial parts of business cases and proposals for new or expanded services; leading efforts to reposition and increase the funding sources which have not been appropriated like fees, rents, royalties and franchises; provide guidance for financing new and original ventures like setting up of revolving funds, getting into public and private partnerships, or even setting up of fee for service arrangements; help performance based management; to activate a level playing field for the competition between government and the private sector. From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) Sometimes the finance executives are placed in situations beyond their capability and these results in many problems. One of the instances when this sort of event occurs is in situations when the elected person leaves it to the finance person to manage the affairs in even the small cities. Even they have become multi-million dollar enterprises today. The elected person may have been a merchant, homemaker, lawyer, community activist or anything else, but in general they have little understanding of public finance. This makes them rely on the administrators or auditors that they have in their organization. This is what happened in Orange County, California and the faulty investment strategy of the treasurer led to losses for the county of well over a billion dollars. The budget that is presented may be balanced, but that does not mean that the collection and disbursement of money is in proper order. (Guarding the Public Checkbook) In certain cases, for balancing the budget, easy methods are adopted; the money is drawn from reserves. This withdrawal can be done only once, yet the city of Miami followed this process for many years as the city had deficit operations and used bond collections to cover it up. The important matter is that the budget be balanced through the use of current revenues only. This can be understood by looking at the general fund balance sheet and the total requirement checked and the collected resources should exceed the requirements. Any management of a public corporation should be adding to the funds and not decreasing the funds by drawing from it. (Guarding the Public Checkbook) This is the primary responsibility of finance executives as they are able to understand financial statements the best. Yet problems of this nature keep on happening and a Senator in United States was shocked to learn that District of Columbia had received an unqualified audit opinion though it had a deficit as high as $700 million. The reply from the audit firm was that the financial statements were presented properly and â€Å"in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles†. Guarding the Public Checkbook) Thus the matter should have been determined by the accounting executives and brought to the notice of the people as it is their funds that are not in order. The job of the leadership is to decide where the body has to be taken, and the finance executives have to determine what is happening to the revenue base, what are the major problems for the body, what are the implications of the changes that have been made, and so on. When the issue of Orange County bankruptcy hit the headlines, the final truth was revealed that both the chief administrator and the treasurer did not know much about finance. This should have been mentioned by them and the decisions left to better qualified individuals. These sorts of problems come up when the recruitment and hiring processes are not correct. Otherwise someone should have realized that it all right to hire individuals who are not financial experts, but every organization must have at least one individual with that capacity. It is clear that elementary oversight must be practiced. In the case of Orange County, supervisor Bill Steiner clearly admitted that he did not know what questions he should have asked, and this finally made him an accomplice in the whole unfortunate affair. It is important that individuals in charge of recruitment develop the knowledge of asking relevant financial questions. Even when the problem was noted, another mess was nearly started when the county thought of using a sales tax increase as their method of getting out of the situation. The county had fallen into a position where it had to decide on privatization, program reduction, asset sales, etc. the county was trying to take a simple way out. It is clear today that the increase in tax was neither intelligent nor needed. The best advice for the county was to file for financial bankruptcy and this was provided by the Board of Supervisor, Thomas Reilly. (Guarding the Public Checkbook) It is clear that finance executives have an important role and they must live up to the expectations of the people who they are serving. However, like all other government officials, even accounting personnel have to provide leadership and one such case was in the disaster recovery effort after the Hurricane Ivan had struck northern Florida. They were a team of six high level managers who are normally accustomed to working in nice offices in a large organization. They had to toil from dawn to dusk in very high temperatures with steamy weather and there was no electricity. There was no fresh water and not a place for them to take a break. They had to do a lot of physical labor and adequate tools were not available. The food was just peanut butter, cheese from a tube, apples, and candy bars – and this was the same food for all three meals. Sleep was in the back of a cramped vehicle and that had no air-conditioning, and go through the same schedule for a few days. Yet in spite of all the difficulties the team were focused on there jobs, with cooperation and high enthusiasm. Yet the reasons why they had come were not due to government duty, but with the purpose of helping a colleague whose home had been badly damaged. (Unlocking the potential of Your Employees) The main story about all this is that the secret of making people work with a will is treating them like trusted and valued adults. They can work the best when there are clear goals and expectations with autonomy, feedback and appreciation. At the same time, it is essential that the leaders also show a certain amount of enthusiasm and human touch. The leaders have to continue working with the same energy and dedication while relinquishing some amount of control and authority. The attitude of the leaders to others must be one of empathy, or fellow feeling. On top of everything, no leader should feel that the leader knows best about all matters, and be ready to apologize when they make mistakes. These are certain behavioral techniques that help in getting the best help from employees. (Unlocking the potential of Your Employees) This appreciation of leadership role is useful to the chief financial officers and finance directors who are no longer being viewed as only scorekeepers but as trusted business advisors and partners. In the private sector, this change has been going on for quite some time, but it has started only recently in the government. This also determines the role of the financial executives and they have to spend most of their time in determining the correct strategic and operating decisions and spend much less time in earlier operations which used to take up a lot of time – like account reconciliation, payment processing and historical financial reporting. This is all being done in the machine, and thus the shift of the emphasis of the finance executive's direction is not requiring extra employment. (From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) As a matter of fact, the size of employees in the finance function will reduce. The change in the role of the finance executive is occurring in all organizations. Considering the development that has taken place over the last few years, it is important for financial executives to strike a balance between their roles as score keeper and adviser. What is meant by balance is that the regular work also has to be finished, and at the same time take up a more important role in organizational development. The results of this change in the government organizations can be seen through improved budgetary processes that are now beginning to link funds allocation to performance achieved, innovative methods to recover administrative costs, and increased use of technology to reduce the need for reconciliation and useless data entry. The help from technology is high in the areas of account reconciliation, payment processing and historical financial reporting. From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving Role of Government Financial Executives) One of the important measures of finance officers in local governments is now performance measures and that is driven by increasing demands from citizens for government accountability, increased interest from local legislators regarding performance related information so that better evaluation can be made of programs as also for resource allocation and the efforts from different organizations and professional associations to make governments targeted to results. The performance measures allow policy makers, managers and the general public find out the effectiveness of government services. The measurement of performance takes into account the resources used, the activities generated by the programs and the final results obtained from the programs and services. However quite a few of the performance measurement activities are limited to only measuring program inputs and outputs. (Performance Measurement) On the other side, correct methods of performance measurement should also talk about the program results. From the side of the government, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board or GASB has been concentrating on performance measurement from the early 1980s. As a result of this concentration, there was a series of research reports called â€Å"Service Efforts and Accomplishments reporting† that was issued for the help of governments in measuring performance. This was followed up in 1994 with the second statement on the same lines. This stated that â€Å"service efforts and accomplishments information – including both financial and non-financial performance measures – is an essential aspect of the measurement of governmental performance and is necessary for assessing accountability and making informed decisions†. (Performance Measurement) It is important for government finance executives to tell the truth and not hide it for presentation purposes. An example is in the case of Oregon where the proportions of adult Oregonians who are smokers are only 20. 7 percent when in the rest of the country the same ratio is 23. 2 percent. Yet, they were not felt to be enough in Oregon as the state had fixed a target of 15 percent to be achieved by 2000 and this was fixed in the year 1989 by the benchmarks program in the state. While fixing the target, the committee was anything but realistic as this sort of non-smoking does not exist in United States. This is a matter that should have been properly discussed at the time of setting up the targets. The targets were set in all areas with direct goals to be reached – in health, education, economic development, environmental policy and so on. (The Problem with promises) The decision was taken that the state government would try to reach these targets within ten years. The decisions for allocation of funds and other matters were then to be made according to the achievements of targets. In one of these instances, the state wanted to reduce the use of drugs among students of the eighth standard to 3 percent from the original figure of 14 percent. Some time later it was realized that the target would not be reached, and then the solution sought for the problem was to change the target to 15 percent from 3 percent. At the end of the period, the proportion of users was 14 percent – the same as at the start of the plan – but it was viewed that the target has been reached. (The Problem with promises) These types of efforts by the accounts officers are just efforts to hide the truth and do not help any part of society. The importance of being truthful has been realized by the National Performance Review and they have stated that â€Å"effective entrepreneurial governments insist on customer satisfaction. They listen carefully to their customers – using surveys and focus groups – and restructure their basic operations to meet customer needs. They use market dynamics such as competition and customer choice to create incentives that drive their employees to put the customer first†. (Linking Quality to Business Planning and Performance Goals in Local Government) The importance of government finance officers are best utilized when they end up providing the truth to the public.

