The Kennewick Man Controversy

The â€Å"Kennewick Man Controversy† has been an issue debated among scientists and the Umatilla tribe. The debates focused on the question of who should take ownership and immediate possession of a human skull found at the edge of the bank of the Columbia River. Archaeologists argued for a right to study the human skull, causing the legal battle to stretch for several years until scientists were allowed to study the â€Å"Kennewick Man†.The discovery of the skull paved the way for realizing the urgent need for archaeological analysis and gave rise to certain ethical contentions which drew the lines between scientific and cultural pursuits. In this paper, I argue that archaeological study is an immediate need that should overcome certain ethical and cultural considerations for a specific duration. There are scientific limitations and ethical issues raised by the debates over the Kennewick Man. Scientists arguing for the right to study the human skull are limited by an e xisting law of the United States: the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act.Also, once scientists are permitted to study the human skull, their study’s length will be limited not only by their scientific tools but also by the demands of the Umatilla tribe to take possession of the remains the soonest possible time. One of the results of the scientific study conducted reveals that the Kennewick Man did not fit any of the modern classifications of â€Å"race† and that more is yet to be known about the identity of the human skull (Fiedel, p. 86). As far as ethical issues are concerned, the controversy has stirred the delicate balance between the importance of scientific research and the respect for cultural beliefs.The major point raised by the archaeologists—that the human skull needed archaeological analysis in order to solve the â€Å"puzzle†Ã¢â‚¬â€came in conflict with the contention of the Umatilla tribe, which is that they have a claim to the bo nes and, therefore, it is only proper to repatriate the bones to them. On closer inspection, the granting of the permission of the archaeologists does not necessarily imply the higher significance of scientific analysis over the cultural rights of the Umatilla tribe in general.Permitting archaeologists to examine the remains only signify that there is an urgent need to study the skeletal material. The fact that the law forces the scientists to return the artifacts after examination signifies that, in the long run, the ethical considerations for the cultural rights of the Umatilla tribe still weighs more than scientific pursuits. Elizabeth Weiss argues that â€Å"the demand to bury aboriginal skeletons, not only in America but also around the world, poses a potentially serious impediment to scientific inquiry† (Weiss, p.13), to which I fully agree. While we should consider the cultural rights of native groups to their heritage and cultural property, the examination of archaeol ogical findings to expand the human understanding of human civilization’s evolution is likewise a significant thing to consider. Legal arrangements can be made in order to preserve the integrity of the skeletal material during archaeological analysis under a prescribed length of time and to guarantee the claimants of the skeletal remains that they will have possession of the object after the study.To this day, modern scientists are still seeking the humble beginnings of humanity through what is little that remains of it, from aboriginal skeletons to historical objects. When archaeologists and the larger body of scientists across the world are prevented from examining such materials from the past, there is reason to believe that it will similarly deprive future generations of knowing and understanding the past.The greatest threat is when these objects eventually get buried in time, forgotten and never to be seen again; the result is catastrophic because humanity will have no r eason to mount attempts to study human history. James Chatters also writes that most of the analyses and interpretations about â€Å"the peopling of America† and â€Å"where the immigrants came from† are â€Å"limited by the tiny sample of ancient skeletal material† (Chatters, p. 291).Thus, scientists should not be deprived of studying ancient skeletal materials once they are found. The more objects we can study, the more we can unveil a hidden history and the more we can know and explain how human civilization has evolved. Cultural concerns should not be abandoned, yet the primacy of scientific study should also compel us to at least suspend our ethical judgments for a moment and allow science to aid us understand our world.Bibliography Chatters, James C. â€Å"The Recovery and First Analysis of an Early Holocene Human Skeleton from Kennewick, Washington. † American Antiquity 65. 2 (2000): 291-316. Fiedel, Stuart J. â€Å"The Kennewick Follies: ‘N ew’ Theories About the Peopling of the Americas. † Journal of Anthropological Research 60. 1 (2004): 75-110. Weiss, Elizabeth. â€Å"Kennewick Man's Funeral: The Burying of Scientific Evidence. † Politics and the Life Sciences 20. 1 (2001): 13-18.

