Thursday, January 30, 2020

Social impact of ICT Essay Example for Free

Social impact of ICT Essay Industries food reduce the need for human labour. 1. e. cow, milk and bucket. When cheese gets in great demand, cant milk cows myself, so get more people. But still cant keeps up! Cant mechanise cow but can the milking! Now need admin dept to manage staff!! Paper base system to collate all orders. But now big company need technology. Man who builds machine needs more men to build more machines. Etc. Technology has both positive and negative effect. 1000s of jobs have gone because of computers. The rapid advances in computer and communication technologies have occurred during periods of considerable change in industrialized economies and although many different factors have conspired towards the generally higher levels of unemployment ICT has undoubtedly played a major role in creating new industries and jobs in general, introduction into it systems in organizations may result in: A need for staff retraining; redeployment; deskilling; regrading; redundancy; changes in job satisfaction; new job opportunities; remote/tele working; changes in career prospects. An old fashioned secretarial job required typing skills, note taking skills, filing skills, and document organizational skills. Most managers now act as their own secretary, the manager has been reskilled and she has been made redundant. There is an argument, which suggests that traditional industrial relations will have little place in the workplace of tomorrow. As we move towards the information age, the old models of labour relations with all the assembled baggage of collective bargaining between employers and workers representative bodies will become increasingly inappropriate to the new realities of work. According to this point of view, the very term industrial relations is itself a giveaway. It harks back to the industrial age, the time when the growth of large-scale production in hierarchically structured organisations led to a need for the collective regulation of employment relationships. The development of trade union organisations, for example, was predicated upon the existence of the factory system, bringing large numbers of workers together in a central workplace. What if this is no longer the way in which work is organised? What if new technologies permit a new flexibility in the way work is undertaken? For much of the twentieth century, industrial relations focused on what was seen as the normative way of working. The paradigm has been that of a full-time worker (or indeed man, since historically the assumption was that the male was the main bread-winner), working under an employment contract for one employer and remaining with their company for many years or until the time came to draw the company pension. This paradigm further was based on a clear separation between work and home spheres of life, between the hours of work and the hours of non-work and indeed also between a persons years of working and their abrupt transition into retirement. It is possible to discuss the extent to which this paradigm ever adequately reflected working life the critique has been advanced that it left out of the picture the work undertaken by women, particularly part-time and casual employment, for example. It also ignored working realities in most of the developing world. But nevertheless for most of the developed countries, this paradigm provided a basis not only for the structuring of industrial relations but also for social protection systems and retirement pension arrangements. The argument now is that, in any case, this paradigm fails to be appropriate for a network economy where value comes from the manipulation of information and knowledge much more than from the production of material goods. In the process of change, a job is becoming redefined simply as work. ATTs vice president for human resources James Meadows put it this way, in a quote attributed to him in the New York Times: People need to look at themselves as self-employed, as vendors who come to this company to sell their skills. In ATT we have to promote the concept of the whole work force being contingent, though most of our contingent workers are inside our walls. Jobs are being replaced by projects and fields of work, giving rise to a society that is increasingly jobless but not workless. 1 Many writers have engaged with this subject. Research on the growth of flexible working practices undertaken for the OECD identified a number of developments, including changes in the design of jobs, greater complexity, higher skill levels, greater use of team working and also increased delegation of responsibility to lower levels of staff. 