Future Trends of Human Resource Essay Example for Free

Future Trends of Human Resource Essay 1. Introduction What does the human resource information system look like in the future? It is hard to find an accurate answer for me. Every year, thousands of HRIS specialists trying to predict the future trends of HRIS and, of course, their prediction differ. However, despite of what prediction they had made, I think social media will play an important role in next few years. In this paper, I will try to discuss what social media means to human resource and discuss three major players in the fieldFacebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. 2. Social Network Site vs. HR According to the 2011 Kelly Services Global employees Index research, published by the famous human resource service organization Kelly Services, social network site is becoming the â€Å"edge tool† in the future workplace. According to the research, social network site (SNS) is changing the way of life and work. It expanded its function from only entertaining to boosting working efficiency and enhancing the success rate of job applying. The research shows that over 80% of workforce is using SNS every day, while over 60% of workforce considers it as a work booster. According to the research, a lot of employees think they can develop an instant synchronized â€Å"expert tank†, from which they can acquire relative knowledge, skill and experience, so that they will be support by experts wherever, whenever. They also regard SNS as a pipe cleaner of the networking. By using SNS, they can manage their networking just within few clicks. It is a cost efficiency and personalized way. In addition, they also use SNS to relieve work pressure. According to the research, SNS is now penetrating to the area of traditional recruiting. The advantage of it includes no limits of time and space, cost efficiency and high reliability. The research indicated that over 90% active job seekers are now using SNS at least once per week. It also indicated that job seekers who age below 25 are more willing to use SNS as a tool to find job, while who age over 35 are more possible to find a job by using it. The research suggests that company should pay attention to what SNS may change the future workplace. According to the research, the most common worries toward SNS are affecting productivity, occupying internet and threating the information security. It also report that there are a lot of companies are now start using SNS to recruit, manage market, promote public relation and guide career development by setting new policies and using latest antivirus technics. 3. Facebook Facebook is a SNS launched in February 2004, owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. By the time of October 2012, Facebook has over one billion active users, more than half of them using Facebook on a mobile device. According to the research, 23% of Facebook users check their account 5 times or more per day. By the time of May 2012, Facebook received more than 1.6 billion visits per week. There are over 1,000,000 links shared on Facebook every 20 minutes. If you regard Facebook merely as an entertaining SNS, you will be absolutely wrong. In the era of internet, Facebook is now developing different social platforms. It transforms its function from just connecting and entertaining people to job bank and social synergy. By Facebook recently launched job applying app â€Å"Jobvite†, people can find, refer, and match jobs to friends with Jobvite’s proprietary matching technology, providing better access to opportunities for job seekers and more quality hires for employers. Users can connect and apply to jobs completely within Facebook; and they can see their status in the hiring process at any time, creating a positive, transparent relationship for companies and candidates. By using another job applying app â€Å"jobandtalent†, users can discover and leverage their existing Facebook network to find job opportunities and stand out to top companies. Jobandtalent claimed that they are working with world top companies like Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and Google. The fact is that the data stored on Facebook not only including job relate area, but also including other areas, such as daily life. Employer can acquire 360-degree background information of candidates via Facebook. â€Å"It is easy to track record of candidates on Facebook. These records may imply personal interests, personality and other attributes† Said an HR specialist, â€Å"Traditional resumes are monotonous, like masks, but these records are alive and we can totally tell a difference.† It is not surprisingly true. Tell me if I wrong, if the records of a candidate show that he use the â€Å"f† word all the time, dare you or dare you not hire him? Job applicants like him will lose his opportunity from the beginning. Facebook is now challenging LinkedIn by this advantage. According to the survey conducted by Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half of companies are now using Facebook in their recruitment process, such as Boeing and Dell. They use Facebook not only for job posting, but also for background investigation. However, research shows that there are different between social media behavior and real life behavior. It is to be studied whether it is reliable to investigate candidates via SNS. 4. LinkedIn LinkedIn is a SNS for professional people. Launched on May 5th, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. By the time of June 2012, LinkedIn reports more than 175,000,000 users in more than 200 countries. Monster is one of three largest job posting web site, however, its financial report showed a significant decline in business revenue. According to the market analyst, because of the blooming of LinkedIn, companies like Monster are losing market share in a large scale. Just like Facebook, LinkedIn founded upon the theory of Six Degrees of Separation. Also it was not designed for recruiting; LinkedIn became the major way to recruit in the U.S. by the time of 2006 and achieve profitability. LinkedIn is known as its high accurate matching rate. It can even â€Å"push† eligible candidates to employers by preset standard. According to the co-founder Reid Hoffman, it is more and more important for people to utilize their networking in the future. If you want to change you r job every two or three years, you have to maintain your networking to find new opportunities. SNS is the easiest way to do it. You don’t have to make call after call and desperate to find topic to cottoning up, you don’t have to visit people with gifts door after door. The only thing you have to do is just within few clicks, and you can make connection with people you want to. In his opinion, the value of LinkedIn is â€Å"concentrate in the value moment†. Also Facebook has more user base and more stickiness; it is not safe to say that LinkedIn is losing the game. The orientation of these two web-sites is different. The business scope of Facebook is wide and the â€Å"killer app† of it is social game and â€Å"Share†, while LinkedIn concentrate in professional occupations. In a way, the overlap of these two web-sites is small. People regard Facebook as â€Å"individual† and LinkedIn as â€Å"professional†. Compare to strong interaction of Facebook, LinkedIn is not that strong. However, this weak interaction as â€Å"professional community† is where it value lies. For the user of LinkedIn, log in every day and post threats is meaningless and way far from the identity of professional, it will only imply that you are not in the working status. In other word, user stickiness makes little sense for LinkedIn. In addition, compared to Facebook, LinkedIn is a real-name, high quality user concentrated SNS. In other word, the user group is rich and high-educated middle-aged professions. This user group is known as high business value. According to the statistics from Quantcast, in the United States, the proportion of user over 35 is over 70%, the proportion of user with bachelor or above education is over 75% and the proportion of user with over $100,000 incomes is over 39%, compared to Facebook with only 32%, 53% and 32% (Chart 1). Chart1 Demographic Analysis of Facebook and LinkedIn What’s more, in business related area, LinkedIn is highly recognized than Facebook. According to a research conducted by Jobvite, in job applicants who are now using or will use SNS to find jobs, more than 95% indicate that they will choose LinkedIn. Only 59% chose Facebook and 42% chose Twitter. In people who already find a job by using SNS, 89% of them used LinkedIn, 28% used Facebook. To sum up, although Facebook is now challenging LinkedIn in professional SNS area, LinkedIn is still No.1 in the field. 