The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 6

Elena was using all her considerable talents at negotiation to calm Matt down, encouraging him to order a second and third Belgian waffle; smiling at him across the table. But it wasn't much good. Matt was moving as if he were driven to rush, while at the same time he couldn't take his eyes off her. He's still imagining Damon swooping down and terrorizing some young girl, Elena thought helplessly. Damon wasn't there when they stepped out of the coffee shop. Elena saw the frown between Matt's eyebrows begin and had a brainstorm. â€Å"Why don't we take the Jag to a used-car dealership? If we're going to give up the Jaguar, I want your advice on what we get in return.† â€Å"Yeah, my advice on beat-up, falling-apart heaps has got to be the best,† Matt said, with a wry smile that said he knew Elena was managing him, but he didn't mind. The single car dealership in the town didn't look very promising. But even it was not as depressed-looking as the owner of the lot. Elena and Matt found him asleep inside a small office building with dirty windows. Matt tapped gently on the smudged window and eventually the man started, jerked up in his chair, and angrily waved them away. But Matt tapped again on the window when the man began to put his head down once more, and this time the man sat up very slowly, gave them a look of bitter despair, and came to the door. â€Å"What do you want?† he demanded. â€Å"A trade-in,† Matt said loudly before Elena could say it softly. â€Å"You teenagers have a car to trade,† the little man said darkly. â€Å"In all my twenty years owning this place – â€Å" â€Å"Look.† Matt stepped back to reveal the brilliant red Jag shining in the morning sun like a giant rose on wheels. â€Å"A brand-new Jaguar XZR. Zero to sixty in 3.7 seconds! A 550-horsepower supercharged AJ-V8 GEN III R engine with 6-speed ZF automatic transmission! Adaptive Dynamics and Active Differential for exceptional traction and handling! There is no car like the XZR!† Matt finished nose to nose with the little man, whose mouth had slowly come open as his eyes flickered between the car and the boy. â€Å"You want to trade that in for something on this lot?† he said, shocked into frank disbelief. â€Å"As if I'd have the cash to – waitaminute!† he interrupted himself. His eyes stopped flickering and became the eyes of a poker player. His shoulders came up, but his head didn't, giving him the appearance of a vulture. â€Å"Don't want it,† he said flatly and made as if to go back into the office. â€Å"What do you mean you don't want it? You were drooling over it a minute ago!† Matt shouted, but the man had stopped wincing. His expression didn't change. I should have done the talking, Elena thought. I wouldn't have gotten into a war from word one – but it's too late now. She tried to shut out the male voices and looked at the dilapidated cars on the lot, each with its own dusty little sign tucked into the windshield: 10 PERCENT OFF FOR XMAS! EASY CREDIT! CLEAN! GRANNY-OWNED SPECIAL! NO DOWN-PAYMENT! CHECK IT OUT! She was afraid she was going to burst into tears at any second. â€Å"No call for a car like that around here,† the owner was saying expressionlessly. â€Å"Who'd buy it?† â€Å"You're crazy! This car will bring customers flocking in. It's – it's advertising! Better than that purple hippo over there.† â€Å"Not a hippo. S'an elephant.† â€Å"Who can tell, with it half deflated like that?† With dignity, the owner stalked over to look at the Jag. â€Å"Not brand-new. S'got too many miles on it.† â€Å"It was bought only two weeks ago.† â€Å"So? In a few more weeks, Jaguar will be advertising next year's cars.† The owner waved a hand at Elena's giant rose of a vehicle. â€Å"Obsolete.† â€Å"Obsolete!† â€Å"Yeah. Big car like this, gas guzzler – â€Å" â€Å"It's more energy efficient than a hybrid – !† â€Å"You think people know that? They see it – â€Å" â€Å"Look, I could take this car anywhere else – â€Å" â€Å"Then take it. On my lot, here and now, that car is barely worth one car in exchange!† â€Å"Two cars.† The new voice came from directly behind Matt and Elena, but the car dealer's eyes widened as if he had just seen a ghost. Elena turned and met Damon's unfathomable black gaze. He had his Ray-Bans hooked over his T-shirt and was standing with his hands behind his back. He was looking hard at the car dealer. A few moments passed, and then†¦ â€Å"The†¦silver Prius in the back right corner. Under†¦under the awning,† the car dealer said slowly, and with a dazed expression – in answer to no question that had been asked aloud. â€Å"I'll†¦take you there,† he added in a voice to match his expression. â€Å"Take the keys with you. Let the boy test-drive it,† Damon ordered, and the owner fumbled to show a key ring at his belt, and then walked slowly away, staring at nothing. Elena turned to Damon. â€Å"One guess. You asked him which was the best car on his lot.† â€Å"Substitute ‘least disgusting' and you'd be closer,† Damon said. He flashed a brilliant smile at her for a tenth of a second, and then turned it off. â€Å"But, Damon, why two cars? I know it's more fair and all, but what are we going to do with the second car?† â€Å"Caravan,† Damon said. â€Å"Oh, no.† But even Elena could see the benefits of this – at least after they held a summit to decide on a rotation schedule between the cars for Elena. She sighed. â€Å"Well – if Matt agrees†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Mutt will agree,† Damon said, looking very briefly – very briefly – as innocent as an angel. â€Å"What have you got behind your back?† Elena said, deciding not to pursue the question of what Damon intended to do to Matt. Damon smiled again, but this time it was an odd smile, just a quirk of one side of his mouth. His eyes said it was nothing much. But his right hand came out and it was holding the most beautiful rose Elena had ever seen in her life. It was the deepest red rose she had ever seen, yet there wasn't a hint of purple to it – it was just velvety burgundy, and open at exactly the moment of full bloom. It looked as if it would be plush to the touch, and its vivid green stem, with just a few delicate leaves here and there, was at least eighteen inches long and straight as a ruler. Elena resolutely put her own hands behind her back. Damon wasn't the sentimental type – even when he got on his â€Å"Princess of the Night† soapbox. The rose probably had something to do with their journey. â€Å"Don't you like it?† Damon said. Elena might be imagining it, but it almost sounded as if he were disappointed. â€Å"Of course I like it. What's it for?† Damon settled back. â€Å"It's for you, Princess,† he said, looking hurt. â€Å"Don't worry; I didn't steal it.† No – he wouldn't have stolen it. Elena knew exactly how he would have gotten the rose†¦but it was so pretty†¦. As she still made no move to take the rose, Damon lifted it and allowed the cool, silky-feeling petals to caress her cheek. It made her shiver. â€Å"Stop it, Damon,† she murmured, but she didn't seem to be able to step backward. He didn't stop. He used the cool, softly rustling petals to outline the other side of her face. Elena took a deep breath automatically, but what she smelled was not flowerlike at all. It was the smell of some dark, dark wine, something ancient and fragrant that had once made her drunk immediately. Drunk on Black Magic and on her own heady excitement†¦just to be with Damon. But that wasn't the real me, a small voice in her head protested. I love Stefan. Damon†¦I want†¦I want to†¦ â€Å"Do you want to know why I got this particular rose?† Damon was saying softly, his voice blending in with her memories. â€Å"I got it because of its name. It's a Black Magic rose.