2 Ulrich Klotz, from the German trade union IG Metall, has described changes in work organisation thus: Work is splintering into many forms As the new company models proliferate, forms of work are spreading that we still refer to as atypical: part-time work, temporary work, limited contracts, telework, contract work and other forms of (pseudo) entrepreneurial work In short, work is still with us but the stable job is not. He warns that as a consequence trade unions are in danger of losing their traditional business base. 3 ICT permits both the spatial and temporal relocation of work, challenging the idea of a discrete workplace and a discrete working day. However it would be wrong, of course, to see changes in work organisation as simply the result of technology. These changes are being driven by a number of factors. We can identify trends in management practice, including such things as the outsourcing of non-core activities and the reengineering of business processes as also contributing to workplace transformation. However, these developments are closely intertwined with developments in ICT. In an early essay, Manuel Castells suggested that there are two overarching inter-related processes at work, driving change in the workplace: the technological revolution based on microelectronics is one of these, the growing interdependence of the economic system globalisation is the other. 4 In terms of labour relations what all these changes mean, effectively, is a new implied contract between a company and a worker. The old employer/employee relationship, which offered security and reward to the individual in exchange for corporate loyalty is to go. Instead, individuals are told to take responsibility for their own working life and career, including the responsibility of ensuring that they constantly update their skills. In exchange a company undertakes to empower them in their work, by removing old-style supervisory practices and replacing these by new types of team working, based on performance management. The old master/servant basis to the employment relationship, in other words, is replaced with something more, well, modern. This sounds a seductive idea, though it blows a gaping hole in the way in which industrial relations, institutionalised in the relationship between employers representative bodies and trade unions, have traditionally been conducted. If correct, it would inevitably lead also to major changes in social and welfare protection and employment law. In the process, it would also leave todays trade union bodies cast up and redundant, rather in the way that antique steam engines, previously employed huffing and puffing their way through their working day, were left silent and fit only for scrap with the arrival of electricity. The question explored by this chapter is whether, and if so to what extent, the argument for the end of traditional industrial relations is justified. We will begin by exploring further the challenges which face the social partners, considering how the services they currently offer could be provided in other ways by other agencies. We will then investigate the state of industrial relations in one particular sector which has encountered radical change in recent years, the telecommunications industry, to see what evidence for a paradigmatic shift can be found there. We will move on to consider in some detail two examples of new work organisation (call centre working and telework) and two areas where atypical working has been growing (agency work and self-employment), to ask whether these are or are not being adequately accommodated within organised industrial relations. We will then turn to consider the degree to which the traditional industrial relations negotiating agenda has been extended by ICT. This will take us into a number of areas, including on-line rights for workers, questions of privacy and electronic surveillance and the increased relevance of copyright and intellectual property rights. We shall look at examples of how the social partners, and in particular the trade unions, are themselves making use of ICT opportunities. Finally, at the end of this journey, we shall return to the issue posed at the start of this chapter, hopefully in a better position to offer some conclusions.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

PSY 301, Introductory Psychology, 1998, Exam 2 :: UTEXAS Texas Psychology

Introductory Psychology -- Pennebaker Test 2 Please write your name and social security number on THIS PAGE as well as on your Scantron form. Be sure and blacken in the correct dots for your SSN, name, and test form. 1. Hans and Franz are identical twins that were separated at birth. The finally meet at age 45, and find that both of them have become psychology professors. What is the most likely explanation for this similarity? a. both twins had strong psychology genes. b. both twins had strong teaching genes. c. something in the twins’ genes led them to see the world the same way. d. identical environments. e. all of the above are true. 2. Functional fixedness interferes with a. objects or events that are functioning properly. b. looking back to evaluate the success of a strategy. c. defining the problem and goal. d. choosing a solution. e. implementing the chosen strategy in solving a problem. 