Employment and Volkswagen

Explain what is novel and distinctive about the VW model The Volkswagen model is novel and distinctive by 3 concepts which I'll define below. First, the concept of the  «Ã‚  28,8 hour working week  » which basically replaced the former concept  «Ã‚   To save labor costs layoffs are inevitable  » Indeed, by keep the same wages while cutting the working hours of their employees innovates. Therefore, they are able to save 20% of the annual costs with this method. That allows the board of volkswagen to meet the requirements of the works council which were among other things to remain with the same wages. Besides, concerning the job ecurity, as far as some workers are concerned by the temporary works, that would be able in that case to transfer from one plant to another. Obviously, the suitability regarding the new plant would be carefully reviewed case by case according to their competencies and experience. As a matter of fact, the workers will not be able to decline an offer for an other job if it fits them. This has been also agreed by the collective bargaining agreement. Moreover, Volkswagen distributed all annual special payments to its workers. The change to the  «Ã‚  28,8 hour working week  » also shifted the numbers of the working days.Indeed, most employees switched to four day working week while regarding the needs of departments some switched from three to five day working week. The second new element is the  Ã‚ «Ã‚  contract  Ã‚ » between the newcomers in the market, that is to say the young people and the old ones. Indeed while being still at school in apprenticeship, the young generation of future workers would be offered the possibitlity to get into the world of labour step by step until reaching the final stage which would be a full-employment within volkswagen. Nonetheless, they will have the conditions of the part time work.Whereas, the situation is the reverse for the old generation, hence, as soon they reach 56 they can already re duce their working time and even more when they will get to their 59. So, their schedule can be reduced to 24 hours at 56 and 20 at 59. Even if Volkswagen still got to improve some points to make this measure more attractive, this aims to soflty replace the older generation and give full-employment to the young generation. This also supposed to rise the productivity. That leads us to our third element, the qualification element. Volkswagen wants their workers to e as competitive as possible and meet 4 main characteristics, To be multiskilled and mutli- functional; mobile;creative and human. To reach their goal their They target single employees from 18 to 30 and they train trough programmes to make them fulfill to the The needs of the company which are the flexibility and a  «Ã‚  highly-skilled workforce  Ã‚ » which result to a win win situation for both as during this time Volkswagen is receiving governmental subsidy while train the future  «Ã‚  high manpower standard  Ã‚ » . secure the job for the employee and gives Volkswagen a rising productivity

Twelve Angry Men Debrief Questions

Twelve Angry Men Debrief Questions 1. What type of decision was the group instructed to reach (e. g. majority, consensus, authoritarian, etc. ) * When the 12 person jury meets in the room to vote on a guilty or non-guilty verdict, the method used to vote was 1st based on a majority decision-making process where those would raise their hands for guilty and a non-guilty verdict. Once the results were in and 11 voted guilty and 1 voting not guilty. Based on the movie, 11 members of the jury voted guilty while 1 juror voted non-guilty. The 1 non-guilty, disrupted the dynamics of everyone else’s vote; which leads to a major conflict.They now needed to illustrate the pros and cons of both guilty and non-guilty parties. 2. How did personality and interaction styles influence the group's dynamics, conflict management and decision-making process? * With one voting not guilty, the group wanted to discuss why he voted â€Å"not guilty†. The dynamics in a few members in the group b ecame irritable due to his vote; which prolonged the voting process. With the rise of conflict, the jury needed to come up with a decision. In order to come up with their decision, they were to influence and cross referenced their facts.They discussed why they thought the man was guilty and not guilty. Based on the conflict cycle, the jury has reached the first stage of conflict, escalation. 3. How did bias/prejudices influence the group's dynamics, conflict management and decision-making process? * Under a majority influence, the decision making process demonstrated group thinking. Bias and prejudice opinions influenced the group’s dynamics through stereotyping the opponent based upon their prejudice references. Another tactic of influence was isolating the voter to think that his decision was wrong, making him believe that he was disloyal to the jury.Despite the pressure of being ridiculed from the majority, Fonda (non-guilty voter) illustrated a different kind of presentat ion with his interpretation of the facts; which diverted the majorities’ way of thinking. 4. What, if anything, did the foremen do well that helped the group's conflict management and decision-making process? * The foreman in order to diffuse conflict from escalating is the mediator. His job is to mediate conflict by calming everyone down through their presentations. The foreman suggests that the group should, one by one, explain why they think the boy is guilty. 5.What, if anything, could the foremen have done differently to help the group's conflict management and decision-making process? * The foreman should’ve been more involved when conflict rose between all the men. Thirty minutes into the movie, an insensitive comment was made by one of the jurors. Another juror found his comment unnecessary and believed that it shouldn’t be joked about. As he looked at the foreman and told him this, the foreman simply said with an (I don’t care attitude), â€Å"n ow what do you want me to do about that? † It seems to me that while arguments got out of hand, the foreman didn’t care to mediate the situation.I believe he needed to be a little more proactive. 6. Who was most influential on the group's decision-making process? What did he do that was so influential on the group? And what interaction style did he appear to be using? * The most influential individuals in the group were the juror who was very biased against the 18 year old boy, who’s trailed for murder. That juror discussed his thoughts in regards to a situation where his boy struck him in the jaw. He stated that he pushed his boy over the edge; which caused him to strike. With his experience, his beliefs influenced the jury to believe that: 1.The kid was from the slums and that all people from the slums are bad. 2. His situation with his son punching him in the jaw due to the rage of his father. Another influence was the juror who owned a garage. He segregated a nd divided the world by stereotyping â€Å"them† and â€Å"us†. â€Å"Us†, being the people who were rich and/or middle-class, and â€Å"them† being poor people who lived in slums. He believed that the young man was guilty due to the fact the he was born and raised in the slums; which influenced the other members of the jury to think the same way too.Lastly, is the juror who was a refugee from Europe who was faced with many hardships and the reality of injustice. Because of his background, he wanted to see that there is justice for the boy during his trial, hence he voted not guilty. Based on his beliefs, on the facts of this boys pass, the juror is unbiased and wants to do the right thing; which is not sending the boy to the electric chair. This juror’s reflection and his willingness to strive for justice is what influence members of the juror. 7. What constructive responses to conflict (refer to class handout on constructive and destructive respo nses to conflict) were displayed?Explain. * Some constructive responses to conflict were of passive-constructive responses and active-destructive responses to conflict. In certain situations, the juror who voted not guilty wanted to deescalate the issue by discussing all of the facts. Although, all 11 jurors wanted to vote guilty for the boy, this juror wasn’t too at ease with sending a boy to the electric chair without everyone discussing why. During everyone’s evaluation, they illustrative reflective thinking during discussion. 8. What destructive responses to conflict (refer to class handout on constructive and destructive responses to conflict) were displayed?Explain. * Majority of the juries responded with active-destructive responses. They wanted the boy dead. With that, the issue escalated every time the juror who found the boy not guilty pleaded his reasoning. Majority of the jury displayed tension, anger, irritability, and hostility. They retaliated by influen cing the decision to send the boy to the electric chair. 9. What behaviors seemed to most escalate conflict among the group? * I’ve noticed several behaviors that escalated conflict within the group, the first behavior was that of people getting upset and walking away while the speaker was talking.The second behavior were of those who would rudely interrupt the speaker, the third behavior are from those who were playing tic-tac-toe during the speakers presentation, and lastly those who made unnecessary discriminating comments. One behavior that extremely escalated the issue was one of the jurors charged another juror for calling him a sadist. 10. What behaviors seemed to most de-escalate conflict among the group? * Some behaviors that deescalated conflict were when one of the jurors stood up for the old man during his presentation on why one of the witnesses â€Å"wanted attention. Another behavior in deescalating conflict was when the European juror discussed the meaning of democracy. For that reason, he seeks justice in the boy’s trial. He is also very impressed with the idea of democracy: â€Å"This is a remarkable thing†¦that we are notified by mail to come down to this place and decide on the guilt or innocence of†¦a man we have not known before (back). † Because of these beliefs that this foreign-born juror has, he is actually unbiased and will try hard to do the right thing. This is also reflected in his interaction with other jurors and his willingness to strive for justice for the accused. 1. What did the group do to transition forward each time it appeared headed for a stalemate? * For each time the group wanted to move forward, they all re-voted. Re-voting on the verdict increase the non-guilty vote. It was the final moment the last juror who believe the boy was guilty came to the conclusion that the boy was not guilty after seeing his son’s photo. The last juror, at that point had no reason to justify his beli ef with all the facts evaluated. This ended the case with a non-guilty verdict, the boy was set free.

Dialysis Patient Citizens Health Promotion Pamphlet Essay

Kidney failure is a life altering condition that significantly impacts the way an individual lives. According to â€Å"National Kidney Center† (2014), â€Å"Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects 26 million Americans. Early detection can help to prevent progression of the disease – which ultimately can lead to kidney failure and death† (para. 1). If an individual is diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD), the person must receive hemodialysis treatments to sustain life, or they will die. The Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) is a non-profit organization composed of dialysis and pre-dialysis patients. This 30,000 plus dialysis community advocates for the dialysis population to improve care, education, and support for people suffering from kidney disease (Dialysis Patient Citizens). The following material will critique the DPC’s pamphlet for layout, quality, clarity, literacy, and usefulness. Review of cultural sensitivity and self-care management in the p amphlet information will also occur. Layout appeal Layout appeal is crucial for a pamphlet as the layout appeal is what grabs the interest of an individual and entices the individual to pick up a brochure and read through it. The layout of the DPC pamphlet is neat, colorful, and clear. Each sub-heading is bold identifying the topic of information in the section. This booklet also provides pictures of individuals of various ethnicities, age, and sex signifying that kidney failure can affect anyone. A picture of the United States flag is also on the pamphlet. Content and quality Content and the quality of the pamphlet were well thought out and presented. The presentation for the content of the information shows organization and  flows throughout the pamphlet. Each sub-topic leads into the other and flows smoothly with culmination of the material formed in a summary and conclusion in the last paragraph. Presentation of the quality of material is neat, organized, and easy to follow. The booklet provides valuable, but concise information that is important to maintain the reader’s interest. The pamphlet has a limited amount of space to engage the reader and spark interest in the reader to investigate the organization further. Through a quality presentation, the DPC pamphlet captures the reader to research this organization more. Usefulness/Clarity The information found in this pamphlet is relevant and useful for dialysis patients. The DPC pamphlet speaks of empowering dialysis and pre-dialysis patients in managing their care and to have access to resources that will help the patient manage their care better. The clarity of the information provides the individual the opportunity to read quickly through and understand the information. Some of the relevant information are repeated in the pamphlet that provides the individual the chance to absorb and more fully understand the information. Reading and Literacy Level Prior to creating a pamphlet, or any literature emphasis should be on the intended audience. The Huffington post states that â€Å"According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (completed most recently in 2003, and before that, in 1992), 14 percent of adult Americans demonstrated a â€Å"below basic† literacy level in 2003, and 29 percent exhibited a â€Å"basic† reading level (para. 3). Establishing the audience prior to writing will allow the writer to communicate the information at the reading level of the intended audience. â€Å"The difference among audiences make it necessary to avoid the one-size fits-all mindset when developing effective health communication material† (CDC-Center for Disease Prevention: Health and Human Services, 2010, slide 3). The writing in the pamphlet was easy to read and understand. Most of the information was basic and did not contain any uncommonly used words. The words in the pamphlet are words that people use when communicating with each other on a regular basis. An example of a sentence according to â€Å"Improving our Lives through Empowerment (n.d.) â€Å"We provide information about dialysis care, help strengthen the partnership  between patients and caregivers, tell our lawmakers about the issues that matter to us and provide a strong community for our members† (Dialysis Patient Citizens). Cultural sensitivity and competence As mentioned earlier the brochure is culturally diverse as the information in the pamphlet does not suggest a specific culture. Pictures of the people contained in the pamphlet are of different ethnicity, race, age, and sex. This pamphlet speaks to the reader in a non-verbal way because the reader can identify with one of the individuals advertising in the pamphlet. The brochure announces that this organization is a â€Å"patient organization† therefore membership is restricted to dialysis patients, pre-dialysis patients, and families of dialysis patients (Dialysis Patient Citizens). The reason for this is that this allows the organization to maintain focus on dialysis interests and issues (Dialysis Patient Citizens). The Board of Directors for DPC are dialysis patients or former dialysis patients that have been the recipient of a transplant (Dialysis Patient Citizens). Helpful hints or tips for self-care management Information regarding the need for DPC and what joining this community will bring to the patient is evident. This community lists the important points of what the person will gain if they join. One of the recognizable points in this pamphlet is the declaration that there are educational tools available to help the members manage their health as efficiently as possible (Dialysis Patient Citizens). Also, the word advocate appears many times throughout the literature suggesting that this community wants to stress to the reader the importance of being your own advocate and also coming together to be one strong voice for this community. Publisher Distribution of the pamphlet is by the Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC). There is no direct mention of the publisher. There is an address, phone number, email, and website address provided for this community. Conclusion The Dialysis Patient Citizens community is a community that wishes to expand its membership. By advertising and distributing this brochure, the community announces to the public that through their organization patients can improve  their education, advocacy, and voice within the dialysis population. This pamphlet is appealing to people that see it because of the layout, content, ease in reading, and concise presentation of material. This pamphlet does not discriminate against any race, ethnicity, sex, or age and, as a result, is culturally competent. Through the pamphlets ease in understanding the literature, dialysis patients are sure to comprehend the information and seek further into the opportunity presented before them. Reference Center for Disease Prevention (CDC): Health and Human Services. (2010). Simply Put: A guide for creating easy-to-understand materials [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/pdf/Simply_Put.pdf. Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC). (n.d.). Improving our Lives through Empowerment. Huffington Post (2013). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html National Kidney Center (2014). http://www.nationalkidneycenter.org/chronic-kidney- disease/facts/