5. Twitter Twitter is an online social networking service and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as tweets. Launched in July, 2006, the service rapidly gained worldwide popularity. By the time of 2012, over 500,000,000 active users generating over 340,000,000 tweets per day and handling over 1,600,000,000 search queries per day. Twitter has been described as â€Å"the SMS of the Internet† Unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter has its own characteristics. Firstly, there is a limit of characters for each tweet. You can only send up to 140 characters in one tweet. This limit made information fragmented. This kind of fragmented information eliminated the time of reading, and by this elimination user can spread their thought more accurately and more efficiency. Secondly, you don’t have to get â€Å"approval† to follow somebody. This character makes Twitter more like a broadcasting station. Users could follow the Twitter of their favorite celebrity, brand and company to acquire latest trend. Likewise, the later will use Twitter to improve public relation to the target user group. Thirdly, most of user write and read tweets by using mobile devices. That means you will get first hand news via Twitter. An interesting statistic shows that within Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter has second largest influence of commercial both in B2B and B2C. Facebook has the largest influence of B2C commercial while LinkedIn has the largest influence of B2B commercial (Chart 2). Chart 2 Influences in Commercial For human resource, Twitter has two major functions. The first function is to use Twitter to improve company image. More and more companies now hiring Twitter specialist to manage company Twitter. The other is to recruit. Compare to Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter is more cost saving, speedy and simple. According to William Fisher, the founder of job searching web site TwitJobSearch, there are more than 340,000 jobs posting in Twitter per month. TwitJobSearch release two appsJob-Deck and TweetDeck. Users can sort and find job posting related tweets by using these two apps. 6. Cites http://recruiting.jobvite.com/company/press-releases/2011/jobvite-launches-social-job-app-on-facebook-to-power-referral-hiring/ http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/news/2011/10/03/5822750.htm

Analysis Of The Coconut Oil Industry Economics Essay

Analysis Of The Coconut Oil Industry Economics Essay The coconut oil milling industry, which started during over a century ago, is still active and exporting to other countries. This industry seems to have a huge potential for profit in both the local and global setting. Producing millions of metric tons of coconut oil, the Philippines is the top exporter of coconut oil; hence, the firms producing them are highly profitable. This paper investigates the profitability level of the coconut oil industry. Furthermore, the paper would be looking at its production and exports contributing to the economy. Lastly, the paper would take a look at its trends and how it affects Philippines GDP. The paper would be using statistics, tables, graphs and news to prove that the said industry is making profit up to this point. This paper hopes to achieve more insight on the coconut oil industry and learn more about its current state in the Philippine market. Introduction Background History Other than semi-conductors exports, the Philippines is also known for its coconut oil exports. The Philippines is presently the top exporter of coconut oil worldwide. In 1989, the Philippines was the second largest exporter after Indonesia. The Philippines is producing a lot of metric tons of coconut oil and exporting them to the world. Some of the countries that the Philippines cater to are United States, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, and China (Philippines coco oil exports up to 33.39 pct in November, 2010). The coconut oil industry started to bloom during the 1960s. The Philippine pesos devaluation during 1962 and 1970 respectively had increased the worlds demand for Philippine products such as coconut oil. Because of this devaluation, the land devoted to coconut oil has been increasing 6% per year which In the 1960s and 1970s land devoted to coconut oil cultivation has been increased by 6% per year due to the devaluation of Philippine peso in 1962 and 1970 respectively therefore increasing worlds demand for coconut oil. Because of this devaluations, the local government provided investment incentives to encourage the production/processing of coconut oil. The number of coconut mills grew from 28 to roughly 62 mills in 1979. (Philippine-Coconut Industry, 1991) During the Martial Law Regime in 1973, all coconut-related, government operations were placed under the control of one agency known as the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). The PCA was tasked to collect a levy of P 0.55 per 100 kilograms of copra to stabilize the domestic prices of coconut-based goods, particularly coconut cooking oil. In 1974, the Coconut Industry Development Fund was created for the development of hybrid coconut trees. In the same year, the PCA was overtaken by the Coconut Producers Federation or Cocofed, a group of coconut planters. In 1975, PCA acquired a bank which was renamed to United Coconut Planters Bank, to help coconut farmers in their business. (Philippine-Coconut Industry, 1991) In the early 1980s, as coconut prices began to fall, the government was pressured to alter the structure of the industry. The government was being forced to give up its monopolization of coconut oil. In 1985 the Philippine government agreed to dismantle the United Coconut Oil Mills as part of an agreement with the IMF to bail out the Philippine economy. By 1989, coconut trees occupied about 25% of cultivated land. It is estimated that around 25% to 33% of the population was at least partly dependent on coconuts for their livelihood. (Philippine-Coconut Industry, 1991) Research Coconut Industry The coconut industry is the biggest agricultural industry. Based on 2002 Census from the Department of Agriculture, the industry compromises roughly 1.4 million or at least 30% of the total farms in the Philippines. The production of coconut oil heavily rests on the coconut grown by the millions of farmers. The land that grows coconuts is totaled to be roughly 3.32 million ha which surprisingly is even bigger than the land used to produce rice (Dy, 2006). There are 65 coconut oil mills which have the capacity to crush 4.54 million tons of coconut a year (Dy, 2006). The agricultural sector employs almost 40 percent of the total labor force to produce agricultural products like rice, coconuts, etc. (Encyclopedia of Nations). Presently, 25 to 33 percent of the population is dependent of the coconut industry as their livelihood, whether it is through farming the coconuts or milling and refining them (Dolan, 1991). The government and United Coconut Association of the Phillippines (UCAP) declared that the coconut industry might be the next major employment sector of the Philippines (Coconut industry poised as next major employment sector, 2011). They projected that the employment coming from the coconut industry would significantly increase in size by end of 2016 (Coconut industry poised as next major employment sector, 2011). Market size Figure Coconut Oil ProductionThe Philippines, Indonesia, and India are the leading exporters of coconut oil in the Asia Pacific. They account for more 75% of the total production of coconut oil in the world (Smith Nyugen, 2009). It is estimated that the Philippines alone produces around 13 billion coconuts which is refined to oil (Dhanuraj, 2004). In 2011, the production of coconut oil in the Philippines was estimated to be roughly 1.7 million metric tons (Index Mundi, 2011). In the past five years, more and more coconut oil is being produced due to the efficiency of equipment and cultivation of land. The continuous trend in production of coconut oil is an indication of how stable the industry is. The fact that the industry can manufacture almost the same amount of coconut oil per year would show us how stable the industry is. Revenues on Exports Source: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Figure 2 Coconut Oil Exports Figure Coconut Oil ExportsThe coconut oil industry is focused more on exporting cooking oil to other countries. There is no data on the revenue and profit of the industry in the local setting. Every four out of five metric tons produced in South East Asia, especially from the big three producers, are sent to either Europe or the United States (Smith Nyugen, 2009). Only one out of every five metric tons remains in Asia. The Philippines, being the top exporter of coconut oil in the world, has exported millions of metric tons in the past three years (Department of Agriculture, 2011)(see figure above). Furthermore in 2010, the Philippines has not only exported 1.3 billion metric