3. When people of varying cultures were asked to match facial expressions with specific emotions a. there was little agreement, even among people from the same culture. b. there was agreement within a specific culture but not across cultures. c. people from underdeveloped societies had responses not seen in industrial societies. d. there was remarkable agreement among members of all cultures. e. there were large differences between rural and urban societies. 4. The innate physiological mechanism that keeps an individual's body weight at a genetically programmed level is known as the a. homeostatic trigger. b. hunger median. c. genoprogrammatic releaser. d. metabolic master. e. set point. 5. The cessation of breathing during sleep is called a. sleep apnea. b. narcolepsy. c. insomnia. d. paradoxical sleep. e. simulated death. 6. Unlike sex in humans, sex in animals typically takes place a. far more frequently. b. after elaborate courtship and foreplay. c. in run-down hotels. d. in the absence of physiological cues. e. only at certain times of sexual readiness. 7. The affiliation motive often strengthens when people are in a situation involving a. performing a work task. b. helping others. c. the threat of danger. d. independent behavior. e. casual discussions 8. The fact that some people who are very good at some intellectual skills (such as reading or verbal reasoning) are frequently rather poor at other intellectual skills (such as solving math problems) tends to contradict the concept of a. the "g" factor. b. specific intelligences. c. instrumental (operant) conditioning. d. componential IQ. e. factor analysis. 9. Of the following, the BEST example of an aptitude test is a. the MMPI. b. a college final exam. c. a 5th grade spelling test. d. an academic achievement test in arithmetic. e. the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. 10. If Mother Goose sees one of her eggs outside the nest, she will go through a series of steps to move the egg back with her bill.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Varun Nagar Case

Executive summary: Varun Nagar Agriculture cooperative society (VNACS) has two assets which include, Rs 5, 00,000 in cash and a paddy stock which is worth Rs 5, 00,000. The liabilities of VNACS include, Rs 5,00,000 to be paid for procurement of paddy to farmers, and Rs 5,29,167 to be paid towards over draft amount this also includes the accrued interest over the period of seven months(Rs 29,167 is the interest to be paid for seven months from September 1990 to march 1991) as the over draft has been drawn September last year. Mr.Agarwal the Manager of VNACS has two make decisions about two business proposals in front of him, whether he should retain paddy stock and whether he should buy fertilizer stock. Mr. Agarwal taking all the option available into consideration decides to retain paddy stock and not to buy fertilizer stock this decision will be in the best interest of Cooperative and farmers at large. Main Report: 1. Situation Analysis: a) Introduction: The case revolves around Mr . Agarwal, Manager of the cooperative (VNACS), other players include the members of the agriculture cooperative, Mr. Dwivedi, the bank manager.The main functions of VNACS are to procure the agricultural produce from farmer members and market it in the district mandis. The society also procured and supplied inputs (seeds, fertilizers and pesticides) to the farmer members. Mr. Agarwal’s objective is to ensure maximum benefit to the farmers through the cooperative and its operations, and also to sustain the society’s good image. Where as being the members of cooperative, the farmers wish is to gain the maximum return of their produce. The branch manager would like to extend the business with the cooperative in the long run. ) Objectives: Mr. Agarwal’s should make decisions which are in the best interest of all the stake holders, whom include, the Farmer members of the society, the Co-operative society and the Bank. The Farmer members should get best price for their agricultural produce and have access to agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers at cheaper prices compared to the market price. The Co-operative society should sustain the good image earned over the years, which helped in ensuring the support of the bank, and support of members of the society.Taking the above into consideration the objectives should be * To meet the expectations and also serving in the best interest of farmer members. * To sustain the good image of the Co-operative society in the years to come. * To maintain good relation with Jaldhara District Cooperative Bank, and to remain credit worthy. c) Decision problems: Mr. Agarwal has two decision problems which he should confront in the process of working towards the objectives. * Should he retain the paddy stock? * Should he buy fertilizer? Mr.Agarwal has these two business decision to make, which can contribute towards