† â€Å"Yes,† Elena said simply. She'd known that before he said it. It was the only name that fit. Now Damon was giving her a rose kiss by swirling the blossom in a circle on her cheek and then applying pressure. The firmer petals in the middle pressed into her skin, while the outer petals just brushed it. Elena was feeling distinctly light-headed. The day was warm and humid already; how could the rose feel so cool? Now the outermost petals had moved to trace her lips, and she wanted to say no, but somehow the word wouldn't come. It was as if she had been transported back in time, back to the days when Damon had first appeared to her, had first claimed her for his own. When she had almost let him kiss her before she knew his name†¦. He hadn't changed his ideas since then. Vaguely, Elena remembered thinking something like that before. Damon changed other people while remaining unchanged himself. But I've changed, Elena thought, and suddenly there was quicksand under her feet. I've changed so much since then. Enough to see things in Damon I'd never imagined could be there. Not just the wild and angry dark parts, but the gentle parts. The honor and decency that were trapped like veins of gold inside that stone boulder in his mind. I have to help him, Elena thought. Somehow, I have to help him – and the little boy chained outside the boulder. These thoughts had trickled slowly through her mind while it seemed separated from her body. She was so involved with them, in fact, that she somehow lost track of her body, and only now did she realize how much closer Damon had gotten. Her back was against one of the sad, sagging cars. And Damon was speaking lightly, but with an undertone of seriousness. â€Å"A rose for a kiss, then?† he asked. â€Å"It is called Black Magic, and I did come by it honestly. Her name was†¦it was†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon stopped, and for a moment a look of intense bewilderment flashed across his face. Then he smiled, but it was the warrior's smile, the brilliant one he turned on and off almost before you were sure you had seen it. Elena sensed trouble. Sure, Damon still didn't remember Matt's name correctly, but she had never known him to forget a girl's name when he was really trying to remember. Especially within minutes of when he must have fed from that girl. Shinichi again? Elena wondered. Was he still taking Damon's memories – only the highlights, of course? The thrills, good or bad? Elena knew that Damon himself was thinking the same thing. His black eyes were smoldering. Damon was furious – but there was a certain vulnerability about his fury. Without thinking, Elena put her hands on Damon's forearms. She ignored the rose, even as he traced the curve of her cheekbone with it. She tried to speak steadily. â€Å"Damon, what are we going to do?† That was the scene that Matt walked in on. Ran in on, actually. He came weaving through a maze of cars, and dashed around a white SUV with one flat tire, shouting, â€Å"Hey, you guys, that Prius is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And then he stopped dead. Elena knew what he was seeing: Damon caressing her with the rose, while she was practically embracing him. She let go of Damon's arms, but she couldn't back away from him because of the car behind her. â€Å"Matt – † Elena began, and then her voice trailed off. She had been about to say â€Å"This isn't what it looks like. We're not in the middle of a cuddle. I'm not really touching him.† But this was what it looked like. She cared about Damon; she had been trying to get through to him†¦. With a small shock, that thought repeated itself with the force of a shaft of sunlight shooting through an unprotected vampire's body. She cared about Damon. She really did. It was usually difficult being with him because they were alike in so many ways. Headstrong, each wanting their own way, passionate, impatient†¦ She and Damon were alike. Small shocks were going though Elena, and her entire body felt weak. She found herself glad to lean against the car behind her, even though it must be getting dust all over her clothes. I love Stefan, she thought almost hysterically. He's the only one I love. But I need Damon to get to him. And Damon may be falling to pieces in front of me. She was looking at Matt all the while, her eyes full of tears that would not fall. She blinked, but they stubbornly stayed on her lashes. â€Å"Matt†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she whispered. He said nothing. He didn't need to. It was all in his expression: astonishment turning to something Elena had never seen before, not when he was looking at her. It was a sort of alienation that shut her out completely, that severed any bonds between them. â€Å"Matt, no†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But it came out in a whisper. And then, to her astonishment, Damon spoke. â€Å"You do know it's all me, don't you? You can hardly blame a girl for trying to defend herself.† Elena looked at her hands, which were shaking now. Damon was going on, â€Å"You know it's all my fault. Elena would never – â€Å" That was when Elena realized. Damon was Influencing Matt. â€Å"No!† She took Damon off guard, grabbing him again, shaking him. â€Å"Don't do it! Not to Matt!† The black eyes that were turned on hers were definitely not those of a suitor. Damon had been interrupted in the use of his Power. If it had been anyone else, they would have ended as a small spot of grease on the ground. â€Å"I'm saving you,† Damon said coldly. â€Å"Are you refusing me?† Elena found herself wavering. Maybe, if it was only once, and only for Matt's benefit†¦ Something surged up inside her. It was all she could do not to let her aura escape completely. â€Å"Never try that on me again,† Elena said. Her voice was quiet but icy. â€Å"Don't you dare ever try to Influence me! And leave Matt alone!† Something like approval flickered in the endless darkness of Damon's gaze. It was gone before she could be sure she'd seen it. But when he spoke, he seemed less distant. â€Å"All right,† he said to Matt. â€Å"What's the game plan now? You name it.† Matt answered slowly, not looking at either of them. He was flushed but deadly calm. â€Å"I was going to say, that Prius isn't bad at all. And the dealer guy has another one. It's in okay condition. We could have two cars just alike.† â€Å"And then we could caravan and split up if someone was following us! They won't know which to follow.† Normally Elena would have thrown her arms around Matt at this point. But Matt was looking at his shoes, which was probably just as well really, since Damon had his eyes shut and was shaking his head slightly as if he couldn't believe something idiotic. That's right, Elena thought. It's my aura – or Damon's – that they're homing in on. We can't confuse them with identical cars unless we have identical auras, too. Which really meant that she should drive with Matt the whole way. But Damon would never accept that. And she needed Damon to get to her beloved, her one and only, her true mate: Stefan. â€Å"I'll take the ratty one,† Matt was saying, arranging it with Damon and ignoring her. â€Å"I'm used to ratty cars. I already arranged a deal with the guy. We should get going.† Still speaking only to Damon, he said, â€Å"You'll have to tell me where we're really going. We might get separated.† Damon was silent for a long moment. Then, brusquely, he said, â€Å"Sedona, Arizona, for a start.† Matt looked disgusted. â€Å"That place full of New Age lunatics? You're kidding.† â€Å"I said we'll start out from Sedona. It's complete wilderness – nothing but rock – all around it. You could get lost†¦very easily.† Damon flashed the brilliant smile and instantly turned it off. â€Å"We'll be at the Juniper Resort, off North Highway 89A,† he added smoothly. â€Å"I've got it,† Matt said. Elena could see no emotion in either his face or his expression, but his aura was seething red. â€Å"Now, Matt,† Elena began, â€Å"we should really meet every night, so if you just follow us – † She broke off with a sharply inhaled breath. Matt had already turned around. He didn't turn back when she spoke. He just kept going, without another word. Without a backward glance.