Demographics Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Demographics Report - Essay Example This has seen an increase in employment opportunities for previously under-utilized labor-force sources like women and generation U. Finally, demographic changes in Europe have created an increasingly global and mobile market. CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR BUSINESS Introduction European states face challenges with the composition of their age structure changing substantially now and in the near future. Demographic change also requires development of urgent social policies. The concept of demographic change can be defined as the age structure of a population adjusting to various changes in the living conditions. These changes in the societal age structure composition result from social shifts. The European Union population pyramids show that, after the Second World War, the first two decades experienced especially high rates of birth. However, since the 1970s, professional demographers have begun to observe negative trends in Europe’s population structure. Lo wer rates of birth come, in the present and recent past, with ever-increasing life expectancy among Europeans. Ongoing low rates of birth have seen a progression towards an ageing society, as rates of mortality remain low. Consequently, approximately half of population growth forecasted in Europe between 2005 and 2050 will be because its population is living longer, rather than an increase in birth rates. Furthermore, the baby boomer generation is now coming past its retirement threshold and highlights a turning point in the development of demographics. This paper aims to discuss the impact of demographic changes on business operations in the United Kingdom and the larger European Union. The challenges of demographic change refer to the adjustments or changes arising from a society that is aging. Ageing of the population is a long-term trend that started decades ago in the European Union and the UK. This ageing has been most visible in the age structure development, reflected in the increasing share of older citizens, coupled with a declining share of persons in the working age in the total population. In the preceding two decades, the working age share in the European Union increased by 0.3% while that of the older generation grew by a more significant 3.7%. Because of this, top of the age pyramid for the EU-27 for the year 2012 has become larger as compared to that in the year 1992. This growth in older people’s relative share can be explained by an increase in longevity, which has been in evidence for some decades as life expectancy has also increased. This development is referred to as the population pyramid’s ‘ageing of the top’. On the other hand, low fertility levels have remained across the European Union, resulting in a decreased share of the younger generation. This is referred to as ageing at the bottom. The EU-27s median age development of the population also illustrates an ageing population. The median age has gone up fr om thirty five and a half in 1990 to forty one in the year 2012. The median age has risen in all the EU member states by at least seven years. Impacts of Demographic Changes in the EU and UK Never before has there been such a swift change in demographics, in Europe. On the continent, the

Managing Learning and Development in Organisation Essay

Managing Learning and Development in Organisation - Essay Example All these aspects are inter-related and they should be integrated in every learning process of an organization. Moreover, human resource managers have recognised the importance of aligning learning processes with organisational priorities. This paper will highlight the important aspects of individual and organisational development and how they relate to business success. In details, it will look into how training is effective and its evaluation as well as the importance or its contribution. The second part of the paper explains the importance of training of those prospecting to be teachers to the school, children or students and to themselves. It further explains the principles of effective training importance of teacher evaluation as well as its challenges. Discussion Measuring Training Effectiveness in Organisation Training is a continuous process that involves the transfer of information and knowledge to employers and employees of an organisation in order to meet the needs and goa ls of the business. It can also mean equipping the people to interpret the information and knowledge into practice with a goal to enhance organisation effectiveness and productivity as well as improve the management of the people (Sriyan de Silva, 1997). Normally, training integrates educational policies and systems which are deemed as important to human resources development. Training effectiveness means that training should provide significant added value to an organisational operations by improving quality, safety and production. While it is clear that training provides additional value to products and services, a calculated training effectiveness is tricky because employee performance depends not only on training, but also on other factors for example, job aids supervision, procedures, pre-job briefings, management expectations, and the experience and motivation of the work force. A good number of organisations are nowadays setting up their own training facilities, and outsourci ng talent to carry out in-house training for employees at all levels. This trend has been largely used because new orientation in managerial and technical areas is crucial for effective response to the changing business environment. Training is an expensive task especially if it does not meet the given purpose. Training should be in a position to improve the individual capabilities as well as those of the collective organisation. The training programme should contribute to the building of organisational capabilities and reflect improved performance over a period of time. Otherwise, the organisational loss for example, loss of competitive edge and reduction of market share, is far much greater than the money and time spent on training. Therefore, training should serve stipulated purposes taking into consideration a systematic analysis of its capabilities and the demands brought about by future scenarios. A critical area for achieving expected results from training is the measurement of training effectiveness which is the match between the training inputs and its intended purpose. Most organizations neglect this aspect citing difficulty of measurement even though techniques in social sciences have been developed to sufficiently measure the most important aspects of training. There are kinds of training outputs that an organization need to measure. First is the

Evaluating And Meeting Security Needs Research Paper

Evaluating And Meeting Security Needs - Research Paper Example This has numerous benefits, but also, great risks and vulnerabilities to the data. The most significant threat is that, if the data is tampered with or changed, it is all compromised at once. This paper will analyze the information security needs of the Light Walkers Company Ltd, and propose ways for meeting those needs within a network information systems architecture framework. The Light Walkers Company Ltd runs on an enterprise system structure where all the data and information system functions are centralized. The employment and integration of this system brings about great advantages to the organization. The limitations, though few, can be analyzed (Dhilon, 2006). One of the major concerns is the protection of data from intruders. Because of the centralization if its functions, Light Walkers Ltd is at a great risk of intrusion and illegal access to its files. If it is hacked, the hacker/intruder would have access to all their information. If it is infected by a virus, all their business files, due to their centrality, will also be damaged (Arison & Torkzadet, 2008). Unauthorized access from within the organization is also another security risk. Unauthorized personnel may access the system and alter data. This can happen accidentally or with intended malice, so as to gain from the data alteration. For these reasons, access to files in an information system running on enterprise architecture needs to be regularly and strictly monitored. In such a system, alteration or deletion of data may have disastrous effects. Another form of risk that the data faces is the risk of loss. As a result of the centralization of its functions, most information regarding the operation of Light Walkers Ltd is kept close together. If loss or damage was to occur to the storage and operating station, all the data would be lost at once. These are some of the security needs faced by this organization. Many of these problems are faced by organizations or companies running information systems on this platform (Arison & Torkzadet, 2008). One of the major problems that face centralization of data is the possibility of intrusion. To prevent this breach, the information should be kept in a secure place where access is heavily restricted. If the information is being transferred over a network, the information must be encrypted to prevent tampering with the information as it crosses the network. There are several ways in which intruders can access, change, tamper or modify the data (Dhilon, 2006). The problem of unauthorized access is also rampant in enterprise integrated systems. This can be handled by placing privileges on the personnel that have access to the data. This helps monitor who has had access to the systems and the changes that they have made. Also, because of the risk of tracking, administrators are advised to regularly change their credentials to achieve a high level of security (Dhilon, 2006). The use of ‘once off’ passwords should also be employed to levels where critical data is stored. This reduces risk of unauthorized access. Viruses and malicious computer programs are designed to damage a system. These programs usually attack vulnerable systems, and the damage they cause can be monumental because of the unexpected behavior of these programs. Light Walkers Ltd should have fully activated and

Standards Save Public Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Standards Save Public Education - Essay Example Standards are then made available and accessible to the public and the stakeholders in the education system eg teachers, parents and the textbook writers and publishers. Standards are inspired by the need to have a literate and economically competitive human resource in the country and therefore outline the important things that the students should know and understand and be able to execute perfectly. They are formulated in a way that they are appropriate in growth and development as well as relevant to future education and employment needs (McInerney, Etten, & Dowson, 2007). Standards are set in a manner that all students are able to attain them with ease and the excellent students exceed them ensuring that no student is left behind. Though students, both fast and slow learners can learn new things in their own ways the instructions that help an individual student attain the set standards is emphasized. Standardisation ensures that both excellence and equity are upheld where systemi c bias, discrimination and tyranny of low expectation are greatly reduced. Standardization also empowers the teachers to make decisions that ensure effective learning while highly discouraging social promotion of students as opposed to promotion based on their academic achievement. Reasons for standards in education Education standards ensure that teachers and schools are held accountable of teaching students what they should know in school. Teachers and the school therefore have a social responsibility to ensure that all students gain what they are supposed to gain in school and pass the standardised examination. Poor performance leads to disciplinary actions against the teachers and schools which may involve salary deductions or loss of job. If a school repeatedly exhibits poor results, it is taken over by the government or it can even be closed down. This ensures that no student is left behind or drops out of school due to low motivation or absolute loss of hope in education. Edu cation standards in the united state provide an avenue where students from different schools, districts or even states are compared which would otherwise be impossible without standardisation. Students from the same state e.g. California are expected to do the same standardised exam which allow comparison of students’ performance. Education standards are very important because people do move around nowadays and without standard education curriculum, it would be very challenging for students moving from one school to another. Many students would probably end up dropping out of school due to discontinuation or interruptions after transfers from one school to another. Education standards provide teachers with a standard framework of instructions which guide them on what and when to teach thus creating some uniformity and organisation in schools (National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment et al, 1995). Without the standard instruction framework for schools, maybe a teacher in fourth grade and a teacher in fifth grade would be teaching the same thing which would create confusion in the education sector. This also ensures that students who change school from other districts don’t have difficulties adapting to teaching in their new schools. Standardized tests are usually objective in nature in that the scores are awarded by computers or by individuals.