tons of coconut oil, but also earned around 1.2 billion USD which is an outstanding revenue of 55 billion pesos (Department of Agriculture, 2011). During the First quarter of 2010, the prices were pegged at around 1000 USD (Department of Agriculture, 2011). GDP In recent years, the agricultural sector roughly contributes 12~15 percent of the Philippine GDP (Index Mundi, 2011). The agricultural sector had contributed roughly 4 billion USD in 2010. Coconut oil and tuna were computed to be 39.67% percent of the total GDP contributed by the agricultural sector (Department of Agriculture, 2002). The GDP of 2010 has risen by roughly 30.67% from the previous years GDP (Department of Agriculture, 2011). Though it is true that the GDP decreased in 2011, mathematically speaking the GDP contributed by the agricultural sector did not. During 2010, the GDP of the Philippines is roughly 7.3% and roughly 13.9% of comes from the agricultural sector (Instituto Espanyol De Comercio Exterior). In 2011, the GDP is roughly 3.7% which is significantly lower than the previous year, but the agricultural sector still maintains and contributes roughly 12.3% which is not bad (Index Mundi, 2011). Furthermore, on December 2011, coconut oil exports began to rise again by about 2.7% (Reuters, 2011).Thus, coconut oil exports would increase by the year 2012. The Philippine Coco Coir Industry forecasts that by 2016, the exports of coconut oil would increase by 400 percent (Coconut industry poised as next major employment sector, 2011). Importance to the Economy. According to the research done Roland Dy, Ph.D, the coconut oil industry is important to the economy of the Philippines. First, coconut farms are located in 68 out of the 79 provinces of the Philippines. Second, 30% of the total farmlands in the Philipines are coconut farms. Third, coconuts contribute half of the agricultural exports. Fourth, coconut farming lands have the largest potential of diversification. Fifth, it is a huge untapped resource pool for industry development (Dy, 2006). Not only has coconut oil been sold abroad as exports, but it also used as cooking oil. Coconut oil is also used in homes (Isip, 2012). A significant percentage of the market uses coconut oil. It is not only used by homes but also by biscuit industries. The National and Global Environment Technological Environment The Technological Environment of a business greatly affects its ability to produce its products and, therefore, affect its overall performance in the industry. In the Philippines in 1997, coconut production in copra equivalent accounted for 3.83% of the total production of agricultural crops (Aragon, 2000). The coconut production during 1990-1997 was a little small which was due to the slow growth rates in coconut hectarage (0.9%/year) and coconut-bearing trees (0.3%/year) (Aragon, 2000). During the period of 1990-1997, about 91% of the coconut production in the Philippines passes through the copra stage (Aragon, 2000). The minimal production of coconuts of the stagnant farm sector caused the over-capacity of the coconut industrial sector. According to the study done by the Philippine Coconut Industry, there are about 65 coconut oil mills with an installed copra crushing capacity of 4.54 million tons a year (Dy, 2006). According to another study made by them, the number of mills in t he Philippines rose from 28 in 1968 to 62 in 1979 (Phillipine Coconut Industry, 1991). There was also an issue of declining yields because of the aging of coconut trees in some regions (Phillipine Coconut Industry, 1991). Some coconut oil milling industries still use low technology machineries or techniques to produce coconut products. There have been many researches and experiments done to improve this industry. Technologies for coconut processing have been made but only a few of these reached the actual production areas. During a study made by Joey Faustino (2006), the farmers burn the higher value coconut husks/shell to dry the lower value output that is copra(coconut shell). This means that because of the low level technologies that are used by some of the farmers and companies, their level of output is also affected. A famous Malaysian newspaper republishes Wong Yee Tuans work, which says: In the late 19th century, a few businessmen introduced new technology and established Khie Heng Bee Mill, a modern rice and oil mill equipped with steam and hydraulic machinery. The mill was driven by a 60hp horizontal engine and the hydraulic oil presses were worked by a 24ho engine. It was capable of producing 100 piculs (6,000 kilos) of oil per day. It became one of the largest and most important industrial concerns in northern Malaya. The founders of this modern enterprise were Phuah Hin Leong, Chuah Yu Kay, Lim Leng Cheak, Cheah Joo Jin and Cheah Ewe Ghee. (Tuan, 2011) Their technological advancement affected their capability in producing their products. The initiative made by these businessmen inspired others to develop new technologies to improve the industry. In Zamboanga, the Zamboanga Coconut Research Center have produced around 20 hybrid coconut varieties according to the Philippine Coconut Administration (Gumapon). These hybrid coconut varieties were discovered to counter the dry spell (Gumapon). The Coconut Industry Investment Fund-Oil Mills also uses modern technologies in operating their plants. Their plants have a combined crushing capacity of 750,000 metric tons of copra with a refining capacity of 280,500 metric tons of different grades of processed coconut oils (CIIF Oil Mills Group). Having technological advancements helps the industry to improve. The modern technologies help the companies to produce more copra which in turn helps them produce more coconut oil. Economic Trends Coconut oil production is a constant all year round process. As long as there is a constant supply of coconut, coconut oil, and other by-products are constantly being refined and manufactured. Coconut oil products are sold to different firms all over the Philippines and are also exported to other countries all over the world. The Philippines mostly exports its products to countries like United States, Japan, Europe, and most of the ASEAN countries (Encyclopaedia of Nations). The Philippines, being the top producer and exporter of coconut oil, is rapidly growing during the last few years. In the last two years, 1.69 billion metric tons of coconut oil is being produced all over the Philippines (Index Mundi, 2011). But in the recent years, the exportation of coconut oil is slowing declining over the years. The coconut oil industry for 2011 exports roughly fell to .8 million metric tons from the 1.34 million of metric tons produced during 2010 (Olchondra, 2012). Decline in exports of coconut oil is being attributed to the 2011s large export of coconut oil. During January 2012, a coconut oil export is roughly 54,000 metric tons which is roughly half the exports of last year (Galvez, 2012). According to Yvonne Agustin, UCAP executive director the export of coconut oil is going to increase by the second quarter. She says, Right now, the demand for CNO is still weak since most of the foreign buyers still have plenty of stocks from last year, but we expect demand to pick up in the second quarter of the year (Galvez, 2012). According to a research by Asian and Pacific Coconut Community, coconut oil is being produce and exported in significant volumes (see figure below). During the early stages of the coconut oil industry, the production and exports of coconut oil is roughly 1.5 million metric tons and .5 million metric tons respectively. The market had grown so fast that the Philippines alone can produce the same amount of coconut oil in just a year time. (Vinay Chand Association) Figure Coconut Oil Production and ExportsProduction and Exports of Coconut Oil in Metric TonsC:UsersROBERT S. CHENGDesktopUntitled.png Source: Index MundiGlobal Environment Coconut oil accounts for approximately 20% of all vegetable oils used worldwide. Coconut oil is used in margarines, vegetable shortening, salad oils, confections, and in sports drinks to boost energy and enhance athletic performance. The total cultivation under coconut was estimated at 11.0 million hectares producing 55 million tons in 2004. Asia remained the largest producing region at 46 million tons or 85% of global production in 2004. In the western hemisphere, South America was a major producing region at 6% of production (Singh Seepersad Rankine eds, 2007) Philippines and Indonesia are the worlds two largest producers of coconut, with an estimated production of 16.3 million tons and 14.4 million tons from 3.3 million ha and 2.7 million ha respectively. In 2007, the Philippines produced 37% of total world production and Indonesia comes second with 29%. India, the third largest with 13%, produced an estimated 10 million tons from 1.9 million ha. Indonesia