Enginineer Economic and Costing Essay

The HKSAR government announced to the public on 24 October 2006 that the former site of Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport) would be redeveloped as an international cruise hub. The whole project included two sub projects, â€Å"Site formation† and â€Å"Cruise terminal and ancillary facilities building†. In project costing Inflation factor is applied as refer to government inflation index in 2009 (2%) and 2010 (2.7%). As the reason of project postponed, the total cost increased nearly one billion dollars compared to the original plan due to retendering and ASD government requirements. Within project costing considerations, maintenance cost in cash flow out is estimated to be roughly 221.9 Million per year from 2013. For project revenue, two main factors based on fixed rent from tenant space ($13 million for ten year tenancy) and variable rent from percentages of annual gross receipt. Minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR) was also used and accounted for from Exchange Fund to calculate present worth analysis as well as benefit and cost ratio of proposed development. Aside from economic and cost based justifications for project analysis, three main factors of social impacts are also considered in competitiveness in the cruise market, employment opportunity, as well as promoting sustainability from an environmental prospective. Overall, the demand for worldwide passenger levels are ever growing, to promote the international image of Hong Kong, the proposal of building the Kai Tak Cruise terminal is feasible when considerations come into play for combination in socio-economic factors. 1Background In analyzing the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, we analyzed the socioeconomic implications for the development plan. The HKSAR government announced to the public on 24 October 2006 that the former site of Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport) would be reissued for tender and to the redevelopment of reclaimed land that encompass 7.6 hectares with a general development cost estimate of roughly $8.2 billion. A brief background of the Kai Tak area is that it is the site of the former Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport located in Kowloon side of Hong Kong. Due to the sensitivity of limited land availability and urban density characteristics in Hong Kong, many rounds of deliberation and planning review by the government was required to finally approve the decision of developing the Cruise Terminal. Ultimately, the new Cruise Terminal facility will serve as a mix use facility to not only serves Hong Kong’s resurgence as an ecotourism destination, but a place for exhibitions and alternate venues as well. 2Cost and Revenue Analysis 2.1Project Costing and Investment Since the fail of tender in 2008, the government decided to proceed with the Design, Build and Lease (DBL) approach. The initial investment includes two sub-projects: â€Å"Site formation† and â€Å"Cruise terminal & ancillary facilities building† were original estimated costing $7.2 billion based on the price in 2008. However, the construction cost in general had surged significantly in 2009 due to sharp increase of numerous materials’ cost like sand and steel reinforcement ect. Finally the cost for â€Å"Site formation† roughly estimated as $2.30 billion with inflation factor 2% applied. This part starts from 2009 and will finish in 2017. One year later, the construction of â€Å"Cruise terminal and ancillary facilities building† started and the inflation factor increase to 2.7%. The cost roughly estimated as $5.85 billion. Thus the total initial investment cost becomes $8.15 billion which is around one billion difference to the original plan due to price infraction. The cash flow out show as below: [pic] The 1st pier will be commenced to public in 2013 Q2 (2nd pier will be after 2017). Thus using 2012~13 FY as reference point and assume MARR to be 4.9 %, whereas the initial investment cost used after 2013 will also be calculated to the present value in 2013 for comparison. Therefore, the total initial investment of Cruise Terminal will be $8.1 billion. [PW(I) = 8.1 billion] (Refer to Appendix Table 1) Beyond the initial investment, the government estimates the annual recurrent expenditure arising from site formation to be $15.5 million and from cruise terminal & ancillary facilities building to be $206.4 million. Thus the total maintenance costs will be $221.9 Million per year after the terminal commences to the public. [pic] 2.2Project Revenue Direct renting revenue to the government In 2011, HKSAR launched an open tender for the tenancy. The Tender Assessment Panel considered that the Worldwide Cruise Terminals Consortium (WCT)’s tender had complied the tender requirements. And the Central Tender Board approved the acceptance of WCT’s tender with renting detail as following: WCT will pay to the government a fixed Rent of approximately $13 million for the 10-year tenancy. The Government will be also received a percentage of the gross receipt of the operator as the variable rent. The percentages of the annual gross receipt to be shared with the Government by WCT are as below: [pic] 3Evaluation of Economic Viability 3.1Minimum Attractive Rate of Return (MARR) To understand the economic viability of carrying out this project, evaluation was conducted by applying the money-time relationships and the concept of Minimum Attractive Rate of Return (MARR). Average investment return of the Exchange Fund which is managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) was chosen as the MARR in the analysis. The Exchange Fund’s primary objective is to affect the exchange value of the currency of Hong Kong. The Exchange Fund may also be used to maintain the stability and integrity of Hong Kong’s monetary and financial systems, and can be invested in any securities or other assets to achieve investment return. According to the HKMA, the average return of the Fund was 3.5% over the last three years, 3.2% over the last five years, 4.9% over the last 10 years and 5.6% since 1994. In our analysis, the 10-year average investment return, which is 4.9%, was selected to be the MARR. The annual return of the Fund from 1994 to 2011 is shown in Appendix Table 2 shows the 2011 investment return and the average investment returns of the Fund over a number of different time horizons. The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Project According to the HKSAR government, the total capital investment required for the project is HKD 8156 million and the estimated annual recurrent expenditure is HKD 221.9 million. The annual income will come from a fixed rent for the 10-year operation as well as a variable rent with the percentage of the operator’s gross receipts. The maximum percentage will be 34% when the gross receipts are greater than HKD 90 million. 3.2Evaluation of the Project by Present Worth method (PW) In our analysis, we first applied the Present Worth (PW) method, which is commonly used for evaluating private financed projects. Our aim is to find out the operator’s annual gross receipt required so that the project can be considered to be economically justified if public benefits are not included in the calculation. By using the PW method, all cash flows and outflows are discounted to the present point in time at the determined MARR (4.9%). The PW is required to be greater or equal to zero if a project is to be considered as economically justified. In our calculation, the evaluation period is 10 years and assuming that the annual recurrent expenditure is a fixed contract amount. To estimate the operating revenue of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, reference to the operating revenue of Port Everglades in United State was made. Port Everglades is one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world. In 2010, its operating revenue from cruise sector was about USD 45.7 million (HKD 356.5 million). From the result of the calculation, the present value (2013-2014) is –HKD 8846 million (PW < 0) (refer to Table 3), which also means that the project is not economically justified when the public benefits are not included. The information used for the calculation and the cash flow are shown in Appendix Table 3. In addition, our analysis showed that the operator’s first annual gross receipts need to be HKD 3193 million (nearly nine-fold more than Port Everglades’) and then have 4% annual increase for PW to be greater than zero. Achieving this level of income is extremely difficult if not impossible. Table 3: Present equivalent of cash flow In next section, Benefit – Cost Ratio method, which is commonly used for evaluating public projects by considering public benefits, is applied in the analysis. 3.3B/C Ratio Overall economic benefit to Hong Kong Surely the government does not focus on the renting income but the overall economic benefit to Hong Kong. The project leads the development of the Cruise Economy which adds additional value to tourism, retail & dinning, travel trade and hotel etc. Based on the estimation from Tourism commission for latest cruise passengers’ expenditure data and multiplier effect, the cruise industry will bring following economic benefits to Hong Kong under different scenarios: The â€Å"low growth scenario† assumes growth brought by regional cruise operators developing cruise services with Hong Kong as homeport. The â€Å"high growth scenario† assumes growth brought by international cruise operators developing cruise services with Hong Kong as a homeport and port-of-call. We have calculated the B/C ratio for different scenarios as below with following assumptions 1) Interest rate is 4.9%; 2) The government only gets $13 million rent; 3) The Cruise Terminal continuous to operation till following year Therefore, even under low growth scenario, both conventional and modified B/C ratio greater than 1 after the Cruise Terminal continuous to operation over ten years, this project is worth to proceed. 4Social Impacts 4.1Higher competitiveness in cruise markets Compared to Shanghai and Singapore where the cruise terminals have been further developed, Hong Kong’s cruise market would be highly constrained if maintained at the original level. Because Hong Kong will require an additional berth between 2009 and 2015, and one to two berths beyond 2015 to sustain its development as a regional cruise hub in Asia Pacific region. 4.2Increase of employment chances Cruise vessels homeport at Hong Kong will create job opportunities in related industries including hotel, catering, shipping management, shipping supplies and insurance. It may support some 6900 to 10900 employment opportunities in 2020. 4.3Environmental impacts The terminal had obtained Platinum rating in BEAM Plus Project Assessment in 2012, which means a high level achievement in three Green aspects (energy saving, quality of indoor environment, and environmental impacts to neighbors) 5Conclusion From studies of worldwide passenger demand levels, it is estimated that there is a steady increase from 13.9 million to roughly 23.8 – 31.5 million by 2020. Although, this is a world estimate and Hong Kong is only small spectrum of the world, there is seemingly enough evidence from cruise terminal consultancy for Asia region to instill a predictable growth for Hong Kong. Overall, the project does not show promise economically with recurrent expenditures with operational revenues. It should be noted that the facility does not imply with an overall picture depicted in the B/C ratio. Therefore, to promote Hong Kong’s international image and standstill in the international sector, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal is a viable option for Hong Kong’s bright future.

Employment Selection and Training Development Essay

One would think that the employee selection process would be simple, but it is not. Two cases will demonstrate what is not, and what the correct way to approach a hiring situation is. There are specific ways to handle each situation that will minimize the risk to the company during the selection process. These alternative solutions will prevent the companies from ending up in court for discrimination in the hiring process. Speedy Delivery Service (SDC) The first case example chosen to demonstrate improper employment selection practices is Speedy Delivery Service. SDC would prefer not to hire women to perform deliveries for them. To discourage women from applying, SDC has decided to show extremely large, bulky, heavy packages to the women that are interested in the job. The prospective female applicants are lead to believe the job requires them to carry these object up multiple flights of steps without assistance, therefore discouraging them from applying for the job. Male applicants are not shown this same demonstration, therefore encouraging the male applicants (Moran, 2008. Ch. 2). The strategy that SDC is using in this case will increase the risks for the company to be charged with discriminatory hiring practices. This is a prime example of gender discrimination. Employers cannot overstate the physical requirements for a job. The misrepresentation of physical requirements goes against Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It is fine for employers to test for prospective employees abilities to perform required activities, as long as the tests are the same for each individual. Whether the prospective employee is male, or female the test have to be identical. Once SDC has chosen potential new hires, they can have prospective employees demonstrate that they have the capability to meet the physical requirements to perform the deliveries. If a female prospect has the same potential as a male prospect, they should be given the opportunity to have the job. If the females are not chosen, SDC must be able to explain why the female was not chosen. Long and Short Long and Short is worried about hiring a prospective employee that has children. They are need of someone that can work a specific schedule and  are concerned that if they choose a parent, the hours will be limited. Long and Short chooses to ask the prospective employee if they have children. If Long and Short does not hire this individual, there is a possibility that they will assume it is because they have children. This opens the company up to a huge risk of discriminatory hiring practices (Moran, 2008. Ch. 2). When hiring for a specific shift, or if worried about whether a new hire can work the required schedule a company can clearly find out this information. Without making specific request referencing children, Long and Short could simply ask about restrictions on the days or hours that a prospective employee can work. If for example, the position is for an evening shift and the prospective employee states that they can only work dayshifts, then the company has every right not to hire this individual. As long as each prospective employee is asked the same exact questions referencing availability for shifts, there is no discrimination. In asking a generic question to each prospective employee, the risk to the company is reduced. Conclusion Proper employment selection processes can decrease the risk of a company being sued for discriminatory hiring practices. The primary practice is to ensure that all prospective employees are tested the exact same, and asked the exact same questions. You cannot make testing processes lean towards or against a specific race or gender. The hiring process requires each individual to have the same opportunity to obtain employment. If it is shown that the testing practices exceeds the need for the job, then this is a discriminatory practice and the company will be in a higher risk. Therefore, it is the job of the hiring team to ensure that proper hiring practices are followed. References Moran, J. (2008). Employment Law (4th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection.

Fusion of face recognition method Research Paper

Fusion of face recognition method - Research Paper Example Figure 3 details these matches considering Amber1 and Andy2 (dashed arrows points to some of the analogous features that may be distinguished from the eigenface). It was observed (from Figure 1 and 2) that Amber1 have more distinguished features from the eigenface. Thus we can say that the eigenface closely and strongly resembles Amber1. Amber1's reconstructed images (shown in Figure 5 - include the step by step reconstruction of Amber1's face contained in folder "ReconstructedPictures") supports this observation. Before finding the eigenfaces, however, 'we first need to collect a set of face images. These face images become our database of known faces. We will later determine whether or not an unknown face matches any of these known faces. All face images must be the same size (in pixels), and for our purposes, they must be grayscale (shown in Figure 6), with values ranging from 0 to 255' (Krueger, J, et al, "Obtaining the Eigenface Basis"). Eigenfaces are basically basis vectors for real faces. This can be related straightforwardly to one of the most basic concepts in electrical engineering: Fourier analysis. Fourier analysis discloses that "a sum of weighted sinusoids at differing frequencies can recompose a signal perfectly"! In the same manner a "sum of weighted eigenfaces can seamlessly reconstruct a specific person's face". (Krueger, J, et al, "Obtaining the Eigenface Basis") CONCLUSION According to Krueger, J. & et al, "the eigenface technique is a powerful yet simple solution to the face recognition dilemma. In fact, it is really the most intuitive way to classify a face. As we have shown, old techniques focused on particular features of the face. The eigenface technique uses much more information by classifying faces based on general facial patterns. These patterns include, but are not limited to, the specific features of the f

