World Economies Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World

World Economies Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World Introduction As the world globalizes and liberalization of free trade advocated for, countries are looking for what they can produce cheaply and best in order to reduce the cost of production involved lessening the strain to world’s resources which are at an alarming declining rate. Any country in the world has got the resources it is well endowed with and the resources it is poorly endowed with.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Economies: Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, with trade liberalization specialization has been boosted as countries can produce their specialty cheaply, trade with others, and still have the purchasing power of what cannot be cheaply produced within their own countries. To succeed in this, the country needs to evaluate its critical success factors to enable it succeed. To enable trade all over the world there has been an establishme nt of an international body which looks into trade matters, the World Trade Organization. WTO was created in the year 1995 though it has been working since 1945 under the GATT guidelines. Contribution of UAE in International Market with Respect to Goods and Services According to a WTO report, the United Arab Emirate success in trade (both locally and at internationally) has mainly been supported by its liberal and multifaceted economy which is characterized by low trade barriers. â€Å"The economy has been growing steadily at around 6% per year in the last 10 years and slightly higher at 9% in the period between 2003- 2005† (WTO Press Release Par. 2). The country fares well in the international trade with its exports spread across the whole world. According to the statistics of 2004, the European commission was the lead market for the country’s exports while Asia was the main source of its imports (see table 3 in appendices). This might have led to its’ success as the raw materials are sourced from around the continent giving the country an upper hand in cutting down the cost of production involved. The European Commission is the major market for the United Arab Emirates as table 4 in appendices indicates. The country is a major exporter of oil products (Moore 2008). The country is also a lead exporter of merchandise trade as shown in table 1. The country lies at position 19 as of 2007 statistics. Despite the country success it has been faced by trade barriers within, which makes it difficult to conduct business within the country due to their restrictive polices, weak institutions, and lack of competition (WTO press release 2006).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Top Ten Exporters and Importers in World Merchandise Trade The critical success factors of the world top ten exporters and importers lies on the efforts thes e countries have been making to open up of their economies coupled with different economic strategies and initiatives being initiated by these countries. For the top ten exporters and importers of merchandise trade our focus shall be centrally on China due to its emergence as a world economic leader in the near future. As we have seen, China is the leading exporter of merchandise trade while the United States is the lead importer of merchandise in the world as per the statistics. China’s success factors have simply been based on the fact that the country has a huge market due to its large population size and economy is growing holistically across all sectors. For example in the year 2008, China surpassed the United States of America as the world leader in the production of electronics such as the laptops and mobile phones. With its growing population, the country has grown to become the second largest car market in the world and could surpass United States of America by the e nd of the year 2010 if the expected sales are achieved as predicted. The country’s middle class population is estimated to be around half a billion and if the middle class continues to grow in this country you can expect the market share of China in the world’s market to increase. Another critical success factor has been that China operates the third busiest port after Hong Kong and Singapore thus with the capability of the Shanghai’s port becoming the largest shipping port in the near future, the prospects of China are still bright as ever. As the above figure shows, the country has the largest world GDP share after the United States of America and with its growing population of more than 1.3 billion people China will continue to be a big market destination. China has got the highest literacy levels among the developing countries and this has been a success factor as it shows that the country has the capability of providing quality labor at low costs, which is difficult to be marched by other big economies such as the United States of America. The entry of China into the WTO has also been a major boost in enabling the country open its local markets for international investors. The country has been offering international investors a comfortable environment in which they can conduct trade by offering tax incentives, for example sometimes she offers tax waivers to foreign investors depending on the location of their investment projects (Cohen 2010.) In some places within the country, there exist free trade zones as the country increases its efforts to attract foreign investment in these areas. Despite the country’s success, many companies in China do not practice due diligence as most do not keep proper inventory of their records.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Economies: Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many companie s keep different records depending on the use for example you will find companies keeping books for government inspectors, investors, and for their own all with different entries but referring to the same accounts. The banking system is also suffering from in active loans for example statistics show that in the year 2008, bad debts were to the extent of more than 50 billons American US dollars (Kang, Kim, Sun, Jones Zangh 2010). Among the European Union members, Germany lies second in exporting and third at importing in the merchandise trade and it is the leading in Europe and her critical success factors have been attributed to the fact that just as the other countries, Germany has embraced an open economic system. As observed by Hamilton Quinlan (2008) evidence shows that, â€Å"The German economy is the world’s fifth largest, measured by purchasing power parity, and of the five is the most tightly tied to the global economy – more than the U.S., China, India or J apan. Germany is also the world’s #1 exporter of goods and the #3 exporter of services. Germany accounts for only 1.5% of the world’s population yet in recent years it has actually boosted its share of global markets.