and the Philippines were major exporters while India consumed most of its coconut production. Central America, Brazil, Mexico (with 4%) and Jamaica were major producers in the Western Hemisphere (Singh Seepersad Rankine eds, 2007). World production in 2007 fell by -6.8% yr/yr to 4.652 million metric tons, and remains far below the record high of 5.662 million metric tons posted in 2001. (CRB Fundamentals 2008 Commodity Articles: Coconut Oil and Copra, 2008). This fact might be true for the worlds production of coconut oil. But the Philippines is still consistently performing well with 1.358 million metric tons and 1.625 million metric tons in 2001 and 2007 respectively (Index Mundi). The table that follows summarizes the world production of coconut oil in 2011. World Coconut Oil Production in 2011 Source: USDA Figure Coconut Oil Production 2011 Price of Coconut Oil in 2011 Source: Index Mundi Figure Coconut Oil Prices Percentage Change in Coconut Oil Prices in 2011 Jan 2011 2,063.00 Source: Index Mundi- Feb 2011 2,260.00 9.55 % Mar 2011 1,925.00 -14.82 % Apr 2011 2,088.00 8.47 % May 2011 2,097.00 0.43 % Jun 2011 1,803.00 -14.02 % Jul 2011 1,663.00 -7.76 % Aug 2011 1,454.00 -12.57 % Sep 2011 1,310.00 -9.90 % Oct 2011 1,208.80 -7.73 % Nov 2011 1,479.00 22.35 % Dec 2011 1,439.00 -2.70 % Figure Coconut Oil Price Change The world market price for coconut oil is constantly fluctuating. The following table shows the schedule for the price of coconut oil in the world market for the past year. In 2011 alone, price percentage changes fluctuated to a decrease as low as -14.82% in March and to an increase as high as 22.35% in November. The following table shows the schedule for the price of coconut oil in the world market for the past year. Health Benefits Coconut oil is known to be one of the more expensive oils. It can be seen in trends that among the widely used edible oils, coconut oil usually takes a higher level of prices. The following graph compares edible oil prices of soybean oil, palm oil, canola oil and coconut oil from 1997 to 2005. The steep downward slope of coconut oil was due to the Asian financial crisis. Coconut oil being more expensive than its competitors had suffered a lot from the crisis. As seen after the crisis, the trend is gearing upwards again. Edible Oil Prices from 1997 to 2005 Source: Index Mundi Figure Edible Oil Prices When talking about the global environment of the coconut oil industry, it is important to take note of the possible impact of recent medical research done on the health benefits that can possibly be acquired from coconut oil. As written by Singh, Seepersad and Rankine(2007), Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of scientific studies conducted relating to the merits of the traditional tropical diets premised on the use of fruits and vegetables as practiced in the Philippines and Hawaii. Also, studies focused on the merits of using some of the product derivatives such as coconut and palm oil as compared to traditional soybean and other unsaturated oils. Coconut oil has been proven to have a saturated fat, which is of the medium-chain fatty acid variety (MCFA). MCFAs are more readily digested by the body, in that MCFAs are not stored as fat but are immediately converted into energy. This results in an overall increase of the bodys metabolism. Studiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ showed that coconut oil prevented the formation of hepatic cholesterol esters. In addition to this, the lauric acid found in coconut oil provides the disease fighting fatty acid monolaurin, which boosts the immune system. Coconut reportedly has been proven to have no dangerous trans-fats, which are traditionally found in vegetable oils, margarines and shortenings. These substances have the effect of increasing the bodys production of LDLs or bad cholesterol, which has implications for heart disease, diabetes and other health problems. Conclusion The Philippine Coconut Oil industry, which started over a century ago, bloomed and is still consistently profiting from selling cooking oil to the local and global market. Though it has been affected by the Asian Financial Crisis, it still managed to recover. It was able to brought back its sales. The trend of using coconut oil is still consistent. The Philippines produces and exports coconut oil in the same degree. Despite the fluctuating prices and volumes sold of coconut oil, the percentage it contributes to the Philippines GDP has been overall consistent over the past few years. With new technology, the production of coconut oil has been and is consistently getting better. There are fewer wastes, and the cooking oil manufacturers are finding ways to use these wastes for other purposes. My uncle who is part of this industry and one of the leading manufacturers of coconut oil says they are using the wastes as components for bio-fuel. The market for coconut oil has been consistent throughout these past few years despite the costs of coconut oil against its substitutes. Though edible coconut oil is a lot more expensive than oil made from other products such as palm oil, coconut oil is still welcomed by the market. With this statistics, I would like to believe that the coconut oil industry would continue to move on and still be successful in future. Despite the indications of the industry degrading, still shows consistent performance.

Verification Of Faradays First Law Of Electrolysis

Verification Of Faradays First Law Of Electrolysis My research question How can Beers law be used to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and to determine Avogadros number and Faradays constant by electrolysis of 1.000 mol dm-3 copper sulfate (CuSO4) solution using graphite electrodes? is an indirect question to the investigation. I was always interested in verifying laws and learning about interdependence between laws. I was so keen in finding how that how the nature of one law depends upon another law as chemistry a whole subject depends upon multiple concepts. So I took this opportunity to show how one law can be proved using another law. Here in my research I have shown how Beers law can be used to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and I have also used Beers law to determine Avogadros number. This research clearly indicates that there is interdependency between laws. In the verification of Faradays First law of electrolysis of CuSO4, we generally focus on mass of Cu deposited, but not much on color. My focus was that how to use this phenomenon / property of change in intensity to calculate mass indirectly. The same concept of absorbance in Beers law applies while determining Avogadros number. I did the experiments to verify Faradays First law of electrolysis and to determine Avogadros number in indirect manner. Indirect methods have often helped scientists to get their results better and we also have good examples for Back titration and chromatography. So with the same expectation in mind, I came with such a topic for my research. Slight modification in the experiments can really help. I did use graphite electrodes because they are cheap, it is therefore widely used in electrolysis rather than platinum as it is costly. The disadvantage for graphite electrodes is, it flakes off and therefore mass readings of Cu deposited over graphite electrode are highly unreliable. So as the result is highly unreliable, we might not get the accurate readings of the mass of Cu deposited at cathode. But if we use the colorimeter technique to find out the deposition, the mass of graphite lose in the electrolysis process is not affected. I mainly focused upon the absorbance value by the diff erence of color. Once while performing an experiment on electrolysis during my school days, I was using graphite electrodes and I noticed that graphite particles were flaking off the electrodes in electrolyte solution during the experiment. The amounts of carbon particles lost from graphite were very less and so was neglected but later I thought that it might be affecting the result in some or the other way as in the experiment we were supposed to weigh the electrodes to find out the amount of Copper deposited on the cathode. I used to think that if graphite electrodes are themselves losing some mass, then how the electrode can give accurate readings or a reliable result. The copper deposit over cathode is not strongly attached to the cathode thus there are chances that copper deposited on cathode may be lost by mishandling of the electrode before taking direct mass reading; this made me think about an alternative method which would be more accurate as well as reliable, where in the electrodes will n ot have to be removed from the experimental set-up at all! 2. THEORY I would like to start by mention something about electromagnetic spectrum as my experiment deals with Beers law which can be