How Did 9/11 Bring People Together

How did the 9/11 bring people together? Or Did the 9/11 bring people together? The 9/11 was a very significant event and brought many people together in many different ways. In circumstances of extreme stress we hear moving accounts of people going out of their way to help each other. Studies show that acute stress can lead to greater cooperative, social and friendly behaviour, even in men. This more positive reaction can help the human connections that occurred during the time of crisis associated with the 9/11.Social connections are particularly important under stress because stress naturally leads so a sense of vulnerability and loss of control, this is an example of why the people of not only America, but the world came together through this tormenting time to support one another. The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched upon the United States in New York and Washington D. C area by an Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda. On the morning of September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets.American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Centre as suicide attacks. Both towers collapsed and debris led to the partial collapse of all other buildings in the New York World Trade Centre. The third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon, which was the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was targeted at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. , but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers fought back against the al-Qaeda terrorists. Almost 3000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. An example of the 9/11 bringing people together is the cooperation of different religious groups. Churches that typically held services only on Sundays opened their doors on the Tuesday of the attacks and held them open for some followi ng days and for a short time attendance in churches and other houses of worship skyrocketed.Members of religious groups met together and tried to understand each other’s beliefs to help one another. A decade later, a group of religious leaders representing the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths met to plan a special interfaith service for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11. The service included prayers, music, Scripture and short messages from participants. The organisers went to great lengths to celebrate religious diversity and to make sure readings and prayers are as universal as possible.Deidre Gordon, a member of the Islamic centre reinforced the idea of the 9/11 bringing people together. â€Å"It’s a chance to recognize beneath all this diversity, we have a lot we share. † We hear often hear moving stories of strangers coming together to help save each other from the burning buildings, one of which I came across was this; â€Å"Today, after a 72 hour shif t at the fire station, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug. When I tensed up, she realized I didn’t recognise her.She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and said, â€Å"On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Centre. † As you can see the 9/11 did bring people together, 12 years ago, President George W. Bush proclaimed, â€Å"America is united. † The production of American flags surged and the flags soared, and America really was united. America mourned together, raged together and resolved together. They reached out to others in a way most didn’t do previously.

The Song and Dance Man

Nicole Leroy Instructor Michelle Hudgens English 250 10 October 2012 The Song and Dance Man I choose the book The Song and Dance Man. This book was one of my favorites as a child. It was written by Karen Ackerman and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. The Song and Dance Man received the Caldecott Medal in 1989. The story is about grandchildren coming to visit their grandparents. The grandpa decided to show his grandchildren his past life as a song and dance man and what people did for entertain long before television. The theme of the story is that family is more important than being famous.He shows them that he appreciates his past but loves the life he currently has. The grandpa shows throughout the story how much he loves and cherishes his time with his grandchildren. He also shares with them his former life as a song and dance man on the vaudeville stage and what people use to do for entertainment. In the attic, the grandchildren see the posters of grandpa from the past realizing th at he was once a famous dancer and entertainer. The underlying message is that it is important to stay young at heart. Grandpa danced away even though he had to cushion the corns on his feet.In the story, the grandpa says, â€Å"I wonder if my tap shoes still fit? † all while he is smiling, knowing that the shoes will still fit. The grandpa shows the children that it is ok to make believe and use your imagination to have a good time by sharing his dancing and magic tricks. The grandchildren get to explore their own creativity by trying on old clothes pretending, singing and dancing their selves. The story is told from the point of view of the grandchildren. You can feel the admiration, respect, and love that they have for their grandfather.As the grandchildren watch their grandpa, they clap their hands and call out â€Å"Yay, Grandpa! † This sets the light-hearted, fun, loving mood and tone of the story. The language used by the narrator is calm, loving, with lots of e xcitement and amazement when grandpa begins to dance and becomes a different person, the song and dance man. The narrator shows his amazement when he says that the sounds coming from the shoes is too many to be made with only two feet. The children see their grandpa as a different person when he becomes the song and dance man.When they travel up the steps to the attic it is like they are going back in time. In the story it says, â€Å"We forget that it is grandpa dancing, and all we can hear is the silvery tap of two feet, and all we can see is song and dance man gliding across a vaudeville stage. Occasionally during his performance, he becomes grandpa again when he tries to cure the hiccups of one of the grandchildren. Then he is back to performing telling jokes and playing tricks. The performance is over, he puts the shoes and clothes back in the trunk and heads for the stairway and he is grandpa again.When the children come back down stairs he whispers, â€Å"He wouldn’t trade a million good days for the days he spends with us. † The silver half-moon tap shoes, top hats, and bow ties all symbolize grandpa’s past as an entertainer before he became a husband, father, and grandfather. The posters still hung in the attic shows his love of the past. When they return down stairs, grandpa glances back up the steps it symbolizes his appreciation and fondness of his past life as a song and dance man. The illustrator used many colors in a light, pastel in nature.The use of light instead of bright colors seems to set the stage for happy, calm, and relaxing setting. Two of the main colors used by the illustrator are red and yellow. These colors give a feeling of warmth, cheerfulness, and excitement. Some of the pictures have a lot of blue. The blue seems to represent the calm, serenity of the setting. The pictures have a lot of texture through the picture marts because they draw with some sort of colored pencils. The use of colored pencils helps a dd to the youthful, light heartedness, and fun of the story. Shading shows is used to show depth and at time darkness at the edge of the lighted areas.The illustrator used of lots of empty space in the pictures to show quiet, serene time. For example, at the beginning of the story, before the children arrived, the illustrations are small and do not take up the whole page. Later in the story when the grandpa is dancing, the pages are full of color and pictures to show excitement, movement of grandpa’s performance. The illustrator used many lines around characters and objects to show that they are moving. He used lots of lines, sometimes in a zig zag form, to show fast quick motions like when grandpa is dancing or tossing objects into the air.He used fewer lines to show slower movements and no lines to show lack of movement. The objects in the picture are random and tilted in places to show the relaxed nature of the environment at the grandparents’ house. In the end of t he story, the grandpa and grandchildren returned down the stairs, back to present time, where grandma has dinner ready. He hugs his grandchildren showing them that even though he loved his song and dance life, he loves his grandchildren more. He would not trade them for no amount of fame.

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The managerial grid model (1964), developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, is a behavioral leadership model. The model is an excellent way to map out different leadership styles, and an excellent way to evaluate the leadership performed by leaders and managers. This model identifies five different leadership styles based on the  concern for people  and theconcern for production. It is important to remember that none of the concerns are right or wrong, and the concerns are ideally balanced to the respective situational context of leadership. The model is graphically illustrated at the end of the article. Concern for People  relates to the degree to which a leader considers needs of employees and team members before deciding how to accomplish a task. A high degree of concern could be coupled to a more democratic leadership style, whereas a low concern for people could be coupled to an autocratic leadership style. * Concern for Production  relates to the degree to which a lead er emphasizes production effectiveness and efficiency when deciding how best to accomplish tasks. By charting the position in the grid it is possible to diagnose which leadership style is being performed, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the style of leadership.The five different leadership styles found in the managerial grid are presented below: Country Club Leadership – High Concern for People/Low Concern for Production   A country club leader is mostly concerned about the needs and feelings of his/her employees or team members. This leader probably supposes that members of the organization will work hard if the feel happy and secure. However, production may suffer under this leadership style, and the effectiveness of the organization may suffer due to a lack of direct supervision and control.Produce or Perish Leadership – High Concern for Production/Low Concern for People   A produce or perish leader is very concerned about production effectiveness, and pr obably sees workers as means to achieve great results. This leader also sees workforce needs as secondary to the need of a productive and efficient workplace. He/She might have very strict and autocratic work rules, and perhaps views punishment as the best motivational force. Impoverished Leadership – Low Concern for Production/ Low Concern for People   This leader is very ineffective.The leader has neither a high regard for creating efficient systems or rules to structure work processes, nor for creating a motivated or satisfied work environment. The result of this leadership style could be a highly disorganized workplace with low satisfaction and motivation. Middle of the Road Leadership – Medium Concern for Production/Medium Concern for People   This style tries to balance the two competing concerns. It tries to compromise different needs, and may seem as a great solution. However, when compromising, leaders risk that neither the concern for people nor the conce rn for production is fully met.This may lead to average performance, where top results may not be achieved. Workers may end up moderately motivated and satisfied, and production may only become moderately effective. Team Leadership – High Concern for Production/High Concern for People   According to the Blake Mouton model, this is the best and most effective leadership style. These leaders both stress the importance of workforce needs and production needs. This leader manages to engulf workers into the importance of production efficiency, and manages to motivate employees.This creates an atmosphere of team spirit, where each team member is highly motivated and satisfied, which commits the worker to work hard and increase productivity. Use of the managerial grid Firstly, leaders should plot their own style into the managerial grid, and diagnose which leadership style they are conducting. Secondly, leaders can evaluate their leadership style, and assess if they could improve their leadership style in some way. Thirdly, leaders should put their leadership style into the respective situational context, and try to balance their leadership style to the needs found in the organization.The team leadership style may not be best in all situations, and some situations, like e. g. and economic crisis, might call for an entirely different style like e. g. a produce or perish leadership style. Leaders must therefore analyze which leadership style is called for, and afterwards analyze whether or not they conduct the most appropriate style. This analysis is therefore based on the different contingencies facing an organization, and leaders may use the knowledge fromContingency Theory  or the  PESTEL Framework  to analyze which leadership styles are most appropriate for the viability of the organization.