Advanced Cross-Cultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Advanced Cross-Cultural Communication - Essay Example ; (2) Why was the homestay mother rude to me?; and (3) Why was she refusing my help? The first question was analyzed using theories related to non-verbal miscommunication and parochialism. The second question was addressed using theories related to high- and low-context culture. The third question was answered based on the theory of individualism and collectivism as well as the high- and low-context culture. It was concluded that the root cause of miscommunication in cross-cultural encounter is â€Å"parochialism†. Therefore, this report highly recommends the need to provide our future business people with opportunity to learn different the ways on how they can increase their awareness particularly with regards to the relationship between cultural background and the use of non-verbal cues such as facial expression, body distance, gestures, etc. Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................. ........ ii 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Research Process ................................................................................................... 2 3.0 Findings and Discussion ........................................................................................ ... .................................................................................................. 9 5.0 Recommendations ................................................................................................... 10 References ........................................................................................................................... 11 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 12 Appendix I – Full Critical Incident Report .......................................................................... 14 Appendix II – Summary of Continuum from High-Context to Low-Context Culture ........ 16 Appendix III – Comparison of the General Characteristics that Affect Communication between people from High- and Low-Context Countries ............................ 16 1. Introduction When I first arrived in New Zealand back in 2001, I had to live in a â€Å"homestayâ € . Back then, I could not speak any word in English. In order to communicate with people who live with me at the homestay, I had to learn the use of body and sign language. Even though I was able to express my personal thoughts and opinion through the use of body and sign language, there were several occasions I encountered miscommunication between me and my homestay mother. (See Appendix I – Full Critical Incident Report on page 14) The rationale and main objective of this report is to analyze and discuss the relevance of several existing cross-cultural theories on the critical incident presented on Appendix I. In the process of completing this report, the student is expected to conduct a literature review with regards to the concept and application of cross-cultural theories. By doing so, the student

Medical Billing and Coding Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medical Billing and Coding - Research Paper Example In healthcare systems, there are also regulations that govern the way in which the institutions bill their goods and services. In an argument by Kavaler & Spiegel (2003) prior to the creation of billing strategies a healthcare institution should ensure the specifications provided for by the both the W.T.O and legal laws in the country are adhered to. For instance, in some nations all public healthcare institutions are required to give free Tuberculosis funds. In these nations, such a law must be adhered to by all institutions regardless of the preferred billing strategy by an organization. This is different from other business entities which have the freedom to price their commodities. It is a democratic country, business entities are given the freedom to decide on their preferred pricing decisions (Lucas, 2008). However, health institutions are not independent because of their function in the environment. The influence of medical institutions should be regulated in order to promote equality in the provision of the service. Different in the healthcare system pricing is the fact that there are specific quoted prices for drugs. This makes the market an equal opportunity for success for all institutions. Additionally, this fact reduces the competition level of the market. Healthcare institution cannot use the pricing strategy to gain a greatest competitive advantage. However, health care institutions have the opportunity to alter this disadvantage when providing services for patients. The pricing of services is not regulated by any healthy body. Healthcare  institutions only rely on pricing services to satisfy their billing objectives. For this reason, many organizations invest mostly in providing quality services. Additionally, the quality of services provided is directly proportional to the pricing of the service. However, a significant number of healthcare organizations alter the quoted market price by a slim margin to incorporate cost incurred through processes like logistics. Apart from altering the market price, healthcare institutions offer specific purchasing packages.

A specific health care topic of interest to you --Nursing Essay

A specific health care topic of interest to you --Nursing - Essay Example According to Bracken, â€Å"every patient who faces this type of surgery struggles with fears and anxieties that are universal...† (n.d. cited in International Ostomy Association, 2006). Pre-operative and post-operative health teachings are routine interventions that help the patient prepare for, and manage surgical outcomes; however, studies supporting the common areas of stomal patient concern are scarce. This meta-analysis was done to identify the subject matter that needed further emphasis during patient teaching; as well as to identify the different factors that contributed to the low self-esteem experienced by these patients. Although pre-operative and post-operative education in managing the stoma are being employed by health care institutions, the subject matter and the patient concerns addressed during patient teaching should be assessed in order to provide individualized health teaching that can address patient uncertainty in managing the stoma; allay anxiety in rela tion to social issues; and prepare the patient for the changes associated with the surgery. Background and Introduction A stoma is an artificial opening made on the side of the abdomen that is used as a permanent, or temporary outlet for feces or urine (Clinimed, n.d.). There are three different types: colostomy--for solid fecal outlet; ileostomy--for soft fecal outlet; and urostomy--as outlet for urine (Clinimed, n.d.). Indications for stoma surgery include: congenital conditions such as malformations in the anus and urethra, and diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, diverticulear disease, and ulcers. Ostomy surgery is performed by taking a portion of the large, or small intestine through the abdominal wall to provide an outlet for feces and urine (Encyclopedia of Surgery, n.d.). A collection bag is worn over the stoma and requires routine irrigation to prevent infection and other complications. This procedure is performed to aid healing by diverting fecal ma tter from an injured or diseased part of the large intestine, for temporary stomas, and to construct an alternative excretory pathway for fecal matter and urine, for permanent stomas. The estimated of the number of patients with a stoma vary across the globe. In the US, approximately 800,000 patients with a stoma were reported in 2000; with growth rate of 3% each year (Turnbull, 2008). Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were reported to have the highest number of ostomy surgeries annually in 2009; with colostomy accounting for 55%; ileostomy 31%; and urostomy 14% (Registered Nurse’s Association of Ontario, 2009). According to Renzulli and Candinas (2007), stoma formation and delayed closure is associated with high morbidity; and complications including: stomal necrosis, stomal retraction, stomal stenosis, mucocutaneous separation and stomal prolapse. In a study conducted by Makela and Niskasaari (2006), which explored stoma care related problems experienced by stoma surgery patients in Northern Finland, it was found out that 35 patients of the 163 respondents developed stoma complications, particularly parastomal herninas (18 cases). Apart from the problem of having to live with the life-long risks associated with a stoma, self-esteem issues may also surface. According to Honkala and Bertero (2009), the most common concerns of patients before and after an ostomy surgery were

Comparison Between Windows 7 And Mac OS X Essay

Comparison Between Windows 7 And Mac OS X - Essay Example It is shown that despite having nowhere near as much malware as on Windows, the Mac remains vulnerable although its usability and multimedia support are much better. The Macintosh OS X series of systems introduced in 2002 is based on Unix, specifically the FreeBSD and NetBSD implementations that were contained in the NeXTSTEP object-oriented system. Mac OS X enabled Apple to move away from its previous Mac OS operating systems, which lacked pre-emptive multitasking support and memory protection (Abu Rumman, 30). Mac OS X is POSIX compliant that is built on an XNU kernel. Originally designed for the PowerPC architecture, it is now made for the x86 architecture, the same as for Windows. The current version of the Macintosh operating system, as of March 2012, is 10.7.3 named Lion and the next version 10.8 named Mountain Lion is due later this year. The Windows operating system is made available in a number of editions including Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Windows 7 added su pport for a number of additional features such as virtual hard disks and handwriting recognition. It is considered to be a vast improvement over the previous Windows Vista, which was considered to be a disaster. ... OS 10.7 Company Microsoft Apple Minimum system requirements 1 GHz IA-32/x86-64 processor; 1 / 2 GB RAM; 16 / 20 GB free disk space Intel Core 2 Duo or higher processor; 2 GB RAM; 4 GB disk space for installation (OS X Daily, 2011) Retail price $119.99-219.99 $29.99 Variety of versions Six different versions including Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate A single all-in-one solution (with built-in server) Sources: Microsoft and OS X Daily Of the two systems, Windows enjoys the greatest market share. The main reasons for its dominance is the huge variety of hardware it can run on, the amount of developer support behind it and the amount of games that are available for the platform (Abu Rumman, 30). Apple instead enjoys a niche in the creative and educational markets. On the other hand, the Mac has the advantage of access to Apple's Mac App Store, it has a built-in browser that is better than Internet Explorer, it already has multi-touch support, suffers from much less malware than W indows, it has several features not present in Windows and it has better refinement overall (Reisinger). Examples of the special features are Resume, Air Drop, system-wide Auto Save, Expose, Spaces (virtual desktops), Mission Control, Time Machine and Remote Wipe. These make Lion well ahead of Windows 7 (Warne). With Lion, Apple also introduced a digital distribution method for greater convenience instead of the traditional physical selling method, which Windows is still following. In terms of usability, the Mac is renowned for being generally easier to use from being more intuitive and built on the principle of minimalism. Microsoft on the other hand, is generally more cumbersome and complicated with perhaps too many unnecessary elements that can cause confusion. As a simple example, if a

The extinction of Chinese Sturgeons Research Paper

The extinction of Chinese Sturgeons - Research Paper Example This is considered the longest migration of up to 3200kms up the Yangtze River (Meadows). Although the females can carry an excess of a million eggs in one cycle, their reproductive capacity in each cycle is very poor. They breed only three to four times in their lifetime with a survival rate to hatching at only 1% (Zhuang). As earlier stated the Chinese sturgeon is largely dispersed along the main streams of the Yangtze River and the coastal areas of Qiantang, Minjiang and also the Pearl River. The Chinese sturgeons feed on most aquatic animals for example the aquatic insects, larvae, diatoms and the humic substances. The Chinese sturgeon is highly sensitive to increased noise on the river which is caused by the growing river traffic and are generally vulnerable to death and injury by boat propellers (Chen). The Chinese sturgeon has a habit of upstream migration; they migrate up rivers for reproduction once they reach sexual maturity. Most of the sturgeons will spawn in the fresh waters and then migrate to the salt waters to mature and breed their young. The primitive nature of the Chinese sturgeon sets it apart as a great academic interest in taxonomy and biology. It is for this reason that the Chinese government has devised ways to breed and preserve this endangered species. It is classified as China’s most protected Animals. In 1982 the Chinese Government built a Museum in the Chinese sturgeon institution which is used for artificial breeding procedures to try and preserve the endangered Chinese sturgeon, The Chinese Sturgeon Museum is located in a small island known as Xiaoxita in the Huangbo River within the district of Yiling. This reserve is one of Chinas several conservation programs that is geared towards the preservation of this endangered species (Birstein V). To also reduce the threats against the Chinese sturgeons, the Government of china took the initiative of closing commercial fishing since the year

Finance & Law for Engineers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finance & Law for Engineers - Assignment Example In order to achieve this Telit is currently seeking to grow its market for the M2M technology. The company is seeking to identify with the technology and be a major dealer with this M2M technology in the short run. This has had the effect increasing gross margin from 37.1% to 38.2% as a result of redesigning operations involving M2M technology. Telit has a wide distribution network for the M2M technology which has over five thousand dealers distributed worldwide. The company’s mode of dealership is to contact customers directly or through the dealers. Over the year, Telit recruited more employees all over the world. The 17.3% increase in revenues can be attributed to the efficiency of this distribution network. The new employees and dealers will be responsible with maintaining good relationship with clients, hence steady revenue. All this was done as part of the strategy to increase the company’s market base whose effect will be increased revenues (Telit Communications, 2013). Recently, Telit has made some acquisitions and is in the process of making more acquisitions. In its growth strategy, Telit wants to diversify its products. The company has invested in seven research and development centers that have the responsibility of coming up with new competitive products as well as innovatively improve the existing products. This had the result of an increase in research and development expenses from four million dollars to twenty four million dollars. Telit has already acquired ILS Technology LLC which will offer complementary contribution to the company’s growth strategy. ILST will offer services and products that will be used to connect M2M devices to the existing clients’ systems. Alongside ILST, the company has also acquired CrossBridge Solutions that deals with mobile data connectivity. This acquisition will assist the company to tap and properly establish itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) business. These acquisitions cost the company eleven

Nurturing the Childrens Spirituality in the Learning Process Essay

Nurturing the Childrens Spirituality in the Learning Process - Essay Example In such a way they are able to maintain compassionate and balance learning process to make them pro-active in school activities. Through this, they are expected to enjoy social cohesion and harmony within and outside of the school. De Souza (2004) asserted that Values Education and Clarification have been considered by the state as significant to be integrated into the curriculum to teach learners moral values as an inspirational tool in defining their good relationship with the rest of humanity and creation. Since the 1960s, moral values are a significant parcel in the formation of the learners’ affective domains to integrate their emotional, attitudinal, values and beliefs’ constructions (De Souza, 2004). Experts believed that values and moral are derivatives of peoples’ emotive sense and, thus, are not viewed as relevant in their cognitive being (De Souza, 2004). Hence, it’s this dichotomy of human existence that made it confusing and difficult to arrive at a common understanding of values of education (De Souza, 2004). It’s in this context that experts dealt the dualism of educational philosophy: language and practice (De Souza, 2004). They adopted an educational pattern for cognitive development and for values education to develop a standard behavior and intelligence of learners and to nurture that sense of commitment among individuals based on virtue and values (De Souza, 2004; Lambert, 2003, Noddings, 2010). Some psychologists observed that this has been considered as an effective tool since historical experiences proved that the integration of values in improving learners’ intellectual pursuits made people resilient in times of recession, conflicts, and social upheavals and during wars (Cacioppe & Edwards, 2005; Glendinning, 2005; Gross, 2004).