Career Planning and Development

| CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT| | | | ASHWINI RENGASWAMYINDEX NO – L0267KDKD0611JUN MSc 1 Hospitality & Tourism A| INDEX Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Page 2 Career †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page 3 Career Planning †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Page 4 Career Development †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Page 5 Dual Career Couples †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Page 8 Dual Career Couples Large Companies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 10 Dual Career Couples Small Companies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 14 Ways of Small Companies Retaing Employees †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Page 15 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 16 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 17 INTRODUCTION Human resource is the nerve center of any organization which helps to achieve its objectives & goals. When analyzing globally managing human resource is a dynamic and challenging task of an organization. Although human r esource is a popular term there is no definition defined worldwide.Watson (2002:3) says â€Å"In its broader sense Human resource management can be used as a generic term to describe any approach to managing people. † Boxall & Purcell (2003:1) say â€Å"All those activities associating with the management of the employment relationship in the organization. † A philosophy based on managing people on the belief that human resources utmost necessary to retain the business success. An establishment obtains advantage by utilizing its people effectively. Drawing on their competence and adroitness to meet distinct objectives.Human resource management is focused at recruiting confident, adjustable and dedicated people, managing and honoring their performance and advancing competencies. Human resource development is a strategic advent to analyzing in human capital. It has an impact on other human resource formations, including resourcing and executes assessment to recognize act ual and conceivable apatite. Human resource development delivers a frame work for self-establishment training programs and professional progression to meet an establishment’s future aptitude necessity.Goal of Human resource management is to optimize the effectiveness of the employee by gradually up grading the career life of the workers and interacting them as the most precious resource to increase the productivity of the organization There is one successful way for an establishment’s human resource problems â€Å"enlightened, advanced, people first, more performance or more commitment, labor tactics to be practiced in companies. Best practices of Human Resource Management * Managers must pay more attention towards Human resource issues. The consideration of human resourcing are parts of strategic level deliberations. * More encouragement being given to the employees helps more productivity which results to the establishment’s constant improvement. * Employees show a liking towards improving their own skills to come through self-advancement and flexibility. CAREER Wilensky (1961) says; â€Å"Let us define career in structural terms. A career is a succession of related jobs arranged in a monarchy of prestige, through which persons move in an ordered sequence† (p. 23) This tells us that career has a particular way in which a person should proceed in order to achieve his vision and goals. Career is the journey towards an ultimate destination. There is a view amongst the people that career has changed from olden days organizational structure to the modern way which is based on the skills, knowledge and integration of people. Baruch (2002) presents a list of career management practices in order of the level of implementation which an earlier survey found out.There are advertising international career opportunities, professional education as a part of career advancement, performance appraisals as an important tool for career planning, ca reer conselling by your immediate manager or Human resource management department, recruitment programs, succession planning, mentoring, common career path, dual ladder, books on career problems, written personal career, assessment centers, 360 degree appraisals, career workshops, introduction, special programs, example: for high flyers, creating psychological contracts and secondment.Effective career management should adhere to a number of principles. Consistency and coherency within organizations in messages about what career and career management is, proactively collaboration between employer and employee and dynamism. Goals of career management process must be explicit and that this will be most easily achieved if there is a limited number of compliable interventions. CAREER DECISION POINT International Assignment Predeparture Training Reassignment Recruiting & Selecting Exit Organization Predeparture Training Deselecting Parent Repatriation CAREER PLANNINGCareer planning which is for an individual life time, a decision that has to be made life long, which includes choosing of occupation, seeking a job, progress in the job, career transition and eventual recruitment. It’s also for an individual to set goals for himself and achieve them. This helps a person to evaluate their abilities and interests. The outcome of this should be one of the following; * Developing talent effectively and efficiently. * Giving opportunities to employees for self-appraisal Career planning is built out of three components self-assessment, choosing the work of your choice and recognizing the suitable career.CAREER DEVELOPMENT As individuals everyone is interested in their own career, it’s very unlikely that a person will spend more years with a single employer, especially when their work life begins. Due to this career development is the responsibility of the employer. Most people like to move to new areas of work due to better opportunities, chances of working with particular people and commuting time. As a result of this employers must analysis what is offered by the other employers and ensuring that employees appreciate what they are been given.A method used to retain and establish a large group of employees with international experience is through giving them short term development assignments which will be for a few months and there onwards to a few years. (Example 1) Swedish – Swiss conglomerate ABB A multinational company have carried on the practices of developing a small carder of international employees rather than internationalizing everyone. (Example 2) Aitken Spence Hotels & Resorts (A reputed chain hotel in Sri Lanka which has its own hotel in Maldives, India & Oman)In this organization the Assistant Vice president Mr. Sarriff o’deen conducts a meeting once in three months for the entire Management of each hotel individually to explain the company’s strategies & the Employee benefits, the last meeting was hel d on the 12 June at heritance Ahungalle (Example 3) Mas Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (South Asia’s biggest apparel manufacturer) The company sends a limited number of staff to a University in India to educate them in the clothing technology and in order to implement the knowledge in their local company. Example 4) Mas Holdings Pvt. Ltd. Mas Career Development center in Sri Lanka at Ambepussa, a center for staff working for Sri Lanka Mas Holdings to train and develop themselves. (Example 5) Mas Holdings Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Vithanaarachchi, who joined as a weaving supervisor rose through up to the position of Manager. As recognition of his work the company sponsored him to study Narrow Fabric technology in University of Derbyshire This reviews your work history and the key factors psychological, sociological and economical which influence the career choice.Creating an improved approach to employee development by recognizing individual’s needs and responding for a satisfactory and reward ed career is the goal of career service. Career development is guiding people in order for them to reach where they want to be and where the organization wants them to be. Providing career development helps the organization increase the chances of their work force being willing and ready to serve the organization for the betterment of both parties. Career development creates opportunities for employees meet current as well as future business needs through professional interest and capability. Example 6) Kellogg’s Non-productive staff are requested to fill are form which gives details of employee’s career, biographical information, work experience, and development plans. This is filed in the employee’s profile which gives an overview of the employee’s current accountability development and future opportunities. People Managers have a performance management plan which is concern about the employee development. The role of Peoples manager in employee develop ment * Update employee profile on a periodic basis. * Fill the Managers page in the Employee profile. Considering any possible development actions in the future. * Understanding the requirement of making development more successful. * Check weather employees are pursuing towards development. * Provide adequate resource, opportunities and support to employees for development. * Provide caching and obtain feedback. (Example 7) Nivea Graduate programs are conducted in different stages as follows; â€Å"Beyond borders† an 18 month program where the candidate will be trained for 5 to 6 months overseas in another company or at the headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. â€Å"Gateway to the top† a program for university graduates who want to rofessionalize on sales, marketing, human resource, supply chain management or finance. â€Å"360 degree program† a program to gain experience beyond the professionalized area. â€Å"Focusing on you† a program in order to develop professional and personal skills. (Example 8) Tesco Management programs are conducted for 7000 staff at one time on development programs to gain knowledge and skills to move to the next step of the Tesco Challenge. Each year over 10,000 prove that by changing jobs in the organisation, as a result of programs that are flexible and sought your personal needs 80% of the administration role is filled by existing team mates.. Example 9) Harrods The managers are expected to complete a monthly review with workers to follow up with consistent 1-2-1s to review objectives and career objectives. The diverse number of divisions provides a exceptional prospect for workers to develop new abilities and experience without having to alteration companies. (Example 10) Nokia, India Company conducts Management trainee programs from the year 20006 and recruiting young talents and investing in their future leadership role. The program is an in house on the job training mechanism that encourages and allo ws the trainees to learn and develop theme selves for future roles.In order to make the program a better success the company has built a relationship with institutes IIM – Ahamadabad, IIM – Calcuta, IIM – Lucknow, XLRI – Jamshedpur and TISS – Mumbai The role of Employee’s in employee development * Be responsible for own career. * Successful performance in present role of job. * Achieve realistic career goals. * Discuss with the Manager about developing the career. * Pay more attention towards areas to be more professional. (Example 11) Nivea (The largest women and men beauty care product manufacture)The company offers future support in the form of career path which focuses international and cross functional activities and development programs planned to achieve both professional and personal talents. DUAL CAREER COUPLE In 1960’s the term Dual career couples was introduced by a team of Sociologists who were husband-and-wife. Two profes sionals engaging in a significant relationship where both pursue a career that reflects commitment, personal growth, responsibility. In this both partners are highly skilled and committed towards career advancement and obtain financial remuneration for their career advancement.From the recent past woman too are focusing on professional career. The couple both who are managers, professional or technicians has doubled up in the past two decades. The worry amongst Dual career couples was balancing career, personal relationship and family responsibilities. Dual career couple men experience psychological stress, since they would be judged by their capacity to support the family and gain work status. They feel their status is undermined by their wife working, who will lead to loss of control, they fear helping at home under estimates manhood.Family problems where one partner has to be flexible enough to choose what’s best for the family. In order to this the career development shou ld be recognized for dual couples at early stages. At all times it is wise to involve both partners in planning to enhance the success of efforts. The other problem is job transfers, these transfers in the other partner’s career due to the mobility and also a commuting relationship between each other. When relocating dual career couple the Human resource can assist in finding a suitable job for the candidates partner as well.Also Dual career couple marriages are quite complex than other marriages where there is opportunities for mutual growth and development and in the meantime opportunities for failure. Both individuals work towards these as they find it difficult to meet these expectations as both work to develop their interpersonal relationship with one another. WIFES CAREER Job demand Organizational demand Social demand Dealing with subordinates Dealing with clients (20 – 50 hours) HOME DUTIES Home maintenance Neighborhood relationship Children activity Social plan ning ShoppingSelf-maintenance Assisting the spouse (30 – 50 hours) HUSBANDS CAREER Job demand Career advancement Social demand Dealing with subordinates Dealing with clients (40 – 50 hours) LEISURE TIME Rest Hobbies Personal activities Religious / Social activities (48 – 78 hours) The above figure shows the amount of time spent by Dual career couples per week. The wife takes responsibility of home and work whereas the husband takes responsibility only with career. DUAL CAREER COUPLES IN LARGE COMPANIES The Human Resource should turn the â€Å"Two body problems† in to â€Å"Two body opportunities†.Many researchers found that than men its women in dual career couples subordinate their career development with their partner. Some companies use the arrangement as the cost share arrangement for hiring spouses, some companies do provide job opportunities in different departments where as some do offer a job in another company of the same group. The overal l review of this is to facilitate dual career couples with job search for partners when relocating and hiring. The reason for companies to have dual career couple policies are to be competitive, increase faculty of colour, attract â€Å"stars†, increase women and to compensate for location.Some companies do offer temporary jobs than part time jobs for senior trailing spouses. (Example 12) Oregon State University The university has a scheme as â€Å"family employment program† where a fixed regular sum is paid as