VNACS’s larger objective of serving the members interest, and his objective to serve VN ACS’s interest in the best possible manner. But due to the limited resources available with VNACS, it gives rise to this situation in which Mr. Agarwal is confronted with these decision problems. His options include holding the paddy for sale in October to get better returns, another option is to buy fertilizer now so that the society can supply fertilizers to the farmer members at a cheaper price in October.The Co-operative is not financially strong to do both, as the payment of Rs. 5, 00,000 to the members towards the procurement of paddy was due by March 31, 1991. Mr. Agarwal’s objective is to serve in the best interest of the farmer members He understands how important it is to make payment to the farmers on time, so he certainly does not want to default on that, come what may. Therefore after the repayment of Rs 5 lakhs to farmer members VNACS is left with the paddy stock which is worth Rs 5 lakhs. Mr.Agarwal under these circumstances should confront the above men tioned decision problems. d) Criteria for decision making: As discussed above, the payment should be made to the farmers on or before the due date, at any cost. He should make a decision which would lead to maximum benefit for farmer members in financial terms, as that was the aim with which VNACS was set up. In the given scenario it is very difficult for the society to get a loan of substantial amount, though society can ask for a small additional loan given the good terms which society has with the bank.Taking above discussed criteria into consideration we can prioritize them as * Payment for the procured paddy should be made to the farmers on or before the Due date * Maximum benefit to the farmers, whether in terms of getting higher price for their agricultural produce of providing access to agricultural inputs at a cheaper price. * To maintain credit worthiness with bank. Society has already taken an over draft of R 5 lakhs, so it is likely that only small amount can be sought a s loan from the banks. * To maximize the total revenue for the Co-operative society . Decision process: a) Generating Alternatives: Mr. Agarwal has two confront with two decision problem, Should he retain paddy stock? Should he buy fertilizer? From these two decision problems we can generate four different alternatives. I. Sell paddy stock now and do not buy fertilizer. II. Retain paddy stock till September/ October, and purchase fertilizer now. III. Retain paddy stock till September/ October, but do not purchase fertilizer. IV. Sell paddy stock now, and purchase fertilizer now. b) Evaluation of Alternatives: I.Sell paddy stock now and do not buy fertilizer: In this alternative buy selling 100 tons of paddy stock at current market price of Rs 5,000 per ton, would mean that buy this sale Society would only be able to repay the procurement cost of paddy i. e. Rs 5 lakh to the farmers which is due for 31st march. Society has an additional cash balance of Rs 5 Lakh, which would go for t he repayment of over draft taken from the bank in September 1990. But the interest for seven months on over draft of Rs 5 lakh, which accounts to Rs 30,000, has to be paid to the bank.Net Result is a loss of Rs. 30,000 In this alternative we are able to meet the first criteria, i. e. the repayment to the farmers, but we are not able to meet the rest criteria II. Retain paddy stock till September/ October, and purchase fertilizer now: This criteria can give us good profit, but taking the current situation of VNACS which has already taken an over draft of Rs 5, 00,000 the bank is most likely will not provide an additional loan. The estimated additional cost to go ahead with this alternative is Rs 5, 68,000. Estimated additional cost in Rupees|Cost to buy 2000 bags of fertilizers = 5,00,000| Cost to insure both fertilizer and paddy stock = 40,000| Labour and equipment cost = 25,000| Rent paid for storage of fertilizer stock = 3,000| Total = 5,68,000| Even though we can gain good return s from this alternative, it is very improbable to mobilize such huge amount, give the conditions. III. Retain paddy stock till September/ October, but do not purchase fertilizer. In this alternative the cash reserve of Rs 5 lakh will be used to repay the procurement cost of paddy i. e.Rs 5 lakh to the farmers which is due for 31st march. We will retain the paddy stock till September/ October, and we would not buy any fertilizer. The minimum safe estimated market price of 100 tons of paddy stock would be Rs 6 lakh. Immediate cost in this alternative will be to insure the paddy stock for the coming year, which would cost us Rs 20,000. This amount can be easily negotiated with the bank, as Manager of the bank was happy with the operations of the Co-operative. Expenditure in Rupees| Cost of procured paddy = 5,00,000| Insurance cost = 20,000|Interest payable to bank = 29,167+ 26,000| Total expenditure = 5,76,000| Minimum expected market