†(p. 2). The growth has been achieved despite pressure from other emerging economies like China and India who boasts a high population in their countries compared to Germany. The Top Ten Exporters and Importers of Commercial Services The critical success factors on the top ten importers rely on country policies and our focus here shall be on the United States of America for its role as the global leader for a very long period. The United States of America is the global leader at both importing and exporting of commercial services as from 2009 statistics shown in table 2. European Union countries comprising of the UK, Germany, France and Spain among others contribute to more than 25% of the market share with China having a fair share of 3.8%. As noted by Gutierrez (2007) before the economic crisis in the year 2008, there was evidence that the US economy had grown at a rate of â€Å"3.3% in 2006 and the country’s exports had grown to 13% in 2005 and imports by 10% over the same period† (p.5). The factors which have made the US a major success in the world of exports has been its’ huge growth as well as the trade promotion authority which has enhanced free trade agreements between the country and other countries. With the highest percentage of consumers being outside the United States of America, the World Trade Organization plays a key role and the Doha talks if succeeds will enhance an increase in US exports to other countries around the world.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Gutierrez (2007) experts argue that â€Å"American competitiveness in the global market is due in large part to an economy and culture that welcome and encourage innovation and flexible open markets† (32). The other leading EU countries include the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Ireland with China and Japan coming there in between. Fastest Growing Traders Among the fastest growing traders in the world are China, India, Brazil and lately Qatar, though its economy size is small compared to the others. These countries emergence as fast traders has been attributed to their rising populations due to their large size thus giving them a chance for a large internal market and room for external market demands depending on their needs. That’s why in the recent past, less developed countries have been relying on India, China and Brazil to help them convince the developed to reduce barriers and tariffs in trade so as to ensure even the poor and the Less Developed Countries benefit from liberalization of trade (Wood 2010). These growing economies are expected to have an influence in the world of trade as we have seen in the case where Brazil has grown to the extent that it has of late disagreed with the UN on imposing economic sanctions on Iran over its role in nuclear weapons. Brazil has refused to impose sanctions on the country and it has grown into a position where it can sanction the United States of America after directions from the WTO for breaking the WTO guidelines (Dade 2010). Both India and China have the majority population at 37% expected to drop to 34% by 2040 and their share of the GDP expected to grow to 40 % (Srinivasan 2010). India success has mainly based on its growing population and the liberalization of trade, which provides a large market pool for the Indian goods and services. The free trade policies have enabled the country export and import its goods and services at cheap costs and with its latest inve stments in infrastructure, the country will continue to grow. Qatar has been another country from Asia which has been growing rapidly. As pointed out by Omran (2010), evidence shows that it has the â€Å"highest per capita income in the world and enjoys one of the fastest growing GDPs, reaching 13.3% real GDP, and valued in 2008 at over US$80 billion† (Par 1). he country’s economy has been expanding in every sector. The country has been expanding its investment for infrastructures and expansion of the economy in almost every sector. The liberalization of trade has also enhanced rapid and expanding trade in this country. With new oil fields being discovered daily and the petroleum products supply declining, Qatar will continue to grow rapidly. Conclusion As the world globalizes and it develops to a global village, interactions will increase and the country’s dependency on one another will continue to increase. From the study we can conclude that the United States of America remains a global leader in world trade though the role of emerging economies such as China and India cannot be underestimated. Countries that supply the world with oil products will continue to expand faster than other economies due to the latest importance of oil products in the world. Reference List Cohen, J. C. 2010. Hearing on Evaluating China’s Past and Future Role in the World Trade Organization Web. Available from: http://ecattrade.com/uploads/content/45D2497564D74299B3EF0F50A8A25D7A.pdf . Dade, C. 2010. Brazil Confirms It Will Impose Trade Sanctions against U.S Web. digitaljournal.com/article/288782 . Gutierrez, C.M. 2007. The 2007 National Export Strategy: Administration’s Trade Promotion Agenda Web. Available from: http://trade.gov/media/Publications/pdf/nes2007FINAL.pdf . Hamilton, D. S; Quinlan, P.J. 2008. Germany and Globalization Web. Available from: http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/bin/u/k/GermanyandGlobalization-eng.pdf . International Trad e Statistics, 2010. World Trade Developments in 2009 Web. Available from: wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2010_e/its10_world_trade_dev_e.htm . Kang, S; Kim, S.H. S; Sun, F; Jones, P; Zangh, D. 2010. China Acquisition Opportunities 2010 Morgen Web. Available from: morgenevan.com/pages/reports/China2010.pdf . Moan, G. 2010. ME traders Qatar Expo 2010 Web. Available from: http://tradeshow.tradekey.com/view-6408/me-traders-qatar-expo-2010.htm . Moore, M. 2008. The US-UAE Trade and Investment Relationship Web. Available from: usuaebusiness.org/view/resources/uploaded/USUAEWhitepaper.pdf. Srinivasan, T.N. 2010. Economic Reforms, External Opening and Growth: China and India Web. Available from: apeaweb.org/confer/hk07/papers/srinivasan.pdf . Wood, C. 2010. What’s needed for the Doha Round to Move Ahead? Web. Available from: http://shopfloor.org/tag/wto. World Trade Organization Press Release, 2006. Trade Policy Review: United Arab Emirates (UAE) Web. Available from: wto.org/englis h/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp263_e.htm .

Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation and Example

Henderson You can calculate the pH of a buffer solution or the concentration of the acid and base using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. Heres a look at the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and a worked example that explains how to apply the equation. Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation relates pH, pKa, and molar concentration (concentration in units of moles per liter): pH pKa log ([A-]/[HA]) [A-] molar concentration of a conjugate base [HA] molar concentration of an undissociated weak acid (M) The equation can be rewritten to solve for pOH: pOH pKb log ([HB]/[ B ]) [HB] molar concentration of the conjugate base (M) [ B ] molar concentration of a weak base (M) Example Problem Applying the Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation Calculate the pH of a buffer solution made from 0.20 M HC2H3O2 and 0.50 M C2H3O2- that has an acid dissociation constant for HC2H3O2 of 1.8 x 10-5. Solve this problem by plugging the values into the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation for a weak acid and its conjugate base. pH pKa log ([A-]/[HA]) pH pKa log ([C2H3O2-] / [HC2H3O2]) pH -log (1.8 x 10-5) log (0.50 M / 0.20 M) pH -log (1.8 x 10-5) log (2.5) pH 4.7 0.40 pH 5.1

Answering questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Answering questions - Essay Example I think, this is the main ambivalence of the first paragraph. Also, the author calls this desire a â€Å"shame†, but at the same time he is angry that his wood is intercepted by a public foot-path. His feelings of a property owner are interfered with his consciousness. Forster assumes that â€Å"creation, property, enjoyment form a sinister trinity in the human mind† (Forster 263). According to the author, a man owning property â€Å"ought to do something to it†. Property brings restlessness, which is different from the same restlessness accompanying the act of creation. Property can substitute the material basis needed for creation and enjoyment (which are both good, as the author writes). He thinks that our world is â€Å"material and carnal† and that we should learn how â€Å"to manage our materialism and carnality†. I can’t agree with the author on that. Forster, for example, mentions Tolstoy and his negative attitude to property. But, as a matter of fact, Tolstoy was an earl; he owned a large estate with slaves and was definitely a man of property. Property allowed him to obtain a good education and a material basis to create, i.e. he could waste no time on earning his living, but spend it on thinking and wr iting. Therefore, possessing property does not always mean â€Å"restlessness† about it. However, there are exceptions, but it only means that one should not be so categorical in this issue. II. In her essay Toynbee elaborates on Richard Wilkinson’s idea that inequality is the main peril of society. For her â€Å"equality for its own sake† means a better and healthier society. This opinion is based on Wilkinson’s assumptions that â€Å"social environment can be more toxic than any pollutant† (cited in Toynbee 365). In simple words, poor people see the rich and it leads to envy and other negative emotions, which, in their turn, lead to unhealthy life. It can be proved, the author argues, by the experiments with animals. And since

Literary research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literary research - Essay Example Women searches for ways and means to be appreciated in response to obvious inequality to the relevant worth of existence. The current research aims to expound, through the novel as the backdrop, the apparent unequal role of women compared to men during the historical frame, particularly in the 1930s. II. Status of Women’s Roles in Society in the 1930s A. Brief description of women’s roles The discourse written by Moran clearly illustrated the roles of women in society during the 1930s. This time period was depicted as the Great Depression, where â€Å"worldwide economic collapse following the stock market crash in 1929, in which unemployment remained high for an extended period and many businesses failed† (Investor Words, par. 1). Therefore, despite the spur of enlightenment of women towards the promotion of equal rights through the passage of laws depicted in the 19th Amendment in 1920s, the economic slowdown and financial crisis delayed the persistent and deter mined focus to fight for equal rights. As Moran averred, â€Å"the 1930s brought apple-sellers to city street corners and breadlines to urban charity houses. In a depressed economy, unemployment figures escalated and federal forces concentrated on bringing Americans back to work. Or, more accurately, bringing American men back to work. For society viewed working women as un-American money grubbers, stealing jobs from men who needed them to support their families† (par. 3). B. Perceived Inequality of Women’s Rights Prior to efforts to fight for equal rights, women were rarely given the opportunities to be properly educated, to vote, to work or be employed, among others. The fact was validated in the article entitled How Does the Representation of Women Change Between 1930-1960 On the Covers of Vogue? The article revealed that â€Å"the 1930s were a less vibrant decade for women, seeing the depression, which meant that all women were encouraged to return to their homes whilst men returned to jobs that were becoming scarce. All their roles and responsibilities were taken away from them; the economy could not deal with the growing number of men returning to work. Any women who married therefore gave up her right to work. This meant women had to spend more time at home doing the domestic jobs that would normally be considered the women’s ‘job’† (How Does, par. 5). The setting was typically exemplified by Curley’s wife, who is left spending most of her time hanging around with the workers; rather than having something productive and rewarding done according to her skills and abilities. C. Effects of Inequality of Women The study conducted by Amartya Sen on the Many Faces of Gender Inequality has attested to the continued existence of inequality felt by women the world over. The author categorized inequalities in gender according to seven types, to wit: (1) mortality inequality (â€Å"high mortality rates of women and a consequent preponderance of men in the total population† (Sen, par. 3); (2) natality inequality (the preference accorded to male children over female); (3) basic facility inequality (opportunities for education, cultivation of one’s talents, and participation in social functions); (4) special opportunity inequality (pursuing higher education and delving into more professional training);

Productivity Rate Of Roof Works For Project Scheduling Construction Essay