remuneration to spouses of facilities. In order to retain the employees the company gives greater responsibilities to employees which adds more value towards their career. Chain companies promote the talented employees in the same organization or to another branch. Vacant positions arising within the company is first notified to the internal employees to give them priority. Example 13) The gas and oil industry was facing problems of retaining employees in their companies. The company’s goal was to develop the engineer’s talent by giving difficult types of assignments to increase the responsibility level of the employee during his career in the company. (Example 14) John Keells Hotels (A reputed Hotel chain in Sri Lanka, which not only owns hotels but supermarkets, shipping, cargo etc. ) The company has a policy of recruiting bottom line staff, which gradually develops themselves in becoming managers of that company.Also the company believes in promoting the staff inside to high positions rather than hiring staff from out of the company as motivation and recognition for the employees. (Example 15) Nokia, India A global concert management system which is â€Å"Invest in people† â€Å"Internal job market† is for the border, which enables movement of Nokia employees. Any vacancies arise in the company is first posted to the interior employees and thereafter to the exterior applicants. Large companies are rich in res ources and have a large turnover from the business.Due to this factor the company has the ability of paying the employees a stable salary which they would be contented with. Also the profits gained are being given as bonuses since the company has limited liabilities to cover. There companies have a fixed policy which is applicable to all of their branches where ever located in the world. There is a mind perception of employees who do consider working for large reputed companies to be of prestige. (Example 16) Harrods Hannah, Retail Managers says, â€Å"The career opportunities at Harrods are definitely unique to Harrods.For example at the moment I'm on the Harrods management programme, which is an eight month programme that gives you the necessary training to become a manager. So by the end of the eight months you'll become a retail manager in the store. † (Example 17) Sony As a Communications Manager, Rosemary says it best: â€Å"Outside of the brand, it's easy to be proud of Sony. You tell people you work for Sony, and you don't get a glazed look – its instantaneous respect. † It's a sense of respect that starts from within. â€Å"Everybody works very hard. There's a high level of expectation, but we all focus on that challenge to deliver the best quality work.The people are the heart and soul of this place. It's a real commitment, and it goes both ways — the company to its employees, and the people are just as committed to the company. † Companies offer benefits not only for the employee but also for the entire family, which helps them experience the same as their partners do. (Example 18) Serendib leisures (A chain hotel and resort company in Sri Lanka with a range of three and four star hotel properties) A medical scheme is in practice where the employees and their families benefit. The scheme gives life insurance to the family along with yearly free medical checkup. (Example 19)Aitken Spence Hotels ; resorts The company offers a weekend package for all executive employees in order to spend a weekend with their family at another Aitken Spence hotel where the entire cost is barred by the company. This is offered twice a year for each employee (Example 20) Harrods They offer staff a very high salary of ? 15,000+ and upwards, apart for this staff receive many other rewards such as; Harrod staff reward cards 50% discount on business dresses Season ticket loan Discount brochures at restaurants, fitness clubs, and holiday companies. Opportunities to join the company’s pension and health planHoliday payments Dual career couples ; parents working in companies are offered flexible working hours, which helps them balance family and work. Apart from the day off extra leave with pay, non pay leave for a long period policies are in existence. Advice and financial support is offered for the well being of the employees. A pension schemes are introduced for future benefits. (Example 21) Wal-Mart (The larges t retail stores in the word, first introduced in the USA, found in many other countries) A policy is introduced for employees who are not USA citizens, the company many post-employment beneficial plans. Example 22) Mark ; Spencer A policy is in existence for adoptive parents, comparable adoption leave and pay within a policy exclusively planned for adoptive parents by providing extra provision leading up to adoption. (Example 23) Mark ; Spencer For employees who face problems with regard to work or family, the business uses an independent 24hour confidential helpline staffed by advisors who provide assistance in giving advice on debts or financial problems, legal problems, abuse, relationship difficulties, state benefits and even general counseling. They can be contacted on 07659145671 Example 24) Mark ; Spencer There is a policy for dads / parents, where 1 week paid paternity leave is being given when the baby arrives. Also parents have the benefits of taking unpaid leave for 13 we eks for every child till the age of 5 years. (Example 25) Mark ; Spencer For married female employee’s time off is being given for midwife, fitness visitor and parent craft lessons. Maternity pay and leave. The company professional health tem is accessible to carryout fitness checks at any time prior and after the birth including risk assessments where suitable. Example 26) Mark ; Spencer Flexible working hours are part-time, job sharing or term- working. For staffs who wishes to study or take a complete break of work nine months unpaid leave is given under the companies â€Å"Career Break† policy (Example 27) Mark ; Spencer Company offers dependency leave of 4 weeks paid leave which may be followed by 3 to 9 months unpaid leave or furthermore a longer break where the employee can take a dependency break for up to 5 years.Companies that have succeeded in generating opportunities for dual career couples follow four strategies, they are as follows; * A dual career office with a person who would address the problems of dual career couples. * The top management who are willing to give solutions for creative and flexible in hiring. * Amongst the department the cross-discipline cooperation that exists due to administrative support. * Issuing financial incentives to departments apart from the department resources that are willing to hire partners. DUAL CAREER COUPLES IN SMALL COMPANIESSmall businesses are mostly independent owners. Most small companies are at the infantry stage, which face a lot of financial crisis. There are companies with barriers for dual career couple policies such as, lack of communication, coordination, administration, more attention only over departmental work and lack of resources. The employees are mostly recruits on contract basis where job security is limited and salaries are of a standard rate. The company is focused towards the profits than on employee growth due to high cost involence new technology is not introduced which demotivate employee. Example 28) Tendon Lanak Pvt. Ltd. (A small scale electrical manufacturing company in Sri Lankan) Old fashioned electronical technology with no development as the industry was growing, due to this situation the company employees were demotivated doing the same job over and over again which lead them to leave the company. As an end result of this the company had to close down on June 2009. (Example 29) Earl’s Regency – Sumiko Lanka Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (A 5 star resort property in the Central Province of Sri Lanka owned by Sumiko Lanka Hotels Pvt. Ltd. )The executive Chef of this hotel resigned, and at that point the hotel had to recruit a new candidate for that position since the second in line were not capable enough to cope up with the work and be promoted to a higher position. The route cause for this was lack of training been provided for the management level staff. In the meantime some of these companies have a policy where dual career couples ar e not allowed to work in the same organization, due to the fear that when the first partner leaves the second also tends to leave, very few exceptional cases in which one does remain.The reason for companies to not have a policy is due to less competitive, ad hoc accommodation can lead to resentment. (Example 30) Sumiko Lanka Hotels Pvt. Ltd, The company has a policy, as an employee’s spouse cannot work in the same company, which goes to the extent of not allowing any blood relations of employees also to work in the same company. Small companies don’t have the facility of providing employment to both couples since the establishment is small and not many branches available. WAYS OF SMALL COMPANIES RETAINING EMPLOYEES MOVING TOWARDS LARGE COMPANIESSmall companies need to find ways of being innovative and creative to retain employees. Loosing an experienced worker is a great productivity loss for t he company therefore constant support must be given towards work. Effectiv e management practices and leadership skills, positive corporate culture and pleasurable work environment encourage employees retain. The employers must have a clear understanding about the expectation of the employees. The company can focus on recruiting staff from the same location, in order to retain staff due to travelling conveniences. On the job training should be rovided introducing new technology. For job security they should be provided each employee a job description which gives a clear picture of what is expected from them. Rewards and recognition is the best way for staff motivation. Health care benefits, new-hire orientation programs, open communication strategy, defined involvement programs, onsite parking, compensation for training cost ; casual dress programs such programs not only help retain employees, increase loyalty and productivity. The employers should take time in celebration staff birthdays and anniversaries to make them feel special.Te best employees of the month can be nominated in order to recognize the hard working employees and to motivate the rest. (Example 31) Nesto Pvt. Ltd. (A chocolate and biscuit factory in Sri lanka) The company recruits employees from its location and an introduction program is carried out for the employees during the first week with regardsto the entire company profile and the operation taking place. CONCLUSION When analyzing the theoretical part and the practical situations faced by Dual career couples in companies, the large companies are much more efficient in handling these types of situations as they are enriched with many resources.Most large companies have great financial resources with many sub companies of its own. This helps employee’s benefit in ways of wages, additional allowances, bonuses, paid leave and transfers on request. Many employees expect this in return of their service to the company. But in term of small companies, they have a very limited amount of resource which is mostly utilized for the benefit and growth of the company. Their main concern is about gaining profits for the company rather than focusing on employee growth. To overcome this situation small companies must engage staff welfare activities.The company must make the employee feel they are special and wanted. REFERENCES BOOKS PRINT Beardwell J. ; Claydon T. (2007) Human Resource Management, Pearson Education Limited. Fifth Edition (page 358 – 398) Becker B. E. et. al (2001) The Human Resource Scorecard, Pearson Education Limited. Chrish et. al (2010) International Human Resource Management, charted Institute of Personnel ; Development (IPD House) Second Edition Dowling P. J et. al (1999) International Human Resource Management, Southwest College Publishing. Third Edition Foot M. ; Hook C. (2008) Introducing Human Resource Management, Pearson Education Limited.Fifth Edition Hall B. W. PhD (2008) The Human capital Strategy, Library of Congress Cataloging. Loopold J. et. al (2005) The St rategic Managing of Human Resource, Pearson Education Limited. Mathis R. L. ; Jackson J. H (2008) Human Resource Management, Thomson South West. Twelfth Edition Price A. (2007) Human resource Management, Cengage Learning EMEA. Third Edition Redman T. ; Wilkinson A. (2009) Contemporary Human Resource Management, Pearson Education Limited. Third Edition Torrington D, Hall L. ; Taylor S. (2008) human Resource Management, Pearson education Limited.Seventh Edition (page 465 – 476) BOOKS ELECTRONIC Bruce W. M ; Reed M. C. (1991) Dual Career Couples in the Public Sector, library of Congress Cataloging. (Page 2 to 4) Available from http://books. google. co. uk/books? id=unBG-ablVW0C;printsec=frontcover;dq=dual+career+couples+in+the+public+sector;hl=en;ei=zbQ_TvWVJpTC8QPOqNSPAw;sa=X;oi=book_result;ct=result;resnum=1;ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage;q;f=false (Accessed on 15th July 2011) David Russo (2010) 17 Rules, Successful Companies Use to Attract ; Keep top Talents, Pearson Education Lim ited.Available from http://books. google. com/books? id=kVsnbZ23uYcC;pg=PA147;dq=how+do+companies+retain+employees;hl=en;ei=yKlDTqzkDcyq8APz673sBQ;sa=X;oi=book_result;ct=result;resnum=1 p;ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage;q=how%20do%20companies%20retain%20employees;f=false (Accessed on 10th August 2011) Fielden S. L. et. al (2005) International Handbook of Women ; Small Business Entrepreneurship, Edward Elgar Publishing limited. (Page 3 to 13) Available from http://books. google. co. k/books? id=myRC5ngQffoC;printsec=frontcover;dq=International+Handbook+of+Women+%26+Small+Business+Entrepreneurship;hl=en;ei=lLY_TsbpJoah8QO004mTCA;sa=X;oi=book_result;ct=result;resnum=1;ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage;q=International%20Handbook%20of%20Women%20%26%20Small%20Business%20Entrepreneurship;f=false (Accessed on 15th July 2011) Ferber M. A. ; Loeb J. E. (1997) Academic Couples Problems ; Promises, Library of Congress Cataloging. Available from http://books. google. o. uk/books? id=7GXk7upc6DAC;pg=PA270;dq=d ual+career+couples+in+the+public+sector;hl=en;ei=zbQ_TvWVJpTC8QPOqNSPAw;sa=X;oi=book_result;ct=result;resnum=10;ved=0CF4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage;q=dual%20career%20couples%20in%20the%20public%20sector;f=false (Accessed on 15th June 2011) WEB PAGES AND WEB SITES http://www. acadamices. com/science/focus_on_research_dual_career_couples_36593. html http://advance. ei. colombia. edu/sitefiles/file/dual_career_reading_30105. pdf http://www. beiersdorf. om/career/working_at_beiersdorf/working_at_beiersdorf http://corporate. marksandspencer. com/mscareers/rewards_benefits/lifestyle_options/supporting_working_parents http://www. essaypride. com/essays. php? free_essay=4788576;title=Retaining-Employees-In-Small-Business http://hr. blr. com/HR-news/Staffing-Training/Leadership/Growing-Leaders-Retaining-Employees-in-Small-and-M/ http://www. harrodscareers. co. uk/page/career_development http://www. masholdings. com http://www. nokia. co. in/careers http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Retaining-Employees- Small-Business/62126