obtained through absorbance value. Absorbance in the colorimeter is found by setting a particular wavelength and there is different wavelength for different objects, similarly there is a particular wavelength absorbed by CuSO4. Electromagnetic radiations have frequencies and all the possible frequencies are covered in the range known as electromagnetic spectrum. The property of characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by any specific object is the electromagnetic spectrum of that object. Electromagnetic spectrum has its range from low frequencies which are used for modern radio to the high frequency like gamma radiation. It covers wavelength from thousand kilometers to small fraction. The limit for the long wavelength is the universe itself and shortest wavelength is near to the Plank length even if the principal states the s pectrum is infinite and continuous which is truly acceptable. In the Vernier colorimeter we have option to select the wavelength from range 430nm, 470nm, 565nm and 635nm. According to the user guide for Vernier colorimeter CuSO4 will yield a good Beers law curve at 635nm. Therefore it says that the wavelength absorbed by CuSO4 lies in the range 635nm and I had used 635nm range throughout the experiment for finding the absorbance of CuSO4. In the study of light we have the Beer-Lambert law which is also known as Beers law and the law is related to the absorption of light to the properties of the material from which the light passes. Electrolysis is a process to separate bonded elements and compounds .The methodology followed is by passing an electric current through bonded elements and compounds. Electric current is passed through a conductor called as electrode. Electrodes are found in various forms like wires, plates, and rods. Electrodes are mainly constructed of metal, such as copper, silver, lead, or zinc. Electrodes can also be made up of nonmetal substance, such as carbon. There are commonly used Graphite electrodes which are made up of carbon. In my experiments as I have used graphite electrodes, I am indirectly using nonmetal substance having carbon. Inert electrodes do not take part in the chemical reactions for Examples, Graphite and Platinum electrodes. Active electrodes take part in chemical reactions where the anode itself produces metal ions which get discharged at the cathode for Example, Copper electrodes. I noticed that graphite rod was losing carbon particles on stirring, thats the reason why direct method to find mass of copper deposited was not adopted by me. The electrodes which I used for the experiments were Inert electrodes and I used graphite electrodes because platinum electrodes were not available and they were costly. An electrode passes current between a metallic part and a nonmetallic part of an electrical circuit. Most frequently, conductors that are metallic carry electrical current. In other circuits, however, current is passed through a nonmetallic conductor. In an electrochemical cell, an electrode is called either an anode or a cathode. An anode is an electrode at which current leaves the cell and oxidation takes place. For example, an anode is the positive electrode in a storage battery. Faradays 1st Law of Electrolysis states that, The mass of a substance altered at an electrode during electrolysis is directly proportional to the quantity of electricity transferred at that electrode. Quantity of electricity refers to the quantity of electrical charge, typically measured in coulomb. Throughout the investigation I had rounded off few of the readings to get correct significant figures. Using a colorimeter: This method is only useful if one of the reactants or products is coloured. It is a more satisfactory method than titration for two reasons: firstly, no sampling is needed, and secondly, a reading can be taken almost instantaneously. So quite rapid reactions can be followed, especially if the colorimeter is interfaced to a data logger or computer which can plot a graph of concentration versus time as the reaction proceeds. A colorimeter consists of a light source with filters to select a suitable colour (i.e. set of wavelengths) of light which is absorbed by the sample. The light passes through the sample onto a detector whose output goes to a meter or a recording device. The colorimeter usually needs to be calibrated and even I calibrated the Vernier colorimeter with distilled water before conducting the experiments. Calibration is done to establish the relationship between its readings and the concentration of the copper sulfate used. 3. INVESTIGATION My investigation was divided into three main sections, starting with verification of Faradays First law of electrolysis, secondly to determine Avogadros number and finally in determining Faradays constant. I had predicted that the results of investigating Faradays First law by direct method and indirect method will give almost the same result and I was successful in getting that. But according to my assumptions, more accurate readings can be obtained by the indirect method of colorimeter using Beers law technique. It is also useful to determine Avogadros number and Faradays Constant as the result which I got through the Beers law technique was almost near to the true value of Avogadros number and Faradays constant. 3.1 APPARATUS AND MATERIALS Beakers (250 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Volumetric flask (100 cm3 ÃÆ'- 5 and 1000 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Measuring Cylinder (100 cm3 ÃÆ'- 1) Digital Weighing Balance Graphite electrodes Copper sulfate (CuSO4) Ammeter (0-500mA) Rheostat (0-500 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦) DC variable voltage source (0 12 V) Vernier labquest colorimeter Cuvette 3.2 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF EXPERIMENTAL SET UP The above shown diagram represents the electric circuit diagram of the entire experimental setup. A DC variable voltage source (0-12 V) was used as a battery. Rheostat was use to control the current coming from the battery because I was recording the Ammeter readings and I wanted the readings on the Ammeter to be constant throughout the experiment. I used Rheostat because the Ammeter reading was fluctuating and not remaining constant. The positive terminal of the battery was connected to the one end of Rheostat and the negative terminal of the battery was connected to the cathode. The connections were made in series as it was suppose to be for this experiment. The experimental set up was not disturbed during the electrolysis. During the investigation, there goes a chemical reaction within the experimental setup for the electrolysis of copper sulfate. Below are shown the reactions using graphite anode inert electrode. At cathode: Cu2+ + 2e- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Cu At anode: OH1- 1e- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ OH x 2 [2OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ H2O + [O] ] 4OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 2H2O + O2 Product at anode: Oxygen gas 3.3 PREPARATION OF SOLUTION Preparation of 1 dm-3 of reagents: The salt which I used in preparation of solutions was Copper sulfate pentahydrate, we commonly call it as copper sulfate. The molar mass of CuSO4.5H2O is 249.68 gmol-1. Therefore, to prepare a 1.000 molar of CuSO4 solution, I took 124.84 g of CuSO4 weighing upon a digital balance and then I diluted 124.84 g of CuSO4 in 500cm3 of distilled water. I had used distilled water to dilute the chemicals and to clean the apparatus rather using tap water because distilled water is more pure and using tap water can affect the result as it can indirectly react with the chemicals used for the experiments. It was very difficult to dissolve CuSO4 by using glass rod. Therefore, I had used magnetic stirrer to dissolve the crystals of Copper sulfate in distilled water. It was very time consuming in dissolving CuSO4 in distilled water but within few minutes the 500cm3 solution of 1.000 molar of CuSO4 was ready. From that 500cm3 of 1.000 molar of CuSO4, I prepared different 100cm3 solutions of concentration 0.8 molar, 0.6 molar, 0.4 molar and 0.2 molar. The volumes of Copper sulfate and Water in the different molar solutions are given in the below table: Concentration ( ±0.001 mol dm-3) Volume of CuSO4 ( ± 0.05 cm3) Volume of H2O ( ± 0.05 cm3) 1.0 mol dm-3 100 cm3 00 cm3 0.8 mol dm-3 80 cm3 20 cm3 0.6 mol dm-3 60 cm3 40 cm3 0.4 mol dm-3 40 cm3 60 cm3 0.2 mol dm-3 20 cm3 80 cm3 3.4 VERIFICATION OF BEERS LAW Beer in 1852 studied the effect of absorption of light on the concentration of solutions and found a similar relationship. Beers law states that when a parallel beam of monochromatic light enters an absorbing medium, the rate of decrease of intensity of the light with concentration is directly proportional to the intensity of radiation. Alternative