Productivity Rate Of Roof Works For Project Scheduling Construction Essay Abstract: In Malaysia, there is no research done specifically on collecting construction productivity data to serve as a guideline and standards for use by all players in the construction industry. Similar to JKR, as the largest implementers of government projects, the current practice on approval the schedule of works that submitted by contractors are mostly based on the engineers gut feeling/opinion and past experience. There is no standard procedure and guidelines to review and checking the duration and resources allocation in each activity in contractors work program. As an effort, this study will start with focusing on the identification of factors that influencing roofing works productivity in construction project. Those factors can be obtained through a series of statistical analysis based on the data collected from questionnaire and interview with the experts. Data from previous projects also very important in order to get the actual productivity rate for roof works. Finally, the expected finding for this study will be: a) List of factors that influence the productivity rate for roof works, b) The critical factors affecting most to productivity rate for roofing works, c) A metrics of productivity rate for roof works as a standard and guideline for improving JKR projects scheduling. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Managing construction projects always requires constant monitoring of project performance and the updating on project schedule. Project performance data and productivity data from the construction field is a key role in evaluating and predicting project performance in term of cost and schedule. According to Motwani et al. (1995), the productivity in construction has always been very difficult to measure and control. Even though, productivity in construction hard to measure, there is a need to use it for timely decisions and reduce the negative impacts on cost and schedule. Therefore, the integration of historical productivity data with the on-going performance data in construction field are required (Hwang and Liu, 2005). Hwang and Liu, (2009) presented that an accurate productivity prediction is important for managing construction projects. In fact, a construction project is commonly to be successful when it is delivering within its budget and timeline. The planning and control process also explains the importance of accurate productivity estimate which first, estimating time and cost of construction activities that inevitably requires productivity estimates (Hinze, 1998), and second, integrated management of time and cost must involved productivity factor (Dawood and Molson, 1997). There are most previous studies focusing on defining factors influence productivity and measuring limited parts of activities at micro level to investigate the relationship between factors and productivity. A standard construction productivity metric system that more reliable is a critical element in construction productivity performance evaluation and improvement process. There need a tool to drive performance improvement through internal and external benchmarking. Park, et al., (2005) present that nowadays, demand from the construction industry on developing acceptable construction productivity metrics and standardized productivity data are the main issues to focus by the industry players and researches. Problem Statement As the main technical agencies for the Government of Malaysia, Public Work Department (PWD) or Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) entrusted to implement development projects throughout the country. It is the goal of JKR to ensure that the organization is run efficiently and effectively in order to achieve the vision, mission and objectives of the department. JKR is responsible to ensure that all the projects must be implemented well, complete on time, within the budget and provide quality products. In 9th Malaysian Plan (RMK 9), most of JKR projects cannot be deliver on time. For example, about 41% of projects in JKR Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur cannot be delivering on time which is most of it are due to wrongly estimate the duration of the construction activities in project scheduling. It is also regarding to lack of competency of JKR officers in reviewing and giving advice to contractors especially in preparing realistic projects work program. This problem can be categorized as serious m atter and give high impact to the overall performance of JKR due to unsatisfaction of client with JKRs reputation. As the biggest technical government agency, there should be a way to solve the problem so that it will improve JKR image and give high reputation to the clients. 1 Master Student, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2 Supervisor, Professor Dr, Lecturer of Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. There should be a standard productivity rate of each activity in the project in order to guide the contractor and the JKR supervision team to plan and implement the projects successfully. Therefore, the study on productivity rate of roof works for building project scheduling as an effort and starting point to develop the standard productivity rate of project activities for JKRs projects. In fact, this study is consistent with JKR strategies and action plan in achieving Effective Implementation of Malaysia 5 Years Plan especially to ensure that projects are implemented through appropriate implementation methodologies to meet customer needs and outcomes. One of the action plans stated in JKR Strategic Framework is to establish effective project performance tracking system which is JKR must analyzing all data that related to the project in order to improve JKR project implementation (JKR, 2007). The Objectives The aim of this study is to establish the productivity rate of roof works for JKR building projects scheduling. In order to achieve this, the following are the objectives of the study: To identify the factors that influence the productivity of roof works To establish the relationship between influence factors and productivity of roof works To develop a metrics of productivity rate for roof works Scope of Study There are certain limitations to be follow to ensure that this study is completed within the time frame given. Firstly, this study only takes into consideration on all projects which implement in central region of Peninsular Malaysia i.e. projects in JKR Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and JKR Selangor. Second, the sample for this study is concentrate only in school projects which are the most of JKR projects implementation in 9th Malaysian Plan. Since standard design was using in school projects, the area of roof is fixed. This given the standardization to estimate the productivity rate for roofing works referring to the floor area involved. Roof trusses in construction projects can be classified in timber roof trusses, hot rolled roof trusses, cold form roof trusses and etc. The third limitation of this study is only taking into consideration of the cold form roof trusses because most of the school projects are using this type of trusses. In addition, JKR already has a list of 22 names of cold form roof trusses suppliers which their design have been reviewed and approved by the JKR Structure Expert Division. This list is for the JKR officers in state and district office to choose for their projects especially school projects. Forth, part of roof covering for this study only take into consideration one(1) types which is concrete roof tiles including insulations. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Recently, construction productivity is on a long-term slide and it is recognized as industry challenge. System, people, materials, information and energy must flow effectively and efficiently to produce its objective at high productivity to complete construction at lowest possible cost with possible shortest timeframe (Picard, 2005). Productivity is critically important in construction industry. Many researchers have expressed their concern over productivity in construction industry. Defining productivity is not a simple task to everybody. Different people will give different definition and understanding. Most of them agreed that marketable output was essentially the main measure used. Increased productivity was a leading concern to all Committee stakeholders such as users, contractors, and construction labor unions and led by the owner. The construction users emphasized the need of collecting data directly relevant to productivity improvement. The Committee was concluded that the front-line construction foreman/supervisor would be a reliable source of information. These informants would be asked to provide their judgment of the greatest impediments to a productive construction project (Tucker, 2003). Definition of productivity Within these several decades, many researchers have defined the productivity term in their studies in a number of ways. The term productivity has different meanings to different people. Many individuals automatically think only of labor unions when the term productivity is mentioned. Others associate capital expenditures with the term. Each of these interpretations is only partly correct (Adrian, 1993). Many researchers have attempted to define precisely the meaning of productivity and below are some of it that referred from their studies: Oglesby et al. (1989), presented that productivity can be defined as in-place value divided by inputs. Some researchers have defined it as works-hours divided by the equivalent quantity of work. In construction, productivity normally can be understood as work quantity divided by man-hours (or work-hours) consumed to accomplish the work. Productivity = Work Quantity Man-hours According to Dolman, Parham, Zheng, (2007), productivity is a measure in order to know how much output is produced per unit of input. Diewert Lawrence, (2006) presented that productivity can be defined as the level of economic output per unit of input and also per worker. Productivity is important to the wealth and well-being of a nation and give efforts to improve productivity occur at all levels of society. Thomas and Mathew, (1986) presented that no standardized productivity definition had been established in the construction industry. It is difficult to define a standard productivity measure because companies use their own systems which are not standardized. Association simply illustrates the productivity between an output and an input. The form has been widely used and existing in literature over the years in construction industry is; Productivity = Input/Output 2.3 Measurement of productivity There is controversy surrounding productivity that rooted in the differences in data collection. It is due to incorrect in assuming productivity measured uniformly and that all published productivity values have the same basis (Whiteside, 2006). Overall conception of productivity is difficult to express or to measure. It is sometimes expressed either in terms of output from labor or from services or from capital invested. These parts of expressions often do not give an accurate picture of the overall position. Although, there are measurements of some or all of the inputs and outputs of the industry but they still failed to combine these measurements into any satisfactory measure of efficiency. In fact, the ratio is easy to compute if the unit uses a single input to produce a single output (Choy, 2008). Although there are numbers of publications exist on construction productivity, there is no agreed upon definition of work activities nor a standard productivity measurement system. Most of researchers have concluded that it is difficult to obtain a standard method to measure construction labor productivity because of project complexity and unique characteristics of the construction projects (Oglesby et al. 1989). The uniqueness and non repetitive of operation in construction projects make it is difficult to develop a standard productivity definition and measure (Sweis, 2000). Factors influence productivity in construction Lim et al., (1995) has studied that factors affecting productivity in the construction industry in Singapore, indicated the problems affecting productivity were difficulty with recruitment of supervisors, difficulty with recruitment of workers, high rate of labor turnover, absenteeism from the work site and communication problems with the foreign workers. Olomolaiye et al., (1996) also studied that factors affecting productivity of craftsmen in Indonesia show the findings indicating craftsmen in this country spent 75 % of their time working productively. There are five specific productivity problems were identified such as lack of materials, rework, absenteeism, lack of equipment and tools. Kane et al., (cited in Herbsman et al., 1990) has classified the factors affecting construction productivity into two main groups which is technological factors and administrative factors. The technological factors involved those related to the design of the project and the administrative group factors are related to the management and construction of the project. Technological factors are comprises of sub-groups such as design factors, material factors and location factors. Administrative factors are comprises of sub-groups, such as construction methods and procedural factors, equipment factors, labor factors and social factors. Based on Heizer and Render (1990), they classified that factors influencing site productivity