Constitutional and Social Developments between 1860 and 1877 essays

Constitutional and Social Developments between 1860 and 1877 essays America went through countless changes between 1860 and 1877. During this reconstruction era following the civil war came drastic developments in the North and the South, which were now united as one nation. The power of the government was increased greatly during this reconstruction period. In addition, the social status of the blacks in America altered greatly as well. The constitutional and social developments during the time period between 1860 and 1877 mostly amounted to a revolution, but not completely. There were many constitutional developments in America that amounted close to a revolution. The Souths major decision to secede from the Union greatly impacted America during the Civil war. For instance, South Carolina took its opportunity to secede from the Union with the support of an amendment stating that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states (Doc A). There were 11 states total that seceded due to their disagreement with Lincoln and his beliefs. Also, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were added to the Constitution during this reconstruction period. These amendments fulfilled petitions started in America to grant blacks voting and civil rights (Doc C). These amendments gave blacks freedom, citizenship, and voting rights in America reverting their position in society. This was close to a revolution because slavery was finally ended and blacks were even given civil rights, which was a co mplete turn in society. However, these were just laws on paper and were not obeyed by all of society. This was a form of revolution on paper and documents, but not socially. The Force acts were also put into place to stop violent organizations against black civil rights such as the Ku Klux Klan. The government gave authority to use military force to stop these anti-black freedom movements (Doc H). These acts showed revolution a...

chopin essays

chopin essays Chopin was a Polish-born composer, one of the masters of piano composition. He wrote chamber music which is music for small groups of instruments, songs, and pieces for piano and orchestra. But his fame rests almost entirely on his more than 200 compositions for solo piano.He was born in Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw.He played the piano in public when he was only 8 years old. He began to write music soon afterward. Chopin studied at the Warsaw Conservatory from 1826 to 1829 before leaving Poland in 1830. He settled in Paris in 1831, and, except for some travel, lived there the rest of his life. In 1837, Chopin began a famous love affair with George Sand, a French woman novelist. The affair ended with a quarrel in 1847. He was then seriously ill with tuberculosis. He died on Oct. 17, 1849. Chopin was a master of small musical forms. His works for solo piano include three sonatas, four ballades, four large-scale scherzos, about 40 mazurkas and 15 polonaises in a stately Polish dance rhythm. His other solo pieces include more than 25 etudes, 18 waltzes, a barcarole, a berceuse, a bolero, a fantasia, a tarantella, and several rondos. The fantasia is perhaps his greatest single work. His etudes are valuable for their music and for use in teaching piano. Chopin is unique among composers because his music has always been as highly esteemed by musicians as by the public. Chopin was a creator of melody, and some of his pieces now seem as familiar as folk music.He did much to influence piano composition. He had a unique appreciation for the capability of the piano to produce beautiful music. He designed his compositions to display the resources of the instrument to full effect. His best works were written in patterns that he worked out or perfected himself. Chopin also influenced the whole future of music by including Slavic folk harmonies and rhythms in his work.His music expresses Polish patriot ...

Job Options With a Masters in Business Administration

Job Options With a Masters in Business Administration What Is an MBA Degree? A Masters in Business Administration, or an MBA as it is more commonly known, is an advanced business degree that can be earned by students who have already earned a bachelors degree in business or another field. The MBA degree is one of the most prestigious and sought after degrees in the world. Earning an MBA can lead to a higher salary, a position in management, and marketability in an ever-evolving job market. Increased Earnings With an MBA Many people enroll in a Masters in Business Administration program with the hope of earning more money after graduation. Although there is no guarantee that you will make more money, an MBA salary is likely higher. However, the exact amount you earn is very dependent on the job you do and the business school you graduate from. A recent study of MBA salaries from BusinessWeek found that the median base salary for MBA grads is $105,000. Harvard Business School graduates earn an average starting salary of $134,000 while graduates of second-tier schools, such as Arizona State (Carey) or Illinois-Urbana Champaign, earn an average starting salary of $72,000. Overall, cash compensation for MBAs is significant regardless of the school from which it is received. The BusinessWeek study stated that median cash compensation over a 20-year period, for all the schools in the study, was $2.5 million.  Read more about how much you can earn with an MBA. Popular Job Options for MBA Graduates After earning a Masters in Business Administration, most grads find work in the business field. They may accept jobs with large corporations, but just as often take jobs with small or mid-size companies and non-profit organizations. Other career options include consulting positions or entrepreneurship. Popular Job Titles Popular job titles for MBAs include but are not limited to: AccountantAdvertising ExecutiveBusiness ManagerCEOCIOCorporate Communications ManagerCorporate RecruiterExecutive RecruiterFinance Officer or Financial ManagerFinancial AnalystHotel or Motel ManagerHuman Resources Director or ManagerManagement AnalystManagement ConsultantMarketing Director or ManagerMarketing Research AnalystPR SpecialistProduct Manager Working in Management MBA degrees frequently lead to upper management positions. A new grad may not start out in such a position, but certainly has the opportunity to move up the career ladder faster than non-MBA counterparts. Companies That Hire MBAs Companies in every industry around the world seek out business and management professionals with an MBA education. Every business, from tiny start-ups to large Fortune 500 companies, needs someone with experience and the necessary education to support common business processes like accounting, finance, human resources, marketing, public relations, sales, and management. To learn more about where you can work after earning a Masters in Business Administration, check out this list of the 100 top MBA employers.

Mobile telephone ( listening and reading, with vocabulary ) Assignment

Mobile telephone ( listening and reading, with vocabulary ) - Assignment Example In cases of emergencies such as accidents, mobile phones can be used to call the police. On the other hand, mobile phones also provide us with entertainment such as music or videos and they are also capable of storing a lot of data such as music videos, contacts as well as pictures. The mobile phones also have other applications such as word, spreadsheets, internet, alarm, camera, convertors and many other functions. As such, I chose this topic because mobile phones help us in different ways in our daily lives. 2 What was it about? Both the video and the article selected are about the importance of mobile phones in our lives. The video uses attractive pictures of the cell phones which show different models of phones available on the market. The video shows different types of cell phones and specific features about them and the article in particular outlines the important functions of cell phones. 3 Did you read or listen first? Why? Do you think the order you chose helped you or not? How many times did you need to read & listen before you felt confident about understanding the topic and vocabulary? How do you feel about this topic, e.g. positive or negative feelings? Do you agree/disagree with the ideas?† I listened and watched the video then proceeded to read the article. I repeated the process so as to get a clear understanding of the message presented in the article as well as the video clip as well. The vocabulary used in the video and the article is very simple. I did not find any new word that was confusing since the vocabulary used was easy to understand. I felt confident after reading the article and watching the video. This topic is very interesting and I have positive feelings about it given that some of us cannot live without cell phones. I have also discovered that cell phones have become an important part of our lives since we can use them to communicate or perform other work since they have many functions similar to computers. In the modern day, we use mobile phones to do a lot of things which are related to our work and social needs. I agree with the ideas suggested in the video and the article about the importance of mobile phones. 4. Did you learn anything new from this reading & listening? What? Since I also use a mobile phone on a daily basis, I did not learn anything new about this topic. 5. Was this topic connected in any way to your future studies and if so, how do you think you can find out more about it? Somehow, the topic is connected to my future studies since I use the mobile phone to perform a lot of functions such as researching different subjects related to my area of study. 6. What was easy/ difficult about it? The topic was easy to understand since the article was written in simple terms and was straight forward. The video also showed attractive images and it explained in detail the advantages of using a mobile phone in our lives. I realised that the mobile phones can enable us to reach people in diff erent parts of the world from anywhere. We use cell phones every day so I did not discover anything new about this topic. I can safely say that the topic was not difficult in any way. 7. Which was the more challenging aspect, the reading, or the listening? Why? There was nothing so challenging in reading the article and watching the video. The article in particular outlined more details that were clearly explained

Reading reflection 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading reflection 9 - Essay Example On most occasions, people sentenced to death normally use this term as a ground of defense. Proving their innocence through this ground of defense is an efficient and effective manner of receiving their freedom. Reflecting further on this notion of wrongful convictions, I came to realize that the best and most efficient method of exonerating these people is through the use of DNA evidence. My interest in the reading made me to research on a case that involved a person who was wrongfully convicted, and thereafter released. I settled on Joe D Ambrosio, who was released on March 2010. Ambrosio was convicted in 1989 for the murder of Klann, but during his trial, prosecutors failed to produce evidence that was exonerating him, despite such evidence being in their possession (Free and Ruesink, 2012). Ambrosio was released by judge Synerberg for wrongful conviction. From this case, I learnt that prosecutors and law enforcement officers can make an individual to suffer imprisonment from crimes they did not commit, especially if such individuals are not efficient in their work. This article introduces us to the element of racialism in the administration of justice in United States of America. For instance, the article denotes that the Governor of Illinois, George Ryan, conceded that the death penalty system in United States of America was full of error because it discriminated upon the person who deserved to die and who deserved to live, by analyzing the color of their skin. Because of this, he decided to forgive the death row convicts in his state. Reflecting on this, I denote that though it was wise of him to carry out such kind of an action, it could have been good if he enacted policies and laws that would abolish death penalty in the State. This is because he was in the position of power. In my own opinion, the best way to reduce inequitable administration of justice in regard to the death penalty, it is important for states all over America to abolish the

Empires Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Empires - Assignment Example Without delving into the fact that the United States has a representative government, devoid of an emperor or empress, it should also be noticed that even though the United States has a few territorial holdings around the globe, these are negligible with regards to the overall population that they hold and/or the geographic importance that they denote. As such, it will be the express function of this brief analysis to present the rationale for why the United States, even though it oftentimes behaves as a traditional empire, does not fit this definition and must therefore be regarded as another entity entirely. Firstly, it must be understood that the United States within the current era and the United States over the past 120 years is quite a different issue entirely. One could easily argue that after the conclusion of the Spanish-American war, the United States was firmly in a position in which it could express a degree of Imperial control over the populations of distant places such as Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and various other holdings throughout the Caribbean. Interestingly, the United States soon divested themselves of these territories and only held on to a few scant islands within the Pacific and Puerto Rico. Further, with successful engagement in victory within the first and second world wars, the United States once again was faced with an option of retaining the territory that it had gained or allowing for a type of â€Å"new empire† to be evidenced. It is at this juncture that it should be understood that even though the United States is not ascribe to a traditional und erstanding of what â€Å"empire† necessarily at first, it most certainly has redefined the power dynamic and created a situation in which economic empire is a reality through which the United States has come to control commerce on a global level. For instance, many scholars have viewed the situation within Japan as key evidence with regards to the way in which the

Impact of Operations Decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

Impact of Operations Decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example The operations of the business need to be inline with the goal of CSR in order to achieve greater efficiency and productivity (Frederick, 2006). In operations, CSR effects from the input to the output processes; Input to process, for example, is when the organizations uses solar panel energy for their factory like sun chips. OR may be they are using an eco friendly form of transportation (bio diesel trucks). Outputs to the process are achieved by reducing emission or carbon footprint. A company which is changing into an environmental friendly raw materials support action against child labor is also fulfilling its social responsibility. A company emphasizing on green marketing and recycling is also looking towards fulfilling its environmental responsibilities. Decisions made in the operations, thus highly affect the way a company fulfills its social and environmental responsibilities (Slack, 2006). 1. The integration of global supply chains has created more reputation risks than business or financial risk for the suppliers. In order to cater to the global environment and maintain efficient supply chains, there is now a need for the supply chain to fulfill the corporate, social and environmental responsibility by keeping the suppliers well-informed, assuring that the customers are getting the right product quality, ensure proper working conditions throughout the supply chain and not exploiting the labor working conditions. 2. Life cycle analysis is a key operation that supports CSR efforts. Through life cycle analysis, organizations can assess what amount of energy and resources are used and also the emissions and waste generated can be estimated and continuous improvements in the environmental management system and pollution prevention programs can be made. 3. Similarly, establishing precise and clear codes of conduct related to the environmental and social responsibility of the company and employees assist in closely achieving the goal of fulfilling CSR. Codes of labor unions and working conditions should also be designed. There are a number of organizations that are working towards fulfilling their social and environmental responsibility through devising certain strategies and customizing their operations and including the aspect of CSR in their operations. There are organizations that produce separate CSR reports like the annual financial reports to demonstrate their efforts towards CSR. Shell has been discovering the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide to alleviate the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. Shell has also continued education and development plans with various institutions. Abbot Laboratories has always worked towards CSR by providing quality health care, investing in education programs, health and safety programs and environment improving initiatives. Whirlpool with the combine efforts of Habitat for Humanity, donated a refrigerator and a range to every Habitat home. Basically, Whirlpool emphasized their dedication, loyalty, philanthropy and sustainability on its website and they also highlighted their membership to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Instead of making their own sustainability report, Whirlpool