statements can be expressed thus: When a parallel beam of monochromatic light passes through an absorbing medium, the intensity of transmitted radiation decreases exponentially as the concentration of the absorbing species increases arithmetically. Successive layers of equal concentration and thickness absorb equal fraction of incidental radiation. The readings for my Beers law experiments are as follows: Concentration ( ±0.001mol dm-3) Transmittance (%T) Absorbance ( ±0.001) 0.0 100.04 0.000 0.2 25.92 0.586 0.4 8.17 1.088 0.6 3.02 1.520 0.8 1.33 1.875 1.0 0.97 2.015 The graph which was obtained for Beers law: The graph was taken from vernier colorimeter using logger pro software to get the accurate readings for the absorbance of CuSO4. Here I observed a curve in graph and I felt that this abnormal for Beers law but later when I searched the reason for this, I got satisfactory answer as I was not gone wrong. Beers law is true for dilute solutions and therefore it is sure to obtain a straight line graph for dilute solutions. In the cases of highly concentrated solutions we get a curve which flatters if extended further due to the high concentration. This is the same case with my Beers law graph because the solution of CuSO4 was much concentrated. Deviations from Beer Lamberts Law: According to Beer-Lamberts law, absorbance A is directly proportional to concentration c. Thus, a graph of Absorbance v/s concentration should give a straight line passing through the origin. Often we find that the graph is not linear, and deviations occur. If the straight line curves upwards or downwards it indicates positive or negative deviations respectively from Beer Lamberts law. Deviations from Beer-Lamberts law a : no deviation; law is valid b : positive deviation c : negative deviation I got negative deviation for my Beers law graph. Negative deviation is shown in the above graph with option c. The Negative deviation in the graph was expected as the CuSO4 solution was highly concentrated. Deviations fromBeer-Lamberts law can be of three types: Real deviations: which are fundamental in nature. Instrumental deviations: which arise as a consequence of the manner in which the absorbance measurement is made. Chemical deviations: which arise as a result of chemical changes associated with concentration changes. The deviation which I got in my Beers law graph was Real Deviations and such deviation occurs due to Effect of concentration. The Beer-Lamberts law is valid for dilute solutions only. If the concentration of the solution is more than 0.01 M, Beer-Lamberts law does not strictly hold well, and deviations occur. At higher concentration, the molecules of the absorbing species come closer to one another, and due to this, charge distribution of neighboring molecules is affected. This results in an alteration in the ability of the species to absorb a particular wavelength of radiation. The extent of interaction depends on the concentration of the solution and therefore deviations are observed in concentrated solutions. The molar absorptivity à Ã‚ · depends on the refractive index of the solution. If the solution is too concentrated it refractive index changes and thus à Ã‚ · changes. This causes deviations from Beer-Lamberts law. This effect is negligible in concentrations

The Message of Rip Van Winkle Essays -- Rip Van Winkle Essays

Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of himself, --[It appears Rip has seen an exact mirror-image of himself--the way others have always perceived him]-- as he went up the mountain--[This was the way he was before his "sleep," or journey up the mountain]--: apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged--[Before he encountered the party on the mountain, he was a casual, rough and lazy person]--. The poor fellow was now completely confounded--[It appears to everyone that Rip Jr. was confused in his thoughts, however, just as Rip Sr. was, he knew exactly what was going through his head--it appeared he had a plan for everything]--. He doubted his own identity, and whether he was himself or another man--[I believe Rip underwent some type of self realization and was beginning to realize this change--wondering whether he was the same old Rip, or the newer, more aware Rip]--. In the midst of his bewilderment, --[I'm trying to figure out here whether Rip was just very confused with what was going on in seeing his son, or whether he's still drunk and in a "daze."]-- the man in the cocked hat demanded who he was, and what was his name?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "God knows,--[God is the only person at this time who knows what/who Rip is. Rip doesn't know, his son doesn't know, nobody knows except God himself]--" exclaimed he, at his wit's end; "I'm not myself-I'm somebody else-that's me yonder-no-that's somebody else, got into my shoes--[He sees that he has passed along his traits to his son, and his son has taken over Rip's identity and habits. We "grow" into other's shoes]-- -I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain, and they've changed my gun, and every thing's changed, and I'... ...ters closest to his heart and guide his family, what's left of it, and give it some direction to go in. He has slept away the past twenty years of his life, and more than likely-in a sense, slept through many years before he ever climbed the mountain. It is time to wake up and deal with the issues at hand and correct any mistakes or act upon any awakenings he may have had involving his regrets in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If there is one thing Rip Van Winkle has to offer to us I think it is to pay attention to ourselves. As many of us often do, we get to wrapped up in other's affairs and don't deal with our own lives. We tend to strive for perfection in everyone else's life and lack in our own. Rather that sleep away so many years and let time take its toll on us and those we love, we must act now and be a little more selfish in caring for ourselves.

City Slicker Meets Milking Cow :: essays research papers fc

So, Mr. City Slicker, this is the first time milking a cow! Heck, it just might be the first time touching one, unless college days involved cow tipping. If it helps the awkwardness, introduce yourself to her, and become acquainted before proceeding. And just a suggestion: Lose the tie! It won’t do much good drowning in a bucket of milk. Gather the materials, follow these instructions precisely, and in approximately twenty minutes, you will have successfully milked a cow. Elvin Brandt, a farmer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been milking cows for half a century. (24 September 1998). Before beginning, a cow must be present, or it’s fruitless to read on. Milk is made and stored in the cow’s udder. The udder is a large predominantly round sack under the cow toward the back between the two back legs. It is â€Å"divided into four separate quarters, each having its own milk supply† (Dairy Farm: Where Does Milk Come From?). At the bottom of each quarter is a teat (Ibid.). Milk shoots out of the teat when you simultaneously pull down and squeeze the teat (Brandt). Next, gather materials needed to milk the cow: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The milking bucket will be needed to collect the milk as the udder is emptied. It must be sterile and stainless steel. Brandt stresses that it’s imperative that these buckets not rust, and cleanliness is very important when dealing with any food. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The straining bucket is used to strain particles out of the milk. It is rather unusual looking as it is shaped like a â€Å"V†. Like the milking bucket, the straining bucket must be sterile and stainless steel. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An antiseptic solution of iodine and a clean cloth is used to wash the udder before milking to control disease. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A three-legged stool is absolutely necessary to milk a cow. The three legs allow for balance plus you can tip towards the cow if needed. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A straining cloth will also be needed to strain the milk after it is collected. It will be placed over the opening to the straining bucket and the milk will be passed through the cloth. Complete cooperation is necessary from the cow. â€Å"Treat the cow properly not only during the milking process, but also from the time the cow is moved to the milking area† (Milking). 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To prevent disease, the teats must be clean and disinfected. An Internet resource mysteriously named just â€Å"Rachel† states that â€Å"each of the four teat’s on each cow’s udder must be wiped, dipped with an iodine solution to clean them, then dried to prevent dirt and manure from getting into the milk.