into 3 groups which are labour characteristic factors, project work conditions factors and non-productive activities. Olomolaiye et al., (1998) also stated that factors affecting construction productivity are rarely constant and may vary from country to country, fro m project to project and even within the same project which are depending on circumstances. They classified the factors influencing construction productivity into 2 categories which are external and internal. That means its representing those outside the control of the firms management and those originating within the firm. The external factors included the nature of the industry, construction client knowledge of construction procedure, weather and level of economic development. The internal factors included management, technology, labor and labor unions. Choi, (2007), stated that based on his finding, weather and poor communication prove to be the greatest impediment to roofing productivity, whereas the field workers pointed out that roof pitch, height and age of the roof along weather were major causes for lack of productivity in their job at site. He also stressed that roofing contractor generally not consider safety as a high priority in their business. Metrics an overview According to Melnyk et al., (2004), they stated that metrics are fulfill with the fundamental activities measuring (evaluating how we are doing), educating (communicating what is important and how we intend to deliver value to our customers) and directing (flagging potential problems by size of gap between the metrics and standards). Ideally, metrics are consistent with the way operation delivers value to the customers. Based on Melnyk et al., (2005), they presented that metric is a verifiable measure which consists of three elements such as; a) the specific measure, b) the standard (the numerical values that identifies the minimum threshold of performance, and c) the environment which the activity or person being measured operates. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In order to achieve the objectives, Figure 1.1 illustrated the schematic of research methodology for this study. Generally, it consists of four distinct phases, which are phase 1, phase 2, phase 3 and phase 4. 3.1 Phase 1 Selection of the topic has been done after gone through JKR listing of significance topics that can contribute to department as a whole. Topic of the study and proposed productivity rate of roof works is important to JKR building project scheduling to ensure all project can be completed on time with good quality. Based on previous researchers, there are several measurements on productivity rate in construction. This study will be focusing on the identification of factors that influencing roofing works productivity in JKR projects. From this scenario, the objectives of this study has been identified which are identifying of factors influence, the relationship and the establishing productivity rate of roof works. In such way, the focus of this topic must be in line with study limitation. In order to strengthen knowledge and ideas in this research area, extensive reading from journals and books must be thoroughly done. Besides that, preliminary site observation has been conducted to the selected site. Furthermore, the preliminary interview was conducted to get overview information about productivity rate of roof works. Due to time constraint, the observation has been done only for school projects. 3.2 Phase 2 A few samples of studies will be identifying purposely for running through the method of productivity measurement for getting accurate and practical data. Observation on quantity of roof works per man hours should be performing at site. During observation at site, interview with the expert is use as a tool to collect information data on how the productivity rate of roof works can be estimate and what are the factors influences the productivity rate Several interviewees will be selected based on qualification and experienced more than 10 years especially contractors and suppliers. Beside that, questionnaire will be distributed to technical person such as supervisor, engineer, manager and contractors to obtain their opinion in term of productivity rate of roof works. 3.3 Phase 3 In this stage, all the data from the questionnaires and interviews will compile. The data will be analyze accordingly and transform into productivity rate. Data analyzing, there will be a confirmation on what are the factors influence productivity rate of roof works will be getting through data analyzing, while standard productivity rate metrics of roof works will be producing after transform all the data into productivity rate by using appropriate statistical analysis. 3.4 Phase 4 Extract from data obtained in Phase 3, some proposal or recommendation will be highlighted in order to enhance a metrics of standard productivity rate for future building project scheduling. EXPECTED RESULTS The expected results of this study in next semester are: a) List of factors that influence the productivity rate for roof works, b) The critical factors affecting most to productivity rate for roofing works, c) A metrics of productivity rate for roof works as a standard and guideline for improving JKR projects scheduling. Selection of Topic Identify the Objective and Scope Phase 1 Preliminary Site Observation Literature Review Preliminary Interview Objective.(c) Objective.(b) Objective.(a) Case Studies Identify the factors influence Observation on quantity of works/ man hours DATA COLLECTION Interview with Experts Selecting several experts with experience more than 10 years Phase 2 DATA ANALYSIS Figure 1.1: Schematic of Research Methodology TENTATIVE SCHEDULE The following table is the tentative schedule for final project in next semester:

Developing Professional Practice Essay

1. Briefly explain how the CIPD HR Profession Map defines the HR profession, including the professional areas, the bands and the behaviours. The HR profession Map captures what successful and effective HR people do and deliver across every aspect and specialism of the profession, and sets out the required activities, behaviour and knowledge. It covers 10 professional areas and 8 behaviours, set out in 4 bands of competence. The Map covers every level of the HR profession: Band 1 being the start of your HR career through to Band 4 for the most senior leaders. The bands set out what you need to do and what you need to know for each area of the HR profession. As per the CIPD Website, the bands cover the following areas: Band 1: Supports colleagues with administration and processes. Effectively manages information and date and is customer orientated. Band 2: Advises on and/or manages HR related issues relating to an individual or at team. Has a clear understanding of the evaluation process and the solutions available. Band 3: Leads a professional area acting as a consultant or partner, addresses key HR challenges at an organisational level for the medium and long term. Band 4: Leads and manages a professional area(s) and/or the organisation. Responsible for developing and delivering organisational and HR strategy. The two professional areas, Insight, Strategy and Solutions and Leading HR sit at the heart of the profession and are applicable to all HR professionals, regardless of role, location or stage of their HR career. There are 8 behaviours that identify in detail how professionals need to carry out their activities and make a contribution to organisational success. The behaviours are: †¢ Curious †¢ Decisive thinker †¢ Skilled influencer †¢ Personally credible †¢ Collaborative †¢ Driven to deliver †¢ Courage to challenge †¢ Role Model CIPD website refers to the HR Map as: â€Å"This is a powerful and simple to use personal development tool for professionals operating at all levels in HR. Not only is it free for members to use, we’ve also carefully designed it to ensure that many of the suggested actions to help professionals progress are low-cost or no-cost – which will be particularly welcome at a time when the recession is ensuring resources for development are tight. Professionals can use the tool to develop in their roles and pursue their career plans. We hope the insights it delivers will quickly become a firm fixture in the performance and development reviews of HR professionals in organisations of all shapes and sizes and across all sectors.† (Stephanie Bird, April 2010). 2. Evaluate how the two core professional areas, the bands and any two selected behaviours uphold the concept of ‘HR Professionalism’, giving two examples from the knowledge and activities at band 2. The two professional areas Insight, Strategy and Solutions and Leading HR sit at the heart profession and are applicable to all HR professionals. They underpin the direction of the profession as an applied business discipline with a people and organisation discipline and describe how great HR professionals work for HR’s purpose. HR can only deliver it’s purpose of sustainable organisation performance if it works from a deep business, contextual and organisational understanding to develop actionable insight. This allows us to creative prioritised and situational strategies that make the most difference and build a compelling case for change. It includes: †¢ Building a picture †¢ Developing actionable insight †¢ Delivering situational HR solutions that stick †¢ Building capacity and capability †¢ Working with agility The successful HR professional provides active, insight led leadership. Owning, shaping and driving themselves, others and activity within the organisation. They develop across three main areas of leadership – personal leadership, leading others and leading issues. It includes: †¢ Personal leadership †¢ Leading others †¢ HR function design and service delivery †¢ HR recourse planning and delivery †¢ Delivering value and performance in HR teams †¢ Managing HR budgets and finances This being based as the heart of the profession, there are 8 main behaviours expected, including; †¢ Role Model – Consistently leads by example. Acts with integrity, impartiality and independence, balancing personal, organisation and legal parameters. †¢ Skilled Influencer – Demonstrates the ability to influence to gain the necessary support from drivers stakeholders in pursuit of organisational value. The CIPD (2005a) has stated that: All personnel and development specialists must be thinking performers. That is, their central task is to be knowledgeable and competent in their various fields and to be able to move beyond compliance to provide a critique of organisational policies and procedures and to advise on how organizations should develop in the future. HR professionals have to think carefully about what they are doing in the context of their organization and within the framework of recognised body of knowledge. They have to perform effectively in the sense of delivering advise, guidance and services that will help the organisation to achieve its goals. Legge (1995) made a similar point when she referred to HRM as a process of ‘thinking pragmatism’. Harrison (2007) commented that the ‘thinking performer’ philosophy focuses on the ways in which HR fields of activity should link to produce a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, on strategic awareness and on evidence based practice. The CIPD ‘The Thinking Performer Concept’ (2007) believes: â€Å"The non thinking performer will privately regard many of the things her or she is required to do as absurd, indefensible, inefficient, even immoral or corrupt, but will say nothing †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ the non thinking performer is a ‘ lifetime liability’ to the organisation.† Looking at the requirements in Band 2 of the HR Map, and taking into consideration the behaviours within this, you need to build strong relationships with your customers. Managers need to feel comfortable approaching your for advise, and confident that you will be able to lead and advise them on the appropriate approach to take. You need to be skilled in influencing the manager to the correct way of thinking, to handle the situation in the correct manner, but also be flexible in your approach and listen to their ideas/requirements. And together, agree on the best action and way forward. The need for HR theory, Ulrich (1997a): To make practices more than isolates acts managers and HR professionals must master the theory behind HR work; they need to be able to explain conceptually how and why HR practices lead to their outcomes. Regardless of the preferred theory, managers and HR professionals should extract from it a higher level of reasoning for their day to day work and thus better explain why their work accomplishes goals. 