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate governance - Essay Example Governance is the way or the structure the CEO, the owner and board of directors together with direct, control, coordinate the business in terms of managing the assets, processes and systems within the organizational setting (Pounds, 2008, YouTube video). Corporate governance is the legal as well as organizational framework, or certain principles and processes by which corporations are governed. Corporate governance thus relates to powers, accountability and relationships of those people who are involved in the direction and controlling of the corporation (Plessis, Hargovan and Bagaric, 2010, p. 4). As Tricker (2012, p. 4) pointed out, all different types of corporate entities need governing body. For a company, the governing body is its board of directors, and for other types of business firms, it may be a council, a court, a committee or an agency. Corporate governance is thus all about the way the power is exercised over corporate entities. Importance of Corporate Governance Corpo rate governance is more concerned with directing and controlling of corporate bodies mainly with a view to enhance shareholder value. Since the processes and systems of corporate governance lay the foundation for business growth in the future, it positively impacts the profitability and overall business performance and this is the reason why it ensures enhanced shareholder value. Firms with credible corporate governance in place are free to go about their own ways to increase shareholder values and continue to gain growth. New investors can be encouraged to invest in securities or existing investors can be motivated to expand their investments only if there is effective corporate governing system at corporate levels. Are companies run ultimately for ‘profits’, or ‘shareholder values’ or social responsibilities? This is perhaps an overwhelming academic debate. Corporate governance doctrine underlies the fact that a company must be run for ‘shareholder value’. Lynn A. Stout, a modern thinker in the field of corporate governance and professor at Cornell Law School, argued that corporate governance is more likely to amount shareholder dictatorship. She is of the strong side that ‘shareholder value’ concept of the corporate governance is not the modern corporate practice. Shareholder value thinking has in recent years been found to harm investors overtime (Stout, 2011, YouTube video). Effective governance practices are becoming sources of competitive advantage among world economies to attract wider international capital. One of the main reasons why there has been considerable prominence in corporate governance in recent years was that companies were in greater need to access all types of financial resources and also to harness the power of private dictatorship for the social as well as economic wellbeing. Good governance not only ensures better shareholder values, but also speeds up competitive adaptation. Good co rporate structure to eliminate unethical behavior As to the core of corporate governance, the board of directors is supposed to fulfill three fundamental responsibilities; protecting stakeholder rights and interests, managing the risks and creating business values. These functions are closely related to eliminating unethical and unscrupulous practices that the board or agencies may practice. For

Harm-reduction interventions in British substance-misuse services Essay

Harm-reduction interventions in British substance-misuse services - Essay Example In order to overcome harms and complications, it is always important that a comprehensive harm reduction program is planned and executed in such a manner that it minimizes the harm. A comprehensive harm reduction program or activities therefore always aim to take a broader view of the drug use and how it can create harm and what actions can be taken to reduce such harm. Harm reduction therefore does not need to fall into the ambit of harm to the health only however, the social and economic affects of such harm shall also be accounted for.( Dahlgren and Whitehead,1991). It is because of this reason that any initiative aimed at harm reduction must be comprehensive enough to cater to different and diversified determinants of the harm reduction. This literature review will therefore focus on the harm reduction interventions in Britain substance misuse services by reviewing the policies and programs and actions that have been undertaken to reduce the harm associated with the drug use. UK Harm Reduction Alliance (UKHRA) defines harm reduction in really broader terms and includes really a diversified set of terms to explain and define the term. This definition is however, borrowed from the work of Newcombe who defines harm reduction as â€Å"Harm reduction is a term that defines policies, programmes, services and actions that work to reduce the health; social; and economic harms to individuals; communities; and society that are associated with the use of drugs† (Newcombe 1992) The above definition of harm reduction therefore indicate that harm reduction encompasses policies and programmes that are basically aimed at reducing the impact of drug use not only on the individuals but also on the communities as well as a society as a whole. Further, the overall range of harms includes health, social as well as economic harms that can potentially damage not only an individual’s life but also affect the society as a whole. It is critical to note that the use of

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate governance - Essay Example Governance is the way or the structure the CEO, the owner and board of directors together with direct, control, coordinate the business in terms of managing the assets, processes and systems within the organizational setting (Pounds, 2008, YouTube video). Corporate governance is the legal as well as organizational framework, or certain principles and processes by which corporations are governed. Corporate governance thus relates to powers, accountability and relationships of those people who are involved in the direction and controlling of the corporation (Plessis, Hargovan and Bagaric, 2010, p. 4). As Tricker (2012, p. 4) pointed out, all different types of corporate entities need governing body. For a company, the governing body is its board of directors, and for other types of business firms, it may be a council, a court, a committee or an agency. Corporate governance is thus all about the way the power is exercised over corporate entities. Importance of Corporate Governance Corpo rate governance is more concerned with directing and controlling of corporate bodies mainly with a view to enhance shareholder value. Since the processes and systems of corporate governance lay the foundation for business growth in the future, it positively impacts the profitability and overall business performance and this is the reason why it ensures enhanced shareholder value. Firms with credible corporate governance in place are free to go about their own ways to increase shareholder values and continue to gain growth. New investors can be encouraged to invest in securities or existing investors can be motivated to expand their investments only if there is effective corporate governing system at corporate levels. Are companies run ultimately for ‘profits’, or ‘shareholder values’ or social responsibilities? This is perhaps an overwhelming academic debate. Corporate governance doctrine underlies the fact that a company must be run for ‘shareholder value’. Lynn A. Stout, a modern thinker in the field of corporate governance and professor at Cornell Law School, argued that corporate governance is more likely to amount shareholder dictatorship. She is of the strong side that ‘shareholder value’ concept of the corporate governance is not the modern corporate practice. Shareholder value thinking has in recent years been found to harm investors overtime (Stout, 2011, YouTube video). Effective governance practices are becoming sources of competitive advantage among world economies to attract wider international capital. One of the main reasons why there has been considerable prominence in corporate governance in recent years was that companies were in greater need to access all types of financial resources and also to harness the power of private dictatorship for the social as well as economic wellbeing. Good governance not only ensures better shareholder values, but also speeds up competitive adaptation. Good co rporate structure to eliminate unethical behavior As to the core of corporate governance, the board of directors is supposed to fulfill three fundamental responsibilities; protecting stakeholder rights and interests, managing the risks and creating business values. These functions are closely related to eliminating unethical and unscrupulous practices that the board or agencies may practice. For

Research by the clinical operations and programs division Proposal

By the clinical operations and programs division - Research Proposal Example The range of the number of surveys that have been carried out is between almost 3500 to 4500 employees. This report aims at analysing the research and to gain a better perspective on the theories of performance related pay and its affects. One of the common factors those interest employees, employers and the government equally is the most essential element of employment - Pay. Pay affects the employers because it is an expense borne by the business and employee performance matters a lot to the business. Also this factor affects the employer's ability to recruit and retain labour force of quality. Employees are affected by pay as it is the only source of income it also sets the standard of living and measures a value for the performance and value of service. Lastly the government is affected by this since it directly affects the macro economic stability like employment, social economic development, inflation etc. There are a number of different basis on which pay to an individual is decided. One of the oldest forms of pay is Performance Related Pay this is discussed in detail in the next few parts. Performance Related Pay refers to pay scheme used to measure individual performance in the company (Monks, 1997). It can a lso be used to measure group or organisational performance. The main objectives of introduction of performance related pay were to increase motivation in employees to perform better, increase the self esteem of employees, provide better understanding of the job description and functions, create better communication amongst the participants, encourage employees to be self motivated, and help improve the institutional manpower planning. (Mohrman, Resnick-West & Lawler, 1989). Also performance related pay helps to contribute to overall performance and productivity, along with motivating employee to work better by linking the pay to the achievements of target rather than the length of service. It also helps recognise the achievements of individuals and identifies the under performers, thus creating fairness in pay (Monks, 1997). It was noted that performance related pay has proved to be useful for managerial staff since it allows them to be able to set goals that need to be achieved. Th is makes them motivated to work towards the goals as performance related pay ensures them of a reward on achievement of the goals. The principle of relating pay and performance has been very useful and has acted as a good motivator (Kessler, 1994). Linking of performance and pay is mainly based on Improved Motivation. Famous authors and researchers like Lawler, Porter, and Vroom have pioneered psychological theories of expectancy. The theory should a simple relationship between the efforts put in by an employee, the rewards, the motivation of the employee and the possibility of gaining if the required