Emily Dickinson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emily Dickinson - Essay Example The emphasis is on spontaneity, and the original. (Harvey, 1997). Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886), is one of most prolific and successful poets of the American Romantic Movement. Her work challenges the existing norms of that period, rejects convention, and establishes a new genre. The unique â€Å"order, unusual punctuation and spelling choices† of her poems reflect the new spirit of Romanticism (Poetry Foundation, 2012). The poetry of Emily Dickinson may be taken to be the epitome of American Romantic literature, with its focus on nature, individualism, and the exploration of faith. Dickinson’s nature poems make up a large part of her work. They deal with almost all aspects of nature: birds, animals, bees, flowers, grass, rain, forests, hills, the seasons, sunrise and sunset. Her poems throb with her love for Nature. It is evident that she finds great joy in her closeness with the natural world. The depth of her observation is incredible. The least minutiae of li fe is seen and explored by Dickinson and linked with her personal emotions. She simply thrills in nature’s beauty. At other times, she makes a connection between nature and human life. In her poem, â€Å"It Sifts From Leaden Sieves,† (Poets.org. 311), Dickinson is content to describe Nature’s beauty. She makes effective use of metaphor: the â€Å"leaden sieves† refer to overcast skies. ... The poet goes on to express her desire to be a part of nature, by offering the bird a crumb. But the bird is frightened of her advance, and flies away. Here, Dickinson shows that man cannot be a part of nature, unlike the bird, which unites with nature. The poet’s evident love for nature is one of the hallmarks of American Romantic literature. Another feature which marks Dickinson as a Romantic is her unbending individualism. Contrary to the social expectations regarding women of that period, Dickinson disliked housework and the â€Å"daily rounds of receiving and paying visits† (Poetry Foundation, 2012). In line with this pronounced individualism, Dickinson withdrew from public life. This is seen in the fact that, â€Å"By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world† (Poets org. 2012). Her poems were largely a part of her private correspondence with friends, and were published only after her death. Most of her poems demon strate her own personal emotions. She sees the world around her through a personal lens. Dickinson’s poem, â€Å"I’m Nobody! Who Are You?† (Poets org. 260), demonstrates her alienation from society. She criticizes the people who belong to the pretentious public world, and is happy to be apart from them, in her own private identity. Dickinson holds the Romantic opinon, contrary to common thinking, that man’s closeness to nature is hindered by the effects of civilization. This is seen in her poem, â€Å"I Like to See it Lap the Miles,† (Poets org. 43), where she compares the train to a horse. She is critical of the industrial invasion of the natural world by the railroad. Dickinson’s subjective perception of the world is very much a feature of Romantic literature.

Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Martin Luther King - Essay Example In his Letter to Birmingham Jail Martin King has made use of narratives from various religious narrations. He tries to relate to the clergymen who have written to him criticizing him by explaining to them how he has to carry the gospel like Jesus did (University of Pennsylvania). His letter makes one feel as though they are in the middle of the situation allowing for a more in-depth connection with the situation at hand. In the letter there has been use of a definition of how nonviolent campaigns take place in a society so as to involve not only the clergy but to enlighten the people in general as to what the process truly is. Martin Luther King makes use to examples in the letter that keep the conversation simple and practical for someone who might not be too literate, which was the case with many African Americans at that time. He continues to use examples from the bible and stories of Jesus to explain his cause for doing what he did. He even goes on to use the example of what Hitler did in Germany in the name of justice against the Jews and how the moderate whites were doing something similar to the Negros by denying them their rights (Hari Sharma, 2007).

Tort Law - Principles limiting actions in negligence against public Essay

Tort Law - Principles limiting actions in negligence against public bodies - Essay Example This essay also analyses how the exclusionary rule compares to other principles used by the court to limit claims in negligence against public bodies. The Rule in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire In Hill, the plaintiff’s son was the last victim of a serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper. The plaintiff claimed that had it not been for police negligence in detecting and apprehending the Yorkshire killer, her daughter would not have been murdered by him. The court ruled that the police do not owe the public a general duty of care in terms of apprehending criminals that are not known, unless failure to exercise care results in more risks. Moreover, police do not owe a general duty of care to individuals except in circumstances where there is proximity of relationship between the police and an identified victim.3 Lord Keith acknowledged that there may be a number of circumstances in which there may be a duty of care to the general public in the conduct of a number of activities that may require a higher standard of care. However, it is unreasonable to expect this kind of general duty to be applied to the activities that police conduct. Lord Keith went on to state: The general sense of public duty which motivates police forces is unlikely to be appreciably reinforced by the imposition of such liability so far as concerns their function in the investigation and suppression of crime. From time to time they make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be doubted that they apply their best endeavours to the performance of it.4 It would therefore appear that in formulating and justifying the exclusionary rule, there is an assumption that in the investigation and suppression of crimes, police put forth their best efforts and any missteps are regarded as excusable errors. Such an assumption is unrealistic, but at the same time, police are accountable for intentional torts in terms of assault and battery. In such instances, proximity is clearly established. The court was very careful to emphasize that the exclusionary rule would apply only in some instances.5 Lord Keith clearly stated that it would be unreasonable to impose a duty of care I â€Å"some instances† as this â€Å"may lead to the exercise of a function being carried on in a detrimentally defensive frame of mind†.6 The court explained that the specific instances where it would be unreasonable to impose liability on police would be instances in which police were conducting investigations and suppressing crimes. Lord Keith specifically stated that the likelihood of the police conducting their duties with a â€Å"defensive frame of mind† when conducting investigations â€Å"cannot be excluded†.7 Thus liability could not be imposed when police were conducting investigations and this part of the ruling was prefaced by the presumption that police conduct their investigations putting forth their best efforts. The justification for the exclusionary rule may therefore be counterproductive. In safeguarding against the risk that police may become too distracted by the prospects of being found liable for negligence in the performance of

Managing Organizational Risk Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Organizational Risk - Assignment Example 7). There are many forms of risks in any organization today chief among them being the information security risks. The ever-growing number of technically well conversant users, as well as the easily available internet to most of the world population, today makes it increasingly riskier in this aspect. For this reason, the need to protect information and other related details has become one of the most important parts of organizations today. In response to these risks, a large number of organizations today have established various security plans and programs that facilitate the prevention and handling of a myriad of growing threats and intrusion activities. These programs have been phenomenal in protecting most organizations from potential vulnerabilities and threats. However, it is worth noting that these programs may not always be efficient in handling the respective risks, and thus more plans are continuously being added to reinforce the risk protection of the organizations today. In this light, many organizations are quickly adopting a method of developing their own Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRT) or even opting to outsource in this field. Simply put, a CIRT provides organizations with a well-structured and a clearly defined plan that deals with probable threats and incidents. A CIRT is an organizational entity typically made up of several staff members that is tasked with the responsibility of providing management of incidents in an organization. The CIRT coordinates and supports incidence response by handling incident activities. The role of a typical CIRT plan in an organization include; Disseminating information about the current attacks, threats and risks while also corresponding mitigation strategies through modes such as providing advisories, alerts and other technical publications. The CIRT also maintains and stores

Berkshire Hathaway Essay Example for Free

Berkshire Hathaway Essay Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company wholly owns Geico, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, and Netjets. It also owns half of Heinz and has significant minority holdings in American Express, Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo, IBM, and Restaurant Brands International. I have done a lot of research into Berkshire Hathaway and CEO Warren Buffet but have been unable to find a vision or mission statement. If I had to make up a vision statement that suitably fit Berkshire Hathaway it would be the following: â€Å"Berkshire Hathaway strives to be the best-recognized, most highly respected, and most influential conglomerate company in the world.† The mission statement would be: â€Å"To provide top of the line services that significantly increase the growth of the company’s agents and affiliates.† I believe this fits this company perfectly because Berkshire Hathaway is notorious for its ingenious investing and services all thanks to a man named Warren Buffet who started out acquiring businesses. Buffet is one of the world’s wealthiest men and a key influencer in the financial market. He is Forbes’ number 33 most powerful people and ranked among Time Magazine’s most influential people. His company was ranked number 1 in Barron’s 2013 ranking of the world’s 100 most respected companies, number 8 in Fortune Magazine’s 50 most admirable companies survey, number 18 in Harris Interactive’s reputation study of the 60 most visible companies, and Forbes’ fifth largest company in the world. In his 2013 letter to shareholders, Buffet spoke of his joy for working for such a successful company. He noted, â€Å"No CEO has it better; I truly do feel like tap dancing to work every day.† My vision and mission statement align appropriately with what Buffet has done and envisions for Berkshire Hathaway. Stakeholders: Internal- Board Members: Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Walter Scott Jr., Thomas S. Murphy, Howard Graham Buffet, Ronald Olson, Donald Keough, Charlotte Guyman, Bill Gates, Steve Burke, Susan Decker, Susan Decker, and Meryl Witmer. Shareholders: â€Å"We think of our shareholders as owner-partners, and of ourselves as managing partners.† –Warren Buffet Employees: About 302,000 full-time employees. External- Customers: All over the globe, predominantly in North America. Media: Perceive the company in a certain way. Subsidiaries: Geico, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, ect. Communities: Omaha, Nebraska and other local communities.  Government: Local and Federal Governments.

Babies Infants Knowledge

Babies Infants Knowledge Claims about infant number competence contrast with claims of toddler ignorance. Consider explanations of the discrepancy. 1- Introduction: This essay will explore the researches which claim that babies are born with a predisposition to learn about objects and numerosities. It also aims to understand the issues that why some psychologists are still unconvinced about inborn knowledge. And if babies are so smart, why are preschoolers so ignorant? The question is to what extent is the sense of numbers innate and to what extent is it learned? Piaget used observational and informal experiments to study infants. He denied the existence of innate knowledge. Early Piaget experiments (1942) described that infants are born with no understanding of numerosity. He argued that the number concept is built from previously existing sensorimotor intelligence. In contrast, recent researchers argue that sensitivity to number is innate and even young infants possess strikingly mature reasoning abilities in the numerical domain. Vygotsky (1978) pointed out â€Å" childrens learning begins long before they enter school they have had to deal with operations of division, addition, subtraction, and the determination of size. Consequently, children have their own preschool arithmetic, which only myopic psychologists could ignore† (p. 84). Similarly, recent experiments have shown that infants between 4 to 7 months are able to discriminate two items from three items, but not 4 items from 6 items (Starkey et al 1983). In 1992, Karen Wynn argued that â€Å"human infants can discriminate between different small numbers of items† (p.749). Wynn used differences in looking times as evidence of knowledge. Similar logic in Baillargeon’s (2004) studies of infants is reported. In contrast to claims about infant capabilities and predispositions, recent studies of toddlers (preschoolers) suggest slow development and gradual understanding of numerical skill. Now we will discuss the researches which claim about infants’ knowledge of number competence contrast with claims of toddler ignorance. 2- Studies which claim about human infants’ knowledge of number competence: 2.1- Wynn’s approach: In 1992, Karen Wynn, came up with the idea of using a technique called Preferential Looking Time (PLT) to study the mathematical abilities in babies. Wynn took advantage of the fact that infants will gape, eyes wide with surprise, at things they dont expect to see, to show that babies as young as five to ten months old can add and subtract small numbers. In her experiment Wynn (1992) shows the baby a Mickey Mouse doll and then places it behind a screen. As the baby continues to watch, the researcher places a second Mickey behind the same screen. In half the trials, she then uses a hidden trapdoor to remove one of the dolls. Then screen drops and Wynn found that babies stared much longer when only one Mickey doll is there. They had apparently expected to see two. But were the babies really calculating one plus one equals two? Or did they simply realise that one plus one had to equal something more than one? To answer that question, Wynn tried the babies on one plus one equals three. The babies were appropriately surprised when three dolls appeared from behind the screen rather than two. According to Wynn (1992), â€Å"infants possess true numerical concepts- they have access to the ordering of and numerical relationships between small numbers and can manipulate these concepts in numerically meaningful way† (p750). Wynn argued that looking for longer time at the wrong results of 1+1 and 2-1 is evidence that infants have innate number knowledge. There are many questions which need explanations e.g. were infants surprised or familiar? Were they responding to differences in quantity or numerosity? Can infants really add and subtract? etc. Leslie B. Cohen and Kathryn S. Marks in ‘How infants process addition and subtraction events’ mentioned†¦. â€Å"Wynn has argued that infants are not only sensitive to number; they are able to manipulate small numerosities. She pointed out three major claims about infants’ abilities: Infants understand the numerical value of small collections of objects. Infants’ knowledge is general and can be applied to varying items and different modalities (for example, Starkey, Spelke, Gelman, 1990). Infants are able to reason at the ordinal level and compute the result of simple arithmetic problems (i.e., add and subtract)† (P.5-6). Wynn (1990) argued that children learn the meanings of smaller number words before larger ones within their counting range, up to the number three or four and by the age of 3  ½ years they can learn cardinal principle. But in everyday life we are failed to provide the evidence regarding the competence in early years of life. There is no doubt that many studies reported that children have an innate understanding of the basic counting but many other studies which do not support these findings. 2.2- Starkey, Spelke, Gelman approach: In 1990, Starkey, Spelke, Gelman found that infants between ages 4 and 7 ½ months can differentiate two items from three, but not 4 items from 6. In this study, 7 month old infants were presented with two photographs of two or three items accompanied with two or three drumbeats. Starkey et al.’s criterion was same as Wynn’s (difference in looking time).The infants looked significantly longer at the photos with the number of items matching the number of drumbeats. This study did not tell us that infants perceived that 2 is more than 1 or 3 is more than 2. The ability to understand even small numerosity from the early months of life seems to suggest that there is an innate mechanism for number which forms the basis for further development of numerical skills and abilities. Starky et al. (1990) interpreted these results as evidence that infants can recognize the number distinctions both in audio and visual display. This research is also controversial. There are contrasting claims which abandon ideas of competence. According to Mix, Huttenlocher, and Levine (1996), â€Å"it has been claimed that acquisition of the conventional number system is guided by preverbal numerical competencies available in infancy (Gallistel Gelman, 1992; Gelman, 1991).Thus, if infants have an abstract number concept, this should be evident in early childhood† (p.1593). Mix, Huttenlocher, and Levine (1996), using a procedure adapted for preschoolers, found that three-year-olds were unable to correctly match auditory to visual numerosity. 3- Studies which deny the claim of human infants’ knowledge of number competence: 3.1- Mix, Huttenlocher, and Levine approach: Mix, Huttenlocher and Levine (1996) tested infants, toddlers and preschool children from a variety of backgrounds to see at what age they began to recognize the connection between repeated sounds and similar numbers of objects before them and when infants and children begin grasping the basic concepts of mathematics. They conducted three experiments to find out whether preschool children could do significantly well on similar tasks as used by Starkey et al.’s (1990) infants studies. They found that infants were unable to make the audio-visual matches but could make visual-visual matches. Similarly, three year olds were able to make visual matches between groups of objects and sets that corresponded in number, but only made the same number of audio-visual matches they would have made had they been guessing. According to Mix, Huttenlocher and Levine (1996) In contrast, 4-year-olds performed significantly above chance in both conditions, indicating that the ability to detect audio-visual numerical correspondences develops during this age period(p.1600). They argued that if Starkey et al.’s (1990) claims about infants are true then preschoolers should show a similar competence. By their studies, Mix, Huttenlocher and Levine (1996) found no evidence that 3 year olds can detect audio-visual numerical correspondences. The developmental period between 3 to 4 years was found to be a crucial for mathematics, as preschoolers quickly expand their ability to understand the abstract relationship between numbers and sets as dissimilar as objects and events. They also tested toddlers ability to perform nonverbal calculation and found that the ability develops between ages 2  ½ and 3. Some studies have suggested that abstract numerical knowledge develops in infancy, but Levine and Huttenlocher found that babies only have an approximate understanding of numbers and at age of 3 years children can represent number exactly. Mix, Huttenlocher and Levine (1996) claim that: The discrepancy is due to the contrast criteria between infant study and preschool study. For infant study criteria was looking for longer time and in preschool study an active choice response was needed, which was much more demanding criteria. The ability to match and calculate correctly, nonverbally, is neither innate nor independent of general ability. Mix (1999) studied preschool children to see whether they ‘recognise numerical equivalence between sets that vary in similarity’. She pointed out that if claims about number competence in infancy are true then children should be able to judge numerical equivalence for other types of similarity. She emphasized that none of the tasks in infants’ studies â€Å"requires the explicit numerical comparison of one set to another† (p.272). According to Mix (1999) â€Å"a prevalent claim is that numerical abstraction emerges very early, perhaps as part of an innate knowledge structure that is specific to the number domain (Gallistel Gelman, 1992).This implies that development of numerical competence should have some advantages or at least follow a distinct path compared to other domains† (p.290). But she did not find any evidence. She proposed that discrepancy between infants and toddlers knowledge of number competence is because of different levels of understanding. She clarified that preschool matching task was different as compared to infant looking time task and these both task measures different type of numerical knowledge. (p.291) In 2002 Mix, Huttenlocher and Levine critically reviewed â€Å"the idea that quantitative development is guided by an inborn ability to represent discrete number† (p.278). They tested the quantitative competencies of infants and young children mentioned in their article. They arise many questions which are very important and need clarification: ‘What non-numerical cues do infants use? How does a number-based representation develop from such origins? How do children differentiate and ultimately integrate discrete and continuous quantification?’ 3.2- Clearfield and Westfahl approach: Clearfield and Westfahl (2006) conducted three experiments on 3 to 5 months infants to see how familiarization affects their looking time during addition problems. They replicated Wynn’s (1992) procedure in first experiment and found that infants looked longer at incorrect outcome same as in Wynn’s findings. They strongly argued on the basis of their results that â€Å"infants responded to the stimuli based on familiarity rather than the mathematical possibility† (p.40) (number competence) of the event in Wynn’s original finding and in Experiment 1. They also pointed out that there was no statistical difference in infants’ looking towards 1+1=2 and 1+1=3 (in Wynn’s finding). They asked for future research to confirm this. (p.40) In their article, Clearfield and Westfahl (2006) mentioned that Cohen and Marks (2002) challenged Wynn’s (1992) finding about infants’ number competence. Clearfield and Westfahl (2006) also told about Wynn’s (2002) response to it i.e. she rejected their challenge by saying that they did not replicate her study exactly. 4- Discussion: Evidence show that infants have inborn number competence and even they can manipulate simple arithmetic (Wynn, 1992). There is a considerable debate is going on young children’s ability about numerosity especially with regard to addition and subtraction. The problem is word number learning which they learn at later years. By the age of 2 years, children can count up to three or more (Gelman Gallistel, 1978). Wynn’s (1992) finding is challenged by Cohen and Marks (2002) as cited by Clearfield and Westfahl (2006). But Wynn’s (2002) rejected this challenge and still strict with her claims about infants’ inborn number competence. Clearfield and Westfahl (2006) interpreted that infants do not have counting ability but their performance on infants’ studies was based on familiarization. They insisted that researcher must work on the issues of familiarization and other basic perceptual processes rather than more controversial concept of number competence in infants. Learning the number system is one of the most difficult tasks for a young child. It is a slow process which takes many years to complete. Researchers have explored questions about the roots of numerical knowledge using looking time techniques with infants. It is still unclear to what extent is the sense of numbers innate and to what extent is it learned and how early the child acquires a meaningful counting procedure? Results of early counting studies appear unstable with each other. Some studies focus on conceptual competence (early counting) and some suggest that understanding the purpose of counting take place in later years. Young children often confuse to answer how many are there? It requires children to tell the last word when counting a set. They usually start counting the objects (Wynn, 1990). Counting out a number of objects from a large set is much complex than counting the number sequence. This all need a practice and clear understanding which develops later on. There is evidence â€Å"that five year old children take large number words to apply to specific, unique cardinal values† (Lipton Spelke, 2005, p.9). They argued that infants are born with innate knowledge of number from which they learn an understanding of number words and verbal counting. It is still unclear that if infants look so smart then why toddlers look so ignorant. Some researchers criticized the infants’ studies that they were not manipulating numbers when confronted with small quantities but may be they looking for total surface area of objects, not for number. We really do not know what was in infants’ mind. But criteria in Mix et al.’s study (1996) required children to point out the picture matching in numerosity, was much more demanding. And other studies involving counting ‘how many objects there are?’ require more understanding and more skill. To conclude all the interpretations about infants and preschoolers, it seems that criteria for judging preschoolers knowledge of number was too demanding. It is clear that at least some of number knowledge is innate. But the question still remains as to how much of it is innate, and how much is learned. In 2004, Zur Gelman argued that 4- and 5-year olds can easily be taught the basics of addition and subtraction. They concluded that even 3- year old children can do addition and subtraction by predicting and checking under supportive environment. Zur Gelman (2004) study is instructive because their emphasis is on practice and how teachers use different strategies. 5- References: Baillargeon, R. (2004). Infants’ reasoning about hidden objects: evidence for event-general and event-specific expectations. Developmental Science, 7, 391-424. Clearfield, M. W., Westfahl, S. M. C. (2006). Familiarization in infants’ perception of addition problems. Journal of Cognition and Development, 7, 27-43. Cohen, B. L. Marks, S.K. (n.d).How infants process addition and subtraction events. Retrieved on January 04, 2008 from http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Group/CohenLab/pubs/Cohen_and_Marks final.pdf/ Cordes, S. Gelman, R. (2005). The Young Numerical Mind: When Does It Count? The Handbook of Mathematical Cognition. Psychology Press; London. 127–142. Retrieved on January 04, 2008 from http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/~chenml/411/CordesandGelman.pdf Gelman, R., Gallistel, C. R. (1978). The child’s understanding of number. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Lipton, J. S., Spelke, E. S. (2005). Preschool children master the logic of number word meanings. Cognition,xx,1–10. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.from http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~lds/pdfs/lipton2005b.pdf Mix, K. S. (1999). Similarity and numerical equivalence: Appearances count. Cognitive development, 14, 269-297. Mix, K. S., Huttenlocher, J., Levine, S. C. (1996). Do preschool children recognize auditory-visual correspondences? Child Development, 67, 1592-1608. Mix, K., Huttenlocher, J., Levine, S. (2002). Multiple cues for quantification in infancy: Is number one of them? Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 278-294. Starkey, P., Spelke, E., Gelman, R. (1990). Numerical abstraction by human infants. Cognition, 36, 97-127. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wynn, K. (1990). Children’s understanding of counting. Cognition, 36, 155-193. Wynn, K. (1992). Addition and subtraction by human infants. Nature, 358, 749-750. Zur, O., Gelman, R. (2004). Young children can add and subtract by predicting and checking. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19(1), 121-137.