Irony and Foreshadowing in Poe’s Short Stories Essay

In Poe’s short stories, he uses literary devices like irony and foreshadowing to increase reader interest in his stories. Irony and Foreshadowing helps to create suspense, anxiety, and humor in his works. They also help to capture the audience’s attention and draw them into the story. Poe’s irony and foreshadowing are integrated in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†. â€Å"The Cask of the Amontillado† is one of the best examples of irony and foreshadowing in Poe’s works. In this story, almost every detail seems to stand for something else. These ironic details foreshadow Fortunado’s horrible death. Poe’s uses irony and foreshadowing to develop suspense and mood throughout this story. The first example of irony in this story lies in the character’s name. The name Forunato is ironic because it sounds like the word fortunate. Also Fortunato translates to â€Å"fortunate one† in Italian and suggests good luck. As we know from the beginning of the story, Fortunato is not so fortunate and his future lies in the hands of Montresor. Other ironies abound in the setting of the â€Å"Cask of the Amontillado. † This story takes place in Italy during Carnival, which is a joyous and happy time full of family, friends, and food. Carnival is the last place one would think of committing a murder. This ironic setting is one of the reasons Montresor is so successful and is why Fortunato is so surprised. A more visual and humorous irony lies in Fortunato’s apparel. â€Å"The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells† (Poe â€Å"Cask†). His festive outfit contrasts with the impending doom that awaits him. Also, it is ironic that Fortunato believes that he is intelligent on the subject of wines, but he is dressed as a fool. In addition to irony, forshadowing is evident in the opening paragraph of the â€Å"Cask of the Amontillado†. Montresor’s first words to the reader are: The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled –but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity (Poe â€Å"Cask†). Clearly, Montresor has serious intentions for Fortunato, and these comments foreshadow Montresor’s vengeance on Forunato at the end of the story. Montresor says he must not only punish but punish with impunity. This foreshadows how an insult drove Montresor to take justice into his own hands and implies that Forunato’s punishment was deserved. Later in the story we see how this justice is really just an excuse for murder. Another instance of foreshadowing is when Montresor and Fortunato are in the vaults, looking for the cask of Amontillado. Fortunato begins to cough and says, â€Å"Enough, the cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough† (Poe â€Å"Cask†). This foreshadows his death because Fortunato was right in that he would not die of a cough but that he would die of something much more sinister. The clueless Fortunato also mentions that he has forgotten what Montresor’s family coat of arms looks like. Montresor describes his coat of arms as â€Å"A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel† (Poe â€Å"Cask†). This symbolically foreshadows Fortunato’s death because Montresor represents the human foot crushing the serpent, which represents Fortunato. This coat of arms shows that Montresor was not the first in his family to take justice into his own hands, a hint that Fortunato does not pick up on. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† also makes good use of irony and foreshadowing. It is one of Poe’s most well-known short stories and is considered one of his best. This story shows us how important irony and foreshadowing are to a gothic tale by providing suspense and humor to Poe’s stories. One instance of irony in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† is in one of Usher’s many paintings. In this painting, Usher paints a vault for the burial of a body. This is ironic because it portrays the tomb in which Madeline will be buried. It also shows how Lady Madeline would be buried alive. This painting signifies Usher’s dark thoughts and leads us to believe that he planned to bury Lady Madeline alive. Another example of irony is when the narrator reads Usher the story the â€Å"Mad Trist†. The narrator reads this story in order to calm both his and Usher’s nerves. This is ironic because the â€Å"Mad Trist† is a parody about a medieval romance. Poe introduces this story at the greatest moment of tension in the story; the Narrator cannot sleep, a storm rages outside, and Usher is on the brink of hysteria. The narrator could not have picked a worse time to read this book. (Poe â€Å"Usher’). Probably the most ironic part of the story was the change that Lady Madeline experiences before she is buried and after she is buried. When the narrator first sees Madeline, before she is buried, she is lifeless and can barely move or talk. After she comes back from being buried alive however, she has much more of an impact on the people and things around her. When she comes back from the dead, she has enough strength to tackle and kill Usher. This shows us that Lady Madeline has grown since her death. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† is known for its Gothic elements. In this story Poe describes the house as bleak, gloomy, and close to crumbling down. When the narrator first sees the house at the beginning of the story he says, â€Å"I know not how it was — but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit† (Poe 139). The gloom and bleakness of the house foreshadows the doom and horrors that will occur inside the house later on in the story. Poe lets us know from the beginning of the story that something execrable will happen inside that house. Poe’s description of the Lady Madeline as having â€Å"affections of a partially cataleptical character† (155) predicts her early death. The word cataleptical means to be in a state in which consciousness and feeling are lost and the body assumes a death-like rigidity. Lady Madeline’s description foreshadows her death because she is described as lifeless and lost. She seems as if she was already dead. The most obvious example of foreshadowing in this story lies in the title. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† foreshadows what will happen to not only the physical House of Usher, but also the symbolic House of Usher. Symbolically, the House of Usher represents the bloodline of Ushers. When the house crumbles to the ground at the end of the story, it represents the end of the Usher bloodline. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† give a multitude of examples of both irony and foreshadowing. Poe uses these literary devices to develop suspense and mood in these stories. Without these literary devices, his stories would seem flat and boring. Poe’s literary devices are what captured and maintained my interests thought his stories.

Organisational Development Essay

Training and development is an important part of knowledge management in any given organization. For the training of staff to be effective the right instructional design model must be used. Instructional system design is a model of training, which utilizes a systematic approach to training with an aim of achieving competence through utilisation of resources available. It must be noted that in any given organization money is always a constraint and when it comes to employee training the best training model must be adapted. Instructional system design is favored over many other models in that it links training to organizational goals and as a result, it is cost effective. The workplace is increasingly becoming a place where business organizations can nurture, improve and encourage the potential and capabilities of employees. One of the most common ways in which organizations nurture these talents is by introduction of training programs which aim at preparing employees to better meet the challenges of today’s workplace. However, unless training programs are carefully constructed, such programs are unlikely to meet the demands of the market as well as individual needs of the employees and the needs of the organization. This paper discusses the important considerations worthy considering while designing training programs. Background information BBC as a company has it core values as; to inform, to educate, as well as to entertain. The vision of BBC, which entails being the most creative as well as trusted organization in the world. It is in line with the vision that a training and development strategy has been put in place. To be creative, it takes well trained staff, men and women who can forecast and remain focused in their duties. However, as (Tjepkema, 2002. 100- 130) notes, for management to perform their duties satisfactorily, they should posses the capability and means. Tjepkema, (2002. 90-94) notes that it is not the talent of employees that is important, it is how employees are helped to bring out as well as discover their talents that matters. Training and development should be geared towards making employees realize their full potential. The much experience BBC has on journalism is a positive for BBC and should be used to put the organization on a class of its own. The fact that training and development as it exists in BBC aims at offering practical education in the journalism industry is worthy mentioning. All training at BBC focuses on knowledge and skills imparting. BBC training and development has been using generally for the purpose of training operational staff. Training is also tailored to meet the ever changing needs at BBC. BBC has embraced the need for computer based programs something which is always at the centre of all training needs. There been efforts geared to meeting the fast changing needs in terms of infrastructure which can cope with today’s broadcasting practices and technology. Research and facts collection is a good step in catering for training needs and that’s evident even from the way BBC chooses its sound training facilities from electronic devices to desks. BBC ensures that all its courses lay emphasis on learning styles and flexibility. While designing the training program, it is important to bear in mind the fact that, the programs lead to the acquisition of new knowledge, change in knowledge especially in cases whereby the nature of the training is based on new skills necessary for the production functions which may require the use of new machines or different technology which the employees do not possess (Nilson, 2003. 34-35). Justification Training and learning is very relevant to today’s organizations. It helps organizations deal with talent development in the organization. As Tjepkema, et al (2002. 100- 120) notes the employees are an organization’s best asset and should be fully developed so that every single employee gives out his or her best. This is made possible by thoroughly training and employee development programs. Journalism is a fast changing business in terms of the high needs for customer satisfaction, competition as well as keeping in line with the ever-changing needs for entertainment, education as well as information. The above is challenging and any organization worthy its salt must prepare its employees for the challenge. In preparing and designing training and development practices BBC is taking the right direction. Learning in the work place has its special challenges and any good programs must factor in factors such as change in the organization and requires a combination of values, cultures and a considerable budget (Tjepkema, et al,2002. 105- 110). According to CIPD survey (2006) different organizations attach variety of importance to talent development but a big percentage (67%) believe that it leads to development of individuals who posses high potential. The report further notes that training is crucial for preparation of individuals who would take management roles in future. This is very much in line with BBC training goals which aim at developing staff into individuals who can carry out duties and responsibilities leading to customer satisfaction. In house training has been noted as the most effective method of training and development in the CIPD report of 2006. In most cases, the training targets specific groups in an organization, depending on the specific needs of every category of workers such as top company executives, middle level managers, professionals and the bottom level employees. All the above categories have very varied training needs and therefore the training programs must take into consideration such factors as; what each category of employees need. For instance, in an engineering firm, the top management may consist of administrators who are not necessarily engineering professionals, the chief executive officer who again may not be a professional as well as some managers such as the production and quality assurance managers, all of whom have different training needs. Therefore, the design of the training program must take care of each category’s special needs. The program should be designed in such a way as to match the roles and responsibilities of each employee and ensure that the training material, activities and content meet the needs, which exist for the given positions. The training should also be designed in a way in which it will take care for the employee’s past knowledge and skills. BBC has adopted in- house training strategy which is supported by yet another training and development expert (Tjepkema, et al, 2002. 100- 130) as an effective training method. However the adoption of external secondment as is evident in the BBC strategy has been criticized for being an ineffective method of training and development and it is an area where BBC should look into and perhaps change more effective practices such as coaching. The fact that BBC has identified as important, talent management is a step worthy praising. Talent management as practiced by BBC is responsible for the success of the organization as well as its position of a market leader in world’s journalism, a status which the organization enjoys as a result of being keen at staff training and development. The methods of learning are very important in the design of the training program and they should take into consideration that, employees are adults and there are some effective instructional methods, which are of preference to them. The learning process should include reinforcement of positive behaviour so as to make the learning process an effective one. In an engineering firm, most staff would need accretion, and fine-tuning of already learnt procedures (Nilson, 2003. 102). A good training program must be detailed enough to meet the goals and objectives of the organization with clear specifications of the purpose, goals and objectives of the training program. For instance, training at the bottom level of the organization is aimed at transferring new skills. This is because new technologies keep on coming especially in this age of information technology. Therefore employees need to update themselves in using the technology and especially in regard to applying the technology to speed-up production. Any effective training program must have specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound objectives in which a clear definition of the goals is given (Nilson, 2003). The employees’ needs are determined in the context of the nature of work. It is also very important for the management to define the goals of the training program in order to make sure that; the training program is aligned to the organizational values. The content of the training program as well as the learner activity, which is central to the communication of the course content, is very necessary and should be determined prior to the onset of the course. The success of a training program is not entirely dependent on organization and the content of training, but rather, on the execution and subsequent follow up after the training. This is where evaluation of the success of the training program comes in. It is imperative that management gets a feedback for the training from the participants who are usually the employees. In line with the best training and development practice BBC has invested in coaching activities and that is something to be encouraged. According to Stewart and Tansley, (2001. 18- 40) coaching activity has become one of the most favored training methods by employees due to its practicability as well as the fact that organisations can expect to see results in a short time. In addition, instructional system design is easy to apply and does not require a lot of expertise something, which means that organizations can rely on their in-house trainers to carry on training programmes within the organization. Therefore, instructional system design creates an enabling environment for continuous training which implies that organizations which settle on the instructional system design are assured of continuous business improvement without worrying about incurring costs commonly associated with other training models. Training Methods can be categorized as being either `on the job’, `off the job’ or `technology-based’. ‘On the job’ training is also referred to as ‘on the site’ training. This is the training method whereby instead of trainees moving from their workplaces to a different destination for training, the trainer comes to the workplace to train from there. Once in the workplace, the trainer together with the management can choose to train under short sessions such as during staff meetings or choose to dedicate full day to training or even choose to dedicate multiple days for the training. The exact method of delivery during the ‘on the job’ training depends on the wishes of the organization. ‘On the job’ training is associated with higher chances of success because attendance is usually higher than the other two training methods for a number of reasons. First of all, trainees do not have to incur extra costs in terms of travelling to training sites this means that ‘on the job’ training is cost-effective. Another key advantage of ‘on the job’ training is the fact that the simulation process becomes easier as trainees can easily link theoretical issues to practical issues. Suggestions BBC has not done enough to ensure talent management is handled with the standards it deserves. Although, Prince, and Stewart, (2002. 55- 72) cited in-house training as the most reliable and popular training, it should be integrated with other methods such as succession planning in order to achieve maximum effects. There is a need for planners to be aware of the effect of in house training if overused and especially in the case of BBC where in house programs have been in use for several years. Over reliance on one approach of training is likely to have reduced impact as employees are more likely to start viewing it as a boring method, something which is very likely to affect effectiveness of the training programs. Instead of over depending on one type of method, this report is of the opinion that training programs such as mentoring and buddying (Dearden, (2002. 11- 32), cross-functional approach, project assignments as well as graduate development courses would yield better results for BBC organizational training needs. However, it should be borne in mind that the more programs BBC adopts, the higher the cost of investments are likely to go up. This situation calls again for constant and regular evaluation so as to make sure the organization does not invest in ineffective programs which may end up costing the organization for nothing. According to Clatterbuck, and Meggnison, (2005. 81- 106) hybrid or integrated approaches are more effective in achieving training goals than single approaches. BBC should experiment with the now popular 360- degree feedback method in order to ensure that its training and development programs remain effective. As noted by, Clatterbuck, and Meggnison, (2005. 81- 106), it is always better if an organization could involve outside help in training. This serves two purposes; one to break the monotony of having same coaches training same trainees who become used to them used to, secondly, an organisation should aim at encouraging diversity. It is evident in (CIPD,2005. 2-39), that external secondments play critical roles in ensuring that employees interests is maintained in all training programs as well as giving employees an opportunity to learn from outside the organization. However this report would like to note the observation by (CIPD, 2005. 28- 100) that not all programs will always achieve the objectives they are designed for. Therefore there are always chances that training efforts may fail to achieve their goals. This report also commends BBC for making talent management a priority as evidenced in the budget allocation awarded to the training and development programmes. However there is a need for BBC to move from the level of policy statements to action since no matter how well intended training programmes are, all that matters in the end is how far they go in assisting the organisation achieve its training goals. This report will be incomplete without highlighting some of the barriers associated with not having an effective training and development programme. The first barrier identified in BBC is that employees have a negative attitude about training and development efforts being made by the organisation. There is considerable evidence that some employees of BBC feel that they are not being involved in designing of training programmes. Dissatisfaction is also arising concerning the criterion followed by the management when deciding which employees enroll for what courses. Dissatisfaction is also seen as emanating from the perception by some employees that they do not benefit even after training in that they never get promotions or salary increments. Therefore the report challenges the management of BBC to act very fast to stamp out this emerging dissatisfaction. Positive attitude is necessary amongst the employees of the organisation. No matter how well intended, how well funded or organized the training programmes are, if the attitude amongst the beneficiaries is negative, the training is likely to be ineffective and even counter productive. It is suggested here that BBC should move fast to include all staff members in the designing and planning of the training and development. This will in turn result into a positive attitude from the employees pertaining to training and development initiatives in BBC. Conclusion To keep a business organization on the top of the market needs well-trained employees. However the training programs cost companies a lot of money and therefore should be aligned and designed so as to make them effective and efficient. A good training program is only made possible by conducting a careful organizational analysis, determination of training needs as well as the execution of the training process and the follow up to the training. The follow up is necessary as a measure aimed at sustaining the gains made by the training programs.