price of 100 tons of paddy in September/ October is Rs 6, 00,000. Net Result is a profit of Rs 24,833 In this alternative we are able to meet the first criteria, i. e. the repayment to the farmers. We can meet the second criterion that is to provide maximum benefit to the farmers, by providing the fertilizers at a cheaper price. The market price of fertilizer in September/ October will be Rs 300 per bag, and the society’s annual requirement is 2,000 bags, we can ubsidize each bag of fertilizer by Rs 10, which will cost the society Rs 20,000 that can met from the profit made, and remaining Rs 4,833 can be carried for next year in society’s cash account. An important point to be noted is we are considering the minimum market price observed at that time of the year, if the market price per ton of paddy is Rs 7,500 which has a probability of 25% the society would make huge profits, this profit can be utilized to provide more benefits to the farmer members.Some amount can be saved for future operations of the cooperative. I V. Sell paddy stock now, and purchase fertilizer now: In this alternative the cash reserve of Rs 5 lakh will be used to repay the procurement cost of paddy i. e. Rs 5 lakh to the farmers which is due for 31st march. Sell the paddy stock at current market price hence the current cash balance is Rs 5, 00,000 after selling paddy stock. The expenditure incurred to buy the fertilizer is Expenditure in Rupees| Cost to buy 2000 bags of fertilizers = 5,00,000| Insurance cost = 20,000|Labour and equipment cost = 25,000| Interest payable to bank = 29,167+26,000| Total expenditure = 6,00,167| The market price of fertilizer bag in September/ October is Rs 300, so the total revenue could be Rs 6 lakh, but during this period of six months there are losses of 5% in the total stock. The total revenue considering the losses is Rs 5, 70,000. Net result is a loss of Rs 30,167 In this alternative we are able to meet the first criteria, but failing to meet the rest all criteria. C) Decision: The 3rd alt ernative i. e. o retain paddy stock and not to buy fertilizer meets all the criteria, this alternative earns profit while the rest alternatives are making losses. Hence the 3rd alternative should be the decision of Mr. Agarwal. 3) Implementation: The 3rd alternative fulfills the objective of society with which it was formed that the larger intrest of the stakeholders should be served. This way society is able to pay the farmers the value to its produce as well as build corpus of the society without any significant risk involved. As discussed in the 3rd alternative Mr. Agarwal will retain the paddy stock till September/October

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Multilateral Aid And Non Government Aid - 1123 Words

There are millions of people suffering in the world, just under 1 billion people live on less than 2 Australian dollars a day, over 2 billion do not have access to clean drinking water and roughly 150 million child are unable to attend school. The Australian government spent over $5.4 billion on foreign aid links in 2012. Aid is the transfer of necessities to assist others on a local, national or international scale. International aid, which this report focuses on, is the assistance given to a developing country by a developed country, which boosts economic growth and living standards. There are three types of aid; bilateral aid, multilateral aid and non-government aid. Bilateral aid is aid provided by one government to another. AusAID is†¦show more content†¦East Asia is the east sub region of the Asian continent and consists of countries including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, North Korea, Regional East Asia, Philippines, East Timor and Vietnam. It covers roughly 28% of the Asian Continent and inhabits 22% of the world’s population. East Asia is one of the most heavily populated places in the world with the population density of 133 inhabitants per square kilometer, which is more than three times the worlds average. Vietnam, officially known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is on the eastern tip of the Indo-China peninsula in south East Asia. It is boarded on the west by Cambodia and Laos and to the North by China. The east of Vietnam is made up of 3,444 kilometers boarded by the South China Sea, which the Vietnamese call the Eastern Sea. Vietnam has a high population density. Statistical Facts Australia’s aid links with East Asia focuses on five main areas. They are, Education Governance, Health, Infrastructure and Rural development. As seen in Source a each of these 5 areas get similar amounts of aid but the is more focus on education and the Governance sector. These sectors have more focus as if the government and education is strengthened it will in turn promote economic growth so the country becomes less dependent on aid. Source B, C and D contain the population dynamic of vietnam from 1960, 2010 and projected population dynamics from 2050. They show a