Factors Affecting Mammal Populations

What do you understand by the term Strategic Human Resource Management? Is there any grounds that this is a utile construct in assisting administrations to maximize the part of their employees and there by contribute to the competitory advantage of the administration. As a consequence of your reappraisal, what changes can you urge to your administrations HR scheme? My Administration Scapa Tapes Ltd is presently a maker of different tapes merchandises which has a planetary work force of over 1000 people, I use the term presently as with the of all time germinating planetary market, who knows what they will be making in 100 old ages as they started as a drier doing company, the present Scapa Tapes Ltd was formed in a 1927 as Scapa Dryers Ltd, Rotunda became the first tapes company to fall in Scapa in 1987, in the following 10 old ages Scapa acquired a figure of other tape companies in an acquisition craze most noteworthy: – Lindsay and Williams Ltd ( UK ) 1988, Adenax ( Italy ) 1992, Saba ( France ) 1993 Barnier ( France & A ; Germany ) 1993, Renfrew Tapes ( Canada ) 1995, Coating Sciences Inc ( USA ) 1995, Finite ( USA ) 1997, Sellotape Industrial ( UK & A ; Switzerland ) 1997, The tapes companies become known as Scapa Tapes in 1998, a twelvemonth subsequently Scapa Tapes divested the traditional paper concern to concentrate to the full on the tapes concern. Another acquisition programme began in 2000 and by the terminal of 2001 the had acquired Acutek International Incorporated ( USA ) , Great Lakes Technologies, Medifix Adhesive Products ( UK ) , Lusa Incorporated ( USA ) And eventually Cable Components ( UK ) , during this clip they entered into a joint venture with Mei Wei Holdings ( HK ) this was a important measure as this gave Scapa entree to markets throughout the Far East to congratulate the sites around Europe and North America. www.scapa.com In 2004 and with the Ashton site was losing ?3 million a twelvemonth, a reappraisal of the construction of the company took topographic point and sweeping alterations to the construction of the company were made and a whole new in-between direction squad was recruited. During many of these ulterior acquisitions there was a degree of Strategic Human Resource Management, besides in the restructuring programmes at that place would hold been person looking at the scheme for human resources. Strategic Human Resource Management Most people would hold that administrations cardinal assets are the people whom the administration employs ; they are the people that finally make a difference to whether the company succeeds or failures. It is imperative to any administration that it secures the right people to make the right occupations at the right clip. Once you find these people it is indispensable that the administration keeps these â€Å" human resources † engaged, the Harvard concern reappraisal OnPoint stated â€Å" Staff wellbeing and their degree of satisfaction has been found to straight impact on organizational public presentation † Strategic human resource direction is a common attack to the strategic direction of human resources in line with the purposes of the administration on the future way it wants to take. Human resource direction is aligned with longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about organisation, excellence, civilization, rules, committedness and duplicate resources to future demands of the administration ( Armstrong, 2001 ) . Strategic human resource direction evolved from forces direction which was ab initio concerned with the development of people in mills, and was introduced to turn to issues sing the ailments and the wellness and public assistance of the workingmans. Traditionally proprietors and directors thought the lone thoughts of any importance were their ain, this bureaucratic attitude was reflected in the work of Fredrick Winslow Taylor ( 1911 ) , Taylors ‘ theoretical account of scientific direction was fundamentally, directors were at that place to program, and control undertakings and the work force was expected to transport out their instructions. ( Torrington et al 2005 ) . As the kineticss in the relationship with the trade brotherhoods and direction changed the forces direction duties grew beyond public assistance to other countries such as guaranting agreeable industrial dealingss and successful forces disposal. During this period the importance was on formulating and guaranting the conformity to systems and procedures.www.alagse.com sourced 21st February 2011. With the outgrowth of the planetary market there were alterations in the economical state of affairs brought approximately by increasing competition. This competition resulted in an addition in the handiness of clients. It besides ensured more pick for these clients. That in bend, gave a new facet to the market place it gave clients ‘ a possible penchant. This in consequence compels companies to constantly innovate and give the type of value to clients that the competition can non fit. With this displacement in concern kineticss, companies realised that people within the administration and their cognition is the lone resource of sustainable competitory advantage. As other resources related to stuffs, equipment, engineering, fundss etc. have proved short lived, in the absence of the human capital capable of utilizing these resources efficaciously and expeditiously ( Guest1987 ) . This can be summed up as if you do non hold good trained staff running a machine or system so the ma chine or system is efficaciously merely every bit good as your worst member of staff. Companies now bank on people ‘s country of expertness and their consciousness of markets, particularly client outlooks and challengers market moves, for developing advanced new merchandises. This alteration in attack of direction saw the outgrowth of the thought of Human Resource Management. This flexibleness and committedness are frequently, but non ever dissimilar within Human Resource Management and asks new inquiries refering these subjects. Committedness within the workplace is recognised as the dedication of an employee to their employer. There is a positive relationship between the degree of committedness and a high degree of employee satisfaction, self-respect, psychological engagement, efficiency and increased productiveness ( Guest 1987 ) . The distinguishing factors There have been invariably debates about whether human resource direction represents a new theory in the development and betterment of forces direction as a more strategic attack was adopted. Based on research by Warwick University ‘s IR Research Unit in the late eighties through a wide-ranging survey of varied companies, Storey in 1992 conducted a painstaking survey to distinguish between Human Resource Management and Personnel Management and his elaborate decisions under four wide classs can be seen in Appendix 1. The function of the Strategic Human resource is acquiring of all time more demanding with issues of employee engagement, human resource flow, public presentation direction, wages systems and high committedness work systems in the context of globalisation. Some of the chief issues that HR professionals and senior direction involved in Strategic Human Resource Management are contending with in the first decennary of the twenty-first century include. â€Å"Internationalization†¦Increased competition†¦Technological alteration†¦New constructs of line and general direction†¦Corporate climes†¦ .Cross-cultural issues†¦ .The economic displacement in†¦SHRM besides reflects some of the chief modern-day challenges faced by Human Resource Management: Aligning HR with nucleus concern scheme, demographic tendencies on employment and the labor market, incorporating soft accomplishments in HRD and eventually Knowledge Management. † www.ezinearticles.com acces sed 28th January 2011. An illustration of this internationalization is the Strategic Human Resource Management within Scapa. It is really complex as the company is a transnational endeavor, it has to take into consideration the cultural differences between the states that its sites are situated. This includes the United States of America, Canada, France, Korea, Malaysia, Italy every bit good as the United Kingdom. There is an old expression originally used by Buckminster Fuller who stated â€Å" planetary thought, local action † . There are some distinguishable deductions within SHRM in administrations which are associated straight with globalization and internationalization, perchance the biggest being linguistic communication accomplishments, and the transferability of direction accomplishments as different civilizations react otherwise to different direction manners. ( Hofstede, 1980 ) . Some issues for Human Resource Management in an internationalised environment as described by Torrington et Al are, â€Å" these issues include how can the cultural differences be accommodated and how effectual communicating can be maintained across long distances, different clip zones, different direction premises. Changing national norms and different linguistic communications † Torrington et Al ( 2009 ) . In these different states there are besides differences in the Laws, Education, Social proviso and Pensions etc. this makes the occupation of Strategic Human Resource in an international context really disputing. Hofstede ( 2001 ) discussed the cultural differences and the power distance in over 40 states, his findings could be inaccurate as all the participants of his research worked for the same company and this does non give a full demographic contemplation. Strategic Human Resource Management can embrace a figure of Human Resource schemes such as the analytical Harvard Framework ( 1984 ) or the Balanced Score Card ( BSC ) , Kaplan and Norton ( 1992, 1996 ) . There may be schemes to present sensible and even-handed payment, to develop public presentation or to reconstitute organisations. However, in themselves these schemes are non strategic human HRM. Strategic HRM is the overall construction which determines the form and bringing of the single schemes. The undermentioned definitions are from the CIPD book Strategic HRM: the key to improved concern public presentation, within which there is wide-ranging coverage of the assorted definitions and attacks to HRM, scheme and strategic HRM. â€Å" Strategic HRM is based on HRM rules integrating the construct of scheme. So if HRM is a logical attack to the direction of people, strategic HRM now implies that that is done on a planned manner that integrates organizational ends with policies and action sequences † . www.cipd.co.uk sourced 28th January 2011 The primary end of strategic human resources is to increase employee efficiency by looking at the obstructions that occur outside of human resources. The primary actions of a Strategic Human Resource director are to acknowledge cardinal HR countries where schemes can be implemented in the long tally to better the overall employee motive and efficiency. Communication between HR and senior direction of the administration is indispensable as with no active engagement no coaction is accomplishable. The cardinal elements of Strategic Human Resource Management are the precise relationship associating HR policy and patterns and overall organisational strategic ends and the organisational environment. There should be a procedure for fall ining single human resource intercessions so that they are every bit supportive and eventually a big portion of the duty for the direction of human resources should be passed down the line to line directors. www.cipd.co.uk sourced 1st February 2011. A Human Resources Executive as a member of senior direction must set up what patterns, plans, policies and attacks will optimise the realisation of the organisation aims. This means that in his place he must be responsible for originating and implementing the most effectual use of the human assets at all degrees. The primary map of the human resources place is to do an of import part to the development and apprehension of both the administration ‘s long term and short-run aims, whilst assisting, where possible, each employee to develop to the fullest extent of his possible. This requires a mechanism and concern effectivity adviser as contrasted with the traditional function of the forces manager. www.EzineArticles.com Scapa ‘s Human Resource Director function, should hold the duty to invent, suggest and put to death, processs and policies and program to guarantee the most â€Å" effectual planning, enlisting, choice, use, motive, development, and compensation of the organisation human resources ; and lend to the development and accomplishment of the organisation long-range and short-run aims by originating and implementing employee dealingss patterns which will enable and promote each employee to recognize his personal ends while maximising his part to concern effectivity ; supply for the declaration of direction jobs and the realisation of chances through advanced attacks to human resources direction. † www.ezinearticles.com sourced 7th February 2011. The Strategic Human Resource Management map at Scapa is really much in the background. Though it is unusual that everybody knows that the administration has a Human Resources Department, it is frequently seen as the topographic point you go to acquire disciplined, the premise that most people within the administration have no thought of the undertakings that HR section undertake on a twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours footing. They do non understand that most of the policies and process to filtrate down into the administration are from determinations made at a higher degree. Strategic Human Resources Management is an of import plus to any concern as it provides expertness in enlisting, choice and employee dealingss. It plays a major function pull offing alteration and easing preparation and development, in enlisting, choice and employee dealingss, it is built-in in determinations made about pensions and benefits, and possibly most significantly it plays a major portion in pass oning with employees. The Strategic HRM program within Scapa encompasses many countries, it surely contributes to the competitory advantage of the administration, holding late under gone a major restructuring of our senior executives and planetary direction squads the scheme of the concern and the HRM have been entwined. The scheme of HRM at Scapa is therefore described as â€Å" to guarantee that Scapa has the right people, optimally deployed and decently engaged to present the scheme and concern consequences † Appendix 2 Key countries within the Scapa scheme for Human Resource Management are: – Organisation Design, as administrations are non inactive, alterations are continually taking topographic point in the concern, the environment in which the concern operates, and people who are employed within the company. There is no concern utopia, the most we can anticipate is to accomplish the â€Å" best tantrum † available between the construction and these altering fortunes ( Armstrong, 2001 ) . Scapa as an administration appears to utilize a best fit attack to near to HRM, as the administration ‘s attack to HRM appears to be based on eventuality theory: in other words, â€Å" that different fortunes, conditions, and concern aims will necessitate different types of HR policies and patterns. Rather than there being one best manner, the best fit attack tends to presume there will be one most suited manner of pull offing HR in line with concern scheme † . Though it this does hold its disparagers who ask â€Å" whether many houses truly have a competitory scheme and how this can be identified, and suggest that it is invariably altering in line with the competitory environment-all of which make it impossible for those inventing HR policy to be able to accomplish the best tantrum. † www.jrank.org/business sourced 15th February 2011. Attraction and choice, the focal point here being on pulling, and engaging the right endowment for the concern, that is capable, a good cultural tantrum and low-cost. This is even more of import at the higher terminal of the administrations construction. In his summing up of the competition for endowment ( Williams, 2000 ) used an interesting metaphor â€Å" today ‘s high performing artists are like toads in a wheel barrow they can leap out anytime † this should be taken as significance that you should non set a palpebra on them, but make the topographic point attractive plenty that they want to remain. Though the balance has to be right between internal and external enlisting otherwise employee battle could be affected. Performance Management, the purpose here is to inspire the public presentation direction system and that answerabilities are aligned to scheme and that ownership is understood and delivered. Armstrong and Baron ( 2000 ) specify public presentation direction as â€Å" a strategic and incorporate attack to presenting sustained success to administrations by bettering the public presentation of the people who work in them and by developing the capablenesss of squads and single subscribers. † The Strategy for this has to be decided at a higher degree but the application of the schemes have to be driven by line directors. Leadership Development, another of Scapa ‘s enterprise is to set up effectual leaders in all degrees of the administration, aiming development and guaranting robust sequence planning is in topographic point. Whereas the in the 80 ‘s a more formal attack to sequence planning was used, which included cautious analysis of the occupation to be filled, Torrington, Hall and Taylor ( 2000 ) comment that â€Å" the focal point now tends to be on the demand to construct and develop a pool of endowment, without such a position as to how this endowment will be used in the hereafter. † This suggests that administrations are going more people orientated and constructing endowment pools instead than merely make fulling functions. Reward and acknowledgment are of import as no people in the administration work for no wages, be that fiscal addition or even psychological addition, therefore it is in the administrations best involvements, to invent and set into pattern a just and crystalline acknowledgment strategy that focal point ‘s on consequences. Battle, it is of import to continually better employees understanding of the concern and the administrations values and to prosecute in meaningful duologue and develop a â€Å" Scapa manner † , this is achieved in someway by running European broad forums and the Scapa employee questionnaires, which are filled in around the Earth at Scapa sites and are a good manner of looking how different civilizations are engaged in different ways. This is to assist the administration to develop a belief and committedness to the administration ‘s intent and way. Green ( 1999 ) There is some grounds that this Strategic Human Resource Management is a utile construct in assisting administrations to maximize the part of their employees and there by contribute to the competitory advantage of the administration. Within our administration we have the alone accomplishments and resources working to implement schemes that rivals can non implement as efficaciously. It is non adequate though for an administration to merely to hold an advantage over your rivals. You have to be able to battle today ‘s fierce market forces and uncertainness. The administrations competitory advantage demands to be sustainable and able to digest the trial of clip for your company to be great this is because most advantages can be duplicated within a period of clip. Michael Porter, the Harvard competitory advantage guru, amounts this up by stating, â€Å" It is improbably chesty for a company to believe that it can present the same kind of product/service that its challengers do and really do better for really long. It is highly unsafe to wager on the incompetency of your rivals † . www.homebusiness.about.com. Sourced 13/02/2011. The administration usage a host of these schemes to seek and derive some competitory advantage, we use many at the same clip. The current authorization which is being driven and became a policy of the company is the Thin Six Sigma attack which the administration is taking to implement. This encompasses many of the countries that the administrations schemes aim to act upon. With the demands of the administration, make up one's minding that Lean Six Sigma was the manner frontward, this was an illustration of the how the organizational design portion of the company scheme can act upon other countries of the Strategic Human Resource Management. Other considerations of the attractive force and choice of, in the first case the advisers and so the people who are needed to go green belts and finally black belts in the doctrine of Lean Six Sigma. The administration will be looking for people to drive forward the squads and run the Lean Six Sigma undertakings. This would promote more focal point on public presentation issues and wages and wage. This would prosecute people as they realised that, there was another agency of ego realization within the administration. Maslow ( 1987 ) . Basically the HRM Strategy should aline with the concern scheme. This should include proposals on increasing competitory advantage through invention taking to merchandise / service distinction, productiveness additions, improved quality / client service, cost decrease. Within the administration we used a signifier of suggestion strategy which we called â€Å" Scapa ‘s Got Talent † the administration used this strategy to come up with tonss of different thoughts to guarantee that the administration have a steadfast base on which to so look to introduce. With tonss of little betterments Recommendations that I would do to better my administrations would be: As the Human Resource Management Strategy is confidential there is a really limited sum of people who understand the overall ends of the HRM. There is a demand for the administration to be more crystalline as most things that are done seem to be cloaked in secretiveness, by doing the HR Strategy confidential it prevents certain groups from cognizing the all right points of the scheme. They ever know the HR Strategy exists, but they have no entree to the item of the scheme. Transparency is one of cardinal rules for Human Resources. Transparent human resource scheme brings focal point on the scheme and can be to the full discussed in the organisation as all the employees and directors have a opportunity to inquire about the finer points of the scheme this evokes argument. The human resource scheme is a life papers and as a life papers, it can non be confidential, hence one of my recommendations would be for a more crystalline Human Resource Management Strategy. www.yourhrmguide.com sou rced 24th February 2011Strategic Human Resources Management is driven by corporate civilization, directors and employees, and these are different in every administration.www.jrank.orgDistinguishing factors – HRM and Personnel ManagementKey AspectPersonnel directionHRMBeliefs and premisesContractCareful word picture of written contract Aim to travel beyond written contract – spell by the spirit of the contractRulesPush on inventing clear regulations â€Å" can make † attitude – restlessness with regulationsGuide to direction actionProcedures Business and client demands, flexibleness, committednessBehaviorsIn line with imposts and norms In line with values and missionDirectors ‘ undertakingMonitoring FosteringStrategic facetsCardinal dealingssLabour direction CustomersEnterprisesPiecemeal IntegratedCorporate programMarginalized CardinalSpeed of determinationsDecelerate FastLine directionManagement functionTransactional Transformational leadingKey directorsP & A ; IR experts Line directorsSkillsNegotiation FacilitationKey leversAttentionForces processs Cultural and structural issues and forces schemesChoiceFringy importance Integrated and cardinal undertakingWageJob rating Performance basedCommunicationRestricted flow / indirect Increased flow / directJob designDivision of labor Team workConflict handlingImpermanent footing Pull offing civilization and climeTraining & A ; developmentControlled entree to classs Learning organizationsAppendix 1 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.alagse.com/hr/hr2.php

