Monday, January 27, 2020
What is dyslexia?
What is dyslexia?      It has been 100 years since the first case of developmental dyslexia was described. Hitherto numerous researches had shed light on the causes and consequences of this disorder but the debate concerning its definition is still highly contented. In this essay, I will first answer the question of what is dyslexia and then move to the debate of whether it has a genetic basis.      Firstly, I will introduce what has been done in the early research of dyslexia and then tried to find a definition for us to understand dyslexia properly. Secondly, I will introduce the research for supporting the view that dyslexia has a genetic basis. 1.1 Early history of research on dyslexia      Reading, a complex behavior that requires a set of cognitive skills, has been highly valued by society and is a key component to education. An inability to read has profound social and psychological consequences. Several scholars in the 19th century studied the loss of the ability to read or understand writing.      Kurrmaul in 1877 describe the reading difficulties of literate brain-damaged patients as word-blindness. It is only in 1887 that a German ophthalmologist, R Berlin, first used the word ‘dyslexia to describe reading difficulties caused by cerebral disease or injury. However, having read articles published by Hinshelwood in the 1890s and early 1900s, W.P Morgan (1895) points out that a patient can be suffering from dyslexia without cerebral disease or injury. He quotes the case of a boy who has reading difficulties even though he has suffered no apparent brain damage. Though for a long time, the problem of dyslexia is widely studied, dyslexia was not a common knowledge for more than half a century and the concept of dyslexia was not familiar and unclear to many people. People need to understand what dyslexia is in order to help ones inflicted with the disease. 1.2 The definition of dyslexia      Dyslexia is a neurological disorder with a genetic origin and behavioral signs which extend beyond problems of written language. Early research confined the dyslexia into a medical model and thus clinical practice fail to distinguish a dyslexia patient from normal readers. In the 1968 World Federation of Neurology meeting, a definition of dyslexia formally introduced and stated that dyslexia is a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and socio-cultural opportunity. It is dependent upon fundamental cognitive disabilities which are mostly of constitutional origin. Many scholars criticize this definition. Firstly, the terms are vague as there are insufficient examples to illustrate conventional instruction or to point out the criteria of adequate intelligence and to explain the meaning of socio-cultural opportunity. These scholars point out that the biggest weakness of this definition is exclusio n. The definition only states what a person with dyslexia should not be and does not include criteria for its positive diagnosis other than to state that it is a reading difficulty dependent on fundamental cognitive disabilities (Snowling, 2004). Although its definition debatable, it is applied by the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders and the international classification of mental and behavioral disorders for many years.      Researchers have never stop on the medical model. Without positive diagnosis criterion, doctors cannot differentiate children with specific reading difficulties and children who have reading difficulties because of a more general learning problems. Scholars have adopted tests through the comparisons of verbal IQ (intelligence quotient) and performance on reading tests of children with reading retardation and skilled reader in a hope that it could identify the children with dyslexia. Nonetheless, a number of findings such as Morton and Frith (1995) highlighted that it is not correct to assume that literacy problems are the only symptoms of dyslexia. These tests are purely behavioral definitions and the diagnosis is relative. For instance, there are many examples that show discrepancies with the predictions carried out by those researches. Some dyslexia children after receiving highly effective training in decoding non-words would score well and many children with r eading problems can improve their reading ability by having a better relationship with their teachers. Overly depending on these tests as a short cut to diagnosis would run the risk of excluding dyslexic children with reading problems and involve children who only show mild positive signs of dyslexia. The definition that concerns dyslexia as synonymous with specific reading difficulty has failed to be self evidence because it only focuses solely on reading and IQ-test performance and other tests.      One way out of this dilemma is to consider dyslexia as a disorder that has multi-levels of description. Rutter and Yule (1975) pointed out that the specific reading retardation is usually multi-factorially determined opposed to the claim that dyslexia is a unitary condition. Being a developmental disorder, dyslexia can be expected to have behavioral features that will change with maturation and response to environmental interactions (cf.Bishop, 1997). It may therefore be unrealistic to agree upon a simple and unchanging definition of dyslexia. Frith (1997) argued that there are causal links from brain to mind to behavior that must be considered when attempting to understand dyslexia. It is important to seek explanations at the three different levels in this causal chain namely the biological, the cognitive and the behavioral, in order to develop a comprehensive theory of why some children fail ‘unexpectedly&tsquo; to learn to read(Morton and Frith, 1995). Mo reover, the environmental factors will act as a stimulus to intensify or meliorate the condition of these three levels.      The common ground of the study of dyslexia, agrees that dyslexia is a neuro-development disorder with a biological origin and behavioral signs which extend far beyond problems of written language (Frith, 1997). The idea of dyslexia as a syndrome with a neurological basis springs from the work of Tim Miles, Elaine Miles and many intelligent students. It helps to solve the paradoxes that exist in defining dyslexia. Morton and Frith (1997) had developed a framework with three levels and environmental influence in a neutral view to describe a descriptive definition of dyslexia.      