Office Dakota Products Case Analysis

Office Dakota Products Case Analysis Course: BUSA 5061 Managerial Accounting Students Name: Teresa Willette Professors Name: Dr. Conner/Dr. Pollard Date 3/20/2011 Executive Summary The following analysis is written for Dakota Office Products to evaluate current business operations and recommend future actions necessary to ensure company success. In the analysis of the company we will identify inefficient business practices that have led to the companies first profit loss in its history. We will evaluate the companys current pricing structure, ordering methods, shipping and delivery process, and deficiencies in cash flows. For Dakota Office Products (DOP), its existing costing system was inadequate because it is incapable of accounting for even all of the known costs such as the desktop delivery service as well as hidden costs such as the ten percent DOP paid to maintain its working capital line of credit for accounts receivable. Using the Activity Based Costing(ABC) methodology can be utilized to also improve processes and identify opportunities to improve business effectiveness and efficiency by determining the true or real costs of a given product or service. ABC principles are used to focus management's attention on the total cost to produce a product or service, and as a basis for full cost recovery of a production or service process. Background Information The company under the study, Dakota Office Products, is an established and reputed player under this segment. They were regional distributors for office supplies and the major clientele served by the company included institutional and commercial clients. It dealt with all kind of office supplies starting from all kinds of writing equipment to papers and other office supplies. The company has been able to carve a good name for itself in the industry. The company had also arranged for several distribution centers where the shipments were required to be unloaded and packed into cartons meant to be delivered to the respective customers. In order to increase the utility for its customers, the company had introduced the desk top option for its valued customers. Under this option, the company will use its own fleet to directly deliver the goods at the customers premises. The company charged a small additional amount of upto 2% of the marked price for this additional value added service. This decision was made keeping in mind that such a decision could boost the margins of the company. The company had the policy of marking the sales price by 15% over and above the purchase price. This policy was framed o ensure that the overheads and transportation cost of the materials could be made up from the mark up. The company would then add another mark up to ensure coverage of general expenses and contribution of the company. The mark up decision was taken at the beginning of the year based on the projected cost of the different products of the company. Key Issues The management is faced with major pricing and costing issue for its products. The company has been using the traditional costing method to compute the cost of the product provided to the clients. The company then adds a mark up as per its policy to come up at the selling price of the product. As a result of not following the Activity Based Costing, the company has not been able to cost the products realistically. This has lead to mispricing of the products and resultant overall loss to the company. The fact that an increase in sales has not lead to an increased profits, instead, it has resulted in increased losses has exposed the limitations of the cost accounting system of the company. The company has not been able to increase its profits. This has led the management to believe that the existing cost accounting system has some serious flaws which needs to be rectified on an immediate basis so as to avoid making bad decision leading to losses to the company. The company should now be contemplating the implementation of Activity based costing system so as to ensure proper recording of information which will lead to optimum decision making for the company as a whole thus contributing to the growth of the company through increased profitability. The key issue presented in front of the management is the possible steps to be taken by the management in order to avoid such losses. Critical Thought The issue addressed by the accounting system of Dakota office products invites our attention to the premise of Activity Based costing methodology. We are certain about the fact that the accounting and reporting system at Dakota Office Product is inappropriate and is leading to the company making wrong decision ultimately leading to losses. This was apparent from the record where the company was able to increase its sales without a corresponding increase in the profits for that particular year. Activity based costing system is an approach which seeks to allocate the overhead cost to the products on a scientific and realistic basis. The existing system of allocating cost at Dakota Office products were inadequate in so much so that it was following an unreasonable basis for allocating the cost, which were known and visible, such as the desktop delivery cost. The existing system was suffering from oversight of some of the expenses. ABC costing system seeks to overcome the problem of oversight and make a more reasonable allocation of the costs. The distinctive feature of this method is the fact that the method can provide useful insights to the management as to the activities which are leading to the cost by identifying the cost drivers, rates and the number of activity undertaken. This can also help the management redesign the operational system such that the costs associated with the products are reduced. We must also note that the traditional method of costing adapted by Dakota Office Products are typically designed for companies who are dealing with only a single product, or homogeneous products. However Dakota Office Products have come to a stage that they are dealing in multiple products such as writing instruments to copier to pages, thus it makes the traditional costing method even more impractical to be followed by the company. This company was dealing in numerous products and was also making strides in adapting varied operational methodologies such as the desktop delivery or the sales through e commerce internet sites. The operations of the company are such that it would be apt for the company to establish a cost driver rates and apply those rates in the products of the company. The cost driver rates could also be used by the company while applying the cost overheads to some other products that the company may be planning in the future. The existing system of the company involves use of many activities and the company has been able to regularize the operations of the company and is clear about the operational goals that need to be fulfilled by the company. The company is dealing in an industry where the products are quite heterogeneous in nature and once the products are purchased there is very little scope of application of direct materials or labor. The major cost that is expected to be incurred is the overhead costs which are factual dependent upon the number of activities undertaken to accomplish the task. The cost drivers need to be ascertained before the application of the cost drivers to the number of activities attributable to the product as regards the particular activity. Alternate Solution A noteworthy fact is that the company has posted increased losses in spite of an increase in overall sales of the company. The objective of the exercise is to let the management be aware of the reasons as to why the company has osted losses even after an increase in the sales. Moreover, the management needs to be shown the way by which the company could remedial action so that the managements direction is towards the right direction. The alternate solution available to the company could be enlisted as follows Increase in selling price of the products Review the accounting procedures and implement the change required in accounting proc edures Discontinue the product which reports a loss We will make a brief study of the above alternatives before forming an opinion on any of the alternatives. As the company is operating in a competitive market, so an increase in selling price of the products is expected to have far reaching repercussions in the sense that the company could go on to lose clients and contracts which could lead to even lower sales and higher losses. Moreover, the existing accounting procedure is inappropriate to produce the actual cost of the product. The computation of actual cost of the product is important in the backdrop of the company policy to add a mark up on the cost price of the goods. If the accounting system is inappropriate to calculate the cost of the cost, then it would be inappropriate to add a mark up on the goods based on the cost as produced by the existing accounting procedure. A review of the accounting procedure is duly called for as the existing accounting procedure is not appropriate. The accounting procedure is not apt for a company having multiple products and multiple processes, and very little expenses on the direct materials and labor. Application and implementation of the ABC system will be able to contribute to the accounting procedure adapted by the company. A product which is not able to contribute to the overall profits of the company could be considered to be discontinued. However, the decision of the product to be discontinued lies with the management and the accounting system. As mentioned earlier, the accounting system is not fit, so the company should first implement an ABC costing system in order to make proper decision regarding the costing and pricing of various products as well as the costing of servicing various clients. Implementation Measures and Follow up Dakota was following the traditional method of allocating overheads across the product lines. The overheads were not allocated to the products based on the activity undertaken for the manufacture of the product. This led to mispricing of the product and also led to difficulty in taking optimum decision for the company as a whole. The company had incurred losses in spite of an increase in sales, because the company was selling a product at a loss (which was not detected by the traditional costing system). We need to identify the activities on which the cost is dependant, in order to calculate the cost driver rate. The following are the activities identified Processing of Cartons (Activity 1) Service Involving Desktop Delivery (Activity 2) Order Handling (Activity 3) Data Processing and Entry (Activity 4) Activity 1 Amount of Expenses = Warehouse Personnel Expense (90%) + Items Purchased = 90%*2400000+35000000 = 2160000 + 35000000 = 37160000. Activity Driver (Processing of Carton) = 80000 Cost Driver Rate for Activity 1 = 37160000 / 80000 = $ 464. 5 per carton. Activity 2 Amount of Expenses = Warehouse Personnel Expense (10%) + Delivery Truck Expense = 10%*2400000+200000 = 240000 + 200000 = 440000 Activity Driver (Desktop Delivery) = 2000 Cost Driver Rate for Activity 2 = 440000 / 2000 = $ 220 per carton. Activity 3 Amount of Expenses = Warehouse Expense + Freight = 2000000+450000 = 2450000 Activity Driver (Orders) = 16000+8000 = 24000 Cost Driver Rate for Activity 3 = 2450000 / 24000 = $ 102. 083 per order. Activity 4 Amount of Expenses = Order Entry Expenses = 800000 Activity Driver (Orders Line) = 150000 Cost Driver Rate for Activity 4 = 800000 / 150000 = $ 5. 3 per line. The implementation involves computing the profitability of the two clients A Sales Cost Gross Margin No of Cartons Ordered 464. 5 92900 9290 0 B 1040 103000 00 8500 85000 0 1900 18000 0 Desktop Deliveries 220 Order Handling 102. 083 1224. 996 Data Entry 5. 33 Total Cost 319. 8 94444. 8 959. 4 1095 67. 7 5567. 7 1020 8. 3 0 5500 Contribution 8555. 204 The following are t he main causes of difference in profitability between the two customers Customer B has a desktop deliver of 25 whereas customer A has none. The number of data entry for customer B is 180 whereas it is about 60 for customer A. References Michael H. Granof, David E. Plat, Igor Vaysman. (2000). Using Activity-Based Costing to Manage More Effectively. http://costkiller. net/tribune/Tribu-PDF/Using-Activity-BasedCosting-to-Manage-More-Effectively. pdf Rockford Consulting, retrieved March 21, 2011, from http://rockfordconsulting. com/activitybased-costing%20(ABC). htm Value based management, retrievd March 21, 2011, from http://www. valuebasedmanagement. net/methods_abc. html Dakota Products Case Office Analysis Course: BUSA 5061 Managerial Accounting Students Name: Teresa Willette Professors Name: Dr. Conner/Dr. Pollard Date 3/20/2011