Sources Of Competitive Advantage Tourism Essay

Sources Of Competitive Advantage Tourism Essay Abu Dhabi is the capital city and largest out of the seven emirates of the UAE; it constitutes for 85 of the UAEs total land mass. It is home to just over 613,000 people. However, it is the second largest city after Dubai. Over the recent years, Abu Dhabi has evolved into an international conurbation. It is the epicenter of the UAEs political and industrial activities. The city is also home to prime officials, such as the royal Emir Family and the United Arab Emirates central, federal government. Abu Dhabi is considered to be one of the worlds largest producers of oil and a pantheon for regional commerce. Abu Dhabi has been recently putting in tremendous effort to actively diversify it economy through multiple investments in financial services as well as the tourism sector. From the tourism perspective, Abu Dhabi is considered to be one of the worlds most fastest growing tourism destinations. Also, it is deemed to be a city that offers its visitors an opportunity to experience a comb ination of culture-rich tradition, modernity, adventure, and utter relaxation. Alongside that, Abu Dhabi is also a place where people can experience aesthetic beauty both in terms of the natural landscapes and contemporary architectural designs. In addition, the Abu Dhabi International Airport has also been ranked among the best airports in the Middle East region. Given its blissful beaches, luxurious hotels, and all-embracing shopping experience, Abu Dhabi is an ideal destination for tourists and visitors. Destination Mission: Abu Dhabi has set long-term goals with respect to its tourism plans and priorities. Bearing in mind its initial plans of development and sustainability, the tourism sector in Abu Dhabi plans to achieve certain key strategic goals over the next year. According to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ABTA), they are aiming to collectively building a world class tourism destination (http://www.abudhabitourism.ae, 2012) via developing an extensive range of products that fulfill the needs of their target markets, and by developing some form of awareness with regards to their target market and by creating the necessary level of proficiency in the marketplace. From our standpoint, our mission is to create a marketing plan that will promote Abu Dhabi as an exceptional and globally recognized tourism destination. Abu Dhabis Competitive advantage: As Abu Dhabi continues its growth, it has managed to gain competitive advantage a customer base as well as on a product/service base and that is through enhancing the citys infrastructure to reduce traffic, build a more environment friendly city (Masdar City), and the biggest yet to come, the metro. Abu Dhabi reflects a relaxed yet sophisticated lifestyle. Its a busy city and a very important business hub but yet maintains a quiet life unlike Dubai which is the city that never sleeps. And it is all in line with Abu Dhabis vision. It has become the perfect holiday getaway along with pleasure with business where now a business trip can also mean a good time for the family as well. Sources of competitive advantage: Etihad airways UAEs second national carrier and one of the leading award winning airline, offering the best services for their customers and projecting Abu Dhabis true hospitality. Having top notch services in the aviation industry gives tourist their first best experience in Abu Dhabi as soon as they choose them as a way to get there. Experience: For these seeking a unique thriving experience these are some of the thing to do while in Abu Dhabi: Yas Island: just an hour and a half away from Dubai hosting state of the art hotels, F1 races in Yas Marina Circuit, residential area by the beach, and fun family time in Ferrari World. Get the chance to ride the track in Yas Marina Circuit. Abu Dhabi islands: Saadiyat Island if relaxation and resorts is what you need, and Sir Bani Yas to explore UAEs natural preserve and largest island, as well as Delma Island, holding the Gulfs most important pearl diving centers. Desert balloon expeditions Helicopter tours Cruise tours Sports and Recreation: Sports lovers will have a great share of excitement in Abu Dhabi with some out of many of activities for them to do such as: Golf Water sports and sailing Motor Sports and karting Off-road driving Shooting Fishing Diving Horse riding Tennis; with Mubadalas World tennis championship. Shopping: Shopping lovers and fashionistas will indeed have a great shopping experience in Abu Dhabi and these are some of the places and goods they can shop for: Best buys and bargaining Shopping malls Carpets Art Arabian and local souvenirs (Sougha) Luxury retail Traditional markets and souks Gold jewelry Culture and Heritage: A famous quote is exchanged between people in the middle east and to be specific within the Arabian Gulf region: one who doesnt have a past, doesnt not have a future, and from there we take on the words of our late leaders and visionaries to illustrate how the Emirates and Abu Dhabi to be exact takes its steps in growing and blooming. Hence, Abu Dhabis heritage villages theme park, and archeological sites in Sir Bani Yas illustrate the UAEs rich culture and heritage. Other Amazing Must-See Sites: Masdar City and Masdar institute: a place on almost everyones destinations list to see the completely sustainable building and environment friendly city. The Grand Mosque: one of the largest mosques featuring amazing Islamic architecture. The grand mosque has the capacity to host 41,000 worshippers, 82 domes, over 1000 columns, 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers and the worlds largest hand knotted carpet. Emirates Palace Al Ain Zoo Arabian Wildlife park in Sir Bani Yas island Course Project Focus: In the course project focus we would like to move away from the clichà © of Abu Dhabi being a business hub only and home of embassies and consulates, and go beyond that. Abu Dhabi is indeed much more than that. Its a vacation destination everywhere you look around beginning with Abu Dhabis cornice to Al Ains Oasis city, and not to mention the western region of the Empty Quarter desert in Al Gharbia for the adventure seekers  [1]  . We will construct a marketing plan to change our audience perception of Abu Dhabi and gain more attention and tourism attractiveness and shape tourism in Abu Dhabi, as well as to meet the goal of Abu Dhabis Economic growth vision in 2030. Section 3: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Industry Analysis: For the UAE as a whole, the tourism sector had another good year in 2011, although annual growth in foreign tourists slowed slightly to an estimated 11.0%. BMI anticipates a slowdown in the sector over the short term, with growth in arrivals forecast at about8% in 2012 (raised slightly this quarter). Growth in visitors from Europe to Dubai has been weak in recent years. Continuing favorable opportunities exist for the UAE to exploit regional tourism growth, such as from Saudi Arabia. The tourism industry has also become a notable bright spot for the construction sector. The most recent figures for Abu Dhabi for January-July show the emirate welcomed 1.37mn hotel guests, an 11% increase over the corresponding period in 2011. The already burgeoning tourism sector appears to have benefited from the Arab Spring, with tourists attracted away from other locations in the region. Given the ongoing instability, there is potential for the industry to benefit further in this regard. Annual tourist visits is expected to rise from 1.8 million visitors in 2010 to 2.7 million by 2013 and to 7.5 million by 2030. Every aspect of the strategy works towards showcasing Abu Dhabi as an exclusive, high-end tourist destination where visitors can engage in world-class business and relax. SWOT Analysis: TOURISM IN ABU DHABI ENVIRONMENT EVALUATION INTERNAL STRENGTHS Base to a large number of leading corporations in the world Presence of leading luxury hotels Easy access worldwide due to close proximity of Abu Dhabi Intl Airport Well laid out and congestion-free streets Wide array of destinations and events for a family holiday WEAKNESSES Lacks the luster and glamour of neighboring Dubai Development and implementation of projects is slow Does not cater much towards young single adults. EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES Rising global position of the region Presence of natural resources (petroleum) Ever expanding globalization THREATS Rise of other oil states like Qatar and Kuwait Disturbances in the region Overview of SWOT Analysis: The SWOT analysis sums up the strengths and weaknesses of the tourism industry of Abu Dhabi. The above table shows us that the tourism industry in Abu Dhabi has the potential to grow and become one of the largest in the region. Being the Capital of the United Arab Emirates has made Abu Dhabi home to most of the head offices of leading global corporations in the region. The large number of luxury hotels makes Abu Dhabi a prime location to host business events and conventions. Abu Dhabi caters to families also by having a variety of cultural destinations as well as those that cater to fun. The Ferrari world in Abu Dhabi, The upcoming Yas Waterpark, The Grand Prix and rock concerts such as Creamfields is an attraction that pulls in lots of fun seeking crowds. Abu Dhabi unlike Dubai lacks certain glamour, with tourism and business not being the prime source of income, the implementation of projects is quite slow. Dubai and other oil states in the MENA region are therefore a competition t o Abu Dhabi that cannot be ignored. Competition: Competition for tourism in Abu Dhabi involves both local and international level competition. At the local level, it faces tough competition mainly from its sibling Dubai the Las Vegas of the middle east. Abu Dhabi has announced new ambitious tourism targets, complemented by a US$30 million marketing budget and huge infrastructure projects, and it is opening up representative offices around the world and attending world travel fairs. The emirates ambitions would appear identical to Dubais but this sibling wants to be different. However the end product differs from Dubai, Abu Dhabi is now throwing impressive figures into the mix in a bid to attract an estimated U$11 billion in tourism projects by 2015. Ultimately Abu Dhabi may develop a superior tourism product to Dubai, buts its path to achieve this will follow Dubais development example, which has shown what you can achieve with a well-coordinated and funded marketing approach. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi faces solid competition from the other metropolitan cities around the world and renown for tourism. Abu Dhabi has still not turned out to be a popular word among the people around the world and this is what Abu Dhabi needs to aim at. With strong marketing strategies and effective implementation along with determination, Abu Dhabi can definitely reach this goal with top rankings in the worlds best destinations. Customer Analysis: The customers in a tourism industry are nothing but the tourists. These tourists visit a county for either of the two purposes Business or Leisure. Abu Dhabi, being a place which was known for standing up during the recession period and still booming in the market at a good rate with a lot of upcoming projects proves to be a good attraction to business entrepreneurs around the world. Abu Dhabi should definitely focus more on attracting customers who visit for business purposes. At the same time, families and other people who need to take a trip for fun could satisfy themselves in Abu Dhabi with the numerous attractions. Abu Dhabi has attractions for all the age groups and if people know more about the attractions and events in Abu Dhabi, theyll definitely not miss out on these. People nowadays are becoming more aware of and interested in tours and Abu Dhabi has very good potential to cater to the interests of all age groups. Abu Dhabi has enough to serve both the types of customers very well and this is what that makes it an effective place for tourism. Section 4: SEGEMENTATION, TARGETING, AND POSITIONING (STP) Market Segmentation: When it comes to tourism planning and strategy formulation, it is of utmost importance to segment the market prior pursuing a course of action or marketing plan. Market segmentation refers to breaking down or classifying the market at hand into submarkets or segments based on certain characteristics or aspects. Such characteristics (demographics and psychographics) may include age, purpose of travel, and opportunities available to them. In our case, promoting Abu Dhabi as the next big tourism destination, the tourism market can be broken down into several segments. The first main segment is families, which consist of parents and children- perhaps also young adults within the household- and even senior members like grandparents. This segment can be further divided into different age groups. For example, this classification can be done as follows: toddlers and children ranging from the age of 5 to 12, teenagers and young adults starting from 13 years of age up to 19, a youth category w hich encompasses the younger generation (i.e. 20 to 29 years old), and lastly the adults or seniors which are mainly above the age of 30. The second main market segment would be the business travelers. As mentioned earlier in the project, Abu Dhabi is a regional hotspot for business opportunities and investments. Thus, it can attract potential businesspeople. As a result, it is important to consider professionals as a segment within that particular market. Lastly, a third possible segment could be individual/pair travelers such as bachelors, singles, newlyweds (honeymooners), couples without children, and finally, retired or senior couples. Target Market Identification: To target a particular segment, a particular destination must prove what is has to offer to be of value to the targeted market. In this case, we believe the predominant target market would be families. There are many reasons why Abu Dhabi would consider promoting itself to families, and conversely, there are many reasons why families might consider Abu Dhabi for their next vacation spot. When firms are marketing a certain product or service, the consumer must understand what the product or service uniquely offers to them compared to that of its competitor and what added value it provides. Similarly, a tourism destination must offer its tourists a unique experience in every regard. It is easy for a family to pick a destination that has amazing parks, state of the art resorts, and large shopping malls, but the question is, what is so different about a beach in Salalah, Oman, a resort in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and a shopping mall in Dubai, with what Abu Dhabi has to offer? What is it e xactly that pushes a family to visit one place over another? The answer is value and experience. The experience and joyful memory is what stays with a person, especially after a trip or vacation. Abu Dhabi is home to many things that a vacationing family would be on the lookout for. There are many activities that one can do both indoors and outdoors. A business man flying to Abu Dhabi to close some deals can worry no more about leaving his family back home. While hes busy during the day his wife can take away the kids to Ferrari World, or if theyre a couple with no kids, the wife can go out shopping or enjoying a relaxing spa day in Saadiyat island resort. Nevertheless, business and pleasure has become a very do-able thing in Abu Dhabi where business partners can take a cruise along the sea, golf, or competing on the tennis course while discussing work. What makes Abu Dhabi different is that the visitors do not have to worry about getting stuck in traffic while getting from one place to another. The activities venues are very spread out all over Abu Dhabi beginning with Yas Island, just an hour and a half away from Dubai, to Al Gharbia the western region of the Empty Quarter desert. Additionally, Abu Dhabi has beautiful natural preserves and natural islands where the family can enjoy kayaking along and enjoy the natural beauty, and archeological specimens that reveals the rich heritage and culture of the UAE. Abu Dhabi is the destination where modernity and heritage meets, and greet its visitors with warm welcoming Arabian hospitality and traditions were inherited along the years and are carried on from one generation to the next, therefore the special treatment is always given away wherever you go about Abu Dhabi. Worry no more about what can your family can do à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ because theres fun for everyone in Abu Dhabi. Positioning A quote from His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, director general of ADTA regarding Abu Dhabis positioning in the tourism industry says the following: Abu Dhabi is seeking to attract discerning tourists who will be attracted by a diversified product base of beach, nature, culture, sports, adventure and business tourism. Our mandate is to position Abu Dhabi as an international city of wealth and culture, while maintaining a balanced approach between development and environmental preservation and sustainability. In our five-year strategic plan, 2008-2012, we have prioritized wider international marketing of this destination and we envisage that by the end of this year we will have ADTA representative offices in Australia, Italy and China joining our existing overseas office network which serves our primary markets of the UK, Germany and France.  [2]  Thus, Abu Dhabi seeks growth in the tourism industry and position itself within the market using product characteristics and customer benefits as a positioning strategy. Section 5: MARKETING MIX MARKETING STRATEGY Marketing Mix: The proposed marketing mix for the betterment of the tourism industry of Abu Dhabi consists of four main elements: Product formulation, Pricing, Promotion and Place. Product Formulation: Product in the tourism industry is any benefits or quality of experience that meets the needs and wants of the customer. Abu Dhabi needs to ensure that the tourism experience that it provides its guests meets their needs. This can be done by ensuring top performance in four aspects of its product. Designed Characteristics: The tourism in Abu Dhabi can be given a boost by attracting more customers, this can be done by clubbing together different aspects of its tourism like cultural sites, hotels, leisure activities into single deals and promotions. Service Component: All tourism staff should undergo special training for interaction with customers. There should be a uniform form of administration for all tourism organizations within the emirate. When customers notice the same uniforms and procedures within different tourist spots within the country, it instills a form of familiarity within them. Branding/Ambience: Abu Dhabi should create a brand for itself as a top end tourist destination. The brand should consist of a catch phrase as well as a logo. The catch phrase should project in the mind of the traveler an image of the destination and a feel of the people and culture. The logo can include prominent structures of the emirate (eg. Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi). Having a brand and its consequent promotion around the world will give a boost to the tourism industry in the emirate. Price: Pricing is a very important marketing strategy as it helps control the sales volume. Abu Dhabi has over 125 hotels, where many of these are five star hotels. The published prices of these hotels tend to be very high and do not attract a lot of customers. The tourism industry could create deals that club together hotels and different leisure activities and charge a promotional price. This way, the customer perceives more value for the cost they are paying. Abu Dhabi could also create seasonal pricing strategies that can cater a specific tourism season. Promotion: Promotion is perhaps the most visible of the four marketing mixes and perhaps what Abu Dhabi lacks the most. As a tourist destination, Abu Dhabi needs to send a global message that they are now ready to enter the tourism market. This can be done through hosting tourism exhibitions and signing contracts with international hotel groups and airlines for promotional prices. Publishing magazines and brochures as well as a more interactive advertising in travel websites can help make the consumers more aware of Abu Dhabi as a tourist destination. Place: In tourism, place does not refer to the destination alone, rather all points of sale for the destination. This includes travel agents, online booking as well as convenience of access. Abu Dhabi should start a tourism office in major cities around the world offering deals at promotional prices. Etihad Airways already connects Abu Dhabi to different parts of the world, ensuring ease of access to the city. Marketing Strategy: A well-developed efficient marketing strategy for the targeted segments is very trivial for growth of the product. This can be achieved by the following means: Sector Regulation: Work with industry sector stakeholders to enhance overall tourism sector standards. Develop and implement sector licensing and classification. Visitor Experience: Improved and consistent visitor experiences founded on unique culture character. Visitor services program Advocacy with other departments and agencies to meet the travelers needs. Accessibility: Significantly improved access to and within Abu Dhabi. Stakeholder Collaboration: Champion the development of the tourism industry with stakeholders. Tourism Product Development: Foster leisure and business tourism attractions and events. Promote Abu Dhabi: Promotion of Abu Dhabi as an international destination. Produce a steady stream of innovative event and concepts which are aligned to, and reinforce brand Abu Dhabi. Job Creation: Increase in skilled tourism employment and generate greater levels of Emirati participation. Organization Excellence: Increase the organizations effectiveness by operating with a streamlined structure, well-defined and documented processes and using the latest available technology tools. Workforce Development: Increase the organizations effectiveness and efficiencies by recruiting and retaining skilled employees and empowering them to the highest levels of professionalism with a customer focus attitude. Sustainable Tourism: Promote development of a sustainable tourism sector adding value to the local community.