The past 15 years have seen a continuing increase in research effort aimed at identifying the biological underpinnings of dyslexia. Galaburda (1989) demonstrated abnormal symmetry in the structure of the planum temporal; Livingstone et al. (1991) identified cellular migration abnormalities in the magnocellular system of the brain which have been related to behavioral findings by Cornelissen et al.(1995). Genetic linkage studies with dyslexic families have identified regions on chromosomes 15, 1 and recently 6 (Cardon et al., 1994). Thus, restricting the discussion to behavioral observation is no longer necessary. This gap has been widened by cognitive neuro-science which insists that there is a space for the scientific study of the mind and brain and not just behavior (Frith, 1995). Cognitive level of explanation can be a bridge that links brain and behavior together. Cognitive abilities can be explained by Cognitive theories through observable behavior. The poor reading performance can be termed as a cognitive dysfunction which in turn can be explained by a brain dysfunction. In addition, this causal links chains from brain to mind to behavior has to be set within the context of environmental and cultural influences. Figure2(Mortan and Frith 1995)      An illustration of the causal modeling of dyslexia with the hypothesis of a phonological deficit hypothesis now shows in figure 2. In this figure, Morton and Frith in 1995 argued that when we try to explain a developmental disorder, we have to make a distinction between different levels of description. In the biological level and environmental level, we can look for causes and cures and in the behavioral level we can observe and assess the patient. Then the cognitive level lies in between these levels and have links with the rest of the levels. Here, the intuitive clinical impression can be captured and that the presenting disorder is a distinct and recognizable entity despite variable symptoms. This notation enables different theories about a disorder to be represented in a neutral fashion (Frith, 1995). The proposal of a phonological deficit as the cognitive basis of dyslexia has a strong theoretical and empirical support that it has been widely accepted. Starti ng on the biological level of figure 2, it is supposed that there is a congenital dysfunction of left-hemisphere perisylvian brain areas which affects phonological processing (Galaburda, 1989; Paulesu et al., 1996; Rumsey et al., 1992). Furthermore, the evidence for a genetic origin of dyslexia is increasingly compelling (Pennington, 1990). However, this theory also has its pitfalls. One of the biggest weakness of the phonological theory is it does not effectively explain the occurrence of sensory and motor disorders in dyslexic individuals. People who support the phonological theory typically have dismissed these disorders as not part of the core features of dyslexia. They consider their co-occurrence with the phonological deficit as potential markers of dyslexia instead of treating them as a causal role in the aetiology of reading impairment (Snowling, 2000).      In the domain of neauro-cognitive causes study of dyslexia, there are two other theories: the cerebellar theory and the magnocellular theory. The former one is that the dyslexics cerebellum is mildly dysfunctional and that a number of cognitive difficulties ensue, whereas the latter one postulates that the magnocellular dysfunction is no restricted to the visual pathways but is generalized to all modalities (Ramus et al, 2003). These three theories do not contradicted each other but potentially compatible. When it refers to the cognitive level, three theories imply a processing deficit. Fast temporal processing may be a basic characteristic of all perceptual systems, visual as well as auditory, object-based as well as speech-based. On the other hand, the slower-than- normal perceptual processing might affect the development of a phonological system (Frith, 1997). 1.3 Conclusion      Any definition should be seen as a hypothesis and to be rejected if future findings disprove it. As Tim Miles said that, a diagnosis of dyslexia is, in effect, a sort of bet. The definition in the framework of biological, cognitive and behavioral level within the interaction of cultural influences depict the dyslexia as a neuro-developmental disorder with a biological origin, which affects speech processing with a range of clinical manifestations (Frith, 1997). In this definition, it appears that the cognitive level of description provides a unifying theory of dyslexia. Such a theory is necessary to pool together the numerous different observational strands in this most intriguing and subtle disorder.      After the discussion of definition issues in dyslexia, we turn to focus on the approval that dyslexia has its genetic basis. We will first look at the study of heritability in dyslexia and then to talk about the genetic findings for supporting dyslexia has a genetic basis.      The rapidly accumulating evidence suggests that developmental dyslexia is one of many common familial disorders. The genetic explanations of dyslexia are rather convinced by research that uses the newly genetic techniques and statistical methods in the genetic study of dyslexia. Although most findings cannot be replicated as there are many variants need to be identified. We still can believe that dyslexia has a genetic basis by the evidence of the genetic study of dyslexia. 2.1 Famaliality of Dyslexia      The question of whether dyslexia has a genetic basis has been studied for a very long time. Numerous researches have been conducted. Among them, there are a number of findings that suggest developmental dyslexia is hereditary. Orton in 1925 hypothesizes that children born in a family of dyslexia have great chance of being dyslexia. According to a recent estimation made by Gilger, Pennington and Deferies in 1991, the risk of a son with a dyslexia father to be a dyslexia is approximate 40% and about 36% if the mother is dyslexia. Moreover, if both parents are affected, the risk and severity of dyslexia in the child would greatly increase. Nevertheless, for the girls, this ratio is relatively lower, at about 20% regardless of the gender of the affected parent (Childsfinucci,1983;DeferiesDecker,1982;Pennington,1991).However,the higher familial aggregation of reading problems is insufficient to prove that dyslexia has genetic basis. The environment shared by families a re strongly influence their reading ability. 