3. Explain, with related examples, why HR professionals need to be able to manage themselves, manage groups or teams, manage upwards and manage across the organisation. HR professionals provide insight led leadership. They need to own and shape themselves as well as others within the organisation. They need to personally lead themselves, as well as teams and upwards within the organisation. The definition of management as stated by Michael Armstrong is ‘Management is defined as deciding what to do and then getting it done through the effective use of recourses’. The main processes of management are planning, organizing, motivating and controlling. HRMagazine say: HR must turn outside business trends and stakeholders expectations into internal actions, and should focus on both business results and human capital improvement. HR professionals should target both individual ability and organisation capabilities. HR is not an isolated activity, but sustainable and integrated solutions. An effective HR professional melds individual abilities into an effective and strong organisation by helping to define and build its organisation capabilities. Organisation is not a structure or process, it is a distinct set of capabilities. HR professionals can help line managers create meaning, so that the capability of the organisation reflects the deeper values of the employees. HR professionals are credible activists because they build their personal trust through business acumen. Credibility comes when HR professionals do what they promise, build personal relationships of trust and can be relied on. In order to be an effective HR professional, it is important that they are able to manage themselves in order to show their teams and organisation that they can be trusted. They can then go on to manage their teams effectively, through to managing across the organisation. HR professionals make change happen at institutional , initiative and individual levels. 1. Undertake a self-assessment against the specification of HR professional practice capabilities, such as the CIPD Associate Membership criteria, to identify professional development needs. See appendix 1 for SWOT analysis. 2. Evaluate and select at least three development options to meet your needs , explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each, and their fit with your preferred learning style and career aspirations. Continued Professional Development (CPD) is a necessity in the HR environment. The profession is a very high pace with changes to the law and best practise. CPD makes sure your knowledge is up to date and fresh. New ideas and developments are happening all the time and being dedicated to CPD ensures you are professional and consistent. 20 years ago CPD was not widely spoken of, or used in the HR environment. Until recently the profession has not recognised the need to adhere to the requirements of other professional bodies (medical, law etc) as HR was seen as a job anyone could do, but the recent introduction of the HR standards and HR Map means all HR professionals need to continue with CPD to reflect the professionalism of their career. In recent years the concept of ‘a job for life’ has subsided and now employees in all professions need to continue to prove their worth and stay valuable to the organisation. Keeping up to date with CPD means you are actively trying to develop yourself and have an interest in developing yourself to benefit the organisation and profession. I have undertaken a SWOT analysis (Appendix 1) on my current developmental needs. I have also used the HR map to find out where my weaknesses lie as an HR professional. I found this exercise an interesting and useful tool for working out my developmental needs. I have included a Career Development Plan (Appendix 2), this shows my current development needs and I will be referring to them below. My first, and most important need, is an update on HR Law. This is needs so I can give better advice to managers and have the confidence to act on my own beliefs. My second is updating my knowledge on how to deal with Absence Management, a high level of absenteeism can be extremely costly to an organisation and I would like to develop my knowledge so I can help the absent employee and also help the organisation’s statistics and costs in turn. My third developmental need is Reward Strategies. I find the topic fresh and a lot of organisations are not fully using the strategies. I would like to enhance my knowledge and research best practise to see what recommendations I can make for the organisation I am employed by. I intend to satisfy these needs by taking advantage of courses offered by the CIPD, in house training and by attending the Intermediate Certificate in HR Management at Bridgwater College. It is also important for me to use other tools for learning, for example journals, on line resources and many of the books available at local libraries. To satisfy the needs for enhancing my knowledge of HR Law I will be attending the unit on the subject at Bridgwater College and I also regularly attend HR Breakfast’s at FootAnstey Solicitors. They cover a wide range of topics, including sessions on Employment Law. Absence Management will be researched by looking at the media available, for example previous research and best practise. I will also look to attend relevant CIPD courses being held in the South West area. Reward strategies are reasonably new and important when it comes to employee satisfaction and retention. Researching the subject will enable me to make use of best practise and o ffer recommendations.

Successful, Enlightened, But Excessive - 1197 Words

Josephine Joliff 11/23/15 Period 5 Ms. Green Successful, Enlightened, but Excessive Throughout history, revolutions have occurred for many different reasons all around the world, in many different ways. But, there is always a certain extent to which each revolution can be successful, and also enlightened. The word successful is defined by Oxford Dictionary as accomplishing an aim or purpose, and enlightened is defined as having or showing a rational, modern, and well-informed outlook. During the 18th century, a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems, called the Enlightenment was highly influential in†¦show more content†¦Before the revolution, king after king ruled over France with full power, and often did not take into consideration the people’s thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. Throughout the revolution, citizens from the third estate began bringing attention to themselves and fighting for what they wanted, starting to let their voices be heard. On July 14th, 1789, many suppressed f rench peasants intensely stormed the Bastille, an important prison in France, and also captured, imprisoned, and killed french royalty to show their anger against how they had been previously treated. This act forced King Louis VI to pay attention to these threats from the lower class, and minimize power in the high society. Also, this was one of the first key events that led to the french revolution’s success, and the abolition of the monarchy. Later, on October 4th in 1789, an important march took place, in which a great amount of hungry, angry women marched towards Versailles demanding bread. The king and queen were once again forced to recognize this event led by unhappy lower class parisians, and moved from Versailles to Paris on October 6th. Both of these events led to the legitimization of the National Assembly, which eventually caused the writing of the constitution and France becoming an official republic in 1972. This matters because it marked the end of an unfair g overnment where the third estate was