Generalized Cross Correlation With Phase Transform Information Technology Essay

Generalized Cross Correlation With Phase Transform Information Technology Essay The sound signal from a source is captured by a pair of microphones. The analog signal from the microphone must be amplified and converted into digital for further processing. Hence, an analog to digital converter external to the FPGA is used. After the analog signal is digitized, the signal is fed into FPGA for source localization. The digital signals are first saved into input buffer. In our case, we have used First in First out (FIFO) as a memory controller. The signals in time domain are then converted into frequency domain by using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Generalized cross correlation (GCC) is used for the estimation of time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the sound signals from the microphone pair. After TDOA is estimated, we then calculate the direction from which the sound signal is arriving which we refer to as direction of arrival (DOA). The appropriate degree is used by the stepper motor controller module which controls the rotation and speed of the stepper motor. The signal from stepper motor controller module is fed into stepper motor driver circuit which is responsible in energizing the appropriate coils of the stepper motor in particular sequence so as to rotate the stepper motor to the direction of the sound source. 4.2 Time difference of arrival (TDOA) estimation: Consider a sound source and a pair of microphones located at some distance from the source. As sound travels through air with constant speed, it takes time to arrive from source to the microphone location. The farther a microphone is located from the sound source, the longer it will take for the sound to reach the microphone. Two microphones located at different places will receive the same sound (plus noise) at a different time. The TDOA method takes advantage of this delayed arrival to estimate the location of the source. [ref mediatech4] For a source signal s(t) propagated through a noisy and reverberant environment, the sensor signals of two spatially separated microphones and and can be expressed as: (4.1) (4.2) where is the attenuation factor, and are the time delays, and the additive term includes the channel noise in the microphone system as well as any ambient noise for the sensor. This noise is assumed to be uncorrelated with . The TDOA estimation calculates the relative delay of the time delays and of the two recorded microphone signals and defined as: [ref 10.1.1.9.3680] (4.3) Now formulae (4.1) and (4.2) can be written as (4.4) (4.5) The Fourier transform of captured signal from microphones and is expressed as: (4.6) (4.7) HELLO!! I am here! Fourier Transform GCC-PHAT Inverse Fourier Transform Max value to give TDOA xi(t) xj(t) Fig 4.2 Block for estimating TDOA Cross correlation between the two signals is calculated to estimate the time difference of arrival. The cross correlation of signals and is (4.8) The cross correlation, reaches its maximum at the time delay (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  t). is the fourier transform of the cross correlation spectrum and is obtained from the individual spectra of and : (4.9) where is the Fourier transform of and is the complex conjugate of the Fourier transform of . And may be expanded using equation (4.6) (4.10) It is assumed that the average energy of the captured signals is significantly greater than the interfering noise, such that (4.11) The last three terms of equation (4.10) are negligible compared to first term based on the above assumption. Expression (4.10) now reduces to: (4.12) The can be found by evaluating (4.13) where IFT stands for inverse Fourier transform Generalized Cross Correlation with Phase Transform (GCC-PHAT) A major limitation of the approach is that it is highly influenced by noise and reverberation. To minimize its influence on TDOA estimation, we need to whiten the cross correlation by using Generalized Cross Correlation with Phase Transform (GCC-PHAT) (4.14) And its time domain counterpart is: (4.15) Where FT stands for Fourier transform and IFT stands for inverse Fourier transform The output of the GCCPHAT function is delta like with peak at . The above analysis is based on analog signals and stationary . For digital processing, the are sampled and become discrete sequences . Also the are not stationary as the source of sound is liable to change location. For analysis, finite frames are also required due to computational constraints. Hence the usual windowing techniques are applied and the sampled signals are broken into analysis frames. [10.1.1.43.5850] After conversion into the discrete finite sequence domain, equation (4.15) becomes: (4.16) Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation It is possible to compute the position of the source through geometrical calculation once TDOA is estimated. We consider a simple model based on far field assumption. Microphone i Microphone j source direction  Ã‚ ¦  Ã‚ ± Figure 4.3 Computing source direction from TDOA Consider the Figure 4.3, which illustrates the case of 2 microphone array with a source in the far field. Using cosine law, we state that: (4.16) where is a unit vector pointing in the direction of the source and is the vector that goes from microphone i to microphone j. It can also be stated that: (4.17) where c is the velocity of sound. Taking microphone i as reference, we place stepper motor in the position of microphone i. The angle of sound signal arrival is given by (90- Ã‚ ¦) as shown in Figure 4.4. Also, from the figure, (90- Ã‚ ¦) =  Ã‚ ±.  Ã‚ ¦  Ã‚ ± stepper motor position 90- Ã‚ ¦ Microphone i Microphone j source direction Figure 4.4 Stepper motor position and estimation of direction of sound source. Fast Fourier Transform: Frequency analysis of discrete time signals is usually and most suitably performed on a digital signal processor, which may be a specially designed digital hardware or a general purpose digital computer. We convert the time-domain sequence to an equivalent frequency domain representation to perform frequency analysis on a discrete-time signal {x[n]}. We consider the representation of a sequence {x[n]} by samples of its spectrum X( Ã‚ ·). Such a frequency domain representation leads to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), which is a powerful computational tool for performing frequency analysis of discrete time signals. In the view of the importance of the DFT in various digital signal processing applications, such as correlation analysis, linear filtering, spectrum analysis, its efficient computation is a topic that has received considerable attention by many mathematicians, engineers, and applied scientists[ ]. The number of complex multiplication and addition operations required by the simple forms both the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) is of order N2 as there are N data points to calculate, each of which requires N complex arithmetic operations. For length n input vector x, the DFT is a length n vector X, with n elements: (4.18) Basically, DFT computes the sequence {X(k)} of N complex valued numbers given another sequence of data {x(n)} of length N, according to the formula (4.19) Where, Similarly, Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) is given by, (4.20) The DFT and IDFT involve essentially the same type of computations. Therefore, efficient computational algorithms for the DFT also apply to the efficient computation of the IDFT. Direct computation of X(k) involves N complex multiplications or each value of k, 4N real multiplications and N-1 complex additions (4N-2 real additions). Hence to compute all N values of the DFT requires N2 complex multiplications and N2-N complex additions. We may say they have algorithmic complexity O(N2) and hence is not a very efficient method. Hence, DFT will not be very useful for the majority of practical DSP applications if we cant do any better than this. However, there are a number of different Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms that enable the calculation the Fourier transform of a signal much faster than a DFT. FFT exploits the symmetry and periodicity properties of the phase factor WN. In particular these two properties are: Symmetry property: (4.21) Periodicity property: (4.22) As the name suggests, FFTs are algorithms for quick calculation of discrete Fourier transform of a data vector. The FFT is a DFT algorithm which reduces the number of computations needed for N points from O(N 2) to O(N log2 N). The response of an FFT looks like a sinc function (sinx) / x, if the function to be transformed is not harmonically related to the sampling frequency, Radix 2 algorithm: It is one of the commonly used FFT algorithms. The Radix 2 algorithms are useful if N is a regular power of 2 (N=2p). If we assume that algorithmic complexity provides a direct measure of execution time and that the relevant logarithm base is 2 then as shown in Table 4.1, ratio of execution times for the (DFT) vs. (Radix 2 FFT) (denoted as Speed Improvement Factor) increases tremendously with increase in N. [fft.pdf] Number of points, N Complex multiplications in direct computation N2 Complex multiplications in FFT algorithm (N/2)log2N Speed improvement factor 4 16 4 4.0 8 64 12 5.3 16 256 32 8.0 32 1024 80 12.8 64 4096 192 21.3 128 16384 448 36.6 256 65536 1024 64.0 512 262144 2304 113.8 1024 1048576 5120 204.8 Table 4.1 Comparison of execution times, DFT and Radix -2 FFT There are two different radix 2 algorithms, Decimation in Time (DIT) and Decimation in frequency (DIF) algorithm. They both rely on the recursive decomposition of an N point transform into 2 (N/2) point transforms. This decomposition process can be applied to any composite (non prime) N. The method is particularly simple if N is divisible by 2 and if N is a regular power of 2, the decomposition can be applied repeatedly until the trivial 1 point transform