2 Unit Religion – Aboriginal Spirituality.

What does Terra Nullius mean? From at least 60,000 B. C. , Australia was inhabited entirely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with traditional, social and land rights. To the Aborigines the land was everything to them and is closely linked to their Dreaming stories. Dreaming is the belief system which explains how the ancestral beings moved across the land and created life and significant geographic features. In consideration, the Indigenous Australians are a people with a close relationship with the land, and through the land they maintain the spiritual links to the ancestral beings.The land is sacred, and for many thousand years, Aboriginal people lived in harmony on their land. After the arrival of the British colonies in 1788, Australia was declared â€Å"Terra Nullius†, which is a Latin term meaning land belongs to no one. As a result of this, Captain Cook, the British captain of the first fleet of ships to arrive at Australia’s shore, claimed that al l of the east coast of Australia belonged to Britain. The underlying argument was that Aboriginal people were so low on scale of human development that their needs were discounted.Because Aboriginal people did not farm the land, build permanent houses on it or use it in other familiar ways, the British decreed that they did not have rights over the land nor did they have any proof of land ownership. Another reason was that there was no identifiable hierarchy or political order which the British government could recognise or negotiate with. Once European settlement began, Aboriginal rights to traditional lands was disregarded and the Aboriginal people of the Sydney region were almost obliterated by introduced diseases and, to a lesser extent, armed force.First contacts were relatively peaceful but Aboriginal people and their culture was strange to the Europeans as well as their plants and animals. Consequently, Terra Nullius continued on for over 200 years. Figure 1: Eddie Mabo Figur e 1: Eddie Mabo Who was Eddie Mabo? Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo (seen in figure 1) was born on 29 June 1936, in the community of Las on Mer, known as Murray Island in the Torres Strait. His birth name was Eddie Koiki Sambo; however he was raised by his Uncle Benny Mabo through a customary ‘Island adoption’. During this time, the concept of â€Å"terra nullius† was legislation.When Eddie was growing up, life for the people of the Torres Strait Islands was strictly regulated with laws made by the Queensland Government. However, the Meriam people strived to maintain continuity with the past and continued to live a traditional lifestyle based on fishing, gardening and customary laws of inheritance. At the age of 16, Eddie was exiled from Murray Island for breaking customary Island law, and he set off for the mainland where a new life was waiting for him. Through university, Eddie read a speech in front of people about his people’s belief about the land own ership.A lawyer heard him and asked if he would like to argue with the Australian government about the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to have land rights. After this, Eddie Mabo was successful in addressing the concept of native title to the Australian government on behalf of Murray Island people. He is known for his role in campaigning for indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the high court of Australia which neglected the legal doctrine of â€Å"terra nullius† land belong to nobody, which characterized Australian law with regards to land and title.Eddie died in 21 January 1992 and was unable to see the native title given to them. What were the Mabo case and the high court decisions? In the 1970’s, the Queensland Government took over Aboriginal land and was unsympathetic to the concept of land rights or any idea of native title to the land. On the 20th of May 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and four other Torres Strait Islanders c hallenged â€Å"terra Nullius† and began their legal claim for ownership to the Supreme Court of Queensland of heir lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait since their people had lived on the islands long before the arrival of the white settlement. Eventually, the supreme court of Queensland dismissed the case. Later, another challenge to the concept of â€Å"terra Nullius† was witnessed when Mabo and the four other islanders took the case to the High court of Australia. They requested that the court declare that their traditional land ownership and rights to the land and seas of the Mer Islands had not been extinguished. Furthermore, they claimed that the Crown’s authority over the islands was subject to the land rights of the Murray Islanders.It was not until 3 June 1992 that Mabo case No. 2 was decided. By then, 10 years after the case opened, Eddie Mabo had died. By a majority, six out of one of the judges agreed that the Meriam people did have tradi tional ownership of their land. The judges held that British possession had not eliminated their title and that the Meriam people are entitled as to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the lands of the Murray Islands. This decision has wiped the concept of â€Å"terra nullius† and awarded the indigenous Australians with the Native Title.Consequently, the term â€Å"Native title† is still in existence and contributed to allow the Indigenous Australians to maintain a continuous spiritual and cultural connection to the land. Therefore, this decision was important because it recognised that Australia was inhabited By the Indigenous Australians long before the White settlement and hold the native title. What is the Native title Act (1993) Commonwealth? Native title is a legal term which recognises the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the use and occupation of lands with which they have maintained a continuing, traditional connections.Eventu ally, in the 1970’s the Queensland government began to remove the land rights of people of Murray Island in the Torres Strait. One of the Meriam people, Eddie Mabo, took the Queensland Government to court to prevent this from happening. Sadly, this case failed. Moreover, Mabo and some other people took the case to the high court of Australia. The high court decided in favour of the Meriam people and recognised the principle of Native title. Ultimately, during this historical event, Eddie Mabo was dead. In 1993, The Keating Labor government passed the Native Title Act.This Act accepted the notion of Native title in law and also recognised the rights of owners of freehold property. Nevertheless, pastoralists and miners were still concerned, and many people leased land from the government. The legislation aimed to codify the Mabo decision and implemented strategies to facilitate the process of granting native title. However, it had not resolved the question of whether the granti ng of pastoral lease extinguished Native title. In this case, the High court argued that native title could co-exist with the rights of leaseholders.However, the pastoralists and the mining companies who lease lands were still concerned that the court was too much in favour of native title. In 1997, native title act passed by the Howard government. This act stated that Native title and leasehold rights could co-exist and in any conflict, the rights or the leaseholders would come first. What was the Wik Decision (1996) commonwealth? The Native title Act of 1993 had not resolved the question of whether the granting of a pastoral lease extinguished Native title.In 1993, the Wik people on Cape York in Queensland made a claim for land on Cape York Peninsula which included two large Pastoral leases. The federal court upheld the Native Title Act 1993 against the Wik people, with an argument that Aboriginal Australians had no control over land that has been leased. This case was further tak en to the High court of Australia. In December 1996, the high court ruled that the granting of a pastoral lease had not in fact extinguished native title. With reference to a letter from 1848 in which a British secretary of state for colonies wrote to governor ofNSW which stated that the leaseholders had to negotiate with the traditional owners to allow them access. Pastoralists viewed the Wik decision with great concerns, for they had always believed that they had full and sole rights to manage their leases. After the Wik decision, Pastoralists would have to negotiate with any group who could prove native title right. Unfortunately, the pastoralists and miners increased the pressure on government because they were not happy with the Wik decision and the idea that Indigenous Australians had rights to leased land.After a debate on this issue, the Howard government passed an amendment to the 1993 Native title Act. This change reduced the rights of indigenous Australians under the act and removed their right to negotiate with pastoralists and miners. This new law, made it difficult for Aboriginal Australians to make land rights claims Outline the importance of the Dreaming for the land rights movement? The Dreaming for Australian Indigenous people (sometimes referred to as the Dreamtime or Dreamtimes) refers to when the Ancestral Beings moved across the land and created life and significant geographic features.The land rights are of critical importance in relation to Aboriginal spirituality, because the dreaming is inextricably connected with the land. Since the Dreaming is closely connected to the land, the land rights movement is an important movement in helping Aboriginal people re-establish spiritual links with their sacred land which was lost as a result of the European settlement. The dreaming is essential to the land rights movement because of many reasons such as: To the Aborigines, the dreaming is the central role which land occupies in Aboriginal spirit uality, as land is the path through which the dreaming is experienced and communicated.Without the land, the dreaming cannot be communicated because it is from the land that the stories of ancestor spirits in the dreaming flow. It is through their intimate connection to the land that the foundational concept which lies at the heart of Aboriginal spirituality, that is, the dreaming can be accessed. The land therefore, acts as the mother for the Aboriginal people, and that since it is, the identity of every Aboriginal person is closely linked to the land. Therefore, the importance of the land rights movement for Aboriginal spirituality should not be underestimated.More importantly, the dreaming stories provide the entire ethical and moral basis by which Aboriginal people live on their land and relate to each other. It is known that the access to their land is fundamental to the putting into practice of Aboriginal law. This factor underlies the Aboriginal law is the knowledge and ritua l relating to sacred sites. These sites need to be cared for and this is done through ritual ceremony. Each person is linked to the spirit ancestor who created the land, and it is this which creates an Aboriginal person’s identity.Through the dreaming, Spirit connects each person with particular sacred sites, with the result that each person has a connection with specific places on the land. According to the Aboriginal belief system, individuals have clearly defined responsibilities in relation to the land, in particular the protection of sacred sites. Sacred sites may be desecrated through grazing, mining, or perhaps contact with site by people without knowledge of the necessary ritual. Access to these sites is critical for the performance of rituals and ceremonies so that the law can be taught to new generations.Another importance of the dreaming is that the dreaming connects each tribe to a totem. A totem is an emblem mainly a plant or an animal that has become a symbol fo r a group who is believed to be responsible for their existence. The totem unifies the Clan (group) under the leadership of the spirit ancestor and thereby also creates a metaphysical connection with other clans bearing the same totem. Without their access to their totems, the Aboriginal people would lose their identity and prevent the belief system to be passed on to the next generation. Also, being taken away from a totem can alienate the individual from their clan.The land rights movement can re-establish the access to the totems and belonging to the same clan under the sacred totem. Thus, the dreaming which explains the clan’s existence by their totem is essential to the land rights movement. For the purpose of land rights and spiritual fulfilment of the land, the Australian History has witnessed many land rights movement. Those include the Yolgnu people of Yirrkala in 1963 and the 1966 Gurindji people. In 1963, the Yolgnu people of Yirrkala sent a typed petition in both their own language and English to the federal parliament because the government had granted a mining company the right to mine auxite without consulting the traditional owners. The paper was fixed to a surrounding bark painting which depicted the people’s relationship with the land, and the Yirrkala people were seeking recognition of rights to their traditional lands on the Gove Peninsula. This however, was rejected in the court. To not underestimating this land rights movement, it was the first Aboriginal land rights movement and was an important step in the eventual recognition of indigenous land rights movement.Another Early land rights movement was in 1966, when the Gurindji people began a strike at the British-owned Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory to protest about intolerable working conditions and low wages. They set up a camp at Wattie Creek and demanded that some of their traditional lands to be restored to them. The protest eventually led to their being g ranted the rights to Wattie Creek by the Whitlam Government in 1975. The passing by the Fraser Government of the Commonwealth Land Rights Act northern territory, 1976, gave Aboriginal people freehold title to traditional lands in the northern territory.As shown, the land rights movements were based on the belief of the dreaming. This is because the land is closely linked to the dreaming and by restoring land rights again, the Aboriginal community could re-establish the dreaming which involves the land, sacred sites, totems and ancestral beings. How has dispossession affected Aboriginal spirituality? (seperatio Land, kinship, stolen generation). The Dispossession of the Indigenous Australians has had a major impact on their Spirituality and beliefs, including their connection to the land, kinship and explored a major effect which is the stolen Generation.When the White Settlement began in Australia in 1788, Australia was called â€Å"terra Nullius† meaning that the land belong s to no body. What was unknown to the British settlement is that the land is the home for the Aborigines and those Aborigines have been living in this land for more than 50,000 years. In the nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century the official policy towards Aboriginal Australians was called protectionism. Protectionism is the idea that Aboriginal Australians needed to be separated from the white society and be protected because they were unable to do so.As a result, they were removed from their traditional lands and placed in missions which at that time were controlled by Christian churches. This was a major factor in separating Aboriginal people from their own culture and religions. Since the Aboriginal religion is based on the dreaming which refers to the time where ancestors created the land, the dreaming is closely connected to the land because it is through the land that the stories of the dreaming emerge. Many of their rituals and ceremonies were inseparably link ed to the land and sacred sites.Consequently, many Aborigines were separated from their spiritualties and beliefs. Another major effect of dispossession from land is when separated people have later tried to gain access to their land but have no knowledge of the law and tradition and also no proof of their connection to the land. Therefore, dispossession from land has impacted on the Aborigines because the land plays a major role in their spiritual beliefs. Similarly, separation from Kinship groups has limited the Aboriginal people’s opportunity to express their religion in traditional songs and dances.The Kinship is a complex system of belonging, relationships and responsibilities within a tribe that are based on the dreaming. Due to the fact that most of Aboriginal tribes had their own language, separation from kinship made it impossible for Aboriginal people to preserve their own language and dreaming stories of their clan (tribe). It is known that each Aboriginal individu al has a responsibility within their clan. Many Aborigines as a result of dispossession lost the opportunity to participate in rituals that would gain them acceptance into the clan.Eventually, Kinship groups had the responsibility for raising and nurturing children even though they were not their biological children. When children were taken away from their clan by the white colonisation, the community lost the responsibility of taking care and nurturing the children and thus, lost the concept of kinship. Another effect of separation from Kinship groups is that the separation prevented individuals from inheriting the traditional parenting skills such as teaching the young their responsibilities and the dreaming stories.Separation from Kinship can also mean isolation from the ceremonial life. Ceremonies such as initiations or funerals are of a critical importance because they are a part of the Aboriginal life. Without these ceremonies, a person is disconnected to their kinship and th eir Aboriginal spirituality. This also limited the spread of their beliefs to the next generations. Hence, Kinship separation has led to the loss of spirituality. The so called â€Å"Stolen Generations† have also affected the Aboriginal spirituality.The term â€Å"Stolen Generation† refers to the children who were removed from their homes between 1900 and 1972 by the Government and Church missionaries in an attempt to assimilate these children into European society. Most of the children who were taken away lost contact with other Aboriginal people, their culture, beliefs and land. In addition, they also lost their own languages. As a result, the stolen generation found it difficult to restore the connection with their own people and culture. The children were only exposed to white culture, because they were told that their families had rejected them or they were dead.The contact between the children and families was rarely allowed. This lead to a lack of role models ta ught the Aboriginal beliefs. Some of the stolen Generation could not pass on the dreaming stories of the ancestral beings to their children, unlike how they were initially taught with their Aboriginal community. Many of the children were exposed to Christianity in its various forms. The children were taught the Christian religion in Christian missions, which undoubtedly contributed to the destruction of aboriginal culture and spirituality. Thus, the removing of the Aboriginal children had impacted on the Aboriginal spirituality.Therefore, the dispossession from the land, kinship and the stolen Generation has affected the Aboriginal Spirituality. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. aboriginalheritage. org/history/history/ [ 2 ]. http://www. parliament. nsw. gov. au/prod/web/common. nsf/key/HistoryBeforeEuropeanSettlement [ 3 ]. Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 [ 4 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo [ 5 ]. http://www. racismnoway. com. au/teaching-resources/factsheets/19. html [ 6 ]. http://www. racismnoway. com. au/teaching-resources/factsheets/19. tml [ 7 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo [ 8 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo [ 9 ]. Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 [ 10 ]. Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 [ 11 ]. http://www. aboriginalheritage. org/history/history/ [ 12 ]. Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 [ 13 ]. Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 [ 14 ]. www. atns. net. au/agreement. asp? EntityID=775 [ 15 ]. http://www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html [ 16 ]. http://www. library. uq. edu. u/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html [ 17 ]. http://reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ [ 18 ]. http://www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html [ 19 ]. :http://www. abs. gov. au/Ausstats/[email  protected] nsf/Previousproducts/1301. 0Feature%20Article21995? opendocument [ 20 ]. http://reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ [ 21 ]. http://reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ [ 22 ]. http://www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html [ 23 ]. http://www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html

T.C. Boyle Writes of Infidelity

Katherine Meyer English 1100 Sec. 131 November 4th, 2008 Indefinitely Infantile Infidelity As an apparent defiance of one of the Ten Commandments, Adultery, the act of voluntary sexual involvement between a married individual and someone whom is not his or her spouse is a widely frowned upon taboo that disregards social norms. Staying true to his style and content by pushing the envelope on controversial topics such as this in his writing, T. C. Boyle frequently addresses the theme of adultery throughout many of his short stories.Reoccurring in the selections â€Å"Caviar† and â€Å"All Shook Up† adultery takes on a disturbing component of the stories as the main characters similarly get caught up in the unacceptable. With differing motives, paralleling sexual interests and desires, as well as converse outcomes for the two men defying the sacred vows they once made under holy matrimony, Boyle weaves two complex stories of deceit and malice. Adultery outside the world of fiction is committed for an infinite number of reasons; attempted justifications that can roll on for miles.In these particular stories, aside from their irrepressible habitual instincts, the main characters Mr. Trimpie and Patrick in â€Å"Caviar† and â€Å"All Shook up† have differing objectives when they decide to officially sever the vows they once made to their wives. The differing motives for each man’s imprudent acts against the principles of marriage cover a broad spectrum of rationale. Leading to his downfall, In â€Å"Caviar† the central character Mr. Trimpie finds himself unable to reproduce with his sterile wife, Marie.Although he is not to blame for the fruitless attempts at an offspring as Boyle describes, â€Å"The bad news was that Marie’s ovaries were shot† (109) it is apparent that his own insecurities in addition to other factors brand him vulnerable and susceptible to bad judgment, such as infidelity. This vulnerability presents itself when he frequently references his lack of education and wealth throughout the story as seen here, â€Å"I was on the wrong end of the socioeconomic ladder, if you know what I mean† (106).As a surrogate mother is introduced into the picture and becomes pregnant with his natural child, Mr. Trimpie suddenly finds himself hot for the young carrier. The flustered young man expressed, â€Å"The thought of it, of my son floating around in his own little sea just behind the sweet bulge of her belly†¦ well, it inflamed me, got me mad with lust and passion and spiritual love too† (114). This reveals that the motivation behind Mr. Trimpie’s act of adultery was not purely the result of meaningless attraction or fragile insecurity though.The feeble father consequently ends up falling in love with the biological mother of his child and is unable to restrain himself. Intercourse with Wendy, the young stand-in mother becomes a frequent occurrence for the co vetous husband stigmatizing him a cheater once and for all. Mr. Trimpie’s counter character, Patrick, found in Boyle’s short story entitled â€Å"All Shook Up† has his own prerogative concerning his execution of adultery in his story. Patrick’s wife, Judy, disappeared with another man prior to a newlywed couple, Cindy and Joey conveniently moving next door.Initially compelled to Cindy because of her sultry, suggestive manner, Patrick recalls a late night after what started out as a neighborly dinner, â€Å"She was kneeling beside me on the couch; then she kicked her leg out as if mounting a horse and brought her knee softly between my legs until I could feel the pressure lighting up my groin† (126). Still exhibiting his wedding band on the left ring finger, Patrick engages in the act of infidelity with Cindy shortly after this night.Describing the event, Patrick stated, â€Å"She felt good, and a little strange: she wasn’t Judy† (130) . Based on his assessment of the night, Boyle alludes to the reader that Patrick is still yearning for his wife. Patrick bluntly conveys, â€Å"I felt evil and betrayed and wanted his wife because I had wounds to salve and because she was there† (127). The meaningless sex with Cindy was an attempt to fill a void and heal the pain from Judy’s abandonment.In addition to his emotionless mind-set concerning Cindy and their intercourse, his lack of concern towards the young woman becomes more evident as he confirms, â€Å"I should have held her, I guess, should have probed deep in my counselor’s lexicon for words of comfort and assurance, but I didn’t† (130). Patrick views Cindy as well as their dance, as nothing more than a physical encounter, ruling out any deeper vehicle of motivation for his actions. Although the two men have contrasting motivations driving their less than admissible behaviors, they do however share common ground concerning their se xual interests and desires.Mr. Trimpie and Patrick alike are attracted to barely pubescent young girls who entice them with their youthful sex appeal. From the story â€Å"Caviar,† the pedophilic character Mr. Trimpie responds to the news of Wendy’s growing belly as follows: â€Å"I grinned like an idiot, thrilled at the way the panties grabbed her thighs- white nylon dancing pink flowers- and how her little pointed breasts were beginning to strain at the brassiere. I wanted to put my tongue in her naval† (113).Asserting such a disturbing observation, it is obvious that this man finds Wendy’s juvenile body parts, as well as childish undergarments as much of a turn on as the fact that she is carrying his child. Staying true to the paralleling interest in adolescent females, in the short story â€Å"All Shook Up,† Cindy, the woman Patrick kanoodles with is also a young lady who exerts her youthful charm on the much older man. Describing Cindy, Pat st ates, â€Å"She was wearing a halter top and gym shorts, her hair was pinned up, and her perfect little toes looked freshly painted† (121).His innocent depiction of a young girl standing at his front door exudes sexual frustration. Evident in this passage, Boyle writes: â€Å"I wanted her like a forbidden fruit, wanted her like I’d wanted half of the knocked-up, washed-out, defiant little twits who paraded through my office each year† (127). Just as disturbing as Mr. Trimpie’s erotic observations of Wendy, this passage is Patrick’s confession that he too secretly craves the taste of a freshly ripened young woman. Further emphasizing the two men’s interest in similar types of women, Boyle disguises coincidental details with reference to the women in his text.Boyle illustrates Wendy in the short story â€Å"Caviar† by stating, â€Å"Her eyes were gray, and there was a violet clock in the right one† (121). Resembling Wendy’ s gray eyes, Cindy in â€Å"All Shook Up† is described in the same manner: â€Å"Her eyes were gray, the color of drift ice on the river† (111). Both men who commit the infidelity identify with one another in regards to their type of secondary woman. Both acts of adultery have serious impacts on the lives of Mr. Trimpie and Patrick. Although cheating on a spouse typically results in formidable outcomes, the aftermath for each of the two men in â€Å"Caviar† and â€Å"All Shook Up† are surprisingly converse.

Propaganda and Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Propaganda and Foreign Policy - Essay Example According to Noam Chomsky (1999), â€Å"within the reigning social order, the general public must remain an object of manipulation, not a participant in thought, debate and decision† (Noam Chomsky, 1999, p.131). Propaganda is also defined as, "Propaganda is not the same as advertising or art. Art today is preoccupied with abstract ideas; advertising tries to get you to buy something. Propaganda, on the other hand, is interested in making you believe something. It is the stronger societal force; once you start believing in an idea or ideology you will buy anything – metaphorical or literal – it tries to sell you. Once the public was scared into believing Iraq was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, they didn’t seem to mind that they were being fed lies over and over. Untruths and misleading statements were quickly accepted as reinforcement and justification for a particular point of view, even when proven false. Propaganda is that strong" (MLC, 2 012, p.1). This paper will examine this statement in determining the views of society with reference to the roles played by the elites and the media. The relationship between the mass media and propaganda is indeed complex and by no means a linear process. The paper will consider whether the mass media reflects the ruling elite ideology and whether it is inevitable. An analysis will be made of how development in communications impacts propaganda and whether such developments make propaganda more or less important and effective. An examination will also be made of whether instant communication options such as satellite TV provide the truth concerning events in the context of representing objective reality or mediating the reality. Harold Lasswell, who was a sociologist, had written after the end of the First World War that there was a distinct relationship amongst the war and propaganda. He was of the opinion that moist Americans had just started learning at that time, although not a century later: â€Å"A new and subtler instrument must weld thousands and even millions of human beings into one amalgamated mass of hate will and hope. A new will must burn out of the canker of dissent and temper the steel of bellicose enthusiasm. The name of this new hammer and anvil of social solidarity is propaganda. Talk must take the place of drill; print must supply the dance. War dances live in literature, and at the fringes of modern earth; war propaganda breathes and fumes in the capitals and provinces of the world.† Another example is of what happened, immediately after the end of the Second World War; Germany had become an important economic and political global resource for the allied nations, particularly the US and the USSR. It is correct to say in this context that all battles are fought on two fronts; the war front and people’s minds, through propaganda. It is thus true that the nice people and the bad people can be held guilty of misguiding their cit izens through fabricated, inaccurate, subjective and exaggerated news and information, with the prime objective of receiving support and a feeling of legitimacy. Propaganda serves well in rallying citizens for a given cause but it is mostly done through exaggeration and misrepresentation relative to the given issues in order to get people’s approval and support (Hale, 1975). Propaganda cannot be said to be new in war. It has always been a part of all conflicts and is considered a means that is used by governments for demoralizing their enemies and mobilizing their nations. It is evident that while fighting a war, there is a need for the creation and maintenance of sentiments amongst soldiers and

Field trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Field trip - Essay Example A stripper is a person who strips; it is sometimes termed as an occupation, which involves taking ones clothes off with an aim of sexual stimulation of others. A higher percentage of strippers are women/ladies. Body is the only thing that a stripper considers as an asset. Her emotions and mind are not as important as her body (Scott, 2003). There was dancing involved; with the dancers revealing their private parts in a seductive manner. Those in participation were the strippers themselves (men and women) and executive clients, who were mostly men. I would tell the executive clients by the type of cars parked outside the club and presence of bodyguards. Before the visit, my impression about strippers was sexual immoral acts. I changed my perception after interrogating some participants. Most of them do this to earn a living, pay their bills and go to school, and no one forces these men and women to do what they do. Most of those I interacted with had no problem with showing their private parts in exchange for money. My perception on strippers really changed after the trip. Previously I viewed them as prostitutes and despised what they did; I never really understood why they did such acts. The trip made me realize that these people are just like anybody else and what they do is just like any other job. I do not think it is erroneous for single men to go to strip clubs provided this does not become a habit, and it is not done when they already have a soul mate or kids. The trip changed my belief on sexuality. I came to see that I was wrong, not every stripper is too focused on sexual activity, and they do not think it is more important than it really is. They just see taking their clothes off as a job to get their daily bread. Not all people in the society may approve activities in a strip club. Some of those who may disapprove this include married couples, Religious leaders, and parents among others. These individuals disapprove strip clubs as they find

Finance report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Finance report - Essay Example We divided its capital into four equal portions of QR 250,000 each to invest in each of the four investment platforms available. As such, we invest QR 250,000 in the Qatar Stocks Exchange, which is the principle stock market of Qatar. It invests another QR 250,000 in Qatar National Banks as bank deposits. It then invests the third portion of their capital, another QR 250,000 in gold and other metals. Some of these gold businesses are international and not available within the country. Furthermore, it invests the last portion of their quarter million in Forex markets, mainly dealing with currencies exchange with the Qatar Riyal. We has an investment philosophy that is of a risk taking capacity, which means that we will easily go for the high risk investments because of the high returns associated with these investments. Furthermore, we is aware that these high-risk investments may either lead to the loss of all the invested capital, or lead to a significant profit way beyond their imagination. We practices on the â€Å"risk-return tradeoff† investment strategy. This investment strategy operates on the principle that the potential of returns raises with an increase I the risk of investment. As such, lower levels of uncertainty, such as loss risk investments, have a high likelihood of bringing in low potential returns on the other hand, high levels of uncertainty, such as in high-risk investments, there is a high likelihood that the investments will yield high potential returns. Consequently, in accordance with the concept of â€Å"risk-return trade off† in business investments, money invested by an investor can render higher profits only if it is subject of a high possibility of losses. This model of business investment strategy requires traders to be always aware of their personal risk tolerance whenever they make choices of their investment portfolios owing to the

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 16

Management - Essay Example e world has changed and in the 21st century corporate responsibility and sustainable business practices are important elements that should be an integral part of a company’s strategy. This paper analyzes and studies business sustainability in order to determine if the subject should be included in future business textbooks as an important business discipline that students should educate themselves on. Sustainability are the policies and processes which enhance the financial, environmental, societal, human and other resources on which the company depends for its long-term health (Economic Intelligence Unit). It involves a major commitment from a company in order to satisfy the needs of its internal and external stakeholders as well as placing a high level of importance in mother earth. The practice can not be applied through a single linear approach, since in order for sustainability in the business world to be effective a company must apply an integrated approach throughout the enterprise. The globalization movement made companies around the world located in different location and societies realized that the actions of companies affect the global economy. Since the turn of the century companies have made sustainability a priority. Executive are utilizing a strategic approach called corporate responsibility in order to attend the sustainability issue. Corporate responsibility is the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to the economic development while improving the quality of life behind the workforce (Corporate-responsibility). Sustainability can help companies increase their profitability and shareholders value. The principles of sustainability state that the long term results are more important than short term gains. An example of how the principle of sustainability affects the corporate the case of Nike apparel. Nike Corporation in the late 1990’s incurred in unethical human labor practices in developing nation by

Technological progress is a process of replacement and renewal, which Essay

Technological progress is a process of replacement and renewal, which implies for new technology to add value, it must make pre - Essay Example For instance, this was evidences in the 20th century when the agricultural technological process shifted the agrarian revolution to an industrial production workforce in the US. As a result of the progress, US farmers significantly lost their vocation as well as career even if the productivity per acre was enhanced dramatically and the production volume, which amplified with technology. In such situation, farmers are therefore what the industry would refer to as ‘tech-losers’. As the technology ubiquity spreads development worldwide, it usually establishes two categories of people: tech-winners as well as tech-losers. Tech-losers in most cases of cannot be incorporated into the changing technological environment. Many are the times they fear losing their jobs as well as their lifestyles as a result of technology progress (Sood and Tellis, 2005). This per evaluates the whole aspect of technological progress with a clear focus on the manner in which a manager would think a bout the situations if they occur in a mid-sized company. It also evaluates various ways in which managers might try to resolve the issues that arise in the process as well as the indicators that would guide them. Manager’s Perspective on Technological Progress Technological progress is a very paramount issue that managers often evaluate in their companies. Often, with technology surfacing at breakneck speed, it is becomes apparent that no single manager would predict what's around the next corner. More importantly, a particular type of technology has to be forgotten if innovations are made. Nevertheless, life circle remains constant. Usually, when a novel high-tech establishment is born, the older one has to die. Sood and Tellis (2005).established that at times, the loss is a good thing because it brings easier way of doing things as well as elevating companies’ profitability. Nonetheless, sometimes, the departure swirls bittersweet feelings especially if the IT emplo yees had been used to a particular mode of operations. As an IT/IS Manager, major concerns include embracing a system that do not lead to significant errors, curbing identity theft through hacking as well as enhancing workers cooperation among others. Often, IT managers in companies construe technological progress as a path which has one-dimensional as well as with milestones on it. Research indicates that managers agree that the process helps everybody to crosswise especially if one has the intellectual capacity to do so. However, they take this not to be an accurate description. For instance, taking into consideration a flat plane which has two dimensions and without milestones, one would notice that there are outstanding points of accomplishment spotted all over it. Overlay on such a flat surface would be a structure of a branching tree; which signifies culture's progress. Often, culture begins at some point in lieu of its preliminary conditions. Therefore, as it moves, it has to touch on some of the potentials on the flat surface but not all. This implies that is a possibility of getting a new technology which becomes successful replacing an old one. For instance, after innovation, Boeing 707

Homosexuality in China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Homosexuality in China - Research Paper Example As a result, there is a possibility that the number of such relationships may be increasing in the country. In recognition of this fact, this paper will examine the issue of homosexuality in China. This will be done with a close reference to the short story "The Bridegroom" by Ha Jin. The story is about a strange marriage between Beina and Baowen Huang who unexpectedly proposes to her to the shock of everyone who did not expect such a handsome young man would think of marrying her despite her â€Å"stocky and stout† figure as her guardian and the narrator describes (p 472). However, as months go by in their marriage, there are no signs of her having a child. It is only after eight months that Beina’s guardian discovers that her daughter married a man with homosexual orientations without feelings for women. It is also surprising that her daughter was seemingly comfortable with this situation. From this story, we are able to discover that homosexuality was an ancient practice in China but because of various issues, the men and women involved did not come out openly with it. One of the major challenges that the gay society faced in the story by Jin is that of a legal perspective towards their sexual orientation as will be discussed below. The legal environment was not favorable for the survival of the homosexuals. It is even to the surprise of the family members of Beina when it is discovered that Baowen and his â€Å"Buddies† were meeting at night in a club (Jin 474). The fear by the men or members of the gay community in the country to come out in the open was founded on the fact that they knew that their practice had legal implications. As a matter of fact, when the inspector of police in the story breaks the news of arrest to the families of the men in the story, he talks of sentencing the men â€Å"from six months to five years...†

General Field Marshell Erwin Rommel the true leader of Men Term Paper

General Field Marshell Erwin Rommel the true leader of Men - Term Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to discuss his accomplishments and to also analyze his extraordinary leadership abilities, display of chivalry and gallantry towards his opponents, his soldier’s code and faith as an underlying theme of the paper. World War I: The period of World War I saw Rommel fight in Italy, Romania and France for the majority of the war in Alpenkorps, an elite Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion. His service proved to be highly successful throughout and this success was recognized and praised when he was awarded Iron Cross, Second Class and Iron Cross, First Class in 1914 and 1915, respectively. He was further decorated with the highest German honor, the order of Pour le Merite in 1918. His efficient and quick decision-making, display of bravery and ability to reap benefit out of the weaknesses of the enemy led to the capture of Mount Matajur and a vast number of Italian Defenders, in return of a fairly small loss for Rommel’s men which was an achievement in itself and could be attributed to his skills as a military commander and a strategic thinker. The First World War was only the beginning for Rommel’s extraordinary accomplishments and emergence as a chivalrous military leader, for his direction in World War II was even more resolute. In the period leading up to the Second World War, Rommel served at Dresden Infantry School as an instructor, it is during this time from 1929 to 1933 that he penned down â€Å"Gefechts-Aufgaben fur Zug und Kompanie  : Ein Handbuch fur den Offizierunterricht", an instruction manual for officers involved in infantry training, which reflected Rommel’s prowess as a leader who believed that military achievements depended greatly upon the skill and training of the armed forces. Rommel is also credited with writing "Infanterie greift an" a book which documented his military observations throughout World War I and was highly regarded as a source of guidance for the army. Certainly, Rommel was one of the few leaders who firmly held the conviction in the ideology that military strategy and tactitical decision-making was of great and undeniable importance for the success of any campaign. World War II: This part of the paper will document Erwin Rommel’s accomplishments through the period of the Second World War, analyzing the leadership style and characteristics that can be attributed to his accomplishments as well his conduct which has enabled Lewin amongst many other commentators to label him as a highly professional and humane officer. Rommel commanded the Fuhrerbegleithauptquartier  (Fuhrer escort headquarters) in the 1939 invasion of Poland until its defeat, in the following year Rommel voiced concern that his current position in the guard detail was not allowing him to fully exploit his abilities. Upon his request to Hitler to hand him charge of a panzer division, Rommel was handed over the control of the 7th Panzer Division on 6th February, 1940, three months later the planned invasion of France would occur. The reason why Rommel was suited to lead a panzer division was because of two factors which were central to his own approach towards leadership and fighting against the enemy – surprise and maneuver. Under his leadership, the 7th Panzer Division systematically practiced the methods that were integral to advancement in the campaign, the triumph of the 7th Panzer

Role of the Craftsmen Essay Example for Free

Role of the Craftsmen Essay Bottom and his fellow craftsmen are bubbly, animated and optimistic to a fault. With their amiable exuberance and whole-hearted cheerfulness, they are often seen as the most likeable characters in A Midsummer Nights Dream. In terms of function, their presence serves to create humour and act as a foil to the upper echelons of Athenian society. With their play-within a play, Shakespeare also creates a parody of youthful impassioned love and a sturdy reminder of reality amidst all the magic and chaos in the forest. Bottom and his fellow craftsmen with their good-humoured disposition create humour through their amusing malapropisms and unsophisticated poetry. For instance the craftsmen often use words out of context to hilarious results, like when Flute as Thisbe calls Pyramus Jew when he probably meant jewel. To fully understand the humour here, one must realize that in Shakespearean times, Jews were widely loathed and thus would be the opposite of jewel, thereby thoroughly tickling an Elizabethan audience. Another example of this is when Bottom as Pyramus mistakenly asks Thisbe to meet him at Ninnys instead of Ninus Tomb. Here, a ninny refers to an imbecile, whereas Ninus refers to the legendary founder of Nineveh. Shakespeares audience would very likely have been able to pick this up and see the humour in it. On top of this, in Quinces script, there appears to be a lot of forced rhyme, which in contrast to lilting verses of the fairies is quite brusquely funny. For example, Jew is used in a desperate attempt to rhyme with hue, likewise with brier and tire. Thus part of the comedy the craftsmen create lies in the very crudely constructed poetry. Another way through which the Craftsmen create humour is through their pathetic attempts to perfect the play, which often seem to have the reverse effect. Firstly, even the title of their play is laughable: The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe. It is in itself an oxymoron and paradoxical, and reflect the craftsmens efforts (Quince in particular) to sound profound, which backfire because it sounds so nonsensical thereby amusing to the audience. The craftsmens fear that the ladies might be afeared by the lion and would not be able to abide seeing Pyramus draw a sword to kill himself. Their baseless confidence that their acting would be so real that the ladies would fear conflicts with what the audience sees them as- bumbling craftsmen. This not only reveals their dimwittedness, which is undoubtedly funny, but also and honesty which endears them to the audience. The craftsmen also amplify the audiences understanding of the different classes in Athens. In terms of language, the craftsmen adopt a more unrefined diction similar to prose, as compared to the more polished iambic pentameter that the Athenians use. Compare for instance Thrice-blessed they that master their blood that Theseus says, and Bottoms more convoluted And yet, to say the truth, reason and company keep little company together nowadays. Theseus line has a more distinct rhythm, whereas Bottoms seem s to be just prose. Though both lines contain equally important messages, there is symbolism in Theseus words, for when he says blood he actually means passions. On the other hand Bottom makes his statement plainly without embellishment. This in turn also reflects how the Craftsmen, live plainly whereas the nobles such as Theseus live in excess, even having a manager of mirth to ease the anguish of a torturing hour. Thus through the craftsmen, Shakespeare creates a more holistic society that not only comprises of the rich nobles, but the normal laymen which the Bottom and his comrades represent. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses the craftsmen and their play to create a parody of the romantic love seen in the earlier part of the play. The craftsmens play tells the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which is not so dissimilar from what the four Athenian lovers face in the woods. Like Lysander and Hermia, Pyramus and Thisbe too face parental disapproval, and their decision to meet by Ninus tomb at night, mirrors Hermia and Lysanders decision to meet in the wood a league without the town. Hence it is easy for the audience to make the link between Pyramus and Thisbe and Lysander and Hermias stories. The parody is most evident when Bottom and Thisbe begin exaggerated dramatizations of their love. For instance the incessant repetition of O, O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black, O night O night, O night. This is very reminiscent of Hermia and Lysanders conversation O cross! O spite! O hell! . Because the craftsmen are such poor actors, their profession of love becomes hilarious, and through this, Shakespeare pokes fun at the young lovers for their tendency to exaggerate things and be overly dramatic. Also, Bottom and the other craftsmen also act as crucial reminder of reality in the entire play. With much of the play centred around the romantic entanglements of the young Athenians and fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania, it would be easy for the audience to get lost in the fluff of love and passion. The craftsmen though, bring to the play more mundane issues that everyone faces in daily life such as bread and butter concerns. This is for example seen when Bottom went missing, Flute was worried he would not be able to get his sixpence a day for playing Pyramus. When we are first introduced to the craftsmen, their name are accompanied with their job positions, like Nick Bottom, the weaver, placing emphasis again on more realistic and relevant issues like ones occupation. Through small examples like these, Shakespeare subtly hints that love, for all its glamour and passions, in reality is not enough to sustain oneself. Furthermore, the craftsmen see no major conflict in the play, even Bottom sees his encounter with Titania as a dream, and nothing of malicious intent. All this seems also to suggest that Shakespeare is implying that by living life simply like the mechanicals, conflict can be averted. Another way the craftsmen are a reminder of reality is seen through their play-within-a-play. As mentioned earlier, the play-within-a-play closely parallels the situations the Athenian youths faced in the woods. However, the ending of Pyramus and Thisbe was tragic, Pyramus stabbing himself with bloody blameful blade and Thisbe committing suicide likewise. This serves to remind the audience that even though Lysander and Hermia as well as Demetrius and Helena end up eternally knit, consummating their love, it could well have been a tragic ending for the four, with the two men intent on dueling each other in the woods. Hence Shakespeare uses the craftsmen to warn the young lovers, like the Athenians, in the audience not to take happy endings for granted, but instead to be prepared for worse by being grounded in reality like the craftsmen. In conclusion, the craftsmen are very significant to the play as they give it a more holistic feel, encompassing not only the rich nobles but also the middle class workers whom the craftsmen represent. Furthermore, since A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comedy, the craftsmens contribution to the humour of the play is also very important. Shakespeare also uses the craftsmen and their play to poke fun at the young lovers for their misprised moods, as well as to warn the audience not to take happy endings for granted. Overall, the irrepressible craftsmen bring laughter, lessons and more laughter to A Midsummer Nights Dream.

How Benna in Anagrams Creates Her Own Reality Essay Example for Free

How Benna in Anagrams Creates Her Own Reality Essay In the novel Anagrams by Lorrie Moore the main character Benna bounces back between reality and the reality she creates. At times is hard to tell what’s what. Benna is a widow that lives alone and has an on and off relation with Gerard. She has also created an imaginary friend Eleanor and a daughter Gorgianne. When she is talking to the people she created it is hard to tell that their not really there. Bouncing back between created reality and what’s actually going on is at times hard to follow. This false reality she created plays a big role in â€Å"The Nun of That†. Benna creates her own reality in a few different ways. She imagines a daughter and a friend that she has full conversations with. The daughter she creates name is Gorgianne. She was named after Benna’s husband George that committed suicide. â€Å"Georgie has dinner and a bath, and Mrs. Kimball comes over and I say good night and drive over to Gerard’s apartment. † (Moore 118). This quote shows that Benna treats Gorgianne as a real daughter. Benna gave her dinner, and a bath; she even hired a baby sitter. Now if these things actually happened there is no evidence. With Benna talking like it’s actually happens it makes it hard to tell that her daughter is imaginary. â€Å"She holds up a little soap chunk she has broken off the bar. She is crying. â€Å"I put it up my nose,† she sobs. â€Å"I wanted to be all clean for tomorrow for school but now it won’t come out. † (Moore 74). This is another example of how Benna creates her own reality. She goes in complete detail of how and why the soap is stuck in Georgianne’s nose. Now clearly this did not happen because she in not real but the next day in class Benna tells them that was the reason she did not momorize there names. Eleanor is Benna’s imaginary friend. She is another example of how Benna creates a false reality. â€Å"Eleanor puts her pen down, all histrionics, and gazes out the lounge window, at the parking lotand the one tree. â€Å" You know, I just hate it when I lose my composer,† she says. † (Moore 65). Here Benna and Eleanor are grading tests I the lounge at FVCC. His is clearly one of Benna’s fabricated realities. Benna talks with Eleanor quite often. Their conversations are just like any other friends would have. This makes it hard to tell that Eleanor is not really there and just imaginary. There are a few reasons that Benna has this false reality. One reason is that she could be lonely. She makes up her daughter and friend so she doesn’t have to be alone. After her husband she had no one to live with so she probably thought she could imagine someone. Another reason could be that Benna always wanted to have a kid. Benna at times mentions that she would like to have a family, so she imagined that she had a daughter to have one. Also Benna could have imagined Eleanor just as someone to talk to and as a part of a life that she would have wanted to live with a friend like that and a daughter as well. Benna, the main character in the novel Anagrams, by Lorrie Moore goes back and fourth between reality and a reality she creates. She imagined a friend and a daughter. They have full on conversations with each other like they are actually there. At times her reality seems so real that it is hard to tell apart from what is actually going on. This makes it hard to tell what is actually being said and at times if the Imagined people are actually imagined. The main reason Benna creates this false reality is because he is lonely and wants people to spend time with and talk to. Moore, Lorrie. Anagrams: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1986. Print.

Construction Industry And Data Management Construction Essay

Construction Industry And Data Management Construction Essay Many issues affect the success of a project, yet there is sure proof of success based on efficient communication and cooperation and collaboration between team-members. Sending and receiving information is communication; this enables understanding of one another. Common definitions of communication given by Hoyland et al., 1953 and Ruesch and Bateson, 1961 quoted in Miller, 2004 gives that communication is the process by which an individual transmits stimuli to modify the behavior of other individuals. Another definition states that, Communication does not refer to verbal, explicit and intentional transmission of messages alone. The concept of communication would include all those processes by which people influence one another, Ruesch and Bateson, 2004. The theory on communication defines three key elements of communication. These three elements have to be present for communication; these are the sender, the receiver, and the presence of a message. The message must be conveyed through a medium while the receiver must interpret the received message so as to understand its meaning. The medium used is important to communication since it affects the process of decoding. Decoding the message correctly is important since it stands to give the meaning as is intended by the sender. It is important to realize at this point that everyone is different with different perceptions and interpretations of situations (Miller, 2004). Since people have different perceptions, team members of a project have diverse ways oral and written communication; team players also listen and comprehend situations in various ways, all leading to communication problems (Koskinen, 2004). Certain obstacles and filters may have key roles in comprehending the actual message. Barriers or obstacles usually root from the existing mind-state of the person receiving the message; these barriers to correct interpretation of the message might be biasness, prejudice or emotions, it may very well be the lack of technical and educational understanding needed (Thomas et al., 1998). Eliminating all human and technical barriers or obstacles is rather impossible in order to have effective communication, but creating formal, systemized communication set-up can much enhance project performance. This will overall minimize or almost mitigate distortions in effective communication. Good collaboration is dependant on effective communication. Communication may be necessary for collaboration but the reverse is not necessarily true; communication still takes place in absence of collaboration between team members, this means collaboration advances to realize common goals through extra-durable relationships and in presence of complete commitment of team-members (Laepple, 2005). Collaboration can be lasting if specific issues exist as part of the relation. Laepple, 2005 quotes Lorenz et al and says that collaboration constitutes mainly the presence of a common goal or objective, a joint paradigm, the existence of respect among and across all members, and of course the major e lement that is effective communication to be present. In regard to construction projects, common goal or purpose would be safe and timely execution of the project within the bounds of the given budget and quality. Collaboration means nothing without purpose. Joint paradigm, though points to the methods and practices generally acceptable to all teams and team-members trying to realize common goals. Here, it is noteworthy that everyone shares different values and these values must also be widely accepted within the working teams. It is important that collaboration exists before the rise of disputes or disagreements and problems in a project; it should, therefore be the foundational element of a project so as to avoid the afore-mentioned issues or any others that may come up (Larson, 1997). For this to be done team-building processes that conjoin the associated parties so as to give a clear picture of both the communication strategies as well as collaboration strategies and to make clear ways in which conflicts and disputes can be avoided well before they arise (Larson, 1997). One more essential factor for successful collaboration is the attitude of the management when faced by serious problem(s) (Larson, 1997). The managements attitude and behavior must be in conformance with the principles of collaboration, namely trust, openness and combined teamwork (Larson, 1997). When productivity deficiencies occur, the first culprits are communication and collaboration (FMI, 2004). FMI conducts the CIPS-Construction Industry Productivity Survey which states communication and/or collaboration issues as major challenges for the improvement of levels of productivity. This paper uses Widemans (1991) terminologies suggesting that buyer organization corresponds to project sponsor, and seller/implementer organization corresponds to project manager. These terms will be synonymously used throughout the study, i.e. buyer/seller and project sponsor or manager. Inter-firm Relationship Theories To deal with the complicated matter of research in inter-organizational relationships it is useful to refer to present theories that clarify the dynamics governing these relationships. The introduction section of this paper summarizes the studys element of investigation as communication existing between the project sponsor and the project manager at the time of IT project implementation where buyer-seller relationships exist. Traditional inter-firm/organizational relationship theories conferring to such analysis are namely the Transaction Cost Economics Theory and the Agency Theory (Williamson 1995). These theories are given as follows. Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) The TCE theory centers around the degree of individual transaction that translates input to required output, for instance the establishment of an IT-based system for the improvement of an organizations internal efficiency. TCE roots in economics; it gives rationales on whether to make a product or buy it from the market. There are two situations whether either there is more control making a fit for purpose in reducing unwanted costs associated to a product but having higher costs of management; or the other situation where prices are reduced by economies of scale as well as competing by price. Williamson (1975) argues for the make or buy decisions; these are supported by various implications like: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The level of specificity of an asset is a major influencing factor. It relates to the degree of the transacted object based on how explicit/unique it is. What value does it hold in terms of individual transaction and whether or not it can be redeployed for future transactions? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The level of ambiguity that arises from In-apt communication or deliberate in-correct and misleading signals that prevent decision-makers from discovering plans made by others involved in the business transaction. The common indecisiveness present in human behavior. The transactions frequency. Initially, TCE was designed for recurring, routine transactions, undertaken by traditionally managed organizations both in functional as well as hierarchical set-ups. Recurring transactions do not require a specific governance structure, though in contrast transactions that are highly unique require more specialized management structures. For this very purpose TCE considers firms governance structures and not specifically production functions (Willimason, p. 387, 1985). Costs involved in these transactions are aptly called transaction costs, here: Transaction costs are minimized by handing over transactions (each with different attributes) to governance structures (each with different capacities and different costs) (Williamson 1985, p. 18). TCE suggests that firms adjust their governance structures in order to attain lowest possible transaction costs. Resistance in physical systems corresponds to transaction costs in economic context; Transaction costs arise from complexity of buyer-seller relationship and the impracticality of developing and agreeing on contracts that are well-detailed enough to aptly form this relationship. For reducing transaction costs, the TCE theory suggests a high degree of asset specificity, and further suggests that incomplete contracts direct towards make product decisions, while lower degree of asset specificity direct towards buy product decisions (Adler et al. 1998). No matter about Agency theory CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY DATA MANAGEMENT The construction business relies heavily on information. The information used can generally be categorized as structured data and unstructured data (Caldas et al., 2005). Database systems are used to generate structured data; the database system uses structures and formats that are predetermined (Caldas et al., 2005). Structured data brings about standardization while improving interoperability of computational systems (Caldas et al., 2005). PMCS-the Project Management and Collaboration Systems contain different modules which use both structured and unstructured data; structured data is present in the cost control module. The PCMS users do not have much control of the system, though realistically, most documents generated by the system (for construction projects) can be classified as unstructured data based on text-documents like contracts, reports and amendment orders etc. (Froese, 2003). Although such documents are classified as unstructured data, but most PMCS that are web-based c lassify them as partially structured. Constructware, a web-based PMCS( Project Management Control Systems presents standard modules to create and track daily reports and change orders as well as RFIs.( Request for Information ) Through this team-members can see and edit a standard document, which allows for interoperability between different computers. Despite this, researchers disagree that it is only a reproduction of the text document on different computer systems and does not offer an actual solution to handle complex data (Maoa et al., 2006). A lot of studies have been conducted where common data models have been developed so as to regularize and form one universal methodology to handle structured as well as unstructured data within the construction industry. IFC, the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) has been developed by AII-the International Alliance for Interoperability (Froese, 2003). CAD drawings are present in AutoCAD format, these are used by widely in the construction in dustry; two kinds of informational documents are supported by such formats these are: Contract Documents Project Management Documents (Zhu et al., 2001). DRIVERS OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Project success is impacted by external factors like the adoption and the diffusion of technology advancement in certain industries (Chan et al., 2004). Nonetheless, traditionally, the construction industry is seen as rather slow and reluctant to the adoption and implementation of new technology in comparison to other industries (Laborde Sanvido, 1994). Some important barriers in the adoption of technology by the construction industry are explained by Haas et al. (1999). These barriers include different standards, fragmentation, the type of business cycles, and ways in which risk is avoided. The construction industry survives on low labor costs in majority of regions; this is also a factor discouraging the invention of new technology and its adoption. Technology in-acceptance is mainly due to technological and financial risks felt by the employees who work in the construction industry (Tatum 1989). In-acceptance of technology construction companies poses a major threat to the construction industry. This is affecting productivity levels greatly and supporting the culture that is already change-resistant. A comparison of US and Korea in terms of information technology adoption is under-taken by Williams et al. (2007). These researchers reflect on how IT technologies are almost obsolete in over 150 US-based construction companies. Almost 50% or more have no usage of web conferencing or web portals. These companies have never used barcode scanning and do not have knowledge of e-learning or e-bid; similarly they have never used geographic information systems-GIS or geographic positioning systems-GPS. An article named Forces driving adoption of new information technologies by Mitropoulos and Tatum written in the year 2000 aims at identifying and analyzing internal and external factors that affect technology adoption within the construction industry. Internal factors arise within the organization and external factors come from the project owner or arise from competition. They have studied eight different companies; three of those are mechanical contractors whereas two of them are general contractors. These companies are large with even larger revenues averaging over US$100M. Technologies chosen by the authors are the CAD and the EDI, Electronic Data Interchange technologies and Radio Frequency Identification( RFID cards are important requirements of warehouses so that the stores available for issue are automatically updated in project ) Mitropoulos and Tatum have defined four important triggers for adopting technology; these are: Competitive Advantage Process Problem Technological Opportunity External Requirements Competitive advantage is improved only if new technology helps improve an he organizations critical capability and also if competitors have not already adopted similar technology. On the other hand, process problems originate from: (a)Added need for improved quality and also detailed drawings (b) Existing technologies have become insufficient for design communication (c) Growth of a company that requires better technologies in order to better supply larger-scale, complex projects demanding higher degree of detail. Opportunities in technology have been defined as improved capabilities because of the availability engineers having technology-based backgrounds, presence of complimentary technology, and affordability of up-and-coming technologies. External requirements are those that result from technology changes and are better known as client specifications or external competitor/rival pressure, and legal or regulatory enforcements. Besides these triggers for the adoption of technology, a great change has taken place within the construction industry that has affected practices within project management (Alshawi Ingirige, 2003). The changes that have taken place are marketplace globalization, economic forces, increased project complexity, a demand for quicker results, changing scopes of projects, changing procurement practices, and sophistication of clients (Alshawi Ingirige, 2003). The construction industry is now heavily investing in IT in response to these internal and external factors. By average construction contractor companies are now investing some US$334,241 in information technology. BARRIERS TO TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY The use of IT helps reduce time-taken to perform tasks and helps perform tasks that are difficult or impossible to be done by humans (Allen et al., 2005). Though IT has contributed greatly to the success of business organizations yet there exit barriers for diffusing or adopting IT into businesses. (Becerik,2006). Construction businessmen feel lack of collaboration within the industry, lack of training, and high implementation costs are all barriers to the success of IT in this industry. On the whole, though, barriers may be classified