Piaget’s Cognitive development theory Essay Example for Free

Piaget’s Cognitive development theory Essay Jean Piaget and his theory of the stages of cognitive development have made significant contributions to a wide cross-section of disciplines including educational psychology and applied developmental psychology. Though his original theory has undergone some amount of changes, the basic tenets are still applicable in understanding how humans develop progressively from birth to adulthood. Several theorists have criticized Piaget’s theory and have proposed alternative approaches to explaining human development. Other theorists have espoused Piaget’s theory with few modifications or additions to the original theory. Nevertheless his theory of cognitive development has had a tremendous impact on developmental psychology and will continue to represent a valid theory in helping to understand the nature and stages of human development. The field of applied developmental psychology has and will continue to benefit from the views put forward by Piaget. Biography of Jean Piaget Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on August 9, 1896 to what he described as a ‘tumultuous family environment. From an early age Piaget showed signs of having superior intelligence and acquired an interest in several fields of study including psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, mechanics and natural history. At the very young age of ten he published a study on mollusks (malacology). Several years later, in 1917 he published a philosophical novel. His intellectual and research accomplishments thereafter are numerous. In 1918, at only 21 years of age he obtained his doctoral degree in Biology from the University of Neuchatel continuing his study of mollusks in his thesis. His interest in philosophy and psychology led him to Zurich where he worked with mental patients while studying psychoanalytic theory. His interest in child developmental psychology began in Paris with his work in a laboratory at a grade school. Here he worked along with Alfred Binet, who headed the laboratory, in standardizing reasoning tests for Paris children. He became curious about the thought processes of children that influenced them producing either the correct or incorrect answers. Piaget published a number of articles discussing the research he conducted here. In 1921 Piaget was made director of studies at the Institut J. J. Rousseau in Geneva. In 1923 he married Valentine Chatenay with whom he had three children. He continued his study of child psychology and later published five books on the topic. His background in Biology had a significant amount of influence in his research (Slavin, 2000). These publications subsequently distinguished him in this field of study. His academic and administrative appointments saw him working at the University of Geneva, the Sorbonne, the Institut des Sciences de l’Education, and the Bureau International de l’Education. He is also noted to have founded and directed a center for philosophers and psychologists called the Centre d’Epistemologie Genetique. He worked along with several other researchers including Alina Szeminska, Barbel Inhelder, and Marcel Lambercier. Among the research topics that he conducted extensive studies on have been noted the notions of number, physical quantity, and space; manipulation of objects; and the development of perception. These areas collaboratively contributed to his theory of cognitive development. His platform of study was both at the professional and personal level. It is widely known that he conducted detailed observations of his three children Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent throughout their infant and language development years. His wife, herself a psychologist, also worked along with him during his observations, recording the behaviors of their children (Fischer Hencke, 1996). Piaget’s contributions to the field of developmental psychological are indeed considerable and have been widely acknowledged. He was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 1969 by the American Psychological Association for his contributions. At his death in Geneva on September 16, 1980, Piaget had written and published more than 40 books and over 100 articles or chapters dealing with the topic of child psychology. His earliest works include The Origins of Intelligence in Children (1936/1952), The Construction of Reality in the Child (1937/1954) and Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood (1945/1951) (Fischer Hencke, 1996). To date his research is believed to have made the single most important contribution to developmental psychology (Slavin, 2000; Beilin, 1992) and to a large extent the field of cognitive development psychology was founded primarily on his work (Goswami, 2001, p. 259). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development Piaget sought to describe how development occurs from the moment of birth unto adulthood and the cognitive changes that occur as physical development takes place. Using his background in Biology and his knowledge of the way organisms behave relative to their environment, Piaget sought to explain how children think along these lines. Piaget’s position that children construct knowledge based on these processes was in antithesis to behaviorist orientation which suggested that behavior was molded exclusively by external environmental forces. Piaget’s theory was more constructivist in nature proposing that each child is actively involved in constructing his own reality. Construction of knowledge, Piaget argued, was facilitated via the interaction of the processes of adaptation, accommodation, assimilation and equilibration. Piaget commenced by proposing that children are born with a natural inclination to interact with and a need to understand their environment (Slavin, 2000). From the earliest stage children develop mental patterns that guide their behavior, what Piaget calls schemes. Schemes are used to â€Å"find out about and act in the world† (Slavin, 2000, p. 30). The goal of intellectual development, according to Piaget, was towards adaptation where existing schemes are adjusted in response to modifications in the environment. As new situations arise children either incorporate new objects or events into existing schemes through assimilation or they adjust existing schemes when new objects and events do not fit into those existing schemes in the process of accommodation. When unfamiliar situations arise a state of disequilibrium ensues and the processes of accommodation and assimilation facilitate the return to equilibrium where balance is restored between existing understanding and new experiences – the process of equilibration (Slavin, 2000). The dimensions of the theory Piaget believed that children passed through four different stages of development that are defined by different characteristic features from birth to adulthood. Piaget proposed that each child moves progressively through each of the stages of cognitive development as they mature physically. The four distinct stages of cognitive development that Piaget has specified are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational periods. He also gives an estimate as to the age at which each child will enter either stage. Wakefield (1996) points out, though, that â€Å"the age range for each stage is only an average† a child may enter a specific stage earlier or later than that estimated by Piaget. However, each child, Piaget argues, must pass through each of these stages of development in the specified order and no child can skip a particular stage. It must also be noted here that his theory is necessarily universal as it examines only how all children will progress and does not seek to analyze individual differences among children. The sensorimotor period represents a child zero (0) to two (2) years old. The main aspects of this stage Slavin (2000) summarizes as where â€Å"infants learn about their surroundings by using their senses and motor skills†. Piaget believes that each child is born with some built in mechanisms and tendencies and these he labels as reflexes. Because a newborn child has not yet developed a concept of his environment, his initial response to this environment up to one month old is instinctive. These reflexes, however, soon become the basis through which the child acquires new perspectives and behaviors (schemes) in an attempt to learn about and understand his environment. From birth to one month children begin to establish schemes as they commence the processing of interacting with and understanding their environment. Initially displaying behaviors by simple reflex children soon begin to modify these reflexes. From one to four months children attempt to reproduce recurring themes in their schemas. Children later begin to establish repetitive patterns in behavior and to associate different behaviors with different schemes. Examples include an infant crying when hungry and laughing when happy. The period two to four months Fischer and Silvern (1985) notes as when the child is developing the ability to intelligently adapt individual actions such as grasping a rattle (p. 634). Between four and eight months children are more object-oriented paying more attention to objects in their external environment, becoming more observant and less preoccupied with issues related to themselves such as hunger and sleep. Children begin to display more coordination in their schemes. From eight to 12 months children become aware of what they want and begin to construct their own schemas in order to achieve their goals. Behaviors are now more deliberate, carried out with a particular purpose in view. From 12 to 18 months children they are exploring new possibilities with objects in their environment. A child’s action at this stage is very experimental using trial and error to discover new schemas. From 18 to 24 months children begin to transition from this stage to the second preoperational stage. They are developing the ability to function using symbolic representations. Of course a child at the sensorimotor stage may not necessarily be able to fully understand every new thing that he perceives in his environment. Wakefield (1996) comments that, even though a child is unable to perform some amount of logical thinking at this stage, there is still some attempt to understand his environment through the use of his sense perceptions and motor skills. The preoperational stage is between ages two and seven years approximately. At this second stage children begin to be able to use symbols to represent things mentally by associating those new things with objects they are familiar with. While they are a little more developed cognitively than the earlier stage they still have a very narrow view of their environment. Within this stage, from age two to four years a child is relatively egocentric believing that everyone else sees things from their perspective. They also possess some amount of animism, believing that objects have characteristics similar to living things such as the ability to move. From age four to seven children further develop their reasoning capacities even though their thought processes are not completely logical. They have difficulty, however, with the concepts of centration and conservation. Slavin (2000) explains these concepts by illustrating that in this stage a child does not understand that the amount of milk in a tall glass is the same when it is poured into a shallower container nor are they able to realize that an object painted a different color is still the same object. The third stage of cognitive development is the concrete operational stage which covers children aged seven to eleven. At this stage children, while experiencing difficult thinking in abstract, are able to form concepts and solve problems. Of course they must be able to relate such operations to already familiar objects or situations in order for them to function properly. They are now able to understand and apply the principles of conservation and centration. Their reasoning is also considerably more logical and can show interrelations between different objects and classes of objects. They are still limited, however, in that they are unable to reason in abstract terms but need concrete circumstances and examples as guides. A child in the final formal operational stage, lasting from age eleven (11) to adulthood, is now able to reason in abstract and to conceptualize situations beyond what they can see and touch. They have now developed the capacity to perform reasoning about events, actions or objects that they cannot see or that are strictly hypothetical and they are also able to use deductive reasoning. They begin to devise plans to solve problems and test their hypothesis against a variety of options. Piaget’s stratification of cognitive development into different stages has considerable implications particularly for educational goals. Because children are able only after having moved through certain stages, to manipulate certain tasks and to be effective in certain cognitive activities, learning situations must be structured so that they match the developmental stages. Education must therefore be developmentally appropriate to the abilities of the child and attempts should be made to help children, as they progress from one stage to the next, to manipulate the operations inherent at each stage. Piaget’s view of cognitive development has been quite formidable and influential in helping researchers understand the processes at work at different stages and ages. There have, however, been several criticisms of the model. One of the major criticisms has focused on the presumed universality of the stages that Piaget describes. He supposes that every child, irrespective of situational context, will go through these stages at a prescribed time and that the principles are therefore applicable to all children everywhere. Some researchers have noted, however, that the rate and stage of development is not at all universal. The ages that Piaget initially suggested as delineating each stage are therefore thought of as rough estimates and children can enter and exit each stage either earlier or later than initially prescribed. Another concern that was raised with regards to Piaget’s theory was that it suggested that as the child progressed through the stages that the abilities at the lower stage no longer become useful or necessary. Piaget later clarified, however, that the concrete thinking and other abilities at the lower stage are not only essential before a child is able to progress to more complex thinking but they are also persistent over time and that a child never loses the lower abilities. He suggests that over time certain tasks become automatic, almost instinctive, but they are still essential even in the later stages of development. Further Piaget’s original theory had not considered the potential impact that the environment may have in impacting behavior. His initial argument much to anti-behaviorist and thus the power of environmental factors to shape behavior was almost ignored. Even though he accounted for these influences in his explanations of the process of adaptation and equilibration, he did not focus much on this aspect. Researchers have found that various social and environmental factors can have a considerable impact on a child’s development. They propose that a child can enter a stage earlier and progress through that stage much quicker than others based on the stimuli available in his environment. Similarly a child’s development may be significantly retarded if adequate stimuli are not provided in the environment. A child would therefore progress through stages later and at a slower pace. The behaviorist position that the environment matters is therefore not completely invalid and their view of the potential influence of the external environment in shaping behavior has some merit. Despite this failure to fully acknowledge and explain the relevance and impact of environmental factors in facilitating knowledge construction based on reality and even though the theory seems to emphasize universal stages of development, Fischer and Hencke (1996) believe that Piaget with his cognitive development theory is notably still the most influential researcher and theorist on developmental that the twentieth century has seen (Fischer Hencke, 1996, p. 09). Current research Several theorists have arisen in more recent times to expand on Piaget’s original theory, to propose modifications on the areas of weakness or to suggest a complete new approach to understanding cognitive development. Among those worthy of mention are Robbie Case, Kurt Fischer, Michael Shayer and Juan Pascual-Leone. Robbie Case is a neo-Piagetian who agrees with Piaget’s general position that children go through developmental stages. Case also agrees with Piaget that each stage is delineated based on age and is representative of the changing ways that children are able to mentally represent reality and how they process information in their brains. Case also supports that cognitive development occurs in four stages commencing from when a child is around one month old until the period of adulthood. Within each stage he also recognizes substages of development postulating, like Piaget that each successive stage is a continuation or a building on to the former (Sternberg, 1987, p. 08). Beginning in the mid-nineteen seventies Case began to propose alternative interpretations of the stage development theory. He has developed some characteristics in his new theory that are not in complete alignment with original Piagetian thought. His first area of departure is with relation to the way that information is processed in the brain throughout the stages.