Porter Argues That If a Firm Is to Attain Competitive Advantage

Porter argues that if a firm is to attain competitive advantage; it must choose between the types of competitive advantage it seeks, discuss using an industrial example? An industry can be defined as a group of companies offering products that are closely substituting for each other in order to satisfy customers. Competitive advantage can be defined as when a firm sustains profit which exceeds the company’s average; it automatically possesses competitive advantage over rivals. The business strategy for most companies is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.This essay aims to discuss why firms must choose between types of competitive advantages using an industrial example. Michael Porter indentified that there are 2 basic types of competitive advantage, cost advantage and differentiation advantage. A competitive advantage exists when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower price (Cost Advantage) or deliver benefits that exceed those of the competitors (Differentiation). Thus, the firm creates superior value and products for customers whilst it gains superior profit for the company.A resource based view emphasizes that a firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage that results in creating superior value thus the firm must have resources and capabilities that are superior to those of the competitors. Resources are the firm specific assets used for creating either a cost advantage or differentiation advantage, examples of resources are brand equity, reputation, installed customer base. While, capabilities refer to the firm’s ability of utilizing its resources, an example is the ability to bring out a product or market before competitors.Thus, the resources and capabilities together result in distinctive competencies which allow innovation, efficiency, creativity, quality and customer responsiveness which can be leveraged to create cost advantage or differentiation. Essent ially, a firm’s relative position within its industry determines whether its profitability stands above or below industry average. Porter states that there are 2 types of competitive advantage a firm can possess as mentioned above however , there are 3 generic strategies for achieving competitive advantage in an industry; cost advantage/leadership, differentiation and focus.The first type of competitive advantage is cost advantage /leadership, it is when a firm becomes low cost producer in its industry. It minimizes the cost to the organization of delivering products and services. According to Porter (1985) , there are two ways of achieving cost leadership either by increasing profit by reducing costs while charging the average price. Or by increasing market share through charging lower prices while still achieving a reasonable profit on each sale because your cost has been reduced.Furthermore, companies that are successful in achieving cost leadership usually have an access to the capital needed to invest in technology which helps reduce the cost. Also, they have very efficient logistics and a low cost base such as labor, materials and facilities (Ibid, 1985). Essentially, if a firm can achieve and maintain cost leadership, it can obtain above average performance whilst the prices are still affordable in that industry. Hence, the cost leader does not try to be the industry innovator, it seeks to position its products to appeal to the average customer taste.The aimed goal is to increase efficiency and lower its costs in relation to competitors. Some of the advantages of the cost leadership strategies are it is protected by industry competitors by cost advantage, purchases in large quantities which increases bargaining power over supplier. Also, it has the ability to reduce price to compete with substitute products, less affected by a fall in the price of inputs as it has powerful buyers. Some of the disadvantages are competitors may lower their cost str ucture, they may imitate the cost leaders method and cost reductions may affect demand.Furthermore, Porter argues that a low cost position acts to a firm’s benefit against rivalry, and it can act as a defense against powerful suppliers by providing more flexibility to cope with input increases. The car industry has always been one of the most competitive industries because of the huge revenues and profits available at stake. The competition has increased drastically in this industry as there has been a constant need to continuously develop new kinds of car models to satisfy the needs of particular groups of buyers.For example, Toyota has used its low cost structure to produce efficient and increasing ranges of vehicles tailored to different segments of the car industry. Its ability to move from the design to production stage in two to three years gives it the benefit of bringing out new models faster than its competitors and capitalize on the development of new market segment s or niches. Also, Toyota has been a leader in positioning its range of vehicles to take advantage of emerging market segments.For example , in the sports utility segment, it offers six models of sports utility vehicles each offering a combination of price, size, performance, styling and luxury that appeals to different sets of buyers. The second type of competitive advantage addressed by Porter is differentiation. As opposed to cost leadership approach, differentiation does not seek to lower prices in order to gain competitive advantage. Porter states that by using differentiation approach, a firm seeks to be unique in its industry alongside some attributes that are greatly valued by buyers.An industry selects few attributes that most buyers in an industry perceive as vital and aims to uniquely present and position itself to meet those needs. Differentiation approach is usually rewarded for its uniqueness with a premium price and to make a successful generic strategy, organizations need to have good research, development and innovation. They need to have the ability to deliver high quality products and services and have an effective sales and marketing team in order to understand the market demands.Usually, companies that follow differentiation strategies create a product that is distinct for its competitors in an important way. Therefore, a differentiator strives to differentiate itself in as many dimensions as it can, it seeks to segment the market in many niches , and it focuses on the organizational functions that provide a source of distinct advantages. According to Porter, there are several sources of product differentiation that a firm must look at.Firstly, firms should focus on the product and highlight which features they want to change, how complex they want the product to be, when they would like to introduce the product and the location. Secondly, firms should focus on their relationship with the customer, product customization, and consumer marke ting and product reputation. Lastly, firms should focus on linkages within and between firms, linkages among functions within a firm, linkages with other firms, product mix , distribution channel and service and support. Some of the advantages of differentiation strategy are customers develop brand loyalty.Also, differentiators could pass price increases onto customers, powerful buyers are not a problem because the product is distinct and differentiation and brand loyalty are barriers to entry. Some of the disadvantages of differentiation strategies are difficulties maintaining long term distinctiveness in consumer’s eyes, competitors can quickly imitate and difficulty maintaining premium price. For example, American Express carefully differentiated its product using famous people to advertise the virtues, exclusivity, and distinctness of possessing those cards.Amex cards were premium products that allowed the company to charge both customers and merchants more because it off ered quality service and conferred status on the user. By 2002, it offered 9 kinds of charge cards and 14 kinds of credit cards seeking to expand the market reach. The third strategy Porter mentions is the focus strategy which concentrates on particular niche markets and tries to understand the dynamics of that particular market. Alongside, the unique needs of customers in those markets, it seeks to develop low cost and well specified products for the market.Usually, it results in strong brand loyalty amongst customers which makes their market segment less attractive to competitors. Focus strategy usually combines with either cost leadership or differentiation as it is not enough on its own. In addition, the focuser strives to serve the need of a targeted niche market segment where it has either a low cost or differentiated competitive advantage. In cost focus, a firm seeks cost advantage as its target segment. In differentiation focus, firms choose differentiation as their main app roach.Some of the advantages of focus strategy is the focuser is protected from rivals by providing a product or service that they cannot offer, the focuser has power over buyers because they cannot get the same service from anywhere else. Also, the threat of new entrants is limited by customer loyalty to the brand and customer loyalty lessens the threat from substitutes. Some of the disadvantages of focus strategies are differentiators will compete for a focuser’s niche and the focuser’s niche may disappear because of technological change or changes in customer’s tastes.

How has Massachusetts differed from other states in dealing with Essay

How has Massachusetts differed from other states in dealing with fiscal problems in the last couple of years - Essay Example Since the recession started, most states have closed more than $425 billion in shortfalls. All states have to balance operating budgets at least biennially unlike the federal government, which can go on providing services even with a financial downturn. Since federal economic assistance is to expire before the recovery of most state budgets, the states must address these shortfalls by a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. This paper aims to discuss how the state of Massachusetts has differed from other states in dealing with their fiscal problems. An annual update released by the US Census Bureau for local and state government finances provided national data for the year 2010. The amount of local and state taxes in Massachusetts as total personal income share was 10.2% in the fiscal year 2010. Using this measure, the state of Massachusetts, recorded lower taxation when compared to twenty-four other states (Ellwood 23). Measuring of taxes as a personal income share allows financial experts a meaningful comparison tool to compare states. Taxes act as the primary funding source for people living in various states that are provided to government for the provision of such functions as public education, safety nets, libraries, playgrounds and parks. The new data from the census shows that Massachusetts has a level of taxation ranging at 10.42%, below the average nationally that came at 10.59% in 2010 (Ellwood 23). If the state of Massachusetts had a taxation level at the average nationally, then local and state government would have had an extra $1.1 billion to spend during the fiscal year. Most states across the United States started implementing budget cuts in spring 2008 with the recession bringing weakened revenues sharply into focus. These cuts have increased given the persistently high unemployment. Most states cut funding by 4.2% in 2009 and a further 6.8% in 2010 despite the continued need for services that are funded by the state (Ellwood 25). Ho wever, in Massachusetts, a few diversions were noted, especially with budget cuts. Massachusetts has four major categories in their budget where they spent much more than other states despite/ instead of effecting cuts. These were public welfare, transit, veteran services and unemployment compensation. Public welfare, behind education, is the second largest category in the census encompassing temporary assistance for needy families, food stamp program and Medicaid. Unlike other states, Massachusetts has seen overspending in this category, indicated by the low ratings for welfare reform. TANF afforded flexibility to most states for the administration of benefits provided the goals set out by TANF were satisfied. A comprehensive study gave Massachusetts a low grade for the satisfaction of these goals, with a score of 34.9% and a ranking of forty-sixth out of fifty states (Ellwood 28). Unemployment compensation includes benefits that are funded by the federal government such as basic u nemployment benefits and cash benefits for military and civilian employees. This includes shared expenditure, for example, extended employment for those states with high rates of unemployment. One significant indicator that Massachusetts overspends in this category compared to other states in this category is the fact that, in 2008s second quarter, Massachusetts recorded the second highest rate of weekly payment at $391.91 in comparison to the national average at $285.28 (Gold 250). Massachusetts’

Description of Child Activities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Description of Child Activities - Assignment Example During the ‘Grocery Store’ activity, he comes up to me, waves his hand and says, â€Å"Hi†. I immediately respond with a â€Å"Hi,† and say, â€Å"Finn, would you like to be a shopper for your grocery, or manage the cash register today?† He replies, â€Å"Yes, I want to be a shopper,† and goes on to be actively involved in the activity from beginning till end. Finn’s involvement was a treat to watch! While shopping at the ‘Grocery Store,’ Leyanna drops her shopping basket on the floor. She repeatedly exclaims, â€Å"Oh no, it’s broken!† Hearing this, I ask her â€Å"What happened, Leyanna?† She replies, â€Å"I dropped my basket and it’s broken.† I ask her, â€Å"Do you need my help, Leyanna?† She says, â€Å"Yes!† I notice that the handle is not broken, merely detached. I prompt her gently with questions: â€Å"Would you show me where it is broken?† â€Å"Let’s fix it together.† â€Å"I wonder whether there is a hole for us to put the handles into?† She indicates the hole and exclaims, â€Å"Here, I found it!† Leyanna inserts the handles in place and resumes her shopping! It is a treat to see Dawson, who is usually content to be a silent observer of classroom happenings, enthusiastically take on the role of the cashier and shopper at the ‘Grocery Store.’ Following up on this interest, I encourage Dawson to interchange the roles of shopper and cashier in the subsequent ‘Revisit the Grocery Store’ Activity: which he does with great exuberance! I move the â€Å"Aluminum Climbing-Monkey Bar† from its usual position to the left in order to provide access to the Pulling Rope. I first see that the area under the equipment, and the corner of the stairway, are covered with sufficient soft mats to ensure the children’s safety.

An organizational structure of an engineering and construction company Assignment

An organizational structure of an engineering and construction company - Assignment Example The paper tells that like any other company, all companies need to have an organizational structure to help in running it effectively. For example, a company operates and executes its services and products to its clients. As an engineering and construction company, it has to have a large scope with several employees on board that will befit its aim and objectives. The structure presented in the paper will fundamentally fit into an outstanding engineering and construction company, where co-ordinator is given weak power and much power given to engineering and construction departments. Vice-chairman is the actual C.E.O while general management is separated between engineering manager and constructional manager of the company. The board of directors plays a role in coordinating the company with other companies in the industry. Apart from giving the company a favourable image externally, the directors also help the company realize what exactly their clients need and target, the director t ends to lift up the company by chipping in new ideas from the industry, also from their rivals. The relationship between the director and the chairman will help lift the company into the correct direction as far as business, construction and engineering are involved. Since the chairman will act as the chairman of other company’s group, good support from other groups can assist the company in many ways possible to its prosperity. The chairperson can also give speeches to the employees to motivate them. The vice chairperson is to be the actual CEO of the company, the vice-chairman will confirm that all activities in the company run parallel accordingly to the company and watches keenly not to experience any set back in the company. General Manager is divided into two categories: engineering manager and construction manager. Both will supervise specific areas to find if duties of their employees in the company, right from the lowest rank in the company to the highest rank, have executed their duties as required, and principal activities are running smoothly. Since the department is divided into two, activities in the company will be easy to run and there will be no congestion in this department, hence accuracy and efficiently prevails. The finance department will be checking and dealing with issues concerning funds: accounting, treasury and finance. All functions that involve monetary issues are to be dealt with financially, and authentic records kept for future use. Human resource department includes new employees who look for employment and those who want to leave the company. This is the department that deals with hiring and firing of employees. Almost all activities around the company concerned with employees were sorted out here. Organisational department is where the entire activity of a company is arranged according to

TheLesson EugeneIonesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TheLesson EugeneIonesco - Essay Example From the play, it is evident that the professor is also a domineering and violent person. He uses language to attack the student. HE shows his power and control in a very cruel manner (Ionesco 69). Later on in the lesson, he is also depicted as someone who easily loses his patience. It leads him into homicidal acts. The other character in the play is the pupil. The pupil is an 18 year old lady who wears a student smock with a white collar. During his first times in the class with the professor, she comes out as a very enthusiastic and hopeful person. She believes that the professor will help her pass the total â€Å"doctorate† exams. As the play progresses the pupil shows very absurd lack of common elementary knowledge (Ionesco 50). She does not know the capital city of France let alone the seasons of the year. As the lesson progresses, she surprisingly gets enough courage and equanimity to defy the professor. She does so with minimal success. The final character is the maid. She is a friendly and a loyal servant. She also comes out as considerate and caring person when she warns and advices the professor about his actions. The maid is submissive and this makes him accompany the professor even when he was going to engage in unacceptable acts. The power struggle in the Lesson by Eugene Ionesco comes out in the form of a satirized to â€Å"totalitarianism† in politics, education and language. The author sets it is a way that the professor only has one student at a time. This is itself is a demonstration of the control that the tutor was seeking over his student. He is teaching his student in a manner which is not only stifling but also very controlling. The professor talks nonsense and at the same time expects the student to be able to verbalize what he wants her to say. This theme in the play is meant to show how such practices have detrimental impact in the education settings.

Health Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Health Sociology - Essay Example Also included is the criticism of capitalism which forces the lower working classes to be subject to the exploitation of the upper classes. This includes not only the working standards of the employees but a variety of other factors such as the standards of health which are determined by the bourgeoisie set to attain power. Through manipulating these means, they are able to produce surplus product which leads to profits and the upper classes accumulation of wealth and power for themselves. The last pattern set by Marxism is the need for the worker to revolt. It is only by standing up to the orders set for them by the upper classes that the proletariat can escape. This requires the workers to unite through unions and political parties to stand against the control of the rich ruling classes. Thus, the Marxist policy is very consistent with the idea of exploitation done by the ruling class to maintain their power over the poorer and less powerful working classes. While most Marxist opinions are based upon the concept of economic determinism and its effect on the resulting class conflict, Marx and Engels have been unable to come with a unified and direct theory on over-all purpose of civil society itself. However this purpose of society can be understood by examining the work done by both men. This includes the criticism of the 19th century social systems, the advantages of a communist system and its superiority to the exploitation committed by the capitalist systems and the Marxist need for a justified revolution that would allow the workers to gain their due rights (Peffer 1990).Thus, Marxists aim for a health system that will not deprive the poor of their rights to a justifiable and efficient system that will provide for their basic needs and wants. Marxists view the health care system as a method for capitalist societies to search for profits while maintaining their capitalist domination and capital accumulation (Waitzkin 1983). Marx saw the problems created by the inequality amongst the classes. The conditions borne by the lower working classes were dismal. The working classes were living in an abject state of poverty and were deprived of many material goods. Not only were they paid a minimum wage which prevented them from buying anything but the basic necessities of life but they also lived together which allowed the diseases amongst them to spread at a much higher speed. This unbridled capitalist system created a breeding ground for disease amongst the proletariat (Baggott 2004). There is no doubt that the upper classes are not immune to the disease and infections spread caused by the social and economic conditions, but the number of ill-health between the rich and poor are severely disproportionate. This was coupled with the health services provided to the two different classes. Both were phenomenally different. This proved the Marxist concept that while the rich prospered; the working class lived in poo r conditions under them. The idea is that the health of managerial and professional classes tends to improve while those of the poorer

Emerging Technology 3-D Transistors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Emerging Technology 3-D Transistors - Essay Example It is in line with this that manufacturers of memory cells, particularly, Intel have been concerned with ways of enhancing the performance level of transistors that are mounted on memory cells for various mobile devices, particularly smart phones. The new technology that has emerged from Intel is 3-D transistors. 3-D transistors have been said to be a technical form of Tri-Gate that has been set to advance over the traditional two-dimension gate, which was in flat construction. With the advancement, the two-dimensional planar is replaced with three-dimensional silicon fin that ensures that the silicon substrate is raised up vertically. This emerging technology has been said to be necessary because it is no longer becoming possible to cram transistors in two-dimensional gates to make the Moore’s Law of doubling the number of transistors on a silicon device every two years possible. Keywords – processor; transistors; 3-D transistors; tri-gate; mobile device; memory cell; Moore’s Law; fin; silicon; advancement; dimensional; chips I. INTRODUCTION The cell phone industry has grown to heights that can be described as the most phenomenal in decades since the introduction of the technology. There are indeed a number of factors that have aided in the rapid growth of the cell phone industry, particularly due to the efficiency and effectiveness of the various components of technologies that come together to make up the holistic cell phone industry. One of such components of technologies that cannot be overlooked is the performances of cell phones that have made them versatile to performing a number of functions, including advanced memory cells. It would be noted however that the making and functionality of these memory cells are always based on the mounting of transistors (Han and Wentzlo, 2010). these transistors have always been in place to enhance energy efficiency and monitor the speed of processors, ensuring that the cell phones and other mobile technology devices can undertake processes input in them quite easily (Joyner, Zarkesh-Ha, and Meindl, 2001). With this function of transistors in mobile devices, it is very clear to note that these mobile devices including new forms of smart phones cannot be integrated with component array of functionalities if they do not have an effective transistor base to regulate energy efficiency and processor speed (Apte, Doering, and Gargini, 2007). It is in line with this that the focus of most memory cell makers has been on the need to enhance the efficacy of transistors. This paper serves as a survey paper to critically analyze the works of existing reviewers on a particular new technology in the line of transistors, which are 3-D transistors. Intel’s 3-D transistors are used as a model. II. SURVEY FINDINGS A. Intel’s Motivation to go 3-D Since the emergence of this 3-D transistors idea, transistors were generally mounted on 2-D platforms, called the 2-D planer 2-D gate (Di etrich and Haase, 2012). Various researchers have therefore tried to find out what the motivation of Intel to go 3-D could be. In this, it has been identified that the major motivation behind the emerging technology of 3-D transistors is Moore’s Law (Davis et al, 2005). Chang, Zuo, Wang, Yu, and Boning (2012) notes that Moore’s Law states that â€Å"the number of transistors per chip will double roughly every two years.† By implication, the memory cell that houses the chips must be in a position to

Public and Private Finance in Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Public and Private Finance in Property - Essay Example ncreased consumption levels, reduction in unemployment rate, increased exports, growth in corporate profits as well as increased foreign direct investments. The British government does not only depend on tax revenue to fund its budget but also other sources which include state owned organizations, privatizations, foreign direct investments, sale of assets. The British government own several corporations, which forms a commendable source of revenue to the government in form of profits. For instance, the UK government own the postal service company- Royal mail, train-operating company-East Coast, and education holding company- BPP Holdings. The British government has been involved in a number of privatizations whereby the government relieve its ownership and interest in parastatal to private investors. An example of such privatization includes that of the British rail in 1993. British government is major player in local business and this is evident through participation in sovereign we alth funds. The UK government own motorways, harbours, airport terminus and sewer lines that forms an important source of revenue to the government when members of the public use these infrastructure. The government has also in a number of occasions disposed off its assets to get additional revenue in order to fund its operations. Government Expenditure The UK government has been experiencing a number of challenges with its expenditure patters for a long period. It is quite unfortunate that the UK government’s total expenditure for its fiscal years have always surpassed its revenue (Parliament, 2012). This trend has remained like this for a considerable period. The government has been forced in most cases to borrow surplus funds from the public in order to meet its expenditure need.... The British government does not only depend on tax revenue to fund its budget but also other sources which include state owned organizations, privatizations, foreign direct investments, sale of assets. The British government own several corporations, which forms a commendable source of revenue to the government in form of profits. For instance, the UK government own the postal service company- Royal mail, train-operating company-East Coast, and education holding company- BPP Holdings. The British government has been involved in a number of privatizations whereby the government relieve its ownership and interest in parastatal to private investors. An example of such privatization includes that of the British rail in 1993. British government is major player in local business and this is evident through participation in sovereign wealth funds. The UK government own motorways, harbours, airport terminus and sewer lines that forms an important source of revenue to the government when memb ers of the public use these infrastructure. The government has also in a number of occasions disposed off its assets to get additional revenue in order to fund its operations. The UK government has been experiencing a number of challenges with its expenditure patters for a long period. It is quite unfortunate that the UK government’s total expenditure for its fiscal years have always surpassed its revenue (Parliament, 2012). The government has been forced in most cases to borrow surplus funds from the public in order to meet its expenditure need.

Historical and Current Roles in Higher Education Research Paper

Historical and Current Roles in Higher Education - Research Paper Example Historically, education served as a mechanism through which the public good was advanced. However, currently, this ideology has changed over the years and new roles erupted. For instance, the societal benefits of education have changed to individual benefits. Institutions are equipping the students with the necessary skills that will enable them to fit in the job market. Therefore, the modern role of education is value addition (Hensley,  Galilee-Belfer, & Lee,  2013). The perception that education is the only existing gateway to the middle-class has increased the demand for education in the modern society. Therefore, more institutions have come up in order to fill this gap. However, this has affected the quality of education in the country (Lansverk, 2013). This is because institutions are now highly concerned about the numbers they admit rather than the quality of the information being disseminated to the students. Education is currently perceived as a one time investment expenditure. As a result, parents are willing to spend a fortune in order to equip their children with education. This has played a significant role in increasing the overall costs of college education. In an attempt to get a share of the mega profits, private institutions that are run using a business model have mushroomed. It is believed that education leads to the improvement of public health and welfare. As a result, the government has been instrumental in ensuring that more children gain a degree. In order to achieve this ambition more institutions of higher learning have been established. This explains the reason why the number of both the public and private institutions have increased tremendously. It is believed that education increases happiness, improve the living standards of a household and improve the financial management of the individuals. The government feels that it has a role of improving the living

My ideal place Essay Example for Free

My ideal place Essay Every person has some special place, where he or she feels the most comfortable and happy. My ideal place is football field of my high school. Being a member of our high school football team I always spend a lot of time there when participating in our trainings and playing games. I truly enjoy this dynamic activity, and there is nothing better for me than playing football with my good friends and feeling myself as a member of the team. This is the place where I can fulfill myself the best, and this makes me feel great. Our football playground is amazing! It is absolutely not worth than the ones for professional NFL teams. The field is very large, comfortable and perfectly cared about by our high school personnel, so the grass is always in good condition and everywhere is very clean. There are special seats for those, who want to see and enjoy our games. We have very good equipment for the games and trainings: balls and our personal kits of yellow-blue colors. During our daily trainings our coach makes us to do different things. We do a lot of special physical exercises and drills, as well as having some theoretical lectures and consultations. As a rule, quite a lot of people gather for the games to support our team: our friends, parents, teachers and other spectators. Many of them hold our small yellow-blue flags and applaud for the best players of the team. By the way, we have a group of beautiful cheer girls, who always accompany us at the games. It is incredible thrill to appear in front of our audience and receive from them a huge doze of positive energy for good performance. I always try to catch a second before the game begins, to watch the skies for a moment and to take a deep breath of tonic fresh air. The football field of my high school is ideal place for me, because I truly like playing this game. I believe that it will become my real life-long dedication! Football is not only physical activity, but it is always a challenge. We like to play and to win, and we always enjoy our accomplishments together. During the trainings and playing games every one of us learns, how to be a member of the team, and together we learn how to deal with the things as a team. I think that this activity is very important for my future, because it improves both my social image and self-esteem. It helps to gain self-control over my physical self and mental self.

Why are Professional Standards Important?

Why are Professional Standards Important? Introduction To start this report I would like to explain the importance of professional standards. According to the LLUK (no date) the professional standards have a purpose. These standards are for all educators who work within the lifelong learning sector which describe the skills, knowledge and attributes required for those who are in teaching and training roles. Professionalism in a teacher role According to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (no date) teacher professionalism has relevant significance in education and that it affects the role of the teacher, which in return affects the students ability to learn effectively. This definition however does not describe how a professional should act within their job or workplace. According to teaching expertise (2006) the post-compulsory education and training (PCET) sector is broad and diverse. Teachers, trainers and tutors who work within the FE sector have all had different experiences. Educators have often gained specialist knowledge within a particular industry e.g. hospitality and catering. An alternative route is through university and specialising this way. Critically examine societies and your own, values in relation to education or training. (K1) Values of professional practice, according to Wallace (2009), Our values represent something internal to us a part at our own moral and ethical guidance system. I believe that teaching and learning has a purpose to educate learners in the means to proceed and progress a learners future and career prospects. I believe that a value is a value created on someones own behalf. The purpose of education, I believe, is to educate and furthermore we need education in our daily lives to survive. The educator has a role which is to support and provide a service whilst at the same time motivating learners. Furthermore, it is important to stress that there should be a connection between the educator and learner and that there is a positive relationship between them. It is important, as an educator, to communicate effectively. In addition, a profession and a professional work together in harmony. It should be made clear that a professional person needs values of professionalism. There may be some overlap in terms of how a professional should act or carry out a professional job. The comments above tie in closely with what makes a good teacher. From personal reflections and thoughts, three distinct aspects came to my attention, which are: An effective listener towards the learners and staff Being respectful to colleagues and learners To be understanding towards learners and staff Poor teaching or poor professionalism in teaching is as follows: Not letting students finish tasks No reassurance of learning Impolite to staff and students Favouritism with students In summary, the values which are distinct and should be considered as acceptable values for teaching professionals are being supportive, being a listener and also to respect all staff and students within the institution. Professional practice can be determined with a set of values. These values are what educators should be following with on-going observation and reflective practice. According to LLUK (no date) there is a set of standards called the New overarching professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the lifelong learning sector. Furthermore, the standards categorised into sub-sections which have specific professional objectives and act as guidelines. It is these objectives which educators must abide to throughout teacher practice. According to LLUK (no date) there is a set of 7 professional values. An example would be, AS 1 all learners, their progress and development, their learning goals and aspirations and the experience they bring to their learning AS 2 Learning, its potential to benefit people emotionally, intellectually, socially and economically, and its contribution to community sustainability As mentioned, each point has a value and purpose. From just observing the set of values, purposely constructed for educators within the LLUK sector, they are powerful and strong. I believe there is a problem with the values that educators may not be able to abide to all of these due to several reasons. Firstly, funding, and that some institutes may suffer to deliver consistent values. Secondly, some of the values will have more demand than others. It can be argued that these values will vary according to the institute. It can be suggested that some institutions would decide to keep their dominant values. Additionally, the values set by the LLUK are and should be approached with underpinning knowledge and understanding and a professional practice. For example, referring to LLUK (No name), The knowledge and understanding: AK 1.1 What motivates learners to learn and the importance of learners experience and aspirations. Professional practice: AP 1.1 Encourage the development and progression of all learners through recognising, valuing and responding to individual motivation, experience and aspirations Darling-Hammond (1988) commented that the value of professionalism, in regards to educators, is fundamental and direction of excellence. The author states that educators need competence and that professionalism relates to three focuses which are preparation, knowledge of subject area, and defined pedagogy. Firstly, preparation, prepares the professional for the classroom which examines the language and cultural barriers. All educators face deterrents in the classroom that must be broken down by individualised techniques. Darling-Hammond (1988 pg. 59) related this to state, Decision making by well-trained professionals allows individual clients needs to be met more precisely andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦promotes continual refinement and improvement in overall practice It is to suggest that values of professionalism are to be approached correctly. This will encourage the educator to be prepared for the classroom. Furthermore, the values of professionalism exist for a reason. They will benefit the professional teacher in terms of motivating and encourage student participation. Alongside preparation, a professional educator with a strong knowledge of his/her subject area will create opportunities to be creative around the subject taught. As a result, Lesson planning and resource preparation time will be less because the educator will already understand the subject. This will reduce the time researching material. It is worth commenting that it would be an advantage to know a subject inside out and would reflect and portray confidence in his/her teaching. In addition, the educator should have a wealth of experience which would benefit his/her practice and enhance their teaching. According to Lunenburg and Ornstein (2000), developing such expertise and knowledge can take years to develop such knowledge. As a result of this, I believe that constant reading and information seeking is important to teaching a specialist subject. It would be beneficial that an educator has worked and gained enough experience within the industry in order for them to teach or become specialists in their profession. I also believe that this would improve and develop opportunities when it comes to being creative. It is helpful to outline the wider context within which FE practice and values of the professional educator. Notwithstanding, the tutor groups in FE who were not previously included in the FE (e.g. colleges 14-19 diplomas), colleges have become livelier places. Lecturers activities have now geared more to ensuring that students remain on courses and that students pass qualifications (Hyland and Merrill 2003 P.g. 86). To summarise, I would like to comment that professional values assist the educator and that they should be utilised at all times during his or her practice. Guile and Lucas (1999 P.g. 204) suggested that clarification in terms of describing the FE educator is needed. It is worth suggesting that society decides and determines professionalism and the values of professionalism within reason to how the educator should be. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the concept of professionalism as this relates to the current role of a teacher working in the PCET sector. (K1, K2) With regard to the concept of professionalism, Humphreys and Hyland (2002 P.g. 06) argued that, the concentration on performance in teaching and professional development is to be welcomed, provided that performance is not defined in purely technicist or instrumental terms In other words, there is a purpose for performance in teaching which should not be confused or misinterpreted. The criteria, the role and responsibilities of a teacher have and are becoming more and more centralised. The questionable scenario/point to highlight here is that of the educator and how they are to overcome this challenge. According to IFL, a Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status is recognition for newly qualified teachers within PCET. This highlights the identity of teachers in post-compulsory education and training. All new teachers need to achieve a Level 3 teaching qualification. Following this, new teachers have five years to achieve a Level 5 teaching qualification which leads to the QTLS status. The QTLS status is recognition of the teaching qualification in order to teach within the PCET sector. In working towards a new profession, the IFL raises the importance for continuing professional development (CPD) which ensures that educators remain specialists in their chosen subject/s. According to Millerson (1964), there is conflict and discussion to how the teacher should carry out their professional role. This relates to the nature of professionalism. Millerson (1964) mentioned that professionalism concerned a lot of attention to sociologists in the 1950s. The main approach at the time focused on establishing the features that an occupation should have in order to be termed a profession. Within context, this questioned how professions such as medicine and law should be perceived. In contrast, Hanlon (1998) highlighted that there is research on professionalism. The author stated that people see professionalism in a profession. The author has highlighted the point that teaching is a profession and that the role of the teacher is professional. Critically evaluates a chosen aspect of quality assurance in PCET and relates this to the concept of professionalism. (K3) To critique quality assurance within PCET it would be appropriate to define quality assurance. To summarise, quality assurance is a system which prevents a lack of professionalism and through regular control standards and values can be maintained. This makes sure that the needs of the user/s are satisfied. The main purpose is to control assessment and also seeks to improve performance. In addition, quality assurance controls and helps to benchmark against existing qualitative and quantitative results/feedback. Professionalism and quality assurance are two complex areas which overlap and must work together. The two areas concerned are of high importance to the teacher, the course team and the college/Institution. The quality assurance process is closely linked with being a professional teacher and that the professional values should aim to assist and facilitate a direction. Being a professional teacher requires continuous professional development which is carried out by completing research within the specialist subject, faculty and institution. According to the LLUK (no date), student feedback is valuable. There are two types of feedback, formal and informal approaches. It is vital that the PCET teacher considers regular peer observations which will help to improve teaching skills. Observations can help to critique teaching styles/approaches within teaching. Through regular peer assessment and observation, the PCET teacher/tutor must demonstrate effective and appropriate organisational skills which should be evidenced through lesson planning. According to LLUK (No Date), The department and staff should be measured using a variety of ways which should include and involve statistical data such as attendance records, grades, percentages, student profiles, student surveys and lesson observations and more. This data can interpret and help to benchmark against information. This should assist the control and assessment of quality assurance as mentioned above. The institution has a reputation to uphold and a quality status to achieve through goals and action plans. It is part of the PCET teacher to ensure that constant contributions and efforts are made which are then measured through internal audits, college records, league tables and every child matters policies. Lastly, external bodies, as they help to mould the quality together. It could be stated that they are the back bone. External bodies such as, LLUK or Ofsted Inspectors signify what must be done. It is an essential part for guidance and that these external bodies are to help and improve the PCET teacher, college/institution and department. According to The University of Bath (2005) there would be a board or a quality assurance committee who would be responsible for the staff teaching. Internal and external examiners are also utilised to produce reports which help to evaluate and review the teacher, department and institute. All parts of the quality assurance system within PCET are vital to the mix of an overall quality performance. The chosen aspect for critical evaluation is observation. Reasoning for my decision is that there is plenty of research and information about the topic. Observations assist educators and institutions in terms of learning and teaching. It should be made clear for what purpose the observation has and will this benefit the teacher or the institution or both. Bains (2006) highlighted two main categories, formal and informal observations. These must be an agreed upon before it takes place. Bains (2006) stated that Formal observations are those for Performance Management e.g. Ofsted. Informal observations are those used for professional development. These take part of internal monitoring systems. Peer observations, for example, for informal feedback. The University of Sussex (no date) highlighted the importance of peer observation of teaching and that this enhances the status of teaching and learning and also strengthens quality assurance processes. The University of Exeter (2005) explained peer observations to be an assessment of teachers by teachers. Furthermore, pairings may be experienced by mentor/novice or experienced teacher. It could be argued that peer assessment can alternatively assess on various levels in terms of teaching experience. It is also questionable whether the observation criterion assesses appropriately against the observed teacher. The peer observation should help the teacher to develop teaching skills by carrying out observations with colleagues. It should be highlighted that the main objective is to provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on his or her teaching. The QAA (2000) stated that peer observation provides educators with opportunities to learn from each other in a non-threatening environment. This could suggest that teachers would share ideas constructively to his or her professional benefit and within relation to professional values. In summary, it can be argued that peer assessment is for the educators benefit. It is debatable how institutions guarantee that students learn effectively and consistently at all times throughout their education. Peer observations are to improve teaching practice which can be