2.2 Twins Studies      The twins studies can help us understand the complexity of the interaction between genes and environment in some degree. The first kind of twin studies is the comparison of concordance rates that could evaluate the hereditary basis of dyslexia as a clinical condition. The second evaluates the reading performance of twins for estimating heritability coefficient by analyzing various indicators of reading performance. Thus, it is important to diffrentiate these two types of twin studies.      In the first kind of twin study of dyslexia, researchers compared the concordance rates in monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs the identical twin pairs and dizygotic(DZ) twin pairs the fraternal pairs. Regression counted in the research dues to the assessment of environmental factors and its interaction with genes in reading disabled. The results show that at least one member of every pair had reading problems. Moreover, MZ has a higher concordance for reading disability than in DZ twin pairs (Hermann, 1959; Zerbin-Rudin, 1967;Decker and Vandenberg,1985). By comparing the findings of the concordance rates in twin pairs we can imply that developmental dyslexia has a genetic aetiology.      In the second type of twin pairs, a vast number of studies have reported MZ and DZ twin correlations for various measures of reading performance (Grigorenko, 1996). MZ correlations implied the presence of genetic influence through the comparison with DZ correlations. However, heritability estimates are varied. Some of the variability can be due to the fact that the sample size of those main researchers was relatively small. In addition, some twin studies suggest that only certain reading-related skills are inherited. Thus it has been shown that word recognition, phonological coding show important genetic influence, whereas reading comprehension and orthographic coding do not (Olson, Wise,Conners,Rack,Fulker, 1989). Because the latter one significantly influenced by the environmental factors. 2.3 Pattern of Transmission of Dyslexia      Researchers had conducted a number of segregation analyses, fitting different statistical models corresponding to various patterns to investigate the transmission of genes in families with reading disability. Some observers have concluded that familial dyslexia is transmitted in an autosomal (not sex-linked) dominant mode (Childs Finucci, 1983; Hallgren, 1950), whereas others have found only partial (Pennington et al.,1991) or no support for an autosomal or codominant pattern of transmission. These findings were interpreted as suggesting that specific reading disability is genetically heterogeneous (Finucci et al.,1976; Lewitter, DeFries, Elston, 1980). In here, Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping also has been applied (Cardon et al., 1994;Fulker et al.,1991) in order to localize individual genes that contribute to the development of dyslexia. 2.4 Genetic Localization      The researchers passionately set an ultimate goal of genetic study that is to locate and isolate the responsible gene for dyslexia. Once the genes responsible for dyslexia is located, the protein product encode by the gene may permit a physiological explanation for its role in normal processes or diseases and finally contributed to a gene therapy for dyslexic. However, some researchers like Snowling (2000) consider the location of genes is a wide goose chase. The human genome has a rough estimation of about 35 000 genes which distributed over 3 billion bp of DNA and half of them is related to brains. Even when researchers limited the number of candidate genes to screen by using different biological hypotheses, they still need to work with thousands of genes. Thus, considering the risk of failing to match any given hypothesis, researches adopt the linkage and association analysis these two types of mapping strategies. The principle underlying both genetic linkage a nd association mapping is to test for non-random relations between phenotypic similarity across many individuals and haplotype sharing between them. With more generations the analysis become more powerful and accurate because each meiosis provides another opportunity for spurious genotype-phenotype relations to decompose. Linkage analysis refers to the analysis of individuals for whom family relations are known, whereas association analysis is used for large samples of unrelated individuals. Now, linkage analysis is generally less effective than association analysis in detecting genotype-phenotype relations within a study sample size. However, linkage mapping can be done with much fewer genetic markers and is hence easier to use in practice than association analysis. Genome-wide linkage can be carried out by analysis of about 400 highly polymorphic DNA markers. By contrast, association mapping has the power to focus on the specific causal DNA variants that influence phenotype variab ility but in most case it must use much more times that use to analyse DNA polymorphisms then linkage mapping used.      Using current molecular techniques of linkage analysis to carefully study selected family trees of dyslexic individuals in which developmental dyslexia reoccurs in different generations, some early results showed that a major gene for dyslexia was located on the short arm of chromosome 15 (Pennington et al.,1991;Smith, Pennington, Kimberling, Ing,1990). Fulker and his colleagues in 1991 replicated the same result of chromosome 15 though selecting a sample of siblings with reading problems in the study of original extended-family. Others like Lubs in 1991, Rabin in 1993 and Cardon in 1994 did not find the same results.      From a recently review of genetic study of dyslexia, we can see that the candidate genes DCDC2 the double cortin doman containing protein 2 and K1AA0319 show strongest links to the dyslexia among severely affected individuals. However, the candidate genes chromosome 15 and ROBO1 roundabout Drosophila Homolog of 1, which were identified through breakpoint mapping in Finnish patients, seem to be less involved in the development of dyslexia across different populations. However, their research is limited to a few families in the Finnