Face Recognition Technology Essay

Facial recognition technology refers to a computer driven application that automatically identifies an individual from his or her digital image by a comparison of particular facial features in a facial database and in a live image (Vacca, 2007: 95).   The technology creates a template of people’s facial configurations, such as the lengths of their noses, and the angles of their jaws.   It thereby functions like the other biometric technologies (e.g. iris scanning) that use biological features for the purposes of recognition. According to Visionics, a manufacturer of face recognition technology, the technology is capable of finding human faces â€Å"anywhere in the field of view and at any distance, and it can continuously track them and crop them out of the scene, matching the face against a watch list (Kautzer, 2002).† Undoubtedly, these features of face recognition technology make it an attractive option for law enforcement agencies – always trying to catch criminals and keep an eye on suspects.   But, is there more to face recognition technology than meets the eye? Description and Uses of Facial Recognition Technology It is natural brain technology that allows humans to recognize fellow human beings.   According to Bruce & Young (1986) there are â€Å"face recognition units† in the brains of human beings (361).   Face recognition involves matching â€Å"the products of structural encoding,† that is, facial features that are spotted by the eye with â€Å"previously stored structural codes (Bruce & Young: 361).†Ã‚   Vacca writes that there are three areas of the face that are â€Å"primary targets† in face recognition because they do not typically change (95). These parts of the face include upper sections of a person’s eye sockets, the part of the face surrounding one’s cheekbones, and the sides of the human mouth.   Regardless of whether the human brain also considers these parts of the face most crucial to facial recognition, Vacca explains three different techniques used in man-made face recognition technology, namely, eigenface systems, eigenfeature systems, and thermal imaging.   Eigenface image systems capture facial images and change them to â€Å"light and dark areas (Vacca: 95).† In eigenfeature systems, certain features of the face, for example, the eyes and the mouth, are picked out and distances are measured between these features.   Thermal imaging systems, on the other hand, take thermal images of the human face, focusing on the pattern of blood vessels (Vacca). Even though iris scanning and other kinds of biometric technologies are known to be far more accurate than face recognition technology, it is believed that the latter would be more widely accepted because it is least intrusive.   This technology does not require users to push, click, or insert anything into the system, despite the fact that it takes many experts to create eigenface, eigenfeature or thermal imaging systems.   Moreover, companies using the face recognition technology do not require the installation of anything except a new software application. The cameras already in place as well as pictures of their employees on file are enough for companies that use this technology.   Hence, face recognition technology is cheaper for organizations than iris scanning, for instance, which requires reading setups.   According to Frances Zelazney, who works as the director of corporate communication at Visionics – a leading developer of biometrics – yet another advantage of facial recognition technology as compared to other biometric technologies is that â€Å"facial recognition provides for inherent human backup because we naturally recognize one another†¦ If the system goes down, someone can pull out an ID with a picture as backup, something you can’t do with fingerprint devices (Rutherford, 2001).† Unsurprisingly, facial recognition technology is known as the fastest growing biometric technology in our day.   Law enforcement agencies and the military have been successfully using the technology for many years without the public being aware of it.   In the year 1988, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (Lakewood Division) began using composite sketches of suspects, as well as video images, in order to conduct searches on a database of digital facial shots. The department also has a photo database of sex offenders and plans to find suspects on this database.   Then there is the Gang Reporting Evaluation Tracking system that can be searched with the use of photos of suspects in order for law enforcement to circumvent false identification cards as well as information that has been presented by gang members (Jarvis). Other applications of face recognition technology in the area of criminal investigation include the Integrated Law Enforcement Face-Identification System which incorporates a unique three dimensional composite technology to identify angled-view face shots more easily.   The system is meant to be very helpful in the correct identification of uncooperative suspects in addition to subjects that have been caught from a distance using video surveillance cameras. Furthermore, Britain is known to use at least two hundred thousand video cameras for surveillance.   Many of these cameras are being installed with the facial recognition technology today.   Typically these systems use computers to monitor cameras that are looking for recognized criminals.   As soon as the system is seen to identify a known criminal, the police are called (Jarvis). There are numerous United States embassies around the world that are already using the face recognition technology to keep criminals from entering the country.   The Israel-Palestine border control is similarly using the technology to reduce crime across the border (Jarvis). IQ Biometrix, established in 2001, was a company providing help to thousands of law enforcement agencies around the world with the FACES â„ ¢, a groundbreaking software tool allowing users to create and recreate billions of face shots, as well as encode, catalogue and transmit them.   The technology incorporated a facial composite tool that the FBI and the CIA also used.   The United States Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and various local as well as state police agencies had similarly opted for this groundbreaking system of facial recognition (â€Å"IQ Biometrix,† 2004). Given the importance of putting a name to a face in law enforcement, whether it is to solve crimes, protect the public, or to ensure security in jails, face recognition technology is proving itself to be of tremendous value.   Sheriff Everett Rice with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida employs the Viisage face recognition technology to â€Å"positively identify and verify individuals (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action,† 2007).†Ã‚   Some of these individuals have been recently arrested while others are about to be released.   The face recognition technology is also of use with people that visit the courthouse.   So far, application of the technology has been successful, and users of the technology believe that it would have a greater impact on crime control in the years to come (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†).   The following is a detailed account of the case being considered: Over time, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, like other law enforcement agencies, found itself faced with cumbersome booking, release and criminal investigation processes.   A prominent problem was a lack of timely information, which often allowed suspects to get away with providing false identification, hampering law enforcement or sidetracking investigations.   However the sheriff’s office found facial recognition to be an invaluable tool in providing quick and accurate identity information.   Facial recognition technology has allowed the sheriff’s office to quickly access important identity information and retrieve records, thus allowing officers to correctly identify even uncooperative suspects and to conduct more efficient investigations. In 2000, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office received a grant from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) at the U.S. Department of Justice.   The goal of the funding was to demonstrate the use of facial recognition technology for Florida law enforcement. Under the leadership of Lt. James Main acting as project director, the sheriff’s office decided to look beyond the traditional investigative uses of face recognition and to focus on how the quick, non-intrusive technology could be used to enhance operations at the jail. By initially focusing on the booking facility where mugshot images are collected, Main believed he could create processing efficiencies by using the existing images to build a facial recognition database.   The database would then serve as the foundation for identity solutions within Pinellas County, and throughout the state (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†). Application of face recognition technology by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is a model for other agencies involved in criminal investigation.   The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has applied the new technology in other ways as well.   As an example, the Sheriff’s Office has expanded use of the technology to its patrol cars to allow street deputies to identify those individuals that have been stopped and are unable to produce identification.   There are workstations in the Pinellas Country where investigators may use face recognition technology to compare images that have been acquired in investigations. This system allows for search of at least two million images within ten seconds.   What is more, this browser based system is available in the cars of deputies that patrol the streets of the Pinellas County (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†).   Report on the use of face recognition technology for law enforcement in the Pinellas County continues thus: As envisioned by the Department of Justice grant, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with other state and local agencies in Florida to maximize the effectiveness of the system.   Agencies participating in the project include the Florida Department of Corrections, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), seven Florida Regional Terrorism Task Forces, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Miami-Dade, Broward, Leon and Duval counties.

Business Organization

I started my Lawn Mowing Service as a sole proprietorship. I bought the lawn mover, edge trimmer, gasoline, and rake. I mowed neighbor’s yards. I got all the profits. If I did a bad job, or could not mow because of weather, I took a loss. I was very successful and made a lot of money and had 100 yards to tend every month. But I got tired of mowing 100 yards a month and working between 10 and 12 hour days. I needed help. I asked my parents if they would help and I would pay them half of what I made on each yard they mowed. They said: â€Å"No, we want the full amount for each yard mowed. The only way that they would be able to get the full amount is to produce their own yard service tools. If I had to provide them, I did not want to lose money for my material. We agreed to a deal that everything would be 50/50. This is when we formed a partnership. We agreed to 50/50 as they would take half the work and produce half the equipment needed. Even though it was my idea and business , 50/50 is better than no help at all and they are footing half the expenses. With this help, my business was growing faster and we were making money like crazy.With our business growing, other members of the family wanted in on the action. However, none of them wanted to actually work directly on the business as they had other jobs and did not want to work out in the heat. So, we formed a limited liability company. Each of them put up an investment, and we purchased more lawn service tools and trucks so we could easily move large mowers around town. The investment was also used to advertise the business. With having more customers now, we hired professional people what would do a great job of mowing yards and would be friendly with our customers.With having more customers, all the investors were paid back their investment and were now making a profit. At this point we were ready to expand our business to include tree service as well as landscaping. We wanted to expand so we could g et contracts with the county, city, and state to mow the grass along the highways, interstates, and county roads. To expand our business, we needed a loan. We went to the bank, but they bank said: â€Å"No. Your business is too small and you do not have any assets to cover the loan. So, we decided to form a joint-stock company and made the stockholders liable for debts. In other words, we used their houses and or vehicles as collateral. When we went back to the bank they said: â€Å"Yes, a loan is no problem. If you don't make good on the loan we'll use the collateral to repay the debt. † With the money we were ready to expand. At the last minute we decided to buy a piece of property and open up our own nursery. This now allowed our customers to come and pick out plants that they would like to see in their landscaping instead of us taking them to a competitor to purchase plants.

Case Study of a Cross-Cultural Organization

Organizational Behavior Final: Clayton J. Ollarvia [email  protected] com Organizational Behavior October 4, 2012 Looking into Nestle S. A and its disconnect with Cross-cultural communication and decisions Nestle SA is a Swiss Company engaged in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. It is the holding company of the Nestle Group, which comprises subsidiaries, associated companies and joint ventures throughout the world. It has such business units as Food and Beverage, Nestle Waters and Nestle Nutrition. It is also active in the pharmaceutical sector.It divides its products into Powdered and liquid beverages, Water, Milk products and Ice cream, Nutrition, Prepared dishes and cooking aids, Confectionery, PetCare and Pharmaceutical products. The Nestle Group is managed by geographies (Zones Europe, Americas and Asia/Oceania/Africa) for most of the food and beverage  business, with the exceptions of Nestle Waters, Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Purina Petcare, Nespresso, Nestle Profes sional and Nestle Health Science which are managed on a global basis – these we call the Globally Managed Businesses. We also have joint ventures such as Cereal Partners Worldwide and Beverage Partners Worldwide.In regards to the operations elsewhere, Nestle USA caters to cravings on this side-of-the-Atlantic, from a child's sweet tooth to a grown-up's caffeine fix. The company is a major subsidiary of Swiss food  giant  Nestle S. A. Nestle USA  produces hundreds of well-known food brands, including frozen pizza (Tombstone, DiGiorno), chocolate and candies (Baby Ruth, Goobers), beverages (Nestea, Taster's Choice,  Nesquick), juices (Juicy Juice), canned milk (Carnation), ice cream (Edy's, Haagan-Dazs), baking goods (Nestle Toll House, Libby's), and prepared  meals (Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine). http://www. hoovers. com/company/Nestl%E9_USA_Inc/cysfyi-1. html Specifically where I see Nestle could benefit from understanding some of the Organizational Behavior practices i s in the realm of (cross-cultural) decision making and in Personality Traits. Nestle needs to recognize how to make decisions based upon more than just sales goals. A common definition of  decision-making  is the process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or an opportunity. Schermerhorn, John R. (11/2011).Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319/id/L9-1-1 One of the biggest problems with Nestle is that it is indeed a global company. A majority of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents and senior staff all reside in Switzerland and travel inconsistently to other countries and regions. This traveling issue makes it hard for management to be able to effectively know how to 1. Communicate with others in other countries and 2. Understand the differences in cultural mores from country to country.Moreover things that affect the economy in the Eastern countries does not effect the west. However, more than likely they expect things to work in similar if not the same ways from culture to culture and economy to economy. What this problem lends itself to is a lack of cross cultural management and ability to understand the proper ways to address other cultures. Although those of the Swiss culture tend to be very manner-able and well liked, often times we would find them somewhat unrelenting and slightly rude on conference calls and communications.A large faction of what I saw was miscues from managers not being able to communicate across different ethnic and cultural lines. This was even more evident with regional managers having to disseminate information to retail operations across the border and into other geographies. After going through all of our upcoming TCO’s I would like to investigate how given an understanding of the communication process and given specific incidents of cross-cultural communication problems, I plan to develop a strategy for improving organizational performance through the improvement of cross cultural management process. Nestle should first look at adopting a very extensive guide to cross cultural awareness * All managers should be privy to cross cultural communication programs to ensure compliance with cultural guidelines At the beginning of every cross-cultural management process is an encounter between two or more members of different cultures. In this encounter both participants communicate, watch, and react to  each other’s behavior. This behavior and communication is often not interpreted in the correct way, but according to the cultural program of the observer.Because it is dif? cult to understand the other’s thinking, interpretation is often wrong and does not allow insights into the attitudes and values of  the communicators or interactions. Culture can best be described through three main concepts: values, attitudes, and behavior. All three signify culture and allow us to di fferentiate from other cultures. A survey of current literature consistently indicates that the contemporary business context is globally interdependent and interconnected.It further demonstrates that corporate leaders should provide opportunities for their managers in international assignments to learn cross-cultural business etiquette in order that they will excel in their interpersonal relationship overseas. (Sizoo, 2007, p. 84) Being that Nestle has so many plants, locations and does business in over 100 countries worldwide, one could argue that it would be essential to have multi cultural norms and ethics guidelines. Throughout my tenure, the main focus of the organization was to produce sales based upon projections from Head Quarters.This can be problematic seeing as expectations for sales is not weighted based upon the social economy. Cross-cultural misunderstandings often have some seemingly deep roots. Even if we speak with people in English and communicate directly what we intend to say, the message comes across differently than anticipated. Recognizing the need for a Nestle cultural program would be a dif? cult task. Most people are born and bred in a very particular cultural environment, they can only perceive and understand the world, their deeds, and counterparts’ reactions through their very own cultural perspective.This perspective is a strong ? lter through which most people understand, interpret, and process information in a particular way. And in most cases, these same people do not recognize this ? lter. Our own culture and way of doing business seems sovereignly logical and â€Å"normal† that we can hardly think of a better or different way of doing things and managing in ? rms. I would argue that this view is also true for managers who grew up on the other side of the world; they have their own (very logical and often very successful) ideas about how to do business.A good portion of cross cultural misunderstandings come from how people think and feel about other cultures, which I would argue is made up generally of stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalisations help us to simplify, classify and in general attempt to make sense of the world. They occur when we infer qualities about a person based on evidence of a single characteristic. For example, we may assume that because someone is Hindu that they work in the IT department. This assumption is likely to be based on our previous experience of people with Hindu people or from information we have gathered from the media or other people.The problem is of course that stereotypes do not always apply. It is certainly not the case that all Hindu people work in information technology. We are most likely to hold stereotypes about groups of people who we do not perceive to be like us and of whom we have limited experience. It is essential for a company the size and with as much reach as Nestle to be able to understand the negative aspects of both behaviors of cro ss-cultural misunderstandings and avoid stereotypes and learn how to cross-culturally manage both organizationally and or on the institutional level.I would argue that this means having enough awareness of both their host culture and their home culture to be able to make correct managerial decisions regarding its organization’s work force, its commercial markets, the community in which it operates, and the country, which is its host. A good example of Nestle’s non-understanding of cross cultural awareness is the all but forgotten Nestle Infant Nutrition scandal of the 1970’s. Here Nestle sent several of its work-force into third world countries in order to push their infant nutrition.Now at the time the formula was doing well in countless other countries and was practically flying off the shelves. However, one of the KEY necessities for the formula was for it to be added to water. Being that at the time no one in Switzerland chose to know enough about these thir d world locations to see that the water that they had access to was wildly polluted and all but poisonous to small children. If Nestle had taken steps in preparing managers for multinational assignments, they would have been abreast of cultural sensitivity, understanding the importance of maintaining business relationships, and impression management.They should be informed about the complexities in international cultures and human resources management The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of â€Å"yes† varies from â€Å"maybe, I'll consider it† to â€Å"definitely so,† with many shades in between. (http://www. pbs. org/ampu/crosscult. html) This theory alone is what makes having a viable and understandable guidelines for multi-cul tural communication.We will admit that the difficulty in crafting such a document would be not only time consuming but also, extremely tiring as in order to create such guidelines one would have to familiarize themselves with hundreds of different cultures at any given time, however I would argue that a successful guidelines would not just solely be based on the specific interactions of each country but instead be focused on a general understanding of how managers and ALL employees should seek to treat each other across local, national and especially international lines.The critical process of making decisions, reaching mutual agreements, and building consensus has taken a new dimension because of differences in business etiquette and ethical practices. Cross-cultural awareness skills and interpersonal negotiation competence are a pre-requisite to effective management of a multination workforce. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132) Cross-cultural awareness encourages the recognition of cultural di fferences while also noting similarities through which communication, understanding and relationships can be forged. The following points reflect the value of gaining a stronger sense of cross-cultural awareness:Reduces misunderstandings and enhances trust †¢ Understanding and trust can be deepened when each government is more aware of how its and the other government’s cultural background influence their perceptions, values and decisions. Aids in planning, setting goals and problem solving †¢ Each organization can plan and problem solve more effectively as they will be more attentive to what is important to them and the other party Communication, though variously defined, generally describes a process by which information is exchanged among two or more people in a given context.Ultimately, this process of exchanging information is bound by a purpose: that is, to reduce uncertainty and develop a common understanding among the participants (Kawar, 2012). Cross Cultur al communication is another area that I believe Nestle could greatly benefit from on a global scale. Not all too dissimilar to that of awareness communication allows you to take what you know via that of awareness and be able to translate those things into how you speak and interact with you clients worldwide.Success or failure in managing a diverse or multicultural workforce largely depends on the ability of managers to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds and nationalities. International business is the outgrowth of globalization, which is driven primarily by economic interdependency and advances in technology, but the success in global business ventures will be affected by the inability of international managers to understand appropriate business etiquette, customs, and values needed to conduct business among nations of the world. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132)Okoro assesses that management and communication scholars have consistently argued that the success of m anagers on international assignments depends largely on effective cross-cultural communication. Because of its importance, a number of high-growth organizations competing globally make a conscious effort to hire multi-lingual people from varied cultural backgrounds and nationalities. Here in particular is a place of great opportunity for Nestle to grow fundamentally. Having a manager in play that is already familiar with the customs and languages of the area is vitally important to the success and overall outcome of the business.Now the issue comes into play is that while Nestle does have staff all around the world in numerous countries that are indigenous to those specific areas, they still have a strong expectation and in some ways an imposing will on those people. How does that affect the communication process? Well If in any given country it is impolite to wags one finger as they speck yet that practice is customary in Switzerland, that in and about itself makes for very difficu lt deliberations. Cross- cultural communications problems may occur if all individuals within a team do not use the same language, nor norms.In these situations, for ease of communication, the team often chooses a common language that they can use for group communications. Communication differences between individuals can occur on several different levels but for the sake of consistency I will use the finger example I used in the previous paragraph: Gestures form a significant part of methods of communication. However, there are few if any universal gestures. Non-verbal behaviours or ‘body language' vary considerably from one culture to another.For example, a high level of eye contact is considered a sign of attentiveness in some cultures and a sign of rudeness in others. In some cultures individuals are encouraged to express their emotions openly, while in others openly demonstrating feelings is discouraged. These differences in body language can lead to misunderstandings bet ween people of different cultural backgrounds. Norms are culturally defined rules for determining acceptable and appropriate behavior (Okoro) They include those that govern social situations and conversational routines such as greetings, making requests, and expressing various emotions.In intercultural communication interlocutors may be tempted to transfer their cultural norms to contexts that are not appropriate In conjunction with this Sizoo states that, while some organizations recognize the importance of international business, training and development programs often deal inadequately with the potential conflicts that result from cross-cultural interactions. Too often this training addresses only the cognitive level–focusing on the dos and don’ts. When managers pursue careers in international business they must prepare for a life in a foreign cognitive, affective, and behavior context.That preparation must include learning cross-cultural considerations intellectual ly, emotionally, and experientially. I believe that Sizoo’s outline for effective communication training is as outlined. I. Cross Cultural Interview II. Handling a Cross Cultural Event With Cross Cultural interviews the gist of it is each participant interviews one foreigner who is from a culture different from his or her own, and whom he or she has never met before. This exercise provides experience and builds skills at the first two levels of cross-cultural management, self and interpersonal.This orientation into cultural norms will help management better decipher different cultures and how to break the ice. I have seen the contrary of this especially within Nestle in the early stages of my career. In two distinctly different interactions with management I was told, once that my manager had never worked with an African American man and that he needed to adjust how he communicated since there may be a barrier between us. In a different interaction another manager, while spea king with an Asian coworker said hey I love Chinese food, can you make any by yourself.Having to initiate and manage an interaction with foreign stranger addresses the emotional challenges of developing cross-cultural expertise. With handling cross-cultural events Sizoo states that, each cultural incident describes a realistic cross-cultural misunderstanding, four plausible explanations for the misunderstanding, and an evaluation of each explanation. In this activity trainees discuss and demonstrate the cross-cultural incidents. The emphasis is on having participants project themselves into the scenario so they â€Å"experience† the cultural conflict motionally as well as intellectually. This type of training could be paramount in helping managers overcome communication problems that may arise while dealing with a cross-cultural organization. I use the example of the formula debacle once again here. I would argue that although no one could have readily predicted that such a t ragedy would have occurred, if managers were trained on how to defuse problems culturally then I would argue that the explosion of public opinion would not have happened.Being amply prepared to deal with cultures is one of the key fundamental necessities of any successful business. Now while Nestle was able to eventually recover if people had been trained in this process a bit earlier than, again perhaps things would not have escalated to the points that they did. Through this process managers would learn how to accept the virtual inevitability of making some cross-cultural errors, but not to accept repeating the errors. They would also learn that errors in appropriate behavior are far worse than mere inability to speak the host country language.The participants further learn to strategically recover in such situations and soon afterwards seek out explanation of their cross-cultural error from a member of the host culture. The key take away with this exercise is that management lear ns how to develop and over time eventually master communicating cross-culturally in hostile environments. Within the cross-cultural news portion of the exercise, managers would be required to find a newspaper or magazine article that describes an American work organization adapting, or having difficulty in adapting, to the culture of a foreign country.Participants present an analysis of the cross-cultural differences to the group as a whole and explain why the American organization was successful or unsuccessful in resolving its cross-cultural differences. This allows for managers to get firsthand experience of a similar company to Nestle (ideally) and analyze some of the struggles that they are currently experiencing. This first hand ensures that managers will be able to not only potentially defuse similar situations in the future but even potentially understand the communication process in order to better facilitate a smoother transition to other cultures.In cross-cultural communi cation, anxiety and uncertainty are heightened by cultural variability. If the differences between cultures are profound, anxiety and uncertainty would increase when members of the different cultural groups engage in cross-cultural communication. In the same way that theories such as The Theory of Communicative Competence (as described by T. A. McCarthy) suggests that cross-cultural norms practices etc should be taught in schools, is the same was one could argue that cross-cultural communication should be taught by all those organizations, similar to Nestle that have offices all other across the globe.With both of these initiatives I would think that Nestle would be able to propel itself by leaps and bounds over cross-cultural boundaries. And yes to be honest Nestle has moved to rectify SOME of the issues outlined in this expose, however again I do believe that there does still exist some behavior and speech that is not conducive to the cross-cultural atmosphere. 1. Schermerhorn, Jo hn R. (11/2011). Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319 2. Sizoo, S. , Serrie, H. & Shapero, M. (2007). Revisiting a Theory-Supported Approach to Teaching Cross-Cultural Management Skills. Journal Of Teaching In International Business,18(2/3), 83-99. doi:10. 1300/J066v18n02_0 3. Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-Cultural Etiquette and Communication in Global Business: Toward a Strategic Framework for Managing Corporate Expansion. International Journal Of Business & Management,  7(16), 130-138. doi:10. 5539/ijbm. v7n16p130 4. Kawar, T. (2012). Cross-cultural Differences in Management. International Journal Of Business & Social Science,  3(6), 105-111.

What is the evidence on Parents or Family role in Childhood Obesity in Literature review

What is the evidence on Parents or Family role in Childhood Obesity in UK - Literature review Example According to the BHF (2012), at least 33% of girls and 25% of boys aged 2-19 years in the UK are obese. That notwithstanding, it is projected that the prevalence of childhood obesity will be around 10.7% or higher by the years 2015 (BHF 2012). In a study conducted by the National Child Measurement Programme in 2012, it was ascertained that an estimated 33.9% of all children between 10 and 11 years of age in England are overweight (BHF 2012). When parents find it less important to define what their children should eat or what they should not, it becomes a pivotal issue as to how much parents determine the state of their children’s health. According to Kellow (2012), one in every ten parents in the UK raises concerns about their children’s low body weight. Conversely, about 33% of mother and 57% of fathers considered the weight of their children as normal when such children were actually obese (Stamatakis et al. 2010; Ferry 2013). Whereas the majority of parents in the UK are too busy to plan healthy diet for their children, 73% do not care what their children watch or eat outside the home (Kellow 2012). In contrast, few parents encourage their children to take regular exercise while others are less concerned with the eating behavior of children during school hours. As a result, nine in every ten children indulge in junk food with high calories, high fat and sugar content but little vitamins or minerals as noted by Ferry (2013). The unfortunate fact is that parents in the UK are becoming used to the picture and there is little effort to address that issue yet obesity costs the country over  £2 billion every year in addition to reducing victim’s life by 9 years (BHF 2012). The importance of conducting this research revolves around the fact that lifestyle diseases are the leading cause of deaths globally. Unfortunately, children are

Access how governments have used decentralization to make public Essay

Access how governments have used decentralization to make public services more responsive - Essay Example re which must be taken into account while assessing the significance and incidence of decentralization is that whether the proposed decentralization is in the favor of the public interest or not. The intellectual discussion regarding the success and failure of decentralization of public institutions largely focus on this main issue. Viewed in that perspective it is then decided whether public services would be more responsive to the decentralization or whether they should be centralized. Further, the decentralization and centralization of any government and public sector services is done based on two perspective i.e. Efficiency values and Government values. â€Å"Efficiency Values comprise the public choice justification for decentralization, where efficiency is understood as the maximization of social welfare whereas the Governance values comprises of (i) responsiveness and accountability, (ii) diversity, and (iii) political participation.†(Wolman, 1990). Assessing within these two perspectives, we will now attempt to analyze the decentralization that took place in UK. Starting with the industrial relations, it has been largely argued that the decentralization of industrial relations would not yield results without providing a due thought to the local contexts within which these processes take place. Decentralization especially within the context of industrial relation has been largely viewed as an attempt to weaken the workers unions. Unions are often seen as protectors of the labor rights and decentralization of the collective bargaining power of the unions have further dented the morale of the public sector employees. It is probably because of this reason that despite initiating decentralization, UK is considered as a strong bureaucracy with strong administrative lacunas to hinder the smooth operations of the public sector services. (Katz, 1993). The shift in the locus of power within the public services therefore created strong administrative problems and

Discuss some of the ways differences and inequalities are made on Essay

Discuss some of the ways differences and inequalities are made on streets in the UK - Essay Example Streets, infrastructure and telecommunications services have a role to play in the differences and inequalities people have. Most streets have some common aspects but still there exist unique characteristics which are visible in the society. Things that show some uniqueness in the streets include; dressing style, activities people perform, their material possessions like vehicles, ways they are governed by, the way they interact with other people and how they handle things like conflicts in the society (Amartya  & James 1997). In UK, streets give people from a certain neighbourhood a sense of belonging and thus they feel they are part of that society. They play a big role in determining how people relate to one another in the streets and in their neighbourhood and thus bringing about the differences and inequality among people from different streets and neighbourhoods. Differences and inequality in the streets of UK could be as a result of the difference in the economic status of people living in a certain street or estate. Materialism is a key separation point between groups of people living in different suburbs. The wealthier the people are the more they see themselves to be greater than the other. The lower income people are looked down upon by the people who earn high income. Their perspectives on their role in street developments also conflicts and this brings about differentiation and inequality between the two groups of people (Sala 2006). All the people in the society today have a role to play in making it a better place and make it have a sense of community. The people in the streets; shopkeepers, cafà © operators, policemen, traders etc, aim at improving their own standards of living and live in a better neighbourhood. As a result differences and inequalities will always be part of the streets. In UK every street wants to have good infrastructure and

Comparison between Electoral Systems and Movement Organising Essay

Comparison between Electoral Systems and Movement Organising - Essay Example This essay discusses that  using people’s power has positive aspects such as the appeal of having the masses in support of the change they need. When the masses are in solidarity in demanding for a particular action from the government, there is much more international attention focussed on the situation that forces the concerned parties in authority to take appropriate actions to correct the situation. Moreover, when the people act in solidarity to demand change, they have much more strength and motivation to see it done.This paper declares that the negative aspects of peoples’ power are that it can lead to violence resulting in injuries or even loss of lives. In some cases, it leads to a prolonged instability in the region or country affected. An example of the case where the peoples’ power took control was in the Arab revolution in Egypt when the Egyptians rose against the then regime of President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian protests mainly concerned politic al issues and legal issues that they claimed to treat them poorly. After they had succeeded to over through President Hosni, there were political reforms, even though instability remains a big challenge to date.  The number of registered voters who vote usually reduces under any normal circumstance. Movement building can be used to improve on the voter turnout more conveniently than the electoral system. Usually when the masses participate in demonstrations such as the peoples’ power, the struggling communities take a large part in the participation.

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MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 4 Discussion Board - Essay Example The equation for a regression analysis analyzes the relationship between one dependent variable and one or more independent variables (Curvefit 2008). In the regression equation, the dependent variable is modeled such that it is a function of the independent variables, constant, and an error term which is an estimation of the variations in the independent variable. A simple regression equation is one which tries to explain the dependent variable with a single explanatory for variable. For example, we know that the level of income of an individual can be explained by education, position, race, gender, and even age. When we would like to isolate the effects or relationship of income with race alone, this is called simple regression. However, when we take two or independent variables such as education, age, and race, then it is called multiple regressions (Curvefit 2008). Regression analysis has been a very useful tool in economists who are closely watching the relationship between variables. Regression analysis is used to forecast the GDP growth of the country by looking at the historic GDP data (Regression Analysis 2008). It is also used to determine the relationship between foreign exchange rate and the money supply in a given country. In business organizations, regression analysis is frequently utilized in order to make important decisions like pricing strategies (Regression Analysis 2008). WidgeCorp’s entry to the cold beverage sector should further be assessed by looking at the attractiveness of the market and the potential that it has in serving the customers. The company’s decision of coming up with a forecast of its monthly sales will be beneficial in decision of production levels. The monthly sales can be forecasted by using monthly sales as the dependent variable. In the regression equation, independent variables should include the amount investment in advertising, season, and time. The amount investment in advertising is important

Fair Tax Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fair Tax Act - Essay Example The Fair tax act (HR 25, S 13) is legislation which not inclined to any of the political parties in the United States. The act will abolish all capital gains, social security, self-employment taxes, Medicare expenses; income taxes levied on corporations and individuals by the federal government, and replace them with an uncomplicated sales tax. The state’s sales tax authorities administer the retail sales tax that enacted by the federal government (Barbra, 2011 p 22). The system of the fair tax equates all persons and it will enhance efficiency, accountability, and a lasting solution to the disparities in the current system of taxation. With the enactment of the fair tax, it is easier to monitor the activities of the government agencies mandated to carry out the roles of collecting taxes. For a long time, the various agencies of the government entrusted to levy taxes on business corporations and individuals have misused the authority granted by the constitution. The act came to minimize the abuse of powers by the state authorities to ensure just and reasonable treatment of all citizens (Barbara, 2011 p 79). Trade and other commercial activities will occur in a favorable environment. The act puts into consideration both exports and imports; exports should not be taxed because their consumption occurs outside the United States. On the other hand, goods imported to the United States undergo taxation since consumption is in the domestic markets. Thus, the act will make sure that the goods locally produced in the United States become more competitive both in the United States and international markets (Barbara, 2011 p 79). The fair Tax act plan has an impact on the cost of education. The act can be regarded as the only proposal of tax reform that supports education, compared to the current law on taxation. As a matter of fact, the plan cuts by half the cost of education to American families making education accessible to as many Americans as

Financial Statement Review Essay Example for Free

Financial Statement Review Essay What is the net income for the current fiscal year? Is it up or down from the prior year? Why would this information be important to investors? The total consolidated net income for Fiscal Year 2015 is $17,099 million dollars. This is amount is up from the previous Fiscal Year (2014) which had a consolidated net income of $16,695 million dollars. This information can be found on page 38 of the Walmart 2015 Annual Report. This information would be of importance to investors because it indicates whether the company is prospering financially and generating revenue. What is the ending balance in stockholders’ equity? Why would a labor union potentially be interested in this information? The ending balance in stockholders’ equity is $323 million dollars. This information can be found on page 40 of the Annual Report. This information would be of potential interest to a labor union because it provides information that could be used in determining labor rates, work salaries, and employee benefits. What is the total value of assets? Why would this information be important to a potential creditor? The total values of assets is $101,381 million dollars which can be found on page 60 of the Annual Report. This information would be of importance to a potential creditor because it provides an indication of whether the company would be able to repay any accumulated debt. It also provides a picture of how liquid those assets might be. What is the total cash flow from operation? The total cash flow from operations is $17,099 million dollars which can be found on page 41 of the Annual Report. What financial statement user would find this information most important?

Frederick Law Olmsted American Landscape Architect History Essay

Frederick Law Olmsted American Landscape Architect History Essay He is considered the father of American Landscape Architecture. He is to this day the most prolific park designer in history, his parks having a certain gravity about them that still draw thousands of people to them. He is the creator of historically significant landscapes that have changed the American landscape forever, such as Central Park in New York City, the countrys oldest system of public parks and the oldest state park. His name is Frederick Law Olmsted. Frederick Law Olmstead set out on a steadfast journey early with one mission in mind. He aimed to change the face of the country and become a man of influence within society and American culture. Olmsteads career as Americas first landscape architect did not start as you may think however. He dabbled as a farmer, his first hobby, followed by a career in publishing and journalism which eventually allowed him to gain insight into the mainstream of contemporary American life. His many misfires in his erratic beginnings and clas sic American background prepared him well to achieve his lofty goals and go on to become the most influential landscape architect of his time. Frederick Law Olmsted was born on April 26th 1822 in the city of Hartford, a city in which his family had resided for over seven generations. His recollections of his childhood schooling were not ones he was particularly fond of. Instead, Olmstead chose to remember best what he did during school not what he had studied. Even as a child Olmsted had shown a propensity to being outdoors, keeping himself busy by exploring and learning about nature. He did however have plans to study at Yale, but these plans were derailed by deteriorated eyesight. Instead, Olmsted decided to study engineering and farming. (Congress) He stayed at home choosing to read books that kept him up to date with the outside world. These books included Websters first Dictionary and the thirteenth-volume of Encyclopedia Americana. (Roper) Olmstead eventually put his studies and practices to work on a small farm that he owned in Staten Island, New York. These experiences served as a great jumping off points for Olmste ads careers in both journalism and landscape architecture. Olmsteds farm gave him time to cultivate his skills as a farmer in turn lead him to gain invaluable information about agriculture and horticulture, both necessary sciences for a successful career in landscape architecture. The New York Tribune described Olmsteds farm in an advertisement: contains 125 acres, about 100 of which are high in state of cultivation, and the rest woodland à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the farm is well fenced, there are a large number of fruit trees on the premises, and two excellent gardens, with profusely bearing grape vines. (Roper) Olmsted named the farm, which he had acquired with the help and guidance of his father, Tosomock Farm. At Tosomock, Frederick Law Olmsted famously added a one and half story addition to the Dutch farmhouse which had been rumored to be over a century old and many other minor improvements to the corresponding barns. Olmsted commented that the landscape surrounding the house was very unsightly and bald and one of his first projects for the site was to upgrade the landscaping. The farm as a whole was used by Olmsted for many purposes including a tree nursery and pasture for livestock. Olmsted planted a diverse amount of plants and trees including large Cedar of Lebanon conifers and Osage Orange trees that were rare at the time. His experiments here on the farm led to a thirst for more horticultural knowledge, one that would help his career as a landscape architect boom. Soon into Frederick Law Olmsteds venture of Tosomock Farm, Olmsteds brother John and family friend Charley Brace asked Olmsted to join them on a walking tour of England. At first Olmsted was reluctant but eventually obliged to go in April of 1950 after realizing the trip would be one he could relish forever. In England he visited many parks and furthered his familiarity with the park advocacy of Andrew Jackson Downing. He remarked that he was very impressed by his visit to Birkenhead Park, designed just a few years earlier by Joseph Paxton near Liverpool. Birkenhead Park was designed and billed as the first park of its kind to be built for the enjoyment of the average citizen. Olmsted remarked in a book written later: art had been employed to obtain from nature so much beautylarge valleys were made verdant, extensive drives arrangedplantations, clumps, and avenues of trees formed, a large park laid out. And all magnificent pleasure ground is entirely, unreservedly, and forever, the p eoples own. The poorest British peasant is as free to enjoy it as the British Queen. (Alexopoulos) The elements that appealed to Olmsted most in the English parks and gardens he visited were the use of bodies of water for aesthetic interest and beauty. He also enjoyed the extensive, sweeping lawns that were defined by groves of trees. Here in these groves, Olmsted picked up one of his signature features in his parks, the use of a specimen tree. A specimen tree is a tree that is singled out for its nobler qualities that the designer specifically wants to be noticed. Olmsted also noticed the illusions of great distances created through the use of long vistas, middle-distance plantings. (Alexopoulos) Another practice that Olmsted took notice to were the undulations in ground plane helping to form aesthetic interest as well as winding, bordering paths and drives, which gave the impression of great range. Olmsted went on to use all of these practices in his designs which are still widely used today, however he adapted the English versions to fit into the American landscape. After returning from England Olmsted published Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England in 1852, catching the eye of the founding editor of the New York Times, Henry J. Raymond who offered Olmsted the opportunity to write a report sparking a new career in journalism for Olmsted. Raymond had commissioned Olmsted to travel to the deep south of the United States in search of stories to write for the New York Times. On December 11th 1852, Olmsted set forth on his classic tour of observation as Olmsted called it. He started in Washington D.C. traveling to Richmond and Petersburg Virginia before turning east for the coast towards Norfolk and then south to Raleigh. He then took a detour to Charleston and from there went south to Savannah Georgia and eventually travelled west into Montgomery, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. The first leg of this initial trip would become the basis for Olmsteds first piece, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States. (White and Kramer) Olmsted has been credited with making it fascinating with witty descriptions of his conversations and experiences in a society which was on the verge of overwhelming change. Olmsteds experiences served as a valuable asset in his quest to change the face of the country, except as Olmsted remarked the fa ce of the country was about to change forever. (Roper) His travels through many different terrains and landscapes enabled him to gain a wide scope of the landscape outside the world he had known in the northeast. He learned about the different types of people that we residing in the mountains of Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina and that the life style of the societies was different for each area of the United States. Olmsted used this knowledge not only to write as a journalist but he also used it later in his designs. He understood early as a designer that designing the landscape to cater to the society and people that inhabited it was very important to the success and popularity of the site. Olmsted had always said that he had used his career as a journalist to gain insight into people all over the country. But that was not the only reason he did so. He also claimed that his career in journalism introduced him to people that had a tremendous amount of power. In the arguably t he greatest city in the world, New York, Olmsted had made connections with some of the most influential people in the country. Olmsted was making the correct decisions with impeccable timing eventually helping to springboard him into his remarkable career as a landscape architect. Andrew Jackson Downing was among the first to realize the need for New Yorks Central Park. The influential landscape designer had the connections to make it happen. Enter Calvert Vaux, an English born architect who Downing had brought over from England. Downing, who was one of Olmsteds greatest mentors and friends, introduced the dynamic duo. Olmsted was soon named the Superintendent of Central Park and this would prove vital to Olmsted and Vaux successful design. Since Olmstead had not done and previous landscape design work, he was a relative unknown in the design competition. Vaux had specifically asked Olmsted to become his partner in the design because he felt he could provide accurate observation in regard to the actual topography which was not clearly defined on the survey furnished for the competitors by the board. (Roper) However Vaux would soon learn that he has stumbled upon a goldmine and that Olmsted could do much more than provide information about the grounds. At first, Olmsted had hesitated to accept Vaux invitation. However he did accept and was at work on the plan by the middle of January 1858. By this time he had also improved his standing with two of the board members for the park and had even gotten a raise. The rules of the competition were simple. Each team was to complete the design fulfilling the requirements that the board had set out for them. The features that the park was to contain included entry locations, three playgrounds of ten acres each, a site for a concert hall, a site for an ornamental fountain, a design for two or three acre flower garden and a place that could be flooded in the winter for ice skating. (Roper) They worked tirelessly every night, because they had professional commitments during the day, until their presentation of the Greensward plan on the final day of submission April 1st 1858. Olmstead and Vaux were announced as the winners on April 28th to the approval of the judges and public. The Times approve d of the winning design writing: There can be little doubt that in its essential features the plan Messrs. Olmsted and Vaux embraces all the leading requisites of a great park à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ adapted not only to the nature of the particular grounds in question, but to the prospective wants of our city also. (Roper) The descriptive report that was submitted with the plan explained that Olmsted and Vaux had intended to create contrasting and varying passages of scenery, suggesting to the mind and imagination that there was great range of rural conditions. (Roper) Its one great purpose, Olmsted wrote, is to supply to the hundreds of thousands of tired workers, who have no opportunity to spend their summers in the country, in a specimen of Gods handiwork. (Cox) Olmsted and Vaux were appointed to carry out the plan of May 17th 1858 and Olmsted was entrusted with supervision of everything except for the duties of the designers which he consulted with Vaux. Olmsted was to employing and directing labor crews to build the park. He went on to hire over 2,500 men and by October he had accomplished more work than he had scheduled for. The plan that was to make Olmsted a figure of legend was completed in the summer of 1859. Olmsted had finally done it. He had married his two greatest hobbies and used every skill acquired along his journey to create arguably the worlds greatest park. Olmsted used his farming and horticulture background with his experiences as a journalist to create a park that was aesthetically pleasing to the horticultural knowledgeable as well as pleasing to all who visited it for its rural expanses. As a journalist he explored the agitating questions of the day with the candor and intelligence and in the space of a decade produced a body of work that was a revelation to the pre-civil war generation. Following his prolific career as a journalist was Olmsteds work on Central Park. On the Central Park project Olmsted turned his mind to the problems, already acute, of big-city living. His connections with the United States Sanitary Commission during the war then carried him into the area of the social sciences, the concerns of which dovetailed nicely with those of the work that was his passion for as long as he could remember at last his profession, landscape architecture. Furthermore his travels and ventures, any of which could have been a satisfactory life of work for the average citizen, was the preparation that this searching spirit needed. (Roper) Olmsted enjoyed a prolific 40 year career as a landscape architect. During his time he was regarded as a pioneer, however after his death his name had been forget for almost a half century and many of his designs were left to ruins or turned into botched re-designs. He is credited with being the inventor of the rural park movement in the United States, a successful drive towards setting aside unusual scenic beauty for public enjoyment. With Vaux he designed parks, parkways and developments, the grounds outside public buildings, institutions and private estates all over the country. Under the impact of Olmsteds thought and practice, landscape design shifted its sights from decorative to social aims. Land was beginning to be arranged not only for aesthetic beauty but also for the functionality of it. The landscape began to serve the health, comfort, convenience and good cheer of everyone who used it. In an age where urbanization was taking over America, Olmsteds movement towards humani zing the physical environment of cities and to secure precious regions of landscape for functional use and enjoyment of everyone was somewhat of a heroic undertaking. (Roper) Olmsteds lifelong concern was for the character of his country and his countrymen, he preserved as much of that character as he could by his public parks which preserved the integrity of Americas past in both landscape and society. Garden and Forest wrote of Olmsted at the height of his contemporary fame, millions of people now unborn will find rest and refreshment in the contemplation of smiling landscapes which he has made, and will enjoy the shade of trees which he has planted. No American has been more useful in his time or has made a more valuable and lasting contribution to civilization in this country. (Roper)