Main Character of Book Siddhartha Essay -- Herman Hesse

Herman Hesse's, Siddhartha, is a story any person of any era, age, sex, or religion can relate to in some respect. It is about a young man wanting more out of life than most are comfortable with. He wants to find himself, find meaning to life, find enlightenment. To achieve his goal, he exposes himself to the extremities of self-denial and self-indulgence, objecting himself to a great ordeal to become a well-rounded individual and find his true self. Siddhartha begins his journey leaving his father, a religious leader, who has taught him the Brahmin way of life and expects his son to walk in his footsteps, "he envisioned him growing up to be a great wise man and priest, a prince among Brahmins" (Hesse 4). Siddhartha, however, wants more of a challenge in life. He and his best friend Govinda, which admires him very much and is like a "shadow" to him, set out to join an ascetic group called samanas. The samanas teach the two young men endurance and "to let the ego perish" (Hesse 13), among many other valuable life skills. Siddhartha, still unfulfilled, takes leave of the samanas with his friend. They go to hear the wisdom of a well known and respected teacher, Gotama. After hearing the Buddha speak, the two see that he is indeed enlightened, this inclines Govinda to join him and his followers. Siddhartha, however, feels that he needs more than another's account of how enlightenment is obtained, still unfulfilled, he surprises and d isappoints his friend when he chooses not to opt for the same path as him. He leaves his friend to continue his pursuit. Subsequently, Siddhartha passes paths with a beautiful prosperous courtesan who quickly takes a liking to him and helps him obtain an apprenticeship with a wealthy merchant, eventually... ...ut change, growing and becoming ?somebody?, and everyone goes through this. Hesse went through many changes throughout his own life, he too, seemed to have issues finding himself, he went through three marriages, attended various institutions (including a mental one), and changed careers often. He, as did Siddhartha in his book, attempted suicide. So, basically his own life?as with many authors?influenced his novel. But there are sure to be others that see a bit, or a lot, of this protagonist in them. Works Cited Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Trans. Susan Bernofsky. New York: Modern, 2006. Ziolkowski, Theodore. The Novels of Herman Hesse: A Study in Theme and Structure. New Jersey: Princeton, 1965. Wikipedia contributors. ?Herman Hesse?. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 March 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermann_Hesse&oddid=202834940.

Cooking as a Social Function Essay -- Women Economics Culture Essays

Cooking as a Social Function In Women and Economics, Charlotte Perkins Gilman directly addressed the notion of work divided along sexual lines. Her analysis, however, refutes the modern idea that the sexual divisions of labor are driven by a comparative advantage to working in the household or in the market. In spite of some overtones of biological essentialism in her argument, in the form of the abundant nature metaphors, Gilman ultimately proposed a society where the household work and the market are indistinguishable from one another. Though it is a small part of her argument in the text, Gilman’s discussion of cooking as woman’s work encompasses much of the complexity and the essence of her arguments. Gilman, though she did not term it as such, addressed the idea of comparative advantages in the household rather directly. â€Å"The main justification for the subjection of women, which is commonly advanced, is the alleged advantage to motherhood resultant from her extreme specialization to the uses of maternity under this condition† (Gilman 169). She countered this argument by first rejecting it on the ground that â€Å"the advantage to motherhood cannot be proved† and secondly by arguing that it is not maternal tasks that women are subjected to, but rather â€Å"the uses of sex-indulgence† (169). This idea of â€Å"sex-indulgence† is the core of her argument as she sees household tasks as inherently conflated with men and women’s sexual relationships. In considering the issue of â€Å"our division of labor on sex-lines, Gilman focused on the complexities involved with â€Å"the preparation and serving of food† (225). Once the notion that women are somehow inherently better at making food than men, the idea of women cooking in the ho... ...still has some choice in selecting the particular establishment to live in, it removes much of the onus of responsibility off of the woman and onto the living establishment. While Gilman’s vision of what she saw as coming to pass in the near future has not yet arrived, her arguments are still operating against contemporary notions of women in the household. Modern microeconomic models of household production still rely on the idea that women are somehow biologically fitted to â€Å"the preparation and serving of food and the removal of dirt, [and] the nutritive and execrative processes† (Gilman 225). As a result, her arguments seem striking over a century since they were written. References Gilman, C. (1998). Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.