Engineering procurement and construction

Engineering procurement and construction Integrated Project Teams With Multi Office Execution, A Study Of EPC Projects In Canada Abstract Engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects in the Canadian oil and gas industry have gained significant economic importance due to rising hydrocarbon commodity price. The oil and gas industry in Alberta has planned to spend approximately 142 billion dollars (Government of Alberta, 2010) within the next two decades on capital projects. Alberta has recognized the shortage of human resources during peak economic activities, to execute mega capital projects. Multi office execution (MOE) is a way forward for all the major EPC houses in Canada to meet the demands of Clients within budget and on schedule. Further, it has been identified by the industry needs that integrated project teams are critical to the success of these complex oil and gas projects. In this environment, project management techniques need to be adapted to match project complexity. This paper will provide much insight through case studies related to project teams in multi office execution, and review the existing literature body of knowledge. An analysis is presented based on the project management knowledge areas. Recommendations are made based on this analysis. The objectives of this paper are to review literature related to managing MOE projects and to determine the keys to success and areas that need improvement in MOE. Introduction Alberta oil and gas industry has gained significant economic importance over the past decades. In 2010, it is estimated that the industry has an inventory of 57 capital oil and gas projects with a total value of 142 billion dollars (Government of Alberta, 2010). Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) companies have been providing oil and gas owner companies with expertise and resources to execute these capital projects. Under current market condition, the oil and gas owner companies want the EPC companies to share more risks. More and more projects are based on lump sum and fixed-fee contracts and are executed under lower budgets and tighter schedules. To stay competitive, many EPC companies have adopted global execution business model. Work is carried out in multiple offices or even by multiple organizations (Macquary, 2003). Cost saving benefit is achieved by allocating project scopes to high-value low-cost offices in other provinces or other countries. The companies may develop a partnership with other companies with specific technical expertise or local business expertise in order to gain market share in a new or emerging market. The MOE improves resource availability under booming economy, where resource shortage becomes a sig nificant problem in executing large projects. Despite several benefits, MOE projects can be very challenging to manage. Although the project management methodology is applicable to both single-office and multi-office projects (Cowle et al, 1995), the multi-office projects require particular emphasis on some of the project management processes. The objectives of this paper are to review literature related to managing MOE projects and to determine the keys to success, challenges and areas that need improvement in MOE. Interviews with project management experts from the EPC industry who have experience managing multi-billion dollar MOE projects provided insights into MOE best practices. The interviews were designed based on project management knowledge areas established by Project Management Institute or PMI (Project Management Institute, 2004) in order to present the findings using internationally accepted framework. These knowledge areas are: project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews literature related to MOE. Section 3 briefly describes methodology and the MOE projects studied in this paper. Keys to success and challenges for MOE are discussed in Section 4. This is followed by conclusions in Section 5.   Literature Review Multi-Office Execution Concepts Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009) defines two main elements of a multi-office executing organization: 1) Lead office which is an office that provides leadership and has overall responsibility for the execution of the project; 2) Support office which is an entity participating in the project under the overall management and supervisory control of the lead office. The multi office execution strategy is found to be popularly framed within concepts such as virtual teams and offshore outsourcing (off shoring). A common definition available for a virtual group/team is a group of geographically and temporally dispersed individuals who are assembled via technology to accomplish an organization task. Joseph (2005) specifically defines Global Virtual Engineering Team (GVET) as a group of geographically dispersed individuals organized through communication and information technologies that need to overcome space, time, functional, organizational, national, and cultural barriers for the completion of a specific engineering task. According to Joseph (2005), the following comparison can be made between a virtual team and a conventional team. The most critical and important feature of virtual teams is that they cross boundaries of space. Whereas the members of traditional teams work in close proximity to one another, the members of virtual teams are separa ted, often by many miles or even continents. Although many traditional, localized teams also communicate through computerized communication media, technology such as video conferencing is typically used by virtual team members to supplement their rare face-to-face communication. In physically collocated teams, members of the team are likely to have similar and complementary cultural and educational backgrounds since they have gone through the same recruitment and selection procedures as they are employed by the same organization. In a virtual team the members may vary in their education, culture, language, time orientation and expertise. There can also be conflicting organizational and personal goals among the members of a virtual team. Multi-office execution also can be part of off shoring when local EPC companies subcontract project activities to branches or a different company in a foreign country. Off shoring is an extreme version of outsourcing, and it refers to the transfer of production/service capacity from a site within a country to a site in another country and then importing back for national consumption of goods and services that had previously being produced locally (Goff, 2005). Off shoring business operations offer a potential for 15-20% cost savings, but further analyses show that organizations that properly plan and operate offshore initiatives can reap substantially higher rewards (Fox and Hughes, 2008). According to Goff (2005) the benefits of off shoring for large companies include: maintaining or increasing profitability by reduced labor costs if resources with the same or higher level of expertise can be obtained in the foreign countries; maintaining its competitive position or even protecting it from going out of business; and increasing the market share of a company by improving their capacity and utilizing available in-house resources to more value added ventures. Canada ranks high among most attractive host countries for companies wishing to locate abroad to improve their financial position according to the offshore location attractive index (Goff, 2005). The multi-office execution has been made possible and successful, solely due to the advancements in the information and communication technology. With the rapid advancement of the electronic age the ability to staff a project from multiple offices has gone from a dream to a practical reality (Cowle et al, 1995). The latest developments in communication technology such as teleconferencing, video conferencing and host of other online applications coupled with ever increasing speed of data, voice and video transfer literally eliminate distance barriers. According to Macquary (2003) we are at a point in time where information technology is allowing us to change many of our traditional way of doing work. Hence it is possible to create an organizational structure agile enough to accept them and quickly apply them to add value. MOE Driving Forces Economy conditions are the main driving forces for the MOE strategy (Macquary (2003), Joshep (2005), Global Insight USA (2004), and Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009)). Under booming economy, labor shortage becomes a problem for many organizations and the MOE is a way to acquire project teams from other remote offices or even other companies. The MOE strategy is also used to add resources in order to meet tighter/compressed project schedules. On the other hand, slower economy growth demands constant vigilance over cost. Companies with global operations often allocate or outsource work to high-value low-cost offices, especially when qualified resources with lower wages are available. For instance, offices in India, China or Far East countries could be candidates for such support offices. Company policy to gain market share is another driver for MOE strategy. Companies can setup offices in other countries or develop business partnership with local companies to capture global or emerging markets. A joint venture between companies (or even competitors) with complementing expertise to take on a project that requires diversified expertise is also another driver for MOE. Other driving forces are: development in technology such as internet connections and other communication tools; a need to free resources for core business or higher value purposes; change in educational trend which results in smaller number of graduates in some studying fields (Joseph, 2005). Managing MOE Projects Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009) suggested issues to be addressed for MOE projects during sales/pre-execution, project mobilization, project execution, and project completion phases. Key issues are: early engagement with the client to obtain agreement to MOE and address clients concerns; early engagement of the support offices; clear definition of scopes and responsibilities for individual offices and kick-off meetings; alignment of work processes, deliverables, and reports; selecting suitable key project roles who are opened to MOE; and communication plan. Joseph (2005) has identified technology, management, organization, project control and team communication as important items to consider in global virtual team formation and execution. Clear and frequent communication, periodic face-to-face meetings, good communication tools and compatibility in information technology, standard work processes and communication procedures, and clearly defined scope expectations are named as top success criteria for multi-office execution. Whereas lack of or poor communication, lack of face-to-face meetings, lack of understanding of local work practices/ cultural differences and/or language issues, lack of management involvement experienced leadership, changes not handled properly, slow response to changes, incompatible or poor technology including hardware and software are top failure factors found within EPC industry for multi-office execution. Chinowsky and Rojas (2003) outlined the top 10 management issues that must be addressed when initiating and maintaining virtual teams. They are categorized as Team issues and Process issues. Team issues include: initial face-to-face meetings are required to develop a sense of ‘‘team, managers must visit remote participants during the course of the project, trust between team members is difficult to establish when operating in a virtual environment, and virtual team leaders should be selected with an acknowledgment of the unique demands placed on distributed teams. Process issues includes: project objectives must be restated and reinforced frequently to ensure that all members remain focused on a common outcome; conflicts must be addressed quickly to prevent unresolved issues from interfering with communications; discussions on decisions will be more difficult as participants continue discussions via electronic media; expectations of each team member must be stated clearly to assist the members as they work independently; team member workloads should be monitored to ensure that significant increases do not occur due to increased electronic communications; and regular training must occur equally for all members of the virtual team. Methodology And Studied MOE Projects The methodology used in this paper to gain insights into MOE best practices and challenges is interviewing project management experts who have experience managing MOE projects in EPC industry. The interviews were designed using project management knowledge areas: project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The project management knowledge areas are identified by its knowledge requirements and described in terms of their component processes, practices, inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques (Project Management Institute, 2004). The two major reasons for the projects to implement MOE strategy found in this paper are resource constraint and cost saving. All of the projects discussed in this paper were executed during the booming economy (i.e. high oil price) and manpower shortage became a problem for many projects. Therefore, the MOE beame a necessary strategy to acquire project teams with required skills from locations with more resource availability. To save cost, project scopes were allocated to high-value low-cost offices in either other provinces or other countries (e.g., India and China). Cost benefit was achieved in both cases. Some of the projects allocated â€Å"less technical† work such as cloning design work and closing project work to these support offices. Another driving force identified is a company strategy to expand and maintain national or global operations. The MOE strategy is used to balance resource utilization. In booming economy, work is allocated to reduce workload at some offices. During an economy down turn, work is allocated to maintain support offices as it is more economical than closing the support offices and rebuilding them when demand resumes. Engineering work is usually allocated among lead and support offices. For better coordination, a procurement organization is usually setup in the offices that perform engineering design. However, smaller projects may choose to have only one procurement organization in the lead office. Construction is mostly executed by the lead office. However, some construction scopes (e.g., fabrication and modularization programs) may be subcontracted to local or international third-parties, therefore they are considered as MOE. Prime contract management/ legal functions are usually executed by the lead office only. Other project functions such as Project Management, Project Controls, and Document Management are executed from the lead office. However, depending on the size of the project and project strategy, these functions may also be executed from other support offices. Keys To Success Challenges In MOE Further discussion on keys to success, challenges, and areas required improvement for MOE projects is divided into 9 subsections per Project Management Knowledge Areas (Project Management Institute, 2004): project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The discussion is summarized at the end of