Perfomance and Occupation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Perfomance and Occupation - Essay Example This paper will focus on the importance of the understanding of the occupation and this paper would also try to find out the proper occupational therapy to improve the performance of the employees. Introduction: To be written†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Value of skills and knowledge in the occupational therapy: To be written†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Professional skills: Personal and Professional Development, is the most important part of any educational course. The academic remarks will fetch good marks in the exams but, in the professional field the personal and professional development is very much important. The proper combination of good academics and the PPD would help a person to achieve a sustainable position in the real life corporate world. For any corporate on-job projects needs a personal and professional development training, because the fresher are not accustomed with the corporate world. And each and every organization has their own scale of professionalism and expectations from the employees. For any graduate the on-job projects are successful while they get confident about their personal and professional development during the projects. Most of the business schools send their students to the on-job training to get accustomed with the corporate world so, while they join the organizations in their final recruitment, they would be polished enough to join as the professionals. For any on-job training there is a learning stage and most of the time this learning stage is an ongoing process. This paper would try to reveal all the positive learning and the personal and professional developments during the training. The main outcomes of the process are written bellow. The meaning of success: It is very important to know the meaning of success. It is very easy to say that a course is very successful but it is very important to understand meaning of success. Erik Weihenmayer treated as one of the most successful man to reach his dream. He climbed the Mount Everest being the first blind men to reach the peak of the Everest (Throop and Castellucci, 2003). Now it is very important to understand why he is been treated as one of the most successful man, well, reaching the personal goal with the help of professional experience can be treated as the success. He was a blinded at the age of 13 and started climbing from the age of 16. With hard work and touch of professionalism he reached his goal and that is the reason he was successful. Same way in this case the meaning of success has been found with the proper blend of self belief, potentiality and values. Self belief: the confidence is a very important factor for any job to be done successfully. Nobody is perfect at the beginning; he or she has to nourish him or herself to gain the confidence. And with the mistakes the perfection will come, and that will make the person more confident. Potentiality: trainings are basically to improve the potentials of the individuals. Potentiality is a hidden strength and with the proper training it can be strengthened. The trainings and on-job projects help the individuals to learn from the others and it also teaches to understand the potentiality of the others. Values: personal values, professional values, ethical values and the ability to respect the values of the fellow employees are very much important. The particular course taught to respect what other thinks, how they feel and how an individual should act toward the values of the others. Organizational changes towards the better

The Marketing Strategies of Mall of America Coursework

The Marketing Strategies of Mall of America - Coursework Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the target markets for the Mall of America comprised of locals and visitors. Different marketing strategies will be used so as to reach these target markets. The locals include the local families and population residing near the Mall of America. The local target market can be placing the product in strategic positions where the people can easily access. Close range marketing can be used using technologies, such as Wifi and Bluetooth for the customers at close proximity. About promotion, the enterprise can use advertising as its core source of increasing local consumer awareness. Mainly, it can post numerous advertisements both in print and electronic media. Price is the main competing factor in business. The business can use discount and allowance pricing. The firm can provide allowances and discounts on their basic price so as to reward the consumers’ specific response. On the other hand, the visitors include tourists from the Up per Midwest, across the nation, and from other nations. The products and services being offered at the Mall of America can be posted on the internet so as to reach a wider global audience. The other strategy which the Mall of America can use to reach the visitors include telemarketing. The clients can be convinced via mobile phones to come and visit Mall of America. The venture may also use promotional pricing as a strategy to attract national and international visitors. The promotional pricing will assist the Mall of America to attract more customers in a very short time. The other strategy which the firm can use is diversity marketing since visitors come from diverse backgrounds.

Seminar Arts and humannities unit 1 Research Paper

Seminar Arts and humannities unit 1 - Research Paper Example Some of the elements of humanities that children enjoy include exploring, field study, travelling, acting and researching. The reason why children enjoy these elements of humanities is due to the fact that they mostly practical and involve physical activity which children are more interested in. I still engage in these elements of humanities especially field study, exploration and research whereby in tackling humanities such as history and language I have to go into the field to get a more profound understanding of these languages and where they culminated from. Here are skills that one can learn from studying humanities that would enable one to be a more effective critical thinker. These skills include analytical skills, speculative skills and creative skills. Analytical skills are acquired through activities involving analyzing data for example historical data. Speculative skills are obtained due to the fact that in many humanities, one comes across very many theories which are speculative and hence one has to choose the theory that he or she thinks is correct. In acquiring these skills I am able to apply them in other fields of study that require critical thinking and therefore they will enable me increase my chances of getting to my intended

Issue 18&19 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issue 18 - Coursework Example Memphis University scholars suggest that overseas outsourcing have more advantages to an organization. For instance, it enables the firm to pursue the most labor cost. Labor cost varies significantly from one country to another. Therefore, outsourcing will allow the company to choose the country that it feels that its work is not very costly (Axelrod, 2004). Moreover, adopting lower labor cost will enable the organization to produce its services at a lower cost and as well provide services at more reduced prices. Finally, reduced Labor allows the organization enhances their business profits. Because of deferent perception to outsourcing, it can create a platform for politics. For instance, many argue that outsourcing causes the jobs that can be done by the locals to move overseas. On the other hand, outsourcing will also help the particular country to boost its domestic economy. On the contrary, practitioners argue that offshoring can have the local options (Müller & Müller, 2000). Firms seek to offshore labor in order to keep labor cost at a minimum level as possible, so as their services and products can reach their potential customers at a lesser cost. From an international point of view, countries outsource professional jobs to countries that have the most cost efficient labor. The most popular outsourcing countries are China and India. Employees in these countries have adequate educational backgrounds to enable them to carry successfully out the tasks ahead of them. However, outsourcing has its merits and demerits that firms and countries need to put into consideration before starting the exercise. Outsourcing allows the company to operate in an increasingly competitive marketplace across the world. In addition, outsourcing enables the firm provides service and products in 24 hours daily, more so to the customers who need around the clock

Different type of (Rape)(Date rape)(statutory rape) (Acquaintance Research Paper

Different type of (Rape)(Date rape)(statutory rape) (Acquaintance rape)(Dometic rape - Research Paper Example In order to have sex with the partner, a male uses many tactics. When his attempt for sex fails, he may try to rape his partner. â€Å"Estimates from national prevalence studies suggest that 13%–16% of adult women have experienced forcible rape in their lifetimes† (Testa & Livingston, 2009, p.1350). Based on the nature, rape can be classified into different categories such as date rape, statutory rape, acquaintance rape, domestic rape etc. This paper briefly analyses different types of rape and the role of a social worker in preventing it. Dating is a common life style, especially in western countries. It is a process in which a male and female engage in close relationships for enjoyment purpose. It is not necessary that all the females who establish dating relationships with the males may have the intentions of sexual intercourse. At the same time, majority of the males in dating relationships like to have sexual relationships with their partners. When a female resists the attempt of her dating partner for sexual activities, rape can takes place which can be referred as dating rape. Statutory rape occurs when one person in a sexual relationship does not crosses the legal age required to provide consent to sexual activities. It is illegal to engage in sexual relationships with people below 18 years of age in many countries. Even if the person below the age of 18 gives consent to the sexual activities, it cannot be considered as normal sexual activities because of the immaturity of the underage person to take sound decisions with respect to sexual activities. â€Å"Acquaintance rape is a sexual assault crime committed by someone who knows the victim. As a sexual assault crime, acquaintance rape includes forced, manipulated or coerced sexual contact† (Acquaintance Rape Brochure, 2002, p.1). Most of the rape incidents happen among people who are familiar to each other. Rape cases which involve strangers happen very rarely. In acquaintance

M2A2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

M2A2 - Essay Example These individuals may lead the followers to failure by spending too much time socializing and having fun not to mention letting the followers to be extremely free of responsibilities. Such people cannot be effective leaders if results are expected to be seen within certain duration. Attitudes may hinder or enforce the leadership qualities of an individual. This is because attitudes are connected with emotions which make an individual behave in a rational or irrational manner when communicating with others. Leaders with attitude problems (negative attitude) tend to be very pessimist even to the work of his or her followers. This may demoralize and demotivate them hence leading to the failure of a course or organization (Ricketts and Ricketts 2010). Values are acquired through socialization process by different socialization agents like family, school and media. The personal values of an individual may affect their leadership. If for example a person has staunch moral values, he or she will uphold principles of integrity and democracy not to mention good governance hence becoming a good leader. One of the strategies is to have emotional and social intelligence which will ensure the leader understands their emotions and attitudes and that of others and will therefore be considerate and understanding to the followers hence overcoming weaknesses. The other is to have therapies to manage the personal weaknesses the leader may have that hinder him or her from becoming an effective and efficient leader. Situational variables reflect communication of different types of leaders to their followers. It involves defining the tasks accurately and clearly and also understanding the physical and social surroundings that may hinder him or her to be a good leader. These factors may help an individual develop his or her leadership in a way that both the followers and other stakeholders will be supportive to the organization’s endeavors. The organizational variables that may

Three Year Degree Exception- Petition Letter Essay Example for Free

Three Year Degree Exception- Petition Letter Essay I am a diligent, hardworking student submitting this petition before you. I wish to pursue my Masters’ in Information Technology in the U.S. and I have the preliminary eligibility of a Bachelors’ from Osmania University in India. I have also a post graduate diploma that I obtained from a professional organization Comp-u-Serve.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In India, a student becomes eligible to apply for his Masters’ soon after he completes the three year rigorous curriculum at Bachelors’ and this is equivalent to the four year degree in the US. I was in the midst of a formal education from Vivekananda School of PG Studies which is a DOEACC – B Level Program,[ equivalent to Master’s In Computer applications on completion ] when I came to the US to take up employment at General Electric, since the prestigious offer was too good an opportunity to miss. I would have completed my Masters’ in India had it not been for the wonderful opportunity to come to the US and I request the authorities to consider the fact that I do have a Bachelors’ in Commerce from a University, a Diploma in Computer Applications and further formal education at Vivekananda School of Post Graduate Studies that gives me an additional 12 semester hours of credit as evaluated by CED Evaluations. The education system in India trains a student adequately to pursue a Masters’ after the three year duration of Bachelors’. The course curriculum and number of hours a student has to put in during his Bachelors’ are designed to suit this purpose. The student gets an all round thorough training in the Major he chooses and there are allied subjects that are given equal importance. Once a student gets his Bachelors’ he is sufficiently equipped to face the challenges in the course of his Masters’, because the three year degree course curriculum is intensive, and calls for an in depth study of the major chosen. It was this University degree of Commerce and the computer skills acquired in the course of my diploma that fetched me an excellent employment opportunity in the US. This stands testimony to the fact that the three year University degree given by an Indian University is as good as the four year degree that makes a student eligible for his Masters’ in the USA.Many deserving students who successfully complete their three year University degree get Campus placements and lucrative employment offers.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  I became interested in the field of Finance in my High School which motivated me to get a University Degree in Commerce. However, market research showed a growing demand for computer products and services and hence I decided to pursue a business related to Computer products. Being a Commerce student I wanted to be exposed to Computer Applications first, and that is why I first chose to get a diploma at Comp-u-serve. My motive was to get a systematic training in Information Systems which would enable me to offer unique services and solutions to corporate houses. Hence I decided to take up a job as a Computer Professional to better understand the practical aspects of business. Later, I also joined a Master’s program in Computer Applications to enhance my technical knowledge to the fullest the following are the courses that I studied during my training at Vivekananda.1. IT Tools and Applications.2 Business Systems.3 Programming and Problem Solving through C Language .4 Computer Organisation.5 Structured System Analysis Design.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I passed three of these but I was forced to discontinue my studies because I had to come abroad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   .Now my unfinished education would get fulfillment only by getting admission into a Masters’ program in the US. The Bachelor’s of Commerce in my case is equivalent to Bachelor’s of Business Administration as evaluated by CED Evaluation. I have had good work experience in the field of Technology because I was a system administrator at Wintech Computers for two years, a Client Service Analyst for two years at GE and an IT Consultant for six years at Mascon Global Consulting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Indian system offers a Bachelors’ [a University degree] after three years and that is why I had to take up the three year course. I do have a post graduate diploma in computer applications, a formal education in my regular post Graduate studies in Computer Applications for six months and sufficient related experience. I humbly request you to give weight to these facts and grant me an exception to the four year university degree policy as I have a three year degree. I am confident that I would be able to meet all demands in the course curriculum of my Masters’ in Information Systems., because I have the grounding as well as motivation to complete the course successfully. I have basic exposure to theoretical knowledge of computers, competent and relevant practical experience in the field, and a composite honing of skills and comprehensive knowledge in Computer Applications would only be provided by a Masters’ .I assure you of my eligibility to pursue this and request you to treat my three year University degree in India as the four year eligibility criteria of the US.

Research Proposal On Threat To Auditors Independence Accounting Essay

Research Proposal On Threat To Auditors Independence Accounting Essay History reveals that audit is a Latin word meaning he hears. Auditing originated in those years when individuals entrusted with public funds were required to give an oral account of their handling of those funds. Porter (1997) An opinion of an independent chartered accountant is needed to give the public rest of mind that the sets of accounts presented were true and fair and also conform to lay down standards. Independence is the cornerstone of auditing; Stewart (1977) quoted by Porter. In carrying out the audit assignment, the auditors must be independent i.e. the sense of being self reliant and his/her professional judgement not being subordinated by the opinion of others. (Porter, 1997, p.65) It is very important for the auditors to be independent otherwise the audit report will be undermined and lose its value. In order to make the users of information to have faith and rely on the audited account, they must be sure that the audited accounts are independent of entity, its management and other interested party. This is reflected in the fundamental principles of external auditing- objectivity and independence which state that auditors are objective and they express opinion independently of the entity and its directors. As the guide to professional ethics statement (GPES) 1:201: integrity objectivity and independence explains, objectivity is essential for any professional person exercising professional judgement. Objectivity is sometimes described as independence of mind (Dunlea, A. Maclochlainn, N. p.19). However, it is possible to identify some threats to auditors independence. The provision of non-audit services by auditors to their client is referred to as a self-review threat to auditors independence. This is so because once an auditor of a company starts to provide non-audit services to its client e.g. computation of corporation tax matters and other financial services the auditor and the directors tend to develop a relationship and this may jeopardise the objectivity of the auditor (Woolf, E. 1997, p.11-14). The provision of non-audit service by auditors to their client is still a topical issue. The New Standards on Ethics issued in October, 2004 by Auditing Practices Board (APB), gave some exemptions to small companies on the provision of non-audit services. These exemptions can be found on APBs website- www.frc.org.org/apb. (Accountancy, 2005) My interest in auditing as my best subject and my future aspiration to become an auditor made me to choose this topic to assess the threats to auditors independence. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1. To carry out a critical literature review to identify and assess the key threats to auditors independence. To examine the controversies on the provision of non-audit service. To carry out empirical research to establish the opinions of auditors on the provision of non-audit service, to know whether it can pose can a threat to auditors independence and objectivity. To draw a conclusion on the extent to which the provision of non-audit service does and is perceived to weaken the independence of auditors. 1.3 METHOD 1. Conduct a review of literature on auditing in relation to auditors independence and threat to auditors independence in order to develop research question. 2. A questionnaire will be developed with question based on the background and objective of the research. The questions in the questionnaire will seek to test the research question; does the provision of non-audit service, pose a threat to auditors independence? The questionnaire will be distributed to a sample of 20 auditing firms and 20 small sized businesses within Bolton, United Kingdom: In order to find out whether the how provision of non audit service poses a threat to auditors independence. Data analysis that will be used is percentage method and chart, to evaluate the effect of non audit service on auditors independence. 3. If required, conduct interviews with some auditors after the collation of questionnaire. TIMESCALE February 2005 Week 1-3, lectures on how to write good project and selection of research topic. March 1, 2005 Draft research proposal and individual tutorials. March 4, 2005 Submission of research proposal. March 2005 Literature review and clarification of research objectives. April 2005 Agree formal access to 20 auditing firms and businesses. April 2005 First draft of literature review, clarification of methodology and compilation, piloting and revision of questionnaire. April-May 2005 Administer questionnaires and collection of questionnaires. If required, conduct interviews. June 17, 2005 Submission of draft literature review, methodology and related documentation. July-September Analysis of primary/secondary data. 2005 October 2005 Further writing up and analysis. November25,2005 Draft completed including bibliography. January 13, 2006 Submission of final project report and logbook. (England, J. (2005) RESOURCES I have access to computer hardware and software. Access to auditing firms and businesses has been negotiated, subject to confirmation. I also have the finance required to pay all incidental cost as part of my course expenses. REFERENCES Dunlea, A. Maclochlainn, N. (1995) Auditing standards: A Quick Reference, Dublin, Ireland, Oak Trees Press. England, J. (2005),Lecture Materials on Accounting Theory and Practice, Department of Business Studies, University of Bolton, U.K. Porter, B. et. Al (1997) Principles of External Auditing. West Sussex, John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Sullivan, H. (2005), The Accountancy Magazine, February edition p.67. Woolf, E. (1997), Auditing Today, Essex, Prentice Hall. LITERATURE REVIEW LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION Since the introduction of the auditing standard on independence, which requires auditors to be independent of the clients being audited, the maintenance of independence has become a critical issue for the accounting profession. Bartlett, R. W (1993, Online) The author sees independence in auditing as able to maintain an unbiased mental attitude in making decisions about audit work that one is to report upon. Independence in auditing context according to Bartlett, R. W. (1993), is the auditors ability to resist client pressure or/and the auditors ability to act with integrity and objectivity. Dunn, J. (1991, p.19), described independence as an attitude of mind characterised by integrity and an objective approach to professional work. Whittington and Pany, (1998, p.34) sees independence as, the ability to maintain an objective and impaired mental attitude throughout the audit assignment/ engagement. There is a general agreement that independence is an attitude of mind, which does not allow the viewpoints or conclusion of the corporate auditor to become reliant on or subordinate to the influence of pressures of conflicting interests; Lee (1993, p.98) quoted by Sherer, M. and Turley, S. (1997). For purposes of this research, independence will be separated into two related concepts of independence, which are; independence in fact and in appearance. Independence in fact is when an auditor displays independence in mental attitude when carrying out his statutory audit assignment. While independence in appearance simply means that the auditor should be seen as been independent in the publics view (shareholders, Potential investors). Public confidence would be impaired by evidence that independence was lacking, and/or when there is the existence of circumstances, which the public might believe, is likely to influence independence. The relationship that exists between the auditor and their client should be such that appears independent to the third party, Bartlett, R. W (1993). Whittington and Pany (1998, p.35) further state that, The requirement by the third party from the auditor is to give credibility to the audited financial statement. The concept of appearance of independence has been primarily concerned with identifying those situations in which a qualified Chartered Accountant might not be perceived to be independent. The mere perception that an auditor is not independent renders his report useless to the shareholders who wish to rely on it for decision-making purpose. Beattie, V. et al. (1999) stated that, The reality and perception of auditor independence is fundamental to public confidence in financial reporting. This work will identify and assess the key threat to auditors independence and concentrate on the provision of non-audit services. It will examine the controversies on the provision of non-audit services and establish the opinions of the public and auditors on such provisions. Finally a conclusion will be drawn on the extent to which provision of non-audit service does and is perceived to weaken the auditors independence. 2.1 ANALYSIS OF PRESENT SYSTEM A number of factors have been identified in textbooks, journals, articles, auditing standards and the publics view, which does affect auditors independence. Hussey, R. and Lan, G. (2001), identified some of the factors such as: the nature of the auditor-client relationship (Goldman and Barley, 1974), lack of strict auditing regulations, and competitive pressures leading to what has been termed predatory pricing or lowballing and the provision of non-audit services. Beattie and Fearnley, (1994), quoted by Hussey, R. and Lan, G. (2001), (Online). The auditing practice board(n.d) categories these threat as follows: Self interest threat, self review threat, management threat, advocacy threat, familiarity threat, and intimidation threat. Woolf, E. (1997, p.13), lists examples of threat to Auditors independence as follows: Undue dependence on a single audit client, overdue fees, litigation, external pressure or influence, family and other personal relationship, beneficial interest in shares (other investment) and trust, trustee investment in audit clients, voting on audit appointment, loans to and from client, receipt of hospitality or goods and services on preferential terms, and provision of non audit services to audit clients etc. Beattie, V. et al. (1999), stated the principal threat factors to independence relate to economic dependence and non-audit service provision. I have chosen to concentrate on how the provision of non-audit poses a threat to auditors independence, (Online). According to the Auditing standards guidelines (online, n.d.), non audit services comprises: Any engagement in which an audit firm provides professional services to an audit client other than pursuant to: the audit of financial statements; and those other roles which legislation or regulation specify can be performed by the auditors of the entity. An online source (n.d.) defined, non-audit service as, Those services that are permissible under applicable legislation and that are routine and recurring, do not impair the independence of the auditor, and are consistent with APB rules on external auditor independence. Other services that are rendered by auditors apart from auditing are: bookkeeping or other services related to the accounting records or financial statement, financial information systems design and implementation, actuarial services, internal audit outsourcing services, management functions, human resources, broker-dealer, investment adviser, legal services just to mention a few. (Online) The Authors research as indicated that over the years, there as been a growing dissatisfaction among investors and other users of financial statements about auditors provision of non-audit service. These services are perceived to weaken auditors independence when both audit work and non audit work are performed by the same audit firm to the same audit client. Barkess and Simnett, (1994), disagreed with the view, that the provision of non-audit service does impair auditors independence. They argued that there is no relationship between the level of other services and the type of audit report issued; hence they concluded that, the provision of other services by the external auditors to their clients does not compromise the independence of the external auditors. The accounting profession also disagreed about whether non-audit services impaired the performance of the audit and financial reporting process. Several auditors are of the opinion that, when they understand the factors that influence and improve the entitys performance, that they will be able to focus their audit on those critical issues. Others view provision of non audit service, as an impediment to independence because, in some cases, the fees from the provision of non-audit services are more than that of audit fees. If the income earned from provision of non audit service, is more than that of audit service, auditors have naturally tendencies to lose their independence, considering the cost of losing a client can be considerably more than simply the audit fees. The Securities Exchange Commission, in the United States of America, carried out a research in 1999 and discovered that: 4.6% of Big Five SEC audit client paid consulting fees in excess of audit fees. The SEC is concerned that the more the auditor has at stake in its dealing with the audit client, the greater the cost to the auditor should he or she displease the client, particularly when the non-audit service relationship has potential to generate significant revenue on top of the audit management. The SEC concluded that issue that impairs auditors objectivity are subtle and that certain non-audit services, when provided by the auditor do create inherent conflicts, (Online). In a situation where an auditor assists an audit client with their bookkeeping services, this places the auditor in the position of later having to audit his or her own work. It is rather unprofessional for the person who prepared the account to also audit the account. When such happen it is practically impossible to expect the auditor to be able to audit those same records with an objective eye. In the same vein, when an auditor performs certain valuation services for the audit client, can such auditor raise questions in line with valuation of assets at the end when auditing that same audit client? An auditor who has appraised an important client asset at a period during the year is less likely to question his or her own work at year-end. Various examples can be used to see how the provision of non-audit service will impair audit independence. An auditor who provides services in a way that is tantamount to accepting an appointment as an officer or employee of the audit client cannot be expected to be independent in auditing the financial consequences of managements decisions. An auditor who has also helped an audit client to negotiate the terms of employment for a new chief financial officer is less likely to bring quickly to the audit committee questions about the new CFOs performance. Considering the following examples of non audit services rendered by auditors to their audit client, it would be seen that such services not only impair auditors independence but also shows that the accounting profession is not prepared to provide the reasonable assurance that the public expects. Graeme, W.  (1994), carried out a further investigation on whether there is the potential for an appearance of auditor independence impairment when higher levels of non-audit services are provided to audit clients. He investigated this, by analyzing the audit reports for a sample of publicly listed companies over a 10 years period. The results of his analysis revealed that the auditors of companies not receiving an audit qualification of any type over the period derived a significantly higher proportion of their remuneration from non-audit services fees than the auditors of companies receiving at least one audit qualification, (Online) The result of his findings could suggest that auditors are less likely to qualify a given companys financial statements when higher levels of non-audit services fees are derived. Firth M. (1997) in his write up concluded that, the provision of non-audit services to audit clients does increase the economic bond between the auditor and client. This bond, he said, is perceived as impaired auditor independence (Beck, Frecka, and Solomon 1988b; DeBerg, Kaplan, and Pany 1991; Pany and Reckers 1983, 1984), quoted by Firth, M. Firth, M. further affirms this by given two reasons to believe that such service impair independence: The audit firm is unwilling to criticize the work done by its consultancy division, and secondly, the audit firm does not want to lose lucrative consultancy services provided to the audit client and is, therefore, more reluctant to disagree with managements interpretations of accounting matters. He concluded that, auditors disagreements with management could lead to a change of auditor, a move which implies not only a loss of audit fees but, in all probability, a loss of consultancy fees as well. (Online) On one hand, many practitioners (auditors) are adamant that their auditing firms are able to wear both the hats of auditor and consultant without reducing the effectiveness of either service (Burton, 1980; Carey and Doherty, 1966; Klion, 1978; Mednick, 1990) quoted by Bartlett, R. W. (1993). The supporters of the opinion that non-audit service does not impair auditors independence argue that independence is a quality of auditor professionalism which can have a range of values: like all attributes of professionalism, independence is a matter of degree. Those arguing that independence is impaired by combining consulting and auditing have assumed that independence must be absolute, while their opponents have recognized that independence is a matter of degree and have decided that the auditor can achieve the necessary degree of independence and act in the dual capacity of auditor and consultant. Carmichael and Swieringa (1968) quoted by Bartlett, R. W. (1993). Auditing Practice Board under the Accounting Standard Board maintained its stand that the provision of non-audit services to audit clients does reduce the public confidence in the independence of the auditor, Bartlett, R. W (1993). However, consideration was given to small entities. A small entity is defined for the purposes of ES-PASE as; As a company which is not a UK listed company or an affiliate thereof that meets two out of the following three criteria: turnover below  £5.6 million, balance sheet total below  £2.8 million and employees below 50. ES-PASE: Provides auditors of Small Entities with procedures as an alternative to the safeguards described in Ethical Standards 1- 5, in relation to threats to independence created when the auditors have a degree of economic dependence or where they provide non-audit services to their audit clients; Makes available exemptions to the auditors of Small Entities in relation to: The prohibition on auditors representing their clients at tax tribunals; The prohibition on auditors providing non-audit services, including tax and accountancy services, unless management is sufficiently informed to make independent judgements and decisions in relation to them. (APB, 2005 Online) http://www.frc.org.uk/apb/publications/pub0685.html 2.3 STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY In the USA, the General Accounting Officer (G.A.O.) did a graphical representation of both the permitted and prohibited audit work to audit client: The standard for non-audit services was said to employs two overarching principles: Audit organizations should not provide non-audit services that involve performing management functions or making management decisions; and Audit organizations should not audit their own work or provide non-audit services in situations where the non-audit services are significant to the subject matter of the audits. SEE the APPENDICE 2.3.1 for table of permitted Prohibited non- audit service TABLE 2.3.1 2.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK The contention on the provision of non-audit service has been critically analysed. Different views of all stakeholders concerned with the provision of non-audit services to audit client have been examined. A logical conclusion has been drawn, as to the extent to which provision of non-audit service does and is perceived to weaken the auditors independence. The accounting profession has also reviewed the statement of Auditing Standard on auditors independence, knowing fully well that, without value in the auditor opinion, there would be no demand for audit service. Various proposals have been propounded for protecting auditors from the undue influence of directors and regarding the provision of non audit services. There have been many similarities with the proposals of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Board for Chartered Accountants in Business, in considering possible mechanisms to remedy the perceived weaknesses of regulations, practises on other audit services. They concern is to whether there should be a prohibition on firms undertaking work other than audit for their audit clients or whether there should be compulsory rotation of audit firms, after a fixed period of say anything between 5 and 12 years or whether the responsibility for the development of auditing standards and guidelines be distanced from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales? The conclusions it reached were that to prohibit additional work or require compulsory rotation of audit firms would increase clients costs, reduce efficiency and place restrictions on the freedom of the client to make decisions on the services they desired. The Board was also opposed to the establishment of another body to control auditing practices. It argued that this would lead to a bureaucratic, inflexible framework without the advantage of the accumulated experience of the accounting profession. They came out with these conclusions as regards non-audit service that; Auditors should no more be allowed to undertake work other than audit work for the same client. They recommended that there should be compulsory rotation of audit firm after a fixed number of years. This will break any relation that might exist between auditor and company management and would also make the auditor to perform his job without been biased knowing that other auditor (firm) will come in after him (them). An audit can only be effective if the auditor is independent and is believed to be likely to report breaches of the contract between principals (shareholders and lenders) and agents (managers) (Fearnley Page, (1994), quoted by Hussey, R. and Lan, G. (2001) I agreed with what the accounting profession did by has establishing the categories of ethical standards by which the auditors must abide in order to avoid impairment of independence, Spindel, F.S. stated. REFERENCES Anon. (2005) Non -Audit services provided to audit clients ( Online) www.apb.org.uk/images/upload/document/acf1428.pdf (Date accessed 05/06/05) Anon. (2005), Auditing Practice Board: Ethical standard provisions available for small entities. http://www.frc.org.uk/apb/publications/pub0685.html (Date accessed 05/06/05) Anon. (n.d), Controversies on Provision of non audit service, http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-7919.htm (Date accessed 27/04/05) Anon. (n.d.) Audit and non audit services pre-approval policy, (Online) www.merrimacind.com/investors/auditpolicy.html (Date accessed 05/06/05 Bartlett, R. W. (1993), A scale of perceived independence: New evidence on an old concept, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, Vol.6,  Is.  2; Beattie, V. et al. (1999), Perceptions of auditor independence: U.K. evidence, Journal of International Accounting Auditing Taxation.  Greenwich: 1999.Vol.8,  Is.  1 Dunn, J. (1991), Auditing: Theory and Practice, , Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, Prentice Hall. Firth M. (1997), The provision of non-audit services by accounting firms to their audit clients, Contemporary Accounting Research,Vol.14,  Is.  2; Graeme, W.  (1994), Auditor independence, audit qualifications and the provision of non-audit services: A note Accounting and Finance.  Clayton, Vol.34,  Is.  1 Hussey, R. and Lan, G. (2001), An examination of auditor independence issues from the perspectives of U.K. finance directors, Journal of Business Ethics.  July Vol.32,  Is.  2. Reeves, C. (2002), How independent are the auditors? (Online) www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/analysis/2040727/indepedence-auditors (Date accessed 27/04/05) Sherer, M. and Turley, S. (1997) Current Issues in Auditing, London, Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd Spindel, F.S. (1989), Independence and non-audit services, (Online) www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/old/07086106.htm (Date accessed 27/04/05) Whittington, R. and Pany, K. (1998), Principles of Auditing, United States of America, Irwin McGraw-Hill. Woolf, E. (1997, p.13), Auditing Today, Essex, England, Prentice Hall, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. 3.1 INTRODUCTION England, J. (2005) defined Research Methodology as, A precise statement of how a researcher intends to achieve his research objectives and rationale for his choice of method. Research on the other hand, can be defined as an investigation into a matter to get a solution or answer to a particular subject matter or issue. Kumar, R. (1999) defined research as An undertaking within a framework of a set of philosophies using procedures, methods and techniques that have been tested valid and reliable and has been designed to be unbiased and objective to find out answers to a question. Research is a systematic investigation to find out answers to problems, Burns (1994; p.2) quoted by Kumar R defines research as, A systematic investigation into the study of materials, sources etc in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. It is also an endeavour to discover new or collate old facts by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation, Oxford English Language quoted by England, J. Research, according to Alison et al. (2001) is a systematic enquiry, which is reported in a form, which allow the research methods and the outcomes accessible to others. 3.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES After carrying out a literature review to collate data on the views of different authors on issue of provision of non audit services to audit client and how this is viewed to threaten auditors independence, a set of questions will be prepared. This is necessary so as to be able to have a wide range of auditors and entrepreneurs view on the subject matter. In order to obtain relevant information needed to achieve the objectives stated below, questionnaires will be delivered (sent) to twenty auditing firms and twenty small business entities: To carry out a critical literature review to identify and assess the key threats to auditors independence. To examine the controversies on the provision of non-audit service. To carry out empirical research to establish the opinions of auditors on the provision of non-audit service, to know whether it can pose a threat to auditors independence and objectivity. To draw a conclusion on the extent to which the provision of non-audit service does and is perceived to weaken the independence of auditors. 3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH 3.3.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY Blaikie, N. (2003) defined positivism as, the research that assumes that social reality is external to people involved and only the aspect that can be measured are regarded as relevant to research. Jackson, W. (1995) stated that research just like positivism relies on experiments, survey and secondary data, therefore my research philosophy is positivism based. The author will be using questionnaire which comes under the Survey category. 3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY The deductive approach or research strategy will be used for this research because, sufficient materials (journals, articles, periodicals) are available to carry out a test on how the provision of non-audit service does and is perceived to weaken the independence of auditors. *The approach involves what?* There are different researches strategies ranging from Experiment, Survey, Case Study, Ethnography and Action Research but the Survey strategy will be used for this research. Survey strategy and questionnaire option are chosen under this category leaving behind the structured interview and observation. Kumar, R (1999, p.104) stated that sometimes information required to carry out a research are readily available but needed to be gathered / collected from different sources to get the clue to what one is trying to find out or achieve. To achieve the objective of this research as earlier stated above, questions will be tailored to answer the Research Objectives. Questionnaire was chosen because it allows the collection of data from a sizeable population i.e. twenty auditing firms and twenty small business entities as stated in the literature review. The delivery and collection questionnaire method is considered appropriate for this research. The questionnaire will be delivered in person to selected auditing firms and small business entities, asking them of a possible date of collection. This is chosen to be the best form of questionnaire method necessary to achieve the aim of the research, Saunders et al (2001) The author considered interview as another option to this research, but realised that time may be a limiting factor. It may be impossible to interview twenty auditing firms and small business entities because of time. The author also considered the convenience of answering the structured interview as respondents may be busy with other business matters on the day of interview. This may cause lack of concentration or simply not getting the best from the person interviewed. If time permits, additional information through interview would be gathered. This will be done by carefully selecting respondents from the questionnaire who are willing to supply more information on the subject matter and are ready to be interviewed, to assist in achieving the objective of the research. A question will be in the questionnaire asking whether respondent are willing to give further information to help achieve the research objective (Interview). Other research strategy or methods are considered in appropriate for this kind of research. ADVANTAGES OF QUESTIONNAIRE<

The Advanced Construction And Building Technology Construction Essay

The Advanced Construction And Building Technology Construction Essay In decades, the conventional construction industry has been considered as a labour-intensive, low-tech industry with low productivity. It seems construction sector has been left behind by technologies innovations and sciences developments that have already reshaped many other industrial sectors. Construction industry facing challenges to responds to change technical, economic and social conditions, there is an increasing need of changing construction technique, communication and management strategy within the sector. Mass production and automation was introduced in the early twentieth century. It was a method of producing products in large quantities with relatively low cost. The product were produced in many different components and assembled into a finish product through an assembly line, the approach of this method has reshaped manufacturing industry especially in the sector of automobile, aircraft, train etc. it has proved that automation is the key to increase productivity. Industrialized construction (modular, panelised, sub-assemblies etc.) became popular during the post-war period, due to the huge demand in housing. Because of the nature of the concept, instead of adopting automation technology to traditional construction methods, there is a potential opportunity to integrate and apply manufacturing technology to enable a revolutionary change in construction sector in terms of design, production and management. The aim of this paper intends to discover and recognise the opportunities and challenges that advanced technology and modern manufacturing process offer to the industrialized construction sector, and how would the sector to embrace automation and enhance the way its operate, along with the introduce of a integrated management system from manufacturing industry. The paper will also provide an overview of the issues and difficulties the industry will face during introducing new technology innovations and adopting advanced automated production process into construction sector. Introduction Challenges emerged and changes need to be made within construction sector due to the changes in global phenomenon, economic, science and technology. There is a need for construction industry to improve its productivity, quality and flexibility, along with requirement to adapt technologies and management methods of other manufacturing industry. The formation of off-site construction sector has the advantages to adapting technologies directly from manufacturing sectors which support the principles of mass production and customization. Off-site construction methods can easily provide an efficient design and management process to allow customized products at mass production prices with a better quality, so that an entire building will be no longer constructed with conventional methods but to be produced as a product. There are numerous advantages of using off-site construction methods. As the production process is carried out in a factory environment which provides better communication between clients, designers and engineers, to ensure high quality standards, increase the speed of production as well as minimise impact on the environment by eliminating wastes. In recent years, there is a growing interest in the area of adopting automation technologies to construction and many building systems have been developed by implementing robotic technology to assist both on-site and off-site activities. The principle of future automated construction is to create a highly efficient automated system and to produce a customer orientated product, which involves apply advanced technologies both off-site and on-site, new design methods will be launched to develop of a new building systems, customized software and different management approach will be integrated in manufacturing process. Development of integrated construction automation and robotics building processes will assist component producing process and onsite construction. Life cycle of a building will be increased by use of new materials and new definition of building construction. However, in order to optimise the use of automated construction methods, it is important that design concept is compatible with technology available. It is necessary that research and development (RD) sector plays a very important role in terms of select and discover available approach for manufacturing methods. While designers and engineers need to apply the concept of automation whereby adjusting the design to fit production as a result the structural, functional, and the flexibility of the building could be implemented. Under one roof Design method evolution The goal of Industrialised building construction is to establish a new method of producing a per-engineered product rather than building in conventional method. Finished design is completed by a group of assembled components. A building will be no longer to be designed as a whole but developed as a range of components and accessories. The changing of design process results in the changes of practices. Traditional building design methods will be challenged by automated design methods. From the success of other manufacture industry has shown the benefit of using automated production methods. Building product development stage will be a systematic process; building system will be designed with flexibility of using robotic erection. Compare to conventional method, Designers will be increasingly relying on using CAD system and assisted with other technologies such as virtual reality system (VR). Virtual reality system creates a computer- simulated environment, which enables a physical presence, interaction with real environment. Client assisted by the system enable the simulation of the design process. An on-line virtual tool provides a selection of components; simulate real-time designing and environment, then client can import selected 3D design elements such as window, doors, roof into the system, to enable designer to gain a good perception of the project, the use of computer simul ated tool in conjunction with automated data collection tool to schedule and manage the project. The cost, design, material usage and assembling specification of the project can be generated automatically. In the past two decade, Automobile industry has benefited from using Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) the system has not only changed the productivity of automobile manufacturing but also defined the concept of customer oriented product concept. While the construction industry still based on labour intense type of work, there is a need for automating building process, thus an improved productivity, quality and better working environment could be achieved. Overview of Industrialised building system (mainly on residential housing sector) Nowadays, with housing stock market reaches highest demands in many countries, take UK for example, government aiming to build 50,000 units a year to fill the gap, however, if just rely on conventional methods this target is unlikely to meet. Thus, sustainable and modern design approaches became more and more crucial. Highly industrialized building method (modular, panelised, sub-assemblies etc.) has been wildly accepted and recommended. Factory manufactured homes (prefab homes) are transported on site sim-finished, which may only take days or even hours to complete, while in traditional construction method, homes are built from tons of basic materials using on-site labor and technique, which cost more and take longer to finish build. Advanced technology and automation in manufacturing industry has set up a successful example to construction industry. Due to the uniqueness of construction process, it is difficult to adopt automation techniques from other manufacturing sector directly . The advanced manufacturing methods which chosen have to be amended then integrated gradually into construction process. Compared with traditional methods of construction, the advantages that prefab offers shown as below: Reduce labor costs, for example, to build a small family house in England, client expect to pay up to  £250 a day to cover contractors and builders cost, this not even including costs of materials and equipments, also weather condition could effect on speed of on-site construction, as in extremely cold or damp condition, mortar will take longer to set due to frost, and one coat of plaster could take up to a day to set, this will slow down speed of construction dramatically and increase costs of labour. In comparison, off-site construction has most of their role carried out in factory environment with tight quality control and completely weather proof, specialist worker will produce building components at maximum efficiency. Reduce material costs; normally, client or contractor will have to set up an account with local building merchants and price charged is depending on the amount of material purchased. On the other hand, off-site manufactures whose order certain material in bulk directly from suppliers will normally receive better prices. Environmental friendly, as most components is produced off-site and ready for on-site assembly, it will reduce the amount of waste during on-site construction, Many prefab components are made of recyclable material and the building is to be designed more energy efficient. Prefab building is not something new, but it was once re-homed tens of thousands families in Britain after the Second World War. However after decades, prefab housing has not been as marketable as traditional housing. There are numbers of barriers and disadvantages of using such system have also occurred in several cases. Design limitations, while a prefab wall component are designed for a flat roof to sit on, and then it is unsuitable for it to be adapted for a different roof design. Components are manufactured in huge quantity, if there is a fault appeared on one, and then the same issue could be found on all. This could lead to unnecessary time waste. Lack of individuality, has shown on many post-war off-site designs. Even today, most off-site designed home is virtually same as traditionally built house, they are often been treated as lower-grade or temporary shelter by the general public. Skill shortage, builders and contractors are not familiar with the system, so on-site assembly will be carried out by factory engineers and specially trained labor, this would reduce the need of employ local contractors and cost local labor market. Despite the disadvantages of modular system, industrialized construction attribute vast numbers of benefits, there is a potential opportunity of future prefab building industry to adopt advantages and reassess the disadvantages , developing new prefab techniques and materials to provide a better performed building system. Prefab System Performance In many countries, such as Japan, Germany, manufacturers are reinventing the process of home construction by adopting assembly line automation methods to achieve mass production. A number of new construction materials are starting to be used as components in prefab housing. Such as, structural insulated panels (SIPs) and insulating concrete forms (ICFs). There are systems developed by using prefab technique, include prefab foundation systems, steel framing, concrete framing, large-modular systems, and so on. Prefab Foundation system Due to different site condition, different Materials, drainage system and engineered structural support could be applied. Initially, in house designers and engineer teams will exam soil type, contamination hazards of the site, and other critical natural elements of the given location, such as flood hazard zone, or seismic area, once all data is collected and appropriate system will be finalized, the chosen system needs to be designed subject to local building regulation requirement and to be reviewed by local authorities over construction period both off-site and on-site. The system is designed and manufactured as prefabricated components with consideration of drainage system used and complete integrated service installation points. Furthermore, according to different type of floor chassis system used, connection devise and method maybe vary, such as direct fastening system, direct bolting system, or welding system. Once the site is ready, the foundation components will be delivered onsite and drop in to the footing or trenches while connecting with service point. Panelised Wall Floor and Roof systems Panels can be produced in an automated factory environment, using computer program that transfers panel-cutting instructions directly from digital CAD (computer aided design) drawings. The finished product will be inspected and then transport on to jobsite. There are many types of panelised system available, such as light gauge steel, insulating concrete forms (ICFs), aluminum concrete and fiberglass components. They are consist of pre-engineered panels, factory manufactured, that will be erected on site to form a structural envelop. The most common, Structural insulated panel (SIPs) which consist of an insulating layer of rigid polymer foam sandwiched between two layers of structural board, offering superior insulation, structural capacity. SIPs are durable, light in weight and dimensionally stable. The system will significantly simplify on-site farming and reduce the risk of health and safety issues occurred from on-site construction. Compare with other modular system, SIPs provide more flexibility in terms of design, complicated shapes can be produced with considerably low price. Structurally, SIPs wall panel is deceptively strong, which could perform as load-bearing wall, roof structure, as well as internal dividing wall. Due to the exceptional load-bearing performance of the wall panel means variety of floor systems could be utilized. Compare with conventional wood framing technique, SIPs offer a dense, uniform and continuous air barrier with few thermal bridges, and little opportunity for internal convection, therefore less air leaks and reduce condensation occurred by cold bridging. Eco-joists are one of the best flooring system for SIPs structure, they are consist of parallel stress grade timber overhangs connected with V shaped galvanised steel webs. They share the same advantages as SIPs, they are pre engineered, designed and manufactured according to deferent loads requested by the project. The systems are lightweight and easy to handle on site, in addition all services such as electrical cables and waste pipes and ventilation dust could easily install between the open webs. Meanwhile, roof construction could achieve maximum useable space by using SIPs, because there will be no requirement of roof trusses going across loft space, and it offers continuous insulation to increase energy performance. As a result, combination of these two systems provides an excellent sample of advantages of using prefabricated components in modern construction. Lifecycle of the Prefab system Product orientated design Firstly, building will be marketed as a product rather than a traditional building. To be able produce them in large quantities with relatively low cost, the key is to mass produce, but with infinite personal taste, the combination of mass production and personal taste is mass customization, to give customer choices but within a manageable range. This will keep manufacturing processes sample and economies of scale can be implemented. For example, car manufacturers allow customer to choose the colour and certain specifications of a car model. However, customers are unable to specify the colour of the steering wheel, and design of the seats, even if it is achievable. Future prefab system will be designed to be more flexible; while components can be mountable and de-mountable for reuse. Proposed building site will be assisted by construction robots with little human intervention on site. The development of prefabrication in construction sector has demonstrated it is possible to adopt manufacturing technique into construction process and to achieve automation. Prefab building process will adopt an automated system in terms of, design, engineering, and construction, which means future construction process will proceed in an automated manner. For example, customer could pick different colours of wall finish and flooring or kitchen and bathroom pods from a product catalogue to fit into a standard floor plan, just like buying a car with choices of different body paint and interior accessories. The main building components will be mass produced such as wall and floor panels, and accessories such as different designs of kitchen pods to be produced only w hen ordered, to allow parts arrive into production just when needed. A new joining, and installation method will be developed with consideration of later on-site installation; building component will operate systemically as well as interchangeable to maximize system performance and lifespan. While on-site, construction robots will perform multiple tasks to cope with variety of site conditions, robots will have sequence or digital controlled. Construction robots will interact with each other on-site; identify issues and automatically response to site personal such as, project manager. In case of technical failures, all building activities should be able to handle by works manually. The house has been designed flexible and adaptable to allow future alteration. To alter existing house, traditionally, clients have to seek professional help to carry out the building work or relocated to a different property. In contrast, due to the way that house been constructed, the internal and structural wall, roof and floor can be easily disassembly from existing structure and proposed components will be plug-in to form an improved floor layout or provide an additional accommodation to suit clients requirement. The dealer will provide data from their database to cover information from the time of construction on the materials used, floor plans, piping and electrical lines, etc. Client then can use these specifications to obtain quotations from the dealer or other service providers. Site visit and inspection will be carried out by the selected manufacturer, data collected and design requirements of the project will be incorporated by computer integrated construction (CIC) syste m, design specification and cost will be produced pro manufacturing. The fully automated construction process shall precede pro to the final approval from the client. Second hand housing market and renovation market will be fulfilled with a new definition, second hand house will be put on the market and buyer is no longer necessarily to relocate to where the house is. Second hand house will be dissembled and transported back to the factory for inspection and renewal; inspected components are finished off with new fittings and equipments. The building components will be transported to the new site, by using the same technique, the building will be reassembled and ready for the new owner to move in. The same concept also applied on to those clients who extremely emotionally touched with their beloved home, instead of ditch the old one, alternatively the house could be relocated wherever they go. The efficient, flexible and mass production concept of future prefab industry enable a niche market to emerge within the construction sector; a prefab house will be affordable to purchase but offer high degree of design, flexibility. Customer will engage in the design process which will give the project their personal taste, incorporate with the mythology of mass customization, and offer customer with more choices. The lifecycle of a building could be extended longer by reclaim and disassembly the existing structure. In addition, the future prefab industry has the potential to achieve automation in all construction phases. Strategy action of Future Prefab construction Standardization For achieving the requirement of prefab building mass production, all components need to be standardized for production. Similar to automobile industries, same parts might be produced and used on fabricate different model, consequently, materials can be utilized in the most efficient manner to produce wide range of standardized components, such as universal wall, floor and roof system. Then the usage of same production process, machinery, and skilled workers can be maximized then maximum productivity achieved. Specialization Mass production and standardized product allow a high degree of labor specialization with the production process. It is an opportunity to use single task robots to conduct specific rule repetitiously. In such working condition, automated technology could be applied and tested within the prefab construction sector. Integration In order to obtain an optimal result, a high degree of coordination must exist between various relevant parties such as designer, manufacturer, owner, and contractor. This is achieved through an integrated system in which all these functions are performed under a unified authority (1) Automation in future prefab construction industry Robotic industrial applications are very well established in the manufacturing industry, while there is a very limited influence on the construction sector. A number of benefits are anticipated from these automated systems, including improved construction productivity, to eliminate the dependence on labor, and improved safety and quality. The impact of this integrated automation approach is expected to be significant due to its high level of management between resources and processes, and well defined environment for information transfer. As a follow-up to this effort, several research issues need to be considered, including the design of materials handling systems which will maintain the efficiency of the automated building construction approach. In Japan, the success of the automobile industrys automated assembly plants, combined with the construction industrys worker shortage, has helped encourage the development of Japans automated and robotic construction operations. Although th e trend toward automation itself has produced some gains in productivity, the primary goal is to do a specific task with fewer people in a safer environment. (2) The need for automation in construction is clear; as most construction activities are repetitious, labor-intensive, and dangerous so that it is perfectly suitable for robot automation. T. Bock (2007) illustrated a robotic precast concrete panel factory that uses a multipurpose unit which allows flexible production of the concrete floor, wall and roof panels. Here, according to certain CAD data, a multi functional gantry type robotic unit with two vertical arms places magnetos on the steel production table. The unit also attaches shutters on top of the magneto and then places horizontal, vertical and triangular reinforcement bars, as per design. A CAD-CAM controlled concrete distributor spreads the right amount of concrete while controlled by a CAD layout plan, which takes into account installation, window or door opening. (3) Swedish company Randek has developed a number of high-performance position controlled systems for prefab house manufacturing. Those systems were developed similar to the manufacturing industry and were intended to perform routine task in on location. For instance, their latest wall, floor and roof production line system SF021 is developed to be a flexible system for effective production of insulated wall elements. Firstly, a framework is built with studs and top and bottom plates installed by using a CAD-CAM controlled nailing gun, and then wall sheet will be nailed in while the whole wall component is flipped over and ready for the next work station. Second step, the wall component will be insulated. The final stage, the insulated wall will be flipped upside down and another wall sheet to be nailed on to seal up the component. The wall component is completed and ready for site delivery. The whole process is computer controlled, and it is only require 3-4 operators to over see the op eration. In Japan, there are more than 85 present of the houses are prefabricated, several leading construction firms have developed fully automated system for manufacturing building components, such as Sekisui chemical, robots has played active roles at the production line. Robotic manipulators were used as assistants to human. This approach allows the robot to be less autonomous and technically simpler, needing only limited sensing abilities. According to this approach, the human performs the vital parts of the task, and the robot is used to expand the human physical limits. Such systems, of less autonomous performance, can be more easily adapted for assistance in a variety of building tasks. (4) Off-site production sequence may have successfully adopted automation concept, robots are capable of conduct many factory based roles such as handing heavy materials, and it has benefited construction industry greatly. On the other hand, robots still face many difficulties due to the dynamic nature of construction site and economical challenge. Construction industry has a variety combination of sectors and it has to cope with variety of circumstances on each project and site. In construction automation, the building also serves simultaneously as the work environment. Construction robots will face great challenges when cope with complexity of on-site tasks. To tackle this, single-task robots need to be designed not only to assist human but also interact with human and enhance the over all performance; robots with specific function will be programmed to work independently, such as on-site single-task robots will perform most of the assembling and heavy lifting roles, as well as problem solving and data collection roles. Single-task robots been designed for a factory systematic environment free-standing robots will be moving along a production line on wheels to complete production roles. While suspended robots usually have lifting mechanisms to help it move up and down. Mobile Robotic system also developed for material handing on-site. Personal interior finishing robot is developed to reduce human interaction. Engelbert westkà ¤mper et al (2000) developed a robotic system for the automatic laying of tiles within certain tolerances on prefabricated modules. The pilot work consisted of a tile laying system that consists of tile positioning equipment, a centering and measuring system and transport unit; a tile supply system consisting of a store and a measuring unit; system for generating process parameters; and handing and positioning system having industrial robot and process control. (5) Moreover, Neelamkavil,J (2009) have illustrated that single-task robots technology will progresses quickly through the development of human-robot cooperative (HRC) system, key technologies development such as motion generation, remote control ,operation control, and mobility, there will be more interaction between humans and robots in workplace, human and robot will assist each other and exchange forces on site. Construction Automation Construction automation system consists of four fundamental components; An on-site factory protected by an all-weather enclosure. an automated jacking system an automated material conveying system a centralized information control system These systems have followed manufacturing principle as well as using just-in-time principles for delivery of materials and bar coding for tracking and placing materials once delivered on-site. The numbers of single-task robots used depends upon the job. (6) SMART (Shimizu Manufacturing system by Advanced Robotics Technology) has demonstrated a computer integrated construction (CIC) approach, which realized the objectives on; automated production off-site, with robotic assembly on site, handing heavy components and interact with one another. It has also utilized automatic planning and construction site management technology, with using a computerized controlled system to monitoring building process on-site. The system has fully integrated industrial production methods with construction, where the theory of Just-in-time (JIT) and constancy could be realized throughout the construction process. (7) Economically, due to the high cost of developing such automation system has affect on the speed of putting robotic systems in to practice. The most development has been done by some leading construction practice supported by large numbers of research organization. For example, in Japan most of major construction companies has large amount of research budgets and in-house research department working closely with universities and other institutes. Without strong financial capability an automated construction site will be impossible to implement. Software and IT integration Automated construction processes are not only relying on software and IT technology, but also associated with other related technologies, such as data processing, and Virtual Reality technology. These technologies control of construction machines and improve the construction efficiency. But more importantly, software integration is crucial for implementing the concept of computer integrated construction (CIC), which will enable to integrate prefabrication design process, advanced planning and management methods through a software system to programming on site robots and simulate the construction process. Neelamkavil,J (2009) reported The EU Future Home projects, the projects have developed the AUTOMOD3 system- an automatic modular construction software environment, the system successfully integrated all stages of house-building construction process and automated construction methods in to a CAD program. Through using this program, each stage is simulated; from transfer 2D plan into 3 D model to onsite robotic assembly each task can be carried out automatically. The introduction of Computer aided design (CAD) has changed attitudes towards accuracy and efficiency within construction industry. The developments of newest software such as AutoDesks Revit Architecture, SolidWorks are an upgrade of traditional CAD-based software, which enables designer, engineers, constrictors to analysis each stage of the buildings lifecycle, from its concept stage to demolition and recycling, it will monitoring the whole building process. Through sharing information sources between key players within the company such as design data, financial data, legal data, and service layout, this will improve team communication and increase efficiency, constructability and ultimately predictability of all projects. Summary Construction industry facing challenges to responds to change technical, economic and social conditions, there is an increasing need of changing construction technique, communication and management strategy within the sector. This paper has explored the opportunities and challenges that advanced technology and modern manufacturing process offer to the construction sector, and illustrated few examples of how did the development of robotic technology is increasingly affecting the process of construction automation. The need for improved automation and productivity of the construction industry is clear. There are numbers of factors are needed to be stressed, and will affect on future implement; Change of construction methods, result in organizational revolution. Design practice, client communication, product development, on-site assembly, use of construction robots, project management, and software development issues are highlig

Language and Social Position Essay -- Expository Essays

Language and Social Position As I sat in my never-all-that-comfortable seat at the theater to watch "Titanic" for the second time on the big screen, a thought quite alien came over me: good usage in language. This film, based on the 1912 disaster, went to the extremes on details to make everything about it convey the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The language of the film was scripted as best to the year 1912 as was the model made of the ship itself. The film showed the language of both the upper crust ("nobility" of America) and the lower class of different nations of the world. Concentrating on the educated, monied, upper-class, their language was so pure, concise, and definitive. The best example that I can quote from the film was a line from young Rose, when trying to get it through her thick-skulled, snobbish mother's head that there were not enough boats for everyone on board, in fact less than half of the passengers would get a spot on a lifeboat. She says to her mother, "Not enough by half!" In four words, Rose has said what would have taken me at least ten words to say in our modern language usage, something similar to "There are not enough [boats] for even half of the people!" "Not enough by half" is a phrase I easily comprehended, but I have never heard a phrase so worded in my life (in contemporary conversations, dialogue, speeches, etc.). It reminds me more of diction in writings from the past, that authors such as Shakespeare or Benjamin Franklin may have used. Why isn't a phrase like "Not enough by half" used today in modern American English? This phrase is clear, concise and is not difficult to say. Robert Hall would probably praise such a phrase as a fine example of good usage. It ... ...ld've thought "groovy" and "crazy, man" would have made a comeback, huh? Language usage should not be the criterion by which we judge one another. Language was created to communicate, and shouldn't we communicate in the easiest and most efficient manner? We should heed Robert Hall's advice and make the rules of good usage based on "the most efficient way of saying" (hand-out) govern our language usage. However, in reality, it seems that William Tanner's thoughts creep into our opinion of good usage and connect it with social etiquette, thereby creating judgments of social class and distinction based on one another's speech. We, as listeners and speakers, need to make a conscious decision to stop judgment of others based on language usage and to start to become followers of Hall (we'll call ourselves Halloons), and make our language clear, concise and efficient.

Essay on the Artist as Hero in A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man

The Artist as Hero in A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man  Ã‚        Ã‚   A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce is a partly autobiographical account of the author's life growing up.   The novel chronicles the process through which the main character, Stephen, struggles against authority and religious doctrine to develop his own philosophies on life.   Stephen is not necessarily rebelling against God and his father as much as he is finding his own person, creating his own life.   He is an artist, not because of the outcome of his life, but because of the process he goes through to achieve that outcome.   The artist is a hero because of the sacrifices he makes, the persecution he endures, and the risks he undertakes merely to set foot towards his vision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joyce demonstrates that whether or not Stephen achieved his vision is insignificant to the actual journey itself.   First of all, the novel concludes not with the outcome of Stephen's life but with the beginning stages of his journey.   "Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead," he writes in the last sentence of the novel.   Joyce purposefully ends the book before Stephen's sets off, to emphasize that the process he undergoes to reach that point where he can reject the very foundation upon what his life was based is where the importance lies.   The infamous hell scene spans over twenty pages not to frighten the reader as much as to show how difficult it is to even become an artist and fight conformity.   All process towards breaking away is lost after the preacher's sermon on hell, as shown in the following passage: He beat his breast with his fist humbly, secretly under cover of the wooden armrest.   He would be at one with others... ...d for his art, seeing that his religion is no good for his heart, he forges a new life and religion for his own, fulfilling his destiny as an artist.    Works Cited Beebe, Maurice.   "The Artist as Hero." James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a   Young Man:   Text, Criticism, and Notes.   Ed.   Chester G. Anderson.   New   York:   Penguin, 1968.   340-57. Ellmann, Richard.   "The Limits of Joyce's Naturalism." Sewanee Review 63   (1955):  Ã‚   567-75. Givens, Seon, ed.   James Joyce:   Two Decades of Criticism. New York:   1948. 2nd ed.   1963. Joyce, James.   A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.   The Portable James Joyce.   Ed.  Ã‚   Harry   Levin.   New   York:   Penguin, 1976. Power, Arthur.   Conversations with James Joyce.   Ed. Clive Hart.   London:  Ã‚   Millington, 1974. Wright, David G.   Characters of Joyce.   Dublin:   Gill and Macmillan, 1983.       Essay on the Artist as Hero in A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man The Artist as Hero in A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man  Ã‚        Ã‚   A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce is a partly autobiographical account of the author's life growing up.   The novel chronicles the process through which the main character, Stephen, struggles against authority and religious doctrine to develop his own philosophies on life.   Stephen is not necessarily rebelling against God and his father as much as he is finding his own person, creating his own life.   He is an artist, not because of the outcome of his life, but because of the process he goes through to achieve that outcome.   The artist is a hero because of the sacrifices he makes, the persecution he endures, and the risks he undertakes merely to set foot towards his vision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joyce demonstrates that whether or not Stephen achieved his vision is insignificant to the actual journey itself.   First of all, the novel concludes not with the outcome of Stephen's life but with the beginning stages of his journey.   "Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead," he writes in the last sentence of the novel.   Joyce purposefully ends the book before Stephen's sets off, to emphasize that the process he undergoes to reach that point where he can reject the very foundation upon what his life was based is where the importance lies.   The infamous hell scene spans over twenty pages not to frighten the reader as much as to show how difficult it is to even become an artist and fight conformity.   All process towards breaking away is lost after the preacher's sermon on hell, as shown in the following passage: He beat his breast with his fist humbly, secretly under cover of the wooden armrest.   He would be at one with others... ...d for his art, seeing that his religion is no good for his heart, he forges a new life and religion for his own, fulfilling his destiny as an artist.    Works Cited Beebe, Maurice.   "The Artist as Hero." James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a   Young Man:   Text, Criticism, and Notes.   Ed.   Chester G. Anderson.   New   York:   Penguin, 1968.   340-57. Ellmann, Richard.   "The Limits of Joyce's Naturalism." Sewanee Review 63   (1955):  Ã‚   567-75. Givens, Seon, ed.   James Joyce:   Two Decades of Criticism. New York:   1948. 2nd ed.   1963. Joyce, James.   A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.   The Portable James Joyce.   Ed.  Ã‚   Harry   Levin.   New   York:   Penguin, 1976. Power, Arthur.   Conversations with James Joyce.   Ed. Clive Hart.   London:  Ã‚   Millington, 1974. Wright, David G.   Characters of Joyce.   Dublin:   Gill and Macmillan, 1983.