A Survey on the Impact of Green Procurement

TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATIONi TABLE OF CONTENT†¦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‚¬ ¦. ii-iii CHAPTER ONE: 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‚¬ ¦.. 1 1. 1 Background of the Study1 1. 1. 1 The Kenyan Cement Industries3 1. 2 Statement of the Problem4 1. 3 Objectives of the Study5 1. 4 Significance of the Study5 1. 5 Justification for the Study6 1. 6 Scope of the study6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW7 2. 0 Introduction7 2. 1 The concept of green procurement7 2. 2 Appreciation of Green Procurement in the Cement Industry7 2. Green Procurement Practises in the Cement Industry9 2. 4 The Impact of Green Procurement on the Performance of the Organization10 2. 5. Conceptual framework11 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY13 3. 0 Introductio n13 3. 1 Research Design13 3. 2 Target Population13 Table 3. 1: Target Population and Sample Size14 3. 3 Sampling and Sample techniques14 3. 4 Data Collection Instruments15 3. 5 Data Collection Procedure15 3. 6 Data Analysis15 REFERENCES17 APPENDICES20 Appendix I: Introduction Letter20Appendix II: Research Questionnaire21 Appendix III: Budget26 Appendix IV: Time Schedule27 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of the Study Environmental issues have become a subject of critical concern for businesses in recent years worldwide. Environmental obligations have grown substantially as society becomes more conscious of its environment. Legislation relating to the environment is increasing in number, and companies have to be environmentally responsible by taking a proactive stance on voluntary initiatives.Therefore, it is essential that they deliver reasonably priced quality goods and services in desired time frame. Porter and Vander Linde (1995) proved that properly designed environmen tal standards can trigger innovations that improve values, ultimately enhanced resource productivity that makes companies more competitive. Green procurement is an approach in which environmental impacts play an important role in procurement decisions, with procurement officers concerned about more than just price and quality.Companies which pride themselves on environmental stewardship and thoughtful care of the environment may use green procurement, among many other tactics, to ensure that they do business in an environmentally responsible way. A number of aspects of the procurement process may be adjusted to meet a mission of environmental sustainability (Williams, 2000). Within a procurement office, green procurement can involve changes in office procedures which are designed to benefit the environment.For example, rather than having people submit purchase orders and requests on paper, the procurement office might switch to electronic methods of communication so that paper is no t wasted. The office might also engage in environmentally friendly activities like reducing energy usage, keeping plants around the office to improve air quality, or buying carbon offsets to compensate for office energy usage. During the procurement process, green procurement involves seeking out products which are manufactured sustainably (Williams, 2000).On a simple level, green procurement can push companies to seek out office supplies made from environmental products, or products made by companies which are committed to environmental stewardship. The office might also demand minimal packaging on the products it orders, look for products moved with bio-diesel, seek out manufacturing facilities which bear environmental certifications, or indicate to potential vendors that it would prefer products from companies which are committed to minimizing waste and benefiting the environment.Procuring products which are environmentally responsible can be a challenging occupation both in the organization and the procurement officers. Going green can make your products more attractive to big buyers and consumers, reduce waste disposal and operating costs, and help you comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations (Alsop and Post, 1995). On the other hand building environmental concerns into procurement might seem only to add to your costs, force you to buy products of inferior quality and cost you time and effort.There are a number of obstacles for implementing green procurement programs and this include, lack of readily available environmental friendly products, zero or expensive environmental alternatives, inaccurate studies, lack of organizational support and inaccurate or unsupported environmental claims by the manufacturers and suppliers. Others are legislation, organizational policies, and directives, environmental management systems or multi – lateral agreements often require organizations to implement a green procurement program (Worrell, Ma rtin, Hendriks and Meida, 2001).Labeling and certification requirements vary, so a green procurement officer may think that he or she is doing the right thing by procuring a product which bears a â€Å"green† label and later learn that the product is not more environmentally responsible than that of a competitor, even though it is more expensive. Good procurement officers will investigate their sources with care, taking the time to confirm that the claims made by a company are accurate and comparing data from different sources to see which vendor is the best (Alsop and Post, 1995).Companies which engage in green procurement processes may be eligible for environmental certification, formal recognition from the government, and other perks. Projecting a sustainable image can also be a valuable marketing tool which a company may use to get an edge on the competition. Environmental advocates also point out that as more and more companies demand green procurement, the market for en vironmentally sustainable products expands, making them cheaper and easier to obtain.These advocates hope to see green procurement becoming the norm, rather than an unusual event (Worrell, Martin, Hendriks and Meida, 2001). 1. 1. 1 The Kenyan Cement Industries The major cement manufacturing industries in Kenya are, the East African Portland Cement and Bamburi Cement. Bamburi Cement Ltd. was founded in 1951 by Felix Mandl – a director of Cementia Holding A. G. Zurich. Cementia later went into partnership with Blue Circle PLC (UK). In 1989, Lafarge, the world’s largest building materials group, acquired Cementia, and thus became an equal shareholder with Blue Circle.Lafarge bought Blue Circle in 2001 to become the largest building materials company in the world and Bamburi Cement Limited principle shareholder. Bamburi Cement is the largest cement manufacturing company in the region and its Mombasa plant is the second largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also one of the largest manufacturing export earners in Kenya, exporting 28 per cent of its production in 1998. Export markets include Reunion, Uganda and Mayotte (Coito, 2004).The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) started as a trading company importing cement mainly from England for early construction work in East Africa. It was formed by Blue Circle Industries United Kingdom. The name Portland was given due to the resemblance in color of set cement to the Portland stone that was mined on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. For more than 70 years, East African Portland Cement Company has been Kenya's leading cement manufacturer. By providing the ‘lifeblood' of the country's construction industry, the company has played a central role in nation building.The EAPCC has greatly expanded its production capacity with the introduction of Mill No. 5 and at present produces over 1. 3 million tonnes of cement per annum (Detwiler and Tennis, 1996). 1. 2 Statement of the Prob lem Sustainability in procurement is a growing business and social phenomenon, as organizations around the world attempt to align their operations with their sustainability priorities, whether to source ethically, reduce their environmental effect or to support their host communities.All kinds of organizations are being swept up in these developments, including local and central governments, public sector institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses large and small. This naturally has a cascading effect on suppliers who need to anticipate these marketplace changes in order to meet the evolving requirements of their clients (Alsop and Pos, 1995). The Kenyan cement industry has not been left behind either.Through the Kyoto protocol, the government has set up policies and regulations which must be adhered to by the players in the industries including cement manufacturing industries. The process of cement manufacturing involves a long process and combinations of materials whose by – products are released into the environment. This poses a great challenge and threat to environmental sustainability especially to the people around the factories and the workers in the industries (Terra, 2007).According to Coito, (2004), through the Kyoto protocol, the government has set up standards for environmental sustainability practises to ensure that the operations of the industries do not interfere with the environment around them, however, due to the nature of the cement manufacturing industries, they pose a greater risk to the environment and this calls for a critical understanding on how the practice of green procurement is carried out in these industries. As the gap between green procurement and the work activities of institutions continue to widen significantly it poses a major challenge to the sustainability of the environment.The researchers have been motivated to carry out this research in order to reduce this disparity by encouraging the society to lear n on the impact of the green procurement. Through green procurement the end products of an organization are environmentally friendly to the consumers, the cost of production is reduced hence higher profits to the organization and cheaper prices to the consumers, the products are of high quality and the consumers of such products are satisfied, however due to the `nature of the cement production, his becomes a big challenge to the organizations and therefore it calls for a critical understanding on how the practise is carried out in these industries and how it affects their products. The study intends to find answers to the following questions; do the cement manufacturing industries practise green procurement? What is the impact of green procurement on the organizational performance? 1. 3 Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study include; i.To establish the extent to which the procurement staff within the cement manufacturing industries appreciate the concept of green proc urement. ii. To investigate how green procurement is carried out by the procurement officers in cement manufacturing industries. iii. To establish the impact of green procurement on the performance of the organizations. 1. 4 Significance of the Study The Procurement officers The study will enable the procurers to appreciate green procurement as a current practise which must be given keen attention and carried in a way that ensures environmental sustainability.The procurers will find this study important especially those who do not have the green procurement competence and hence seek for further information to enable them execute the practise without difficulties. Organizations’ management Through this study, the managers will be enlightened on the impact of green procurement its benefits and impacts to the organizations and the law, so as to plan and incorporate it in the organizations’ plans. This will ensure that such organizations carry out their procurement process in a way which shows concern for environmental sustainability.The Government The study will help the government in evaluating the practise of green procurement in the industries, whether the cement industries are adhering to the set regulations and rules. This will be a benchmark for the government to assess the set down rules and the level of compliance by the industries. The Academicians This study will form a basis for further studies on green procurement and add onto the existing literature on procurement and environmental sustainability. 1. 5 Justification for the StudyIn the cement manufacturing process in the industry, the product goes through various stages before the production of the final product. Throughout the product life cycle (PLC), the industry has many potential environmental impacts and it must deal with restoring exhausted limestone quarries, minimizing wastes, reducing emission of carbon dioxide and impacts from dust and traffic or other air pollutants such as NOx and SOx which are mainly emitted in process of energy consumption in baking of cement. Therefore, the industry must provide a mechanism of dealing with the waste in a responsible and acceptable manner.This is why the researchers have come up with this study so as to assess how the cement industries apply the green procurement policies regardless of the type of operations they carry out. 1. 6 Scope of the study The study will focus on the impact of green procurement on the cement manufacturing industries. It will be carried out in Blue Triangle and Bamburi cement – Athi River. The study will target the procurement departments within the two organizations. The respondents for the study will be drawn from the employees working in those departments. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0 IntroductionThe chapter reviews the literature related to green procurement, its importance and impact on the organization that carry out the process. 2. 1 The concept of green procurement Green Procurement can be stated as the procurement of products and services which are environmentally friendly. The products or services procured should have a lower impact on the environment over their whole life cycle than the standard equivalent. It involves the integration of environmental issues, such as pollution prevention and reduction of waste into procurement decisions along with traditional factors such as price, performance and quality (Williams, 2000).Green Procurement entails practices which encourage suppliers to safeguard the environment by producing goods or offering services that do not harm the environment or lead to heavy use of resources such as energy when being used (Williams, 2000). These practices include; use of products made using recycled materials, use of energy efficient or low energy-consuming products, procuring products that use alternative fuel for example solar, bio-diesel, and ethanol, use of bio-degradable materials and use of non-ozone layer depletin g substances (Perry and Singh, 2002). . 2 Appreciation of Green Procurement in the Cement Industry Sustainable procurement is a growing global trend. Increasingly businesses, governments, non-profit and other organizations are integrating social and environmental objectives into the procurement process as a means to reduce their environmental effects, leverage social benefits and foster a sustainable economy for example green procurement has increased in North America (US, Canada and Mexico) in the last three years, as reported in the 2007 and 2008 Eco – Markets studies, (Terra, 2007).In Europe, membership of the Buy-It-Green Network has seen its membership of government procurers more than double from 1997 to 2001 and more than triple since 2001. This is an indicator of the growth in green procurement within Europe’s government sector. A 2005 survey of 25 EU member states was conducted in which government procurement agencies were assessed to determine the effectivene ss of their green procurement programs. The study evaluated 1,099 tender documents and surveyed 865 procurers and found that while 67% identified themselves as green procurers, only 37% had green procurement programs in place (Terra, 2007).In the period 1900-2004, the whole of Africa was responsible for 2. 5% of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions whilst the US accounted for 29. 5%. In 2007, India's per capita carbon dioxide emissions were 1. 4 metric tonnes per annum against 19. 3 tonnes in the US. Although these gaps are narrowing, historic emissions are relevant because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere to exert a greenhouse effect for many decades. All assessments of vulnerability to climate change concur that the countries most seriously threatened are those which carry the least historical responsibility (Perry and Singh, 2002).The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997 as a supplement to the Framework Convention on Climate Change and eventually ratified in February 2005 . Richer countries, known as â€Å"Annex 1 countries†, are subject to legally binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In aggregate, these seek a 5% reduction in the 1990 level of global emissions before the end of a first commitment period in 2012. However, the calculation excludes emissions from aviation and shipping and there has been no contribution from the US which refused to ratify the Protocol.Furthermore, several countries, including Canada and Japan, have blatantly disregarded their Kyoto commitments (Terra, 2007). The poorest countries now find themselves in an impossible position. They unanimously favour continuity of the Kyoto Protocol as the only currently available means of binding the big polluting countries to their promises. But if they refuse to compromise, they may be accused of collapsing the UN process which is the only international forum in which poor countries have an equal voice (Tokyo, Worrell and Galitsky, 2004). . 3 Green Procurement Practises in the Cement Industry Suppliers are required to provide proof of their commitment to environmental protection. This may take the form of statements on the steps they are taking to reduce their impact on environment, or alternatively to demonstrate that they are not in breach of any statutory requirements relating to the environment. In addition, suppliers should consider the environmental impact of their products through the whole life cycle, from ‘cradle to grave’.Today, environmental procurement is an increasingly important issue and decision-making tool for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and economies in transition. It can be ignored by an enterprise only at peril to its long-term survival (Coito, 2004). Every product, process and service has an impact upon the environment. Using life cycle thinking can help our understanding of the types and degree of impacts and where they occur. Life cycle thinking can also provide inf ormation on how changes made in a particular stage of the life cycle affects impacts upstream or downstream.For example, the highest impacts of cement products occur in the extraction of raw materials while for others it is during their use or disposal when higher environmental impacts occur. Taking a life cycle perspective can also illustrate the benefits of collecting and recycling packaging materials instead of sending them to landfill; the recycled can replace the need to use virgin materials (Detwiler and Tennis, 1996). On a simple level, green procurement can push companies to seek out office supplies made from environmental products, or products made by companies which are committed to environmental stewardship.The office might also demand minimal packaging on the products it orders, look for products moved with bio-diesel, seek out manufacturing facilities which bear environmental certifications, or indicate to potential vendors that it would prefer products from companies w hich are committed to minimizing waste and benefiting the environment (Roth et al, 2002). Before a green procurement program can be implemented, current procurement practices and policies must be reviewed and assessed.A life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of products or services is required and a set of environmental criteria against which procurement and contract decisions are made has to be developed. The outcome is a regularly reviewed green procurement policy that is integrated into other organisational plans, programs, and policies. A green procurement policy includes date-stamped priorities and targets, the assignment of responsibilities and accountability and a communication and promotion plan (Roth et al, 2002). 