seen as beneficial to newly qualified teachers. It can be commented that peer assessment assists less experienced teachers to improve their teaching skills. Pagani (2002) commented that educators should have the freedom to choose peer assessor/observers. This approach could be argued as vague due to various reasoning behind fairness, equality and also being critical. In agreement, Pagani (2002) stated that institutions should identify an area of focus for peer observation. In summary, peer observations are useful and appropriate. There is some overlap and a lack of decisiveness to a concrete definition of observation. Furthermore, peer observations need to be carefully planned on the grounds of professionalism. I believe that peer observation should not be considered as an informal practice. It would be fair to comment that it is a formal in-house procedure which adopts formal guidelines. In agreement, Partington and Brown (1997) identified that peer review is an essential process for reviewing ideas and identifies where mistakes could occur if action is not followed through carefully. It can be commented that this improves the quality of a product/service. The authors argued that it is an opportunity to criticise and that it is an aspect of building ones confidence and teaching. Using relevant models of reflective practice to critically analyse learning on the Course The course, for me, has been beneficial and an enjoyable experience. It is time to reflect on my teaching practice. There have been some difficult stages which I have highlighted and times where improvement and action have been considered. According to Brookfield (1988) critical thinking is a process on recent experience with a past experience and should create an area or topic for discussion. Brookfield (1988) mentioned that critical reflection should include differences and or any relationships which can be highlighted. The aim of critical reflection is to develop critical thinking skills which will determine specific and realistic outcomes. On many occasions throughout the course I have reflected and it would be difficult to reflect on the whole course due to such varied topics and vast complexity of discussion. Hatton and Smith (1995) designed a critical reflection model which identified a framework for writing and identifying different kinds of reflection. The model will be used to help assist with my critical reflective practice. The framework will also determine stages within my teaching practice where I believe it is worth discussing. The first point of the model is descriptive and aims to create a starting point. To the attention of past reflections and practice it is a wise and an appropriate decision to reflect upon the micro-teach (pttls). The micro-teach was carried out within the early stages of my teaching practice. This was my starting point for teaching and reflecting. The second point will highlight descriptive reflections which attempts to provide reasons based upon personal judgment. I realised that an active approach to my hospitality students was required and that the VAKs strategies improved my lesson planning and time management. Gradually, as the course continued, lesson planning developed to become more structured and defined in terms of my aims and objectives. Throughout my reflective practice, to my attention, a number of students did not respond to how my lessons were planned. Thinking about this, this was down to the level of functional skills applied to the level delivered. To my attention, I needed to improve my skills on delivery. I needed to understand how I should apply them appropriately and effectively in lessons. The forth action point within the model must relate to a broader historical, social and/or political context and what better than my experience and knowledge gained throughout the independent study of the curriculum module. The study helped to generate some valuable points on social, political, economical and technological factors within context to my teaching practice. Brookfield (2001) described critical reflection to be a systematic effort which identified and discovered material. Brookfield (2001) developed the four lenses model which helped to analyse and assist teaching practices. The four lenses are our own experiences as learners, students, colleagues, and reading the professional literature. These help to reveal the assumptions behind those practices and call them into question. The model of reflection will help to analyse my teaching practice within the points identified above. My micro-teach was an experience and made me feel nervous and apprehensive as I have never taught before in my life. Due to my nerves, I wanted to make sure that I was delivering correct and appropriate information. I researched around my chosen topic which reassured my teaching delivery. I also found that this became useful when I was using the question and answer technique. I found that I was applying teaching techniques and strategies that I had learnt in the first few weeks of the course. Having applied these teaching strategies they helped boost my confidence. The question and answer technique was adopted to assist my delivery. I believe that this engaged my learners. I applied the VAKs strategies to help all learners. The students engaged well to my micro-teach and I now believe that I need to consider an active learning approach as I teach hospitality students. I personally found that the micro-teach went smooth considering it was my first time. Having now reflected, I think that more literature could have been used to support other learners. To summarise, the micro-teach was certainly a stepping stone towards becoming a successful teacher within the PCET sector. I found this a leap forwards and was extremely beneficial before going to my placement. After Christmas I personally felt under a lot of pressure as I was accumulating my teaching hours as well as working towards my assignments. Most of my lesson reflections identified that my teaching technique and style was too relaxed. Some of my students started to misbehave and use this to their advantage in class. I realised, after many lessons and observations that I needed to deliver my lessons with an active approach which would then control and manage my class. As a teacher trainee, I found that I was spending a lot of time on my lesson plans. They were not seeking the best out of students. I revisited my approach and consulted my mentor who kindly assisted my lesson planning. I found that this helped tremendously in writing and structuring my lessons. I found myself researching around activities and being creative when it comes to teaching. I researched and functional skills which closely linked with my VAKs and as result, I eventually found that students were learning effectively through their preferred methods of learning and my classroom management skills improved. About half way through the course there were several issues regarding my lesson planning. My mentor assisted me to improve my aims and objectives. I needed to make sure that my aims and objectives were measurable and considered direction towards my classroom approach and student benefit. As a teacher trainee, I feel that lesson planning is something that can only come in time. In fact, I realised that I needed to make sure I can plan a lesson now to ensure that I can deliver a lesson. My mentor and other colleagues supported me by letting me look at their lesson plans. My mentor and I agreed that I would submit my lesson plans before delivery. This helped me to understand and or rethink my aims and objectives. My lessons improved by being realistic about the aims and objectives and, as a result, improved student learning and teaching skills. The course has certainly been a learning curve. One of the most challenging reports was the curriculum assignment. I personally found that the report involved a lot of reading around political, economical, sociological and technological topics. The curriculum models were difficult to understand so I tried to refer to them in a realistic context at my placement. My mentor was supportive and guided me through some of the curriculum models. From past reflections, I think that curriculum models and understanding them are vital towards delivering specific courses such as the BTEC national diploma course. This is a course I was helping to deliver. This helped me to understand how I should approach my delivery. Make a critical comment on the value of reflective practice in the development of professional teachers. (K4, A2, A3) It would be appropriate to explain and define reflection before making assumptions and critical comments. Reflection is an everyday sense which assists and looks back on past experiences. Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) stated that critical reflection is known as a vehicle. This is used by educators to evaluate and analyse experiences within a classroom environment. Brookfield (1995) mentioned that critical reflective practice is a process which is used to analyse experiences. For example, curriculum development or theories. It can be stated that reflection is a process which analyses a point or action. In addition, critical analysis could be used to understand why a point or action is how it is. Within reason, critical reflection will be used. As a metaphor, the reflective practice could be the foundations of a house. The purpose of reflection is clear. Consequently, reflection does not indicate who, what, where, how and or why practitioners should carry out reflections and that it is left to the educator. This leads on to the work of Brookfield (1995) and stated that critical reflection can be broken into a number of dimensions which address or at least suggest a route for reflecting. 1. Descriptive 2. Descriptive with some reflection 3. Dialogic reflection 4. Critical reflection Reflective practice, according to Brookfield (1995), stated that practitioners can develop self-awareness if they evaluate their performance/s on an on-going basis. The author stated that teaching practice can be improved by focussing on the experiences and activities used. Within agreement, reflective practice is meaningful and it improves skills and knowledge. It can be argued that time and patience is an issue and not to forget how experienced the practitioner/educator is. I mean that reflective practice could prove more meaningful for a trainee teacher than an experienced teacher of over 10-20 years. There are many angles which could be argued and that reflective practice improves over time and not over night. Hatton and Smith (1995) agreed that self-awareness is meaningful when we want to improve teaching practice. Various teaching methods and skills allow the professional to consider alternative avenues. This would have a positive impact on their teaching by increasing their level of self-awareness. It can be argued that teaching practice and professionalism can only be developed in time. In addition, personal experiences and the experiences of colleagues should create an environment that enhances student learning. This suggests that the experienced practitioner is valuable and they should help trainee teachers to improve their teaching. As a result, the student, department and institution will benefit. Bruner (1990) highlighted that critical reflective practice is an ongoing process which enriches curriculum. I would agree that educators strive to be effective and students want to be creative. This suggests that curriculum should reflect both parties concerned. There seems to be contrast and overlap to authors opinions on reflection and being critical. It is to suggest that all practitioners have aims and objectives which determine enhance teaching practices and students performances. Curriculum awareness is highlighted and reflective practice should aim to achieve and improve the educator in terms of the teaching practice, students grades, the college league boards and attendance and reputation. Bruner (1990) would recommend that teachers engage in critical conversations with colleagues which would enhance and determine educational philosophies, instructions, and responsibilities to students growth. To summarise, it can be commented that a practitioner should reflect on their experiences. Reflective practice would eventually re-shape his or her teaching practice. It should be expressed that reflection is wise and is compulsory towards becoming and or achieving higher standards of teaching practice for the practitioner, the students and the institute. In addition, I believe that the professional teacher/educator should consider and value students comments. This would engage the students more and would assist the practitioner to understand the students better. Reflective practice develops professionals and enables us to learn from our own experiences. Although, I would argue that more experience does not guarantee improved learning. In addition, I dont believe that twenty years of teaching is twenty years of learning about teaching. It may also be the case that one year repeats over twenty times with no reflections made. I would consider this as poor teaching. It is worth commenting that reflections are honest and effective which should, in time, improve teaching skills. From reading, it has drawn to my attention that additional research is required around critical reflective practice. A review for appropriate opportunities within my personal professional development and to discuss my acquisition of skills in relation to professional development. (A1, A3) ATL (Association of Teachers and Lecturers) (2009) mentioned that since September 2007, all educators within the further education and skills sector in England came under new regulations which revised teaching qualifications. Continuous professional development (CPD) for all teachers are now required and is requested by the Institute for Learning (IfL). To gain and create opportunities within PPD and CPD action will be considered. First of all, up to this date, a review of my skills will be summarised which will help and assist the development opportunities. As part of the PPD and CPD, IFL membership is required in order to complete the CPD. Depending on a job after the course, full-time teachers should undertake at least 30 hours of CPD per year for professional development. CPD is a condition of retaining the IFL membership and aims to improve teaching skills. IFL made CPD compulsory for newly qualified teachers and permits them to teach within FE colleges. Examples of informal CPD might be to work shadowing, peer observation, attendance at subject-specific conferences, reading journal articles, or gathering up-to-date information on new curricula and or helping on qualifications such as 14-19 diplomas. A skills audit was completed for WBE 1 file which identified various weaknesses which could potentially be made into positive outcomes. In addition, WBE 1 and WBE 2 files were compared using the reflective practice gained throughout the course. The skills audit identified some weaknesses and also strengths. One of the main highlighted weaknesses was maths/numeric skills and that consideration would be focussed to embed these into lessons. This was a smart target objective to accomplish before finishing the course. Secondly, writing and literacy skills and was more closely related to proof reading documents before submission. On the other hand, the audit highlighted that IT and communication skills were high and that confidence developed. Action was considered using smart objectives which were defined to achieve in a step by step process however I still feel discomfort w

An Inverted Tooth Chain Engineering Essay

An Inverted Tooth Chain Engineering Essay An inverted-tooth chain operates quietly and smoothly and is also known as a silent chain. Silent chain consists of a series of toothed link plates assembled on joint components in a way that allows free flexing between each pitch. The teeth on the link plates mesh with a sprocket, similar to the way a rack meshes with a gear. The great majority of silent chain is used in drives. Silent chains are made up of stacked rows of load carrying link plates. Increasing the number of rows of links increases the chain width, tensile strength, and load carrying capacity. Using this feature, manufacturers make silent chains ranging from less than a 1 in. wide to more than 20 in. wide, with power capacities ranging from a fraction of a horsepower to more than 2000 hp. A chain is a reliable machine component, which transmits power by means of tensile forces, and is used primarily for power transmission and conveyance systems. The function and uses of chain are similar to a belt. There are many kinds of chain. It is convenient to sort types of chain by either material of composition or method of construction. There are five types of chains: Cast iron chain Cast steel chain Forged chain Steel chain Plastic chain Demand for the first three chain types is now decreasing; they are only used in some special situations. For example, cast iron chain is part of water-treatment equipment; forged chain is used in overhead conveyors for automobile factories. History: Chains have been used for centuries to drive machines and move materials on conveyors and elevators. In 225 B C, Philo described a chain- driven water lift. Leonard da Vinci sketched the chain designs in the 1500s. Some are similar to modern bar link, leaf, and silent chains. Cog chain was developed in the early 1800s to transmit power or motion between the shafts of treadmills to water elevators, weaving looms and harvesting machinery. This chain was used to mechanize farm implements, but it broke easily and was difficult to repair in the field. Cast detachable chain was introduced in 1873 and overcome many of the problems of cog chain. This chain was made of simple identical cast links that were easily coupled and uncoupled by hand. This basic detachable chain design is one of the early chain concepts that have been unchanged nowadays also. After few years cast detachable chain was introduced, a chain made of all steel parts was introduced for driving bicycles. A patent for roller chain was issued in 1880. By early 1900s, roller chains drove the wheels of safety bicycles, as well as automobiles, trucks, and the propellers of the Wright Brothers airplane that flew at Kitty Hawk. Two major factors combined to make the roller chain industry were automation and standardization. Automation helped manufacturers meet the demand for the large amounts of high quality that were used on machines made by other industries. Standard dimensions and capacities ensured that roller chains would fit and operate as the designer planned. The result was that the industry soon became as the precision roller chain industry. Engineering steel chains were first developed in the 1880s. They were developed for greater strength, speed and shock resistance and for better dimensional control than could be obtained from cast chains. Pitch, strength, wear life, and carrying capacity were increased to meet the heavy duty needs of industry. There are many types of engineering steel chains. Those with steel rollers are the most widely used on both drives and conveyors. The bushed, roller less style are the needs of many conveyor and bucket elevator applications. Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel supervised the building of the Great Britain, and it was a revolutionary ship design. It was the first sea going iron steamship, the first propeller driven steamship to cross the Atlantic, and the first vessel driven by inverted tooth, or silent chain. The silent chain drive delivered power from the engines to the propeller shaft by way of large wooden- tooth sprockets. From 1895 to 1925, the chain industry improved the design of silent chains. From 1930 onwards, silent chain was used in a variety of industrial applications such as drives in paper and textile mills, flour and feed mills, printing presses, pumps and machine tools. Throughout the 20th century, the industry improved material quality, processing technology, and chain designs to increase the load and speed capacity of silent chain. Silent chain is also used in the drive train of snowmobiles and four wheel drive recreational vehicles. Outside the power transmission market, silent chain can be used as a conveying surface in a variety of material transport applications. Major improvements were made in the production of food and beverage products. The introduction of high speed processing, filling, and packaging equipment drove the need for a chain with a flat carrying surface for material handling. The first flat-top chains were produced by welding steel plates to roller chain, producing a flat surface where products or packages could be carried. These first flat-top chains were made of carbon and corrosion resistant steel and were widely used in the brewing industry to convey glass bottles. Construction and Features: Silent Chains have a very simple construction: only plates and pins. Silent Chains are actually an update of a 19th-century design.  ANSI  B29.2M-1982 regulates the standard pitch, width, and kilowatt ratings of the chains and sprockets. There are eight different pitches from 9.52 mm to 50.8 mm. The link plate receives tension and has a notch for engaging the sprockets. There is no notch on the guide plate. These plates act as guides for the sprockets. Pins may be round or have other shapes, such as D-shape. All the chain components share the tension. Silent Chains have higher capacity than roller chains of the same width. Since the link plates of Silent Chain strike the sprocket at an angle, the impact and the noise are reduced. This is why these chains are called silent. The higher the chain speed, the greater the difference from roller chains. Driving Links: Driving links, also known as plain links, engage with sprocket teeth to drive the chain. They are typically the most common component in the chain. Guide Links: Guide links maintain proper tracking of the chain on sprockets. They are positioned on the outer edges of the chain in side guide and multi guide chain or in the centre, with the centre guide chain. Pins: Pins allow the chain joint to flex and hold the assembled chain together. Chains may have a single pin in each joint or two pins, depending on the chain type. Design considerations: Tensile loads and strength: Silent chain with single pin assembly may be subjected to all of the tensile loads, but silent chain with two pin assembly eliminates chordal action. It is not affectd much by tensile loads from chordal action. Fatigue limit: It is a most important consideration in designing silent chains. The lower speed part of the power ratings for silent chain is based on a minimum fatigue limit. Fatigue strength: Loads exceed the fatigue limit in very high performance drives. The chain must have adequate fatigue strength to endure these loads only if the chain is to be used in high performance drives. Fatigue strength in the finite life range is an important consideration in designing silent chains. Wear: Wear is an important consideration in designing silent chain. The two major types of wears are joint wear and link plate and sprocket wear. Joint wear: As the chain runs over the sprockets, the joints flex. Material is worn off the joint components and chain gets longer. Then chain then rides out farther on the sprocket teeth. This increase noise and reduce efficiency. Link plate and sprocket wear: These wears are also caused by friction on the chains which reduces the efficiency of the silent chains. Advantages of silent chain drives: Silent chain drives require nearly as precise alignment as gear drives to obtain peak performance and service life. †¢ Silent chains are less affected by chordal action and joint friction than other chains; silent chains engage sprockets with reduced vibration, noise, and frictional losses. †¢ Silent chain can operate at loads and speeds that often exceed the capability of belts and other types of chain. †¢ Silent chain drives are quieter and smoother than roller chain drives, and in some cases are quieter than gear drives. †¢ Silent chain drives are more compact than gear drives when the shafts must turn in the same direction. Manufacturers of inverted tooth chain are: Bosch Rexroth AG, Germany:- Bosch Rexroth is an engineering company based in Germany. It is the result of merging between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation Technology Business Unit of Robert Bosch. It employs over 35,000 people worldwide. The industries Bosch Rexroth serves are Agricultural machinery, automotive manufacturing, Machine tools, Civil engineering and many more. Rexroths inverted tooth chains: The largest delivery program in the world for inverted tooth chains used for driving and transporting are from Rexroth. Rexroths new inverted tooth conveyor chains come with the axle pivots welded to the outer plate by laser. This new technology prevents lateral movement of the joint pivots. These innovative inverted tooth conveyor chains are fully interchangeable with previous design and the sprockets do not require any machining. .Advantages of Bosch Rexroth inverted tooth chain drives over: Gears / Transmissions Belts Roller Chains Reduced bearing loads Non-slip Rolling pivot joint Insensitive to temperature fluctuations Higher Speeds High maximum velocity No need for intermediate sprocket Silent no whistling Low-noise Zero tooth flank backlash Space-saving Smooth running due to involute toothing running Larger permissible tolerances for shaft installation Small sprocket diameters 99% efficiency Vibration damping Insensitive to extreme temperatures or humidity levels Wear-resistant sprockets Low-cost sprockets Reduced bearing loads Vibration damping The advantages over other conveyor systems are: Due to high power density, the space used is optimum Extremely long service life and availability Very low lubrication requirements High temperature tolerance Highly robust and resistant Comparison with different types: Characteristics Tooth chains Roller chains Toothed belts Toothed wheels Noise behaviour Very good Average Bad Good Temperature sensitivity Good Good Bad Good Space required Good Average Bad Very good Wear Good Bad Average Very good Maintenance Partly necessary Necessary Not necessary Not necessary Ramsey Products in USA is another major company. Ramsey manufactures an extensive range of silent chain and sprockets for use in industrial power transmission and conveying applications. For the companies that work with glass, silent conveying chains offer many benefits in applications like handling to precision inspection and measurement from hot-end and cold-end. These chains are made through hardened steel link plates and case hardened steel pins. Characteristics of Ramsey chain: Flatness and uniformity: The flat, uniform surface of the chain provides transport of smaller bottles without any trouble. Surface velocity: The chain wears, the pitch increases uniformly throughout the chain, and velocity remains constant. Uniform velocity reduces breakage. Heat resistance: The temperatures are high with hot-end handling, to withstand these temperatures chains are made from hardened steel. Heat transfer from transported glassware and heating torches does not effect the uniformity of the conveyor surface. Economy: Improved product handling, and requires very less maintenance, chain provides a cost effective means for conveying glassware in high speed production lines. Types of chain: Ramsey manufactures four basic types of conveyor chain. Ultralife Standard Lo-profile Extended pitch Ultralife are best quality conveyor chain. They consists single pin and two pin assembly. The straight edge of the aperture maximizes the link area contacting the pins and reduces joint bearing stresses and wear. Single pin joints provide a durable, smooth acting joint, satisfactory life, and easy to install than two pin joints. These are developed specifically for the glass industry. Two pin joints are originally developed for use in power transmission and have been adapted for use in conveying chains. They have the advantages such as long life, low friction and high efficiency. Advantages of Ramsey silent chain over : Gears / Transmissions Belts Roller Chains Greater elasticity and shock absorption capability No slippage Longer sprocket life Less critical shaft location and alignment Higher Speed and power capacity High speed and power capacity No end thrust Greater efficiency 99% efficiency Detachable and easily replaced Easily installed More uniform wear characteristics Lower bearing loads Lower bearing loads Less velocity variation More economical with large centre distances Larger drive ratios Reduced noise and vibration Reduced noise and vibration Less affected by temperature Less affected by chordal action R. Prinz KG Maschinenfabrik, Austria Wippermann jr. GmbH, Germany ZITEC Industrietechnik GmbH, Germany These are major companies in manufacture of inverted chain and exporting them. There are many small industries in China, India which manufacture these chains. Applications of Inverted tooth chains: Roller table drive applications Cost-efficient group drive Uniform synchronous running No backlash when reversing Quiet even at high speeds Good meshing conditions minimize wear Outer tooth ring applications More cost-efficient than a milled tooth ring Suitable for large transmission ratios Full circle rotary motion or swivel motion along an angle segment possible in reverse or continuously Gripper and robot drive applications Precise synchronized motion High load capacity even at narrow widths Optimum meshing depth on the toothing provides a high a degree of security against skipping Flexible shaft coupling applications High elasticity Uncouples quickly by opening the lock or by radial offset when closed Angles can be shifted to 1 ° and shafts can be shifted radially to 2% of the pitch