as technical barriers, behavioral barriers, cost-related barriers, organizational barriers, and legal barriers (Bjork, 2003). The barriers include: 1. Communication and hard and soft documentation 2. Information ownership 3. Returns on investment that are indistinguishable 4. Construction site technological limitations 5. Risks, both financial and organizational learning related risks 6. Change resistance and organizational inertia 7. Law of intellectual property and concerns regarding mistrust 8. System security, system reliability and the degree of confidentiality the system offers The construction industry is being affected in a number of ways by all these given factors lowering chances of adoption of technology to this industry; these factors are individually studied and analyzed. (Bjork, 2003).You asked for refrences here they were given at start of para Frameworks of Knowledge transfer Multiple studies have created frameworks to transfer knowledge, for learning and for diffusing new innovations into different areas of the construction industry (Egbu, 2005; Maqsood et al., 2007; Walker et al., 2004; Chinowsky et al., 2007; Anumba et al., 2005 Chinowsky and Carrillo, 2007;). Nonetheless, these frameworks are especially focused and set to a process lacking in consideration of their effect on project management and social relationships. An obstacle to knowledge transfer, its learning or innovations may be linked with certain characteristics of construction industry like short-term labor contracts; fragmentation of a project by functions; short-term coalitions of teams; contract arrangements; poor coordination between project partners; adversarial relationships etc. (Slaughter, 1998; DoreeandHolmen,2004; Dubois and Gadde, 2002;). Ling (2003) states four factors having vital effects on technological innovations in construction. They are: The interest level of team-members (of the project) Work environment Creating task-groups Individual capabilities of members involved with innovation Additionally, Walker Peasupap (2005-a/b 2009) state that management; technology, work environment and team-members are all elemental factors affecting the diffusion of innovation, since they can adversely affect delivery costs of a project, time constraints and limits and quality of the project. These limitations, though may be resolved by integration of humans into project management (Huemann et al., 2007). Studies have been conducted to find out how knowledge management (KM) can be implemented in construction organizations. Different Knowledge Management Frameworks have been developed, some of which are discussed briefly below: In 2002 Whelton et al. proposed a knowledge management framework for projects; this model works on soft systems methodology in order to assist group cognition, group learning and generate solutions. One drawback however is that this framework may prolong negotiation between stakeholders whilst trying to reach mutual agreement when faced by a problem or a situation; this may overall prolong time limitations of the project, causing it too start later than anticipated or finish later than anticipated. A frame-work called cross-sectoral learning has been developed by Al-Ghassani in 2002, in virtual enterprise for helping organizations set up a Knowledge Management strategy. Construction companies need to set-up KM systems in order to preserving knowledge and more specifically to integrate learning into the companies workings both into processes as well as practices which will in turn enhance performance and organizational competitiveness in the global market (Wetherill et al., 2002). Bronn Thi-Le in 2007 created an abstract model that facilitates the detection of problems related to transfer of know-how in large construction related projects. This model aims to identify knowledge break-downs while presenting the best solutions to promote learning and transferring knowledge. Nevertheless, creating social relationships between project teams can prove to be critical in promoting sharing of knowledge in collaborative environments. A project named e-COGNOS, created by Wetherill et al. in 2002 attempts to specify and develop an infrastructure that is an open model; this infrastructure works (in collaborative environments) at KM to create, disseminate, retrieve and capture or store information. e-COGNOS can be effective if there are well-bound social relationships to promote knowledge exchange; users must be motivated and trained on the use of this frame-work. Another example is that of the knowledge transfer framework created by Carrillo et al. in 2006 which is used to help companies manage product-related knowledge. This framework works in three stages, though the maturity level of KM is important as to how the framework may be implemented. Also cultural issues exist when knowledge is being transferred across different territories or across national borders. Another approach called cross-organizational learning approach developed by Franco et al. in 2004 deals with the shortage of processes required for everyday inter-organizational assessment of construction projects so as to facilitate learning while adding value to projects. This approach allows for exchanging feedback on project performance which is useful for learning and improving performance. In 2007 Chinowsky created a learning organization maturity model with a built-in automated tool called Learning Organization Rapid Diagnostic that assists in assessing and the implementation of continuous learning. Nonetheless, for implementation of the multiple characteristics of a learning organization, it can be time-consuming because of the sole reason much coordination and management is required to link together the entire organization. Overall this is an elicit support to use communication systems infrastructure for organizational learning. The CONDOR project is explained by Vakola and Rezqui -2000. They explain how it can support in defining work practices, work processes, commonly-used techniques, tools as well as aid in supporting the technical infrastructure of construction organizations. It even comes with an evaluation tool that assists in gathering of information; it helps in organizing learnt information by distributing it so that organizational learning takes place, and the learnt knowledge can be implemented in future projects. CONDOR continuously creates knowledge, interprets it and distributes it in order to retain knowledge. In 2007, Chinowsky and Carrillo (2007) propose how organizations shit from focusing on KM over to learning organizations based on a STEPS model that is a KM model. STEPS stands for Start-up-Take-off-Expansion stage-Progressive stage-Sustainability, it also has a learning maturity model that is based on leadership, processes and organizational infrastructure, organizational communication collaboration, education and finally culture(s). If KM strategies are successfully initiated, organizations can successfully progress from only KM to having a learning culture. Learning alone cannot necessarily lead to improving performance (Crossan et al., 1995). Good practices in management and knowledge management have a deep correlation (Leseure and Brookes-2004). Various studies show the significance of innovation in construction industries (Egbu, 2004; Latham, 1994; Slaughter, 1998; Gann, 2000; Dubois and Gadde, 2002; Vakola and Rezqui, 2000; Kumaraswamy et al.,2004; Ling, 2003; Dulaimi et al., 2005; Eaton et al., 2006; Egan, 1998; Winch, 1998). PPP/PFI has positive outcomes for innovation (Eaton et al.-2006). Eaton further explored stimulants and barriers against innovation in PPP/PFI projects. Impediments and stimulants related to human relationships are social and organizational variables. This will help in improving PPP/PFI that can in turn affect project performance in regard of project quality, costs, and time managemen t. Concurrent Engineering Concurrent engineering desing is a doctrine in management which has largely being used in the manufacturing industry while less of it has been employed in the construction engineering. The main aim of the philosophy is to reduce timelines in the activities so that the overall project time in terms of cost can be reduced For completion of these activies Concurrent engineering projects parallel and concurrent functions that are overlapped so that the delay in sequential conduct of the activites can be reduced . It is pertininet to mention that the common areas between concurrent activies between engineering production and construction industry has been highlighted by many researchers (de la Garza et al. 1994). In construction industry the the concurrent engineering has primarily defines as the integration of both design , planning and construction processes including the main aim of integration is to reduce construction time and cost and to ensure through various checks that the product is meting the expectations of the consumer . (Noble 1993). One of the main aims of the concurrent engineering methodlogy is to identify which all activites can overlap and which cannot . Furthermore the amount twp activities can overlap in a process mormally depend upon the typr of activities . (Prasad 1996). Concurrent Engineering and Integrated Project Development Integrated project developemnt can be described as the evolution of the concurrent engineering into a full scale methodogical process . Since due to the complexity and the increasing processes involved in the contruction industry of today it is very important evolve the integrated approach for the completion of the task . We will now discuss the IPD in the backdrop of concurrent engineering . I need more information about concurrent engineering IPD Construction structures are becoming increasingly complex while this industry is becoming more specialized; a new approach called Integrated Project Delivery or IPD has been introduced. This approach has been developed in the U.S. for the improvement of cost and the quality of projects as well as enabling better management of project schedules compared to traditional methods. The IPD method attempts to improve the outcomes of a project by collaboration in streamlining the incentives in addition to team goals (ADTF 2006). Though there are a number of organizations that support progression of IPD for instance AIACA Council and the AGC, and while some projects benefited from its use, yet projects using IPD are relatively few in number (Post 2007, Sive 2009). There are reasons for its slow adoption. Some reasons include fear of risk related to IPD (time, money, and innovation); other reasons include the close partnerships that IPD demands and legal frameworks required for incorporating IPD approaches. Furthermore, stakeholders of the construction industry think that new competencies, skills and KM will be needed for collaborating IPD into an organization (Auto-desk White Paper 2008). Still there is no noteworthy research that investigates the existing adoption status of IPD or reasons for its slow adoption within the industry (Sive 2009). Gathering IPD case-studies reflecting best practices would motivate professionals unfamiliar with IPD in getting assurance of IPD benefits and how its profits play a ro le in both successful and unsuccessful projects. Here, this paper provides an example of a project implementing IPD for project delivery. In this paper, we define IPD and discuss BIM-Building Information Modeling in context of IPD. To make further understanding of IPD clear, a case study is discussed to see how IPD may be applied in commercial building projects. The conclusion section will give recommendations for education as well as future research projects both in the context of IPD. Though IPD may be the industry buzz word but there exist no standard definition that is acceptable to all. Differing definitions accompanied by greatly varying approaches of different sophistication levels suggest that IPD describes considerably diverse contract arrangements as well as team processes, (Sive-2009). There are prominent similarities among IPD projects and IPD definitions. IPD is defined by various principles like the following in the context of this paper: (1) Multi-party Agreement (2) Parties Early Involvement It is not necessary that IPD is constituted by these principles. Multi-Party Agreement: One contract exists for the whole project, which involves the general contractor, the project owner, and the architect, or may even involve other parties (if the contract is between more than just two parties) when IPD is used. The prime goal of IPD is maximizing collaboration and coordination throughout the entire project. The contracts are a driving force that allows goals to be attained productively without getting complicated by use of separate contracts since separate contracts can produce opposing motives among the stake-holders and team members. (Post 2007) please attach this ref in ref please Shared Risk and Reward: A majority of IPD contracts incorporate elements designed for encouraging teamwork while promoting project success. IPD, in contrast to traditional projects, combines the risks rewards to reach project goals. (Scarnati, 2001) The goals may differ but are related to cost, project schedules and the quality metrics used in measuring success of a project. Associated risk examples include budget over-costs with different entitys overheads and profits, though on the other hand if a project is below budget a team may be compensated. Risk-reward sharing can be based on value, incentive pool, innovation outstanding performance, performance bonuses and profit sharing. Based on value-Project teams are given incentives; bonuses that are given based on how much value is added by a member to a project. Incentive pool-It will reserve some share of the teams fees (that increases and decreases based on certain pre-agreed criteria) before it is divided and shared among team members; Innovation and outstanding performance-As the name already indicates, teams are rewarded for their hard work or creativity; Performance bonuses-These bonuses are awarded on the basis of quality Profit sharing-Based on group performances, profits are gained collectively for the whole team/group rather than individually. Early Involvement of All Parties: One fundamental benefit of IPD is that it provides all parties the ability to be part of the project and be involved with the project from the start of the design phase. Collaborating from the start can easily address problems of fragmentation existing between the designing professionals and construction professionals which results in work mal-practices or cost changes during the late construction phase. (Scarnati, 2001) Although early collaboration does not need technological tools, but information technology like BIM-Building Information Modeling greatly increases efficiency of collaboration taking place during all project phases. There do, though exist constrains and complexities in implementing IPD. New contracts are using IPD but are not tried tested, and so, are not completely approved and understood. IPD is costly and insurance companies will not cover financial losses incurred as a result of IPD. Moreover the construction industry is accustomed to conventional leadership methods; responsibility, and opportunity; while change is not very evident. (Baiden et al., 2003)The inability to restructure procurement processes for enabling IPD is the area where a majority of agencies and formal institutions are deficient. On the other hand, IPD is correctly and successfully implemented it: Helps in facilitating the sharing of rewards as well as risks amongst stakeholders It may help in creating incentives that are awarded for exceptional performance It can also minimize operations and maintenance co