2. The Impact of Green Procurement on the Performance of the Organization The environmental impacts over the life cycle of products are a simple concept to understand. Essentially the diverse environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, wate r use, air pollution, non renewable resource material use, chemical emissions and waste amounts are measures along the life of a product through a quantification methodology and accumulated. This quantification allows the results to visually represented delivering guidance for procurers that seek to compare different products (Nik et al, 2008).Green procurement policies and programs can reduce expenditure and waste; increase resource efficiency; and influence production, markets, prices, available services and organisational behaviour. They can also assist countries in meeting multi-lateral requirements such as the Kyoto Protocol and Rotterdam Convention. International Standards Organisation and other bodies have established guidelines for green procurement programs (Tokyo, Worrell and Galitsky, 2004). Environmental procurement reduces your costs.Some costs in procurement are visible: price; transport; etc. Others are â€Å"invisible†: losses due to inefficient use of resourc es; product liability; and the like. Environmental procurement can help reduce overall costs for the short, medium and long term by introducing a life-cycle perspective. Compliance with regulations – environmental procurement helps you meet regulations. Adopting the approach at an early stage can help your enterprise meet progressively stricter environmental regulations at a lower overall cost.Environmental procurement can help you keep pace with consumers’ preferences. The demand for environmentally safe products is being increasingly felt in developing countries and transition economies as well as in developed countries (Worrell, Martin, Hendriks and Meida, 2001). In sum environmental procurement improves your overall competitiveness. Applying environmental procurement can improve your enterprise’s strategic position in the market, whether domestic or international. Green procurement steams from pollution prevention principles and activities.Also known as gree n or environmental purchasing, green procurement compares price, technology, quality and the environmental impact of the product, service or contract. Green procurement policies are applicable to all organisations, regardless of size. Green procurement programs may be as simple as procuring renewable energy or recycled office paper or more involved such as setting environmental requirements for suppliers and contractors (Tokyo, Worrell and Galitsky, 2004). 2. 5. Conceptual framework Figure 1. 1: Conceptual framework Dependent variable Independent variablesGreen procurement is a fundamental environmental concern that every procurement officer is required to embrace so as to be able procure goods and service that are environmental friendly or procure from suppliers who are environmental conscious about the effect of their products on the environmental sustainability. Appreciation of green procurement by the procurement officers helps in studying the environment under which the organi zations operates and therefore buying their products from suppliers who show concern for the environmental well being.The process of green procurement in the industry takes many different forms but the most important is how it is done in the cement industry. The procurement officer in a cement industry must be able to buy products which are acceptable to environment due to the nature of the cement industry; the products bought should be able to reduce its effect on the environment. Green procurement has several impacts on the performance of the procurement officers; they are able to purchase goods which promote environment sustainability to the people around them hence promoting a positive social cohabitation and reputation of the organization.Green procurement directly affects the end product i. e. the final product becomes competitive in the market. This greatly improves the performance of the procurement officers in the organization. CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 0 Intro duction This chapter presents the various steps that will facilitate the execution of the study to satisfy the objectives of this study. These steps include the research design, population of interest, sampling and sampling techniques, data collection instruments and procedures and data analysis. 3. 1 Research DesignThe design of this study is based on survey research of cement industries in Kenya, which will be used mainly because the design is useful in describing the characteristics of a large population. The research design allows the use of various methods of data collection like questionnaire, interview methods and observation guides. 3. 2 Target Population The study will target two cement industries that East African Portland Cement (EAPC) and Bamburi Cement (BC). The respondent will be drawn from the top management and the procurement department from these organizations as shown in table 3. below. Table 3. 1: Target Population and Sample Size Target PopulationPopulation Esti mateSample SizePercentage (%) Top Management (CEO or MD) from BC1 1100 Top Management ( CEO or MD) from EAPC1 1100 Procurement Manager (BC)11100 Procurement Manager (EAPC) 11100 Procurement department (BC) 501020 Procurement department (EAPC) 501020 Total1042423 Source: Authors 2011 According to Table 3. 1 the target population of the study includes the procurement department (100 officers) and the management (4) therefore the total target population is 104 respondents.Under the management category the study will target the top management of the organizations – the CEO or MD (2) or the representative because they are the ones who make decision on policies regarding the operations of the organization and the procurement managers or their deputies (2). 3. 3 Sampling and Sample techniques A sample is a smaller group or sub-group obtained from the accessible population (Mugenda and Mugenda, 1999). This subgroup is carefully selected to be representative of the whole population wi th the relevant characteristics.The total sample size for this study is 24 (n=24) as shown in table 3. 1 above. The sample size is convenient to handle due to time constrains. The sampling technique to be used is simple random to pick respondent for the study from the target population. 3. 4 Data Collection Instruments These are the data collection instruments to be used in the process of data collection. They will be questionnaires and this will be used to collect data from all the respondents. The questionnaires, will be used for the following reasons: a) can reach a large number of respondents within a short ime, b) gives the respondents adequate time to respond to the items, c) offers a sense of security (confidentiality) to the respondents, and d) tends to be objective since no bias resulting from the personal characteristics (as in interview). There will be two sets of questionnaires which will have a number of sub-sections that will be sub-divided based on the major research objectives or questions except the first sub-section (section A) that is meant to capture the demographic characteristics of the participants like sex, marital status, age, working experience, and level of education. 3. Data Collection Procedure The authority to conduct the study in the organizations will be obtained from the management through a personal letter of request from the researchers and an introduction letter from the department to show that these are genuine students from the University of Nairobi. The selected respondents will be given the questionnaires to fill. The researchers will then pick them thereafter at an agreed time. The researchers will make sure that they observe all the ethical consideration in the research and the respondents will be assured of confidentiality 3. 6 Data AnalysisThe collected data will be analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The qualitative data will be organized and then coded accordingly using statistical package for soci al sciences (SPSS) and Excel. Descriptive analysis such as frequencies, mean and percentages will be used to present the data in form of tables and graphs. This will involve coding both open and closed ended items in order to run simple descriptive analyses to get reports on data status. The study has three objectives. The questionnaire has been designed according to these objectives and it contains both open and closed ended questions.The close ended questions have been rated using the likert scale where the respondents will be required to select the answers from the ones given in the questionnaire while the open end will require the respondents to give their own views depending on the questions asked. After that data collection it will be in a qualitative form. This will be quantified by coding the data using SPSS to generate tables, graphs, charts for interpretation. The data analysis will be done according to the objectives of the study from where conclusions will be made for ea ch objective. REFERENCES Alsop, P. A. and J. W. Post. 995. The Cement Plant Operations Handbook, (First edition). Tradeship Publications Ltd. , Dorking: UK. Blumenthal, M. 2004. Scrap Tires Fuel U. S. Cement Industry. Cement Americas July 2004. Boustead I. 2001. Who Gets the Credit? Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, Brussels. Coito, F. 2004 (draft). Industrial Case Study: The Cement Industry. Prepared by KEMA Xenergy with assistance from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Oakland, Calif. Detwiler, R. J. , and P. D. Tennis. 1996. The Use of Limestone in Portland cement: A State-of-the- Art Review. Skokie, Ill: Portland cements Association.Goh, Eng Ann, Zailani, Suhaiza, & Wahid, Nabsiah Abd. (2006). A study on the impact of environmental management system (EMS) certification towards firms’ performance in Malaysia. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal. Kaantee, U. , Zevenhoven, R. , Backman, R. & Hupa, M.. (2002). Cement manufacturing using alternative fuels and the advantages of process modeling. Presented at R’2002 Recovery, Recycling, Re-integration, Geneva. Kitazawa, S. & Sarkis, J.. (2000). The relationship between ISO 14001 and continuous source reduction programs. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 20(2), 225-248.Kvist, S. , Pongracz, E. & Keiski, R. L.. (2005), ISO 14001 and waste minimization in metallurgy industry. Proceedings of the RESOPT closing seminar â€Å"Waste minimization and utilisation in Oulu region: Drivers and constraints, Oulu: Oulu University Press. Martin Perry & Sanjeev Singh. (2001). Corporate environmental responsibility: The potential and limits of voluntary initiatives. Technology, Business and Society Program Paper Number 3, April 2001. Geneva. Mugenda an Mugenda, A. G (1999) Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches: Nairobi: Acts Press Nik Ramli Nik Abdul Rashid, Nabsiah Abdul Wahid & Norizan Mat Saad. 2008). Expanding the sco pe of education for sustainable development among employees of organizations involved in the implementation of the environmental management system. The 12th UNESCO-Asia-Pacific Program of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID). Bangkok. Perry, M. & Singh, S.. (2002), Corporate environmental responsibility In: Utting, P. (Ed. ). The greening of business in developing countries: Rhetoric, reality, and prospects. London: Zed Press, 97-131. Porter, M. E. & van der Linde, C.. (1995). Green and competitive: Ending the stalemate. Harvard Business Review, 73(5), 120-129 Portland cements Association (PCA). 997. Blended Cement Potential Study. Skokie, Ill. : Portland cements Association. Roth, K. , F. Goldstein, and J. Kleinman. 2002. Energy Consumption by Office and Telecommunications Equipment in Commercial Buildings—Volume I: Energy Consumption Baseline. Washington, D. C. Tokyo. Worrell, E. , and C. Galitsky. 2004. Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for Cement Making: An ENERGY STAR Guide for Energy and Plant Managers. Berkeley, California: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. United States Census. 2005d. 2002 Economic Census, Industry Series Reports: Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing.Washington, D. C. : U. S. Census. Williams E. 2000. Global Production Chains and Sustainability: The Case of High-Purity Silicon and its Applications in Information Technology and Renewable Energy. United Nations University, APPENDICES Appendix I: Introduction Letter The Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director East African Portland Cement/ Bamburi Cement P. O Box Athi River Dear Sir/Madam, RE: A SURVEY ON THE IMPACT GREEN PROCUREMENT IN THE CEMENT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN KENYA. As mentioned above we are conducting as survey on the impact of green procurement in the cement industries in Kenya.Your organization has been targeted for the study therefore, we are kindly requesting you to allow us obtain the relevant data. The respon dents will be the CEO/MD or his representative and others will be picked from the procurement department. This study is being carried out as a requirement in partial fulfillment of the award of a degree in management research project – Bachelor of Commerce, University of Nairobi. A copy of this research will be submitted to you upon request. Your positive response will be highly appreciated. Thanking you in advance. Yours Faithfully, †¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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 ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Appendix II: Research Questionnaire We are students from the University of Nairobi. As part of the course work in our undergraduate program, we are carrying out a survey on the impact of green procurement in the cement industry in Kenya. We kindly request that you provide information as required by the questionnaire in the study. Any information that you will provide will be kept confidential and will be used only for the study and the results then availed to the interested parties afterwards. Part A: Demographic InformationPlease put a tick (v) in the brackets next to the right response 1. Indicate your organization a) East African Portland Cement [ ] b) Bamburi Cement [ ] 2. Indicate your gender a)Male[ ] b)Female[ ] 3. Your Department, †¦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‚¬ ¦. 4. What is your job designation? †¦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‚¬ ¦ Part B: 1. Appreciation of Green Procurement Use the likert scale to answer the questions below. 1 – strongly agree (SA), 2 – agree (A), 3 – strongly disagree (SD), 4 – disagree (D), 5 – not sure (NS).State the extent to which you agree with the following statements based on your level of appreciation of green procurement in your organization. ActivitySAASDDNS It is important to think twice before buying supplies that are environmentally unsustainable Environmental procurement means systematically building environmental considerations into your day-to-day procurement decision-making and operations Its objective is to help you procure the most suitable and â€Å"environmentally preferable product† that meets your enterprise’s needs.I appreciate the ISO standards which requires companies to incorporate environmental considerations into their procurement procedures It involves ensuring the improvement of the suppliers’ environmental performance Due to green procurement increasing number of products that are harmful to the environment (especially chemicals) have been banned by international conventions and treaties Harmful products and technologies, risks to the health of the environment and of the population Due to pressure from consumers, various countries have started to put forward restrictions on importing certain consumer goodsAny other, explain†¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. To what extent do you appreciate green procurement as part of your responsibilities in the organization. †¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦. 2. How Green Procurement is carried out in the Organization Please put a tick (v) in the brackets next to the right respo nse a)Do you practise green procurement? Yes [ ] No [ ] b)If yes how do you do it? Explain, †¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3. Use the likert scale to answer the questions below. 1 – strongly agree (SA), 2 – agree (A), 3 – strongly disagree (SD), 4 – disagree (D), 5 – not sure (NS).State the extent to which you agree with the following statements based on the considerations during green procurement ConsiderationsSAADSDNS Procurement officers have to ask themselves questions such as whether a product is based on resources from environmentally sensitive bases (including regions with fragile ecosystems, rare woods or endangered animals). If a product has a percentage of recycled materials rather than relying on virgin materials. If the production process involves a high level of wastage.Companies should look for products with reduced wastage levels achieved through use of more appropriate m aterials or better technologies. The life-cycle approach seeks solutions that reduce negative harmful impacts and costs to the environment. This can mean avoiding restricted or banned substances, non-degradable materials and packaging prone to leakages in transit. An analysis of purchased items can show what the critical needs are for the enterprise to operate international. Any other, please explain †¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. Impact of Green Procurement on the Organization Use the likert scale to answer the questions below. 1 – strongly agree (SA), 2 – agree (A), 3 – strongly disagree (SD), 4 – disagree (D), 5 – not sure (NS). State the extent to which you agree with the following statements based on the impact of green procurement ImpactSAASDDNS Consider environmental issues in procurement to reduce total costs Makes your enterprise more competitive.Building environmental concerns into procurement adds to your costs, force you to buy products of inferior quality and cost you time and effort Going green can make your products more attractive to big buyers and consumers reduce waste disposal and operating costs. Help you comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Environmental procurement can help you keep pace with consumers’ preferences Applying environmental procur ement can improve your enterprise’s strategic position in the market, whether domestic or international.It encourages continuous improvement in products and services; Promotes sustainable development in the organization Any others, please explain,†¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Thank you for your coop eration END Appendix III: BudgetItemsAmount (Ksh. ) 1. Stationary (Photocopying papers and writing materials) 15,000 2. Telephone calls 5,000 3. Transport and movement 5,000 4. Binding and Photocopying 15,000 Total 40,000 Appendix IV: Time Schedule Time (Month/Activity)Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 Topic search and approval and material collection Pre-visiting the research area. Proposal writing and defense Data collection and analysis. Report writing and defense Final drafting and submission of the research paper