is reached. Divide and conquer method is used to obtain the radix -2 decimation in frequency FFT. Figure 4.5 shows the first stage of the 8 point DIF algorithm. The decimation causes shuffling in data. -1 -1 -1 -1 x[0] x[1] x[2] x[4] x[3] x[5] x[6] x[7] X[0] X[1] X[2] X[3] X[5] X[4] X[6] X[7] N/2 Point DFT N/2 Point DFT g[0] g[2] g[1] g[3] h[0] h[1] h[2] h[3] WN0 WN1 WN2 WN3 Figure 4.5 First stage of 8 point Decimation in Frequency Algorithm The entire process involves v = log2N stages of decimation, where each stage involves N/2 butterflies of the type shown in the Figure 4.6. Here is the Twiddle factor. a b A=a+b B=(a-b)WN WN Figure 4.6 Butterfly scheme Consequently, the computation of N-point DFT via this algorithm requires (N/2) log2N complex multiplications. For illustrative purposes, the eight-point decimation-in frequency algorithm is shown in the Figure 4.7 below. We observe that the output sequence occurs in bit-reversed order with respect to the input. X[0] X[1] X[2] X[3] X[4] X[5] X[6] X[7] -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN2 WN0 WN2 WN0 WN1 WN2 WN3 x[0] x[1] x[2] x[3] x[4] x[5] x[6] x[7] Figure 4.7 8 point decimation in frequency algorithm Matlab Simulation Figure 4.8 Simulink model for verification of TDOA algorithm Simulink model is used to verify the algorithm for calculating the time difference of arrival (TDOA). Samples of audio signal is read from a wave file hello_8000.wav at 8kHz Windowing is done to take certain number of samples of the signal each time for further processing in order to estimate the TDOA . Audio signals are taken through two channels, where each channel assumes to be the signal from each microphone with certain delay samples added to one channel. From Figure 4.8 we can observe that 25 delay samples have been considered. Noise has been added externally using Gaussian Noise Generator block to check the resistance of the system against ambient noise. Our system showes good resistance to noise after analyzing with different noise conditions added to two channels. Figure 4.9 Plot of samples of time delay as viewed in scope The plot for samples of time delay obtained for simulation time of 20 sec is shown in figure 4.9. We see that a straight line is obtained at delay sample of 25. But, we can also see variations in between, with maximum value of delay samples shooting to 128. But the maximum probability we obtained is of 25 delay samples. Figure 4.10 Plot of time delay (secs) as viewed in scope Corresponding to the delay samples, we then calculate the time delay in seconds between the signals in the two channels. For 25 delay samples, we obtain the time delay as 0.003125 sec. The plot for the time delay obtained is shown in figure 4.10. Figure 4.11 Stepper motor drive model Figure 4.11 shows a Simulink model of stepper motor drive using 2 phase hybrid stepper motor. The motor phases are fed by two H-bridge MOSFET PWM converters. 28 V DC voltage source provides the voltage required for the driver module. The movement of stepper motor drive is controlled by the STEP and DIR signals generated from the Signal Builder block. Square-wave current references are generated using the current amplitude and the step frequency parameters specified in the dialog window of the Signal Builder block. The STEP signal from the Signal Builder block controls the movement of the stepper motor. A positive value of STEP signal will rotate the motor whereas a zero value will stop the rotation. The DIR signal controls the direction in which the motor rotates. A positive value of DIR rotates the motor is one direction while a negative value will impose the reverse direction. Consider simulation time of 0.25 sec. The STEP and DIR input is shown in figure 4.12. The resulting waveforms are given in figure 4.13. The stepper motor rotates in positive direction for 0.1 sec, stops for 0.05 sec and then rotates in the opposite direction for 0.05 sec and then stops. Figure 4.12 Signal Builder for generating the STEP and DIR signals Figure 4.13 Waveforms as viewed in the scope STEPPER MOTOR A stepper motor is an electromechanical device which converts electrical pulses into discrete mechanical movements. The shaft or spindle of a stepper motor rotates in discrete step increments when electrical command pulses are applied to it in the proper sequence. The motors rotation has several direct relationships to these applied input pulses. The sequence of the applied pulses is directly related to the direction of motor shafts rotation. The speed of the motor shafts rotation is directly related to the frequency of the input pulses and the length of rotation is directly related to the number of input pulses applied. [motorbas.pdf] Figure 3.13 Stepper motor Whenever controlled movement is required, stepper motor can be a good choice. They are effective in applications where you need to control rotation angle, position, speed and synchronism. Stepper motors have found their place in different applications like printers, plotters, medical equipment, hard disk drives, automotive and many more. One of the most important advantages of a stepper motor is that it can be accurately controlled in an open loop system. Open loop control means no feedback information about position is needed. The position is known simply back tracking the input step pulses. Hence, taking into account these advantages, we have used a stepper motor for pointing to the direction of a sound source. A magnetic flux is developed in the stator when a phase winding of a stepper motor is energized with current. The direction of this flux is determined by the right hand rule. Consider figure , when phase B is energized with winding current in the direction shown, rotor aligns itself to minimize the flux opposition. In this case the motor would rotate clockwise so that its south pole aligns with the north pole of the stator B at position 2 and its north pole aligns with the south pole of stator B at position 6. Hence, in order to rotate the motor, we must provide a sequence of energizing the stator windings providing a rotating magnetic flux which the rotor follows due to magnetic attraction. [motorbas.pdf] Figure 3.14 Stator and rotor of stepper motor showing the current direction We have used a stepper motor with half step drive stepping mode has. In this case, every second step only one phase is energized and during the other steps, one phase on each stator is energized. The stator is energized according to the sequence: and the rotor steps from position: Table: Excitation sequences for different drive modes Stepper motor driver circuit: Q1 + R2 R3 D3 D5 D2 Q2 D1 D4 B1 R4 D6 GND2 GND1 R1 Stepper Coil Figure. Driver Circuit for stepper motor coil Components: Resistors: R1=330 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R2=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R3=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R4=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ Q1 is optoisolator, PC 817 Diodes D1, D4 are 1N 4007 Diodes D2, D3 are 15 volt zener diode Diodes D5 and D6 are LEDs Q2 is IRF540N n-channel MOSFET B1 is 12 V supply for motor GND1 is FPGA ground GND2 is motor supply ground Operation: The MOSFET generally remains off due to the pull down of the gate voltage by the series connection of the resistor R3 and LED D5. When the input from FPGA is of high logic the diode of the optoisolator is turned on biasing the transistor, increasing the gate voltage which turns the MOSFET on. This way the winding of the stepper motor is energized. When the input from the FPGA is of low logic, the MOSFET is turned off, which de-energizes the winding. MOSFET is highly sensitive to high voltage and gets damaged if the gate to source voltage exceeds 20V. Hence, for protection 15V zener diode is used. The protection for high reverse voltage is obtained by using diodes D1 and D4. MULTIPLIER Figure The Multiplier core can be configured in either parallel architecture or constant-coefficient architecture. In parallel architecture, the multiplier accepts inputs on buses A and B and generates the product of these two values. While in constant-coefficient architecture, the multiplier accepts the data on the A input bus and multiplies it by a user defined constant value. The multiplier core generates fixed point parallel multipliers and constant coefficient multipliers for twos complement signed or unsigned data. It supports input ranging from 1 to 64 bits wide and outputs ranging from 1 to 128 bits wide. Input signal: A[17:0] : A operand input bus, 18 bits wide B[17:0] : B operand input bus, 18 bits wide (parallel multipliers only) CLK: Rising edge clock input Output signal: P[35:0]: Product output bit 35 downto bit 0 6. EPILOGUE 6.1 System Required To deploy any system, both supporting hardware and software must be good enough to make the system work properly. The major requirements in our system are mainly FPGA, microphones, audio amplifiers, stepper motor, MOSFETs and the necessary software for VHDL coding and simulation. Hardware: Microphones Audio amplifiers Connectors and cables Proto board Resistors, capacitors MOSFETs Power supply Software: Xilinx ISE Modelsim Matlab Proteus Windows XP, Vista COST INCURRED We have presented here, the cost incurred during the undertaking of the project. Input section: S.No. Component Quantity Rate (NRs) Cost (NRs) 1 Microphone 2 10 20 2 ADC (0808 CCN) 1 450 450 3 Buffer (HEF4050BP) 2 50 100 4 Audio Amplifier (LM 386) 2 25 50 5 Resistor 1 pack 50 50 6 Capacitor 1 pack 200 200 7 Miscellaneous 400 Total 1,270 Output section: S.No. Component Quantity Rate (NRs) Cost (NRs) 1 Stepper motor 1 500 500 2 12 V battery 1 1000 1,100 3 Optoisolator (PC 817) 4 25 100 4 MOSFET (IRF540N) 4 45 180 5 15 V zener diode 8 5 40 6 Resistor 1 pack 50 50 7 Diode 20 1 20 8 Miscellaneous 250 Total 2,240 TOTAL COST (NRs) = 3,510 Note: Spartan 3E starter kit was provided by the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering. Communication and transportation cost has not been included.