this section. Project Integration Management For MOE projects, the lead office is normally responsible for developing the project charter and preliminary project scope statement. This is due to closer contact with the Client. Furthermore, at the early stage of the project, the support offices may not have been involved yet. It is important that the project management team provides MOE justification to gain support from the Client. It is recommended that the project management plan developed during the planning phase addresses the MOE strategy including high-level justification, organization, resource utilization and scope allocation. Some projects may choose to develop a separate subsidiary plan which addresses MOE issues such as scope allocation, responsibility, and communication in more detail. The MOE brings many challenges in monitoring and controlling project work. All offices should take responsibility for their own work but the lead office must take the responsibility to monitor and control overall project work. Managers in the lead office need to understand their roles in monitoring and controlling project work even though the work may be executed by the support offices. Basic communication approaches such as regular phone calls and VDO conference meetings and information systems that allow progress information to be collected from support offices are used for monitoring and controlling project work. Project changes should be managed and controlled centrally by the lead office. Changes are initiated from all offices but only the lead office should have authorization to approve changes. The approved changes need to be captured and project plans (e.g., budget and schedule) are adjusted accordingly. It is important that no office should start executing the changes before they are approved even if the changes are initiated by the Client. Closing project is identified in this paper as one of the major challenges in MOE. Each office is normally responsible for closing the work under their scopes. However, the support offices have smaller scopes of work, therefore they usually de-staff earlier than the lead office. If the support offices de-staff before the close out is complete, the work is transferred to the lead office which may not have sufficient background understanding to properly close out the work/scope. To avoid this circumstance, the projects must plan and execute the project closing process carefully. It is also important that sufficient budget is allocated for the project closing process. Electronic archiving of project documents is recommended to facilitate the project closing. Other challenge identified for project closing process is lessons-learned management. Lessons learned from all offices need to be captured, analyzed for follow-up actions or recommendations, archived, and internally published. Lessons learned are proprietary and required careful review before they are published to avoid any commercial or legal impacts. Some EPC companies may have a corporate function dedicated to manage lessons learned from all projects. If not, the project management team in the lead office should be responsible for managing lessons learned from all offices. As this is a part of project closing, management of lessons learned needs to be planned, scheduled and have budget provided for like other project work. Project Scope Management After the preliminary project scope statement is developed, the project scope must be further refined. Scope allocation among the offices is a major part of scope management for MOE projects. Depending on the types of projects, the scope can be further divided vertically or horizontally. For example, oil and gas facility construction projects normally divide scope vertically by geographical areas of the facilities while power plant construction projects usually divide the scope horizontally, by specialized technical systems such as steam lines, control systems, rotating equipments, etc. Nevertheless, the project scope should be divided in the fashion that requires as little coordination as possible. In reality establishing a balance between MOE scope division and effort to coordinate the project scopes becomes a fine art for the project management team. Several criteria are used to allocate the scopes among the multiple offices. These include expertise and experience, cost, resource availability, and organizational strategy. The lead office is mainly responsible for scope allocation. It is identified in this paper that clear understanding of scope is one of the key elements to successful MOE. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the lead office organize kick-off meetings to engage the support offices as soon as possible in order to develop the scope definition and WBS. It is crucial that these processes are a joint effort between the lead office and support offices. This will develop a better understanding of the scope and a sense of ownership for the support offices which will later benefit the scope control process (e.g., recognizing scope changes and their impacts). Tools that are used for scope planning are responsibility matrices that clearly indicate the responsibility among the offices at project deliverable level (e.g., division of responsibility, material assignment schedule, control and monitoring needs, etc.). Detail responsibility to verify and accept the project deliverables can also be included in the responsibility matrix. Critical deliverables are accepted directly by the lead office for review before transferring to the Client, while the other deliverables can be submitted directly by the support offices to the Client. However, the lead office has overall responsibility to ensure that the project deliverables are completed as per project scope. The scope should be controlled centrally by the lead office as a part of integrated change management discussed in the previous section. As a result, it is important that the lead office has a good understanding and control of the scopes that are performed by all offices. Project Time Management Project work broken down into tangible components and assigned to a resource is essential for schedule development. Project schedules should be developed by the lead office in close communication and cooperation of support offices. The lead office usually initiates high-level schedule which contains major project milestones usually knows as master schedule, then the support offices provide detail information (e.g., activity sequence, activity resource estimating and activity duration estimating) to be incorporated into the master schedule. Once the project schedule is developed and adopted as a time management tool, activity status information required to update this schedule is collected from all offices. It is important that all offices follow the master project schedule. Use of universal scheduling tools that provides visibility to all offices particularly benefits the MOE execution. Communicating and resolving schedule misalignments among offices is considered to be one of the challenges for MOE. Therefore, it is recommended that the master schedule control is centralized and the lead office assign personnel to coordinate schedule information from all offices. Project Cost Management Cost estimating is a significant activity during the early execution of the project. During the early stage the scope and responsibilities are with the lead office, therefore the cost estimating is also performed by the lead office. Early estimates are conceptual estimates with some details (e.g., major equipment cost, estimated bulk quantities and construction cost). When further design development takes place and if significant scopes are allocated to support offices, area estimators could be assigned to provide input to the lead estimating team. Detail estimates are developed when significant engineering is completed. Input and feedback from all the execution offices are used in developing detail estimates. Once the detailed estimates are approved and implemented each support office is responsible for its scope of work. Typically, total cost management and final reporting remain the responsibilities of the lead office. Cost control strategy can be either centralized or decentralized, depending upon the scope splits, project staffing, level of effort needed to control and report project cost. For instance, if a support office is allocated a small scope (e.g., the support office only produces isometric drawings), total cost control can be performed by the lead office. On the other hand, if a support office has significant scope (i.e. a complete plant area), cost control for that area can be assigned to the support office with periodic reporting to the lead office. Regardless of centralized or decentralized cost control strategy, the lead office has a responsibility to control and report to the Client overall project cost. Project Quality Management The quality planning should be initiated by the lead office with consideration to Clients quality standards and requirements. Project quality assurance and quality control are typically executed by all offices. For the MOE projects that involve support offices from foreign countries or from different companies, different quality practices may be allowed as long as they comply with the project quality management plan. In case the quality assurance and control of support offices do not comply to project quality plan, the lead office may need to execute these two processes as appropriate. Project Human Resource Management For MOE projects, the lead office should initiate the human resource planning by providing allocated man-hour budget to the support offices. Factors such as capability, reliability, quality, and expertise of the support offices should also be considered when developing the budgets. Then the support offices are responsible for developing their own staffing plans. The lead office should also ensure that: the budgets allocated to the support offices are appropriate; all managers are trained to do staff planning; and the staffing plans developed by the support offices align with project plans (e.g., budget, schedule, and scopes of work). As leadership is crucial for project success, the project lead roles (e.g., engineering leads) in the support offices should be identified early. These lead roles provide direction to the teams and are communicating channels between the lead office and the support offices. Some projects may instead select to assign a coordinating role for smaller scope of work allocated to the support offices. Lead offices may influence staff assignments at support offices especially for the lead positions. However, the support offices are usually responsible for acquiring their own project teams for the reasons that they have better knowledge and understanding of their staff as well as they are directly responsible for the staff career development. MOE projects have to overcome many challenges in developing the project team. Phone calls and meetings between offices in different time zones are more difficult to arrange while communicating only via emails may not be an ideal approach to develop a working relationship. Cultures and languages also add challenges to communication. It also takes time to develop trust and working relationship between offices which is a challenge for offices that have never worked together before or offices that have high-turnover or are downsized. Other challenges are standardizing or aligning work processes. This paper identifies that having staff from the leading office visit support offices at regular intervals and vice versa is an effective approach to build project team for MOE projects. These visits could be for training, meetings, or trouble shootings. The project should arrange these visits as often as possible during the project life cycle. VDO conference is also recommended as a more effective meeting tool than just a phone conference. The project management should be instrumental in arrange all-office team building activities such as project progress presentation, discipline presentations and recognition and reward program. Each office is responsible for managing its own staff. However, the lead office needs to manage overall performances of the support offices. Cultural difference should be considered for appropriate management style. It should also be noted that the performances between offices should not be compared without understanding the legitimate factors that may impact the performance from each office (e.g., expertise experience). Other challenge found in managing the MOE team is that delivery and performance issues (e.g., rework, delay, or actual amount of remaining work) may not be communicated to the lead office. These are often driven by fear of negative consequences such as losing work. Therefore, it is important to set reasonable performance targets based on capability of the support offices and the lead office provides support in solving any performance issues such as training and trouble shooting. Project Communication Management As a part of communication planning, it is recommended that the stakeholder analysis is performed for all offices to determine the project communication requirements. Communication planning should address information, information originator, information receiver, frequency, and communication medium. It is important that the lead office is the only point of contact for handling commercial and contractual matters. When appropriate, mass communication methods such as group email, project portal, shared drive are recommended for MOE projects. It is important that project changes (e.g., revisions) are communicated with high priority between offices to prevent rework, especially if work is shared between multiple offices (e.g., outputs from one office become inputs for the other offices). To facilitate the information distribution during the execution phase, the use of information distribution matrix is recommended. The matrix determines the list of employees that the information is to be distributed to and is managed by document management group. Overall project performance reporting should be a responsibility of the lead office with inputs from support offices. The performance reporting should be included in the communication management plan. Reporting schedule and format should be developed and agreed upon by all offices. Necessary trainings (e.g., use of tools to collect performance information, data gathering and data analysis) should be provided to all offices to ensure reporting accuracy and consistency. Project Procurement Management One of procurement decisions to be made at the beginning of an MOE project is purchasing and managing strategy for each material commodity. It is generally more economical that bulk material (e.g., bulk piping materials, steel, and cables) requirements from all offices are consolidated and purchased together by the lead office. However, commodities that require customized engineering design such as mechanical and electrical equipments may be managed more effectively if they are procured by the same engineering office. After the decisions are made, the procurement organization then can be setup to support the commodity management strategy. It is a best practice to have procurement organizations in all engineering offices. However, some smaller projects may choose to setup only one project procurement organization in the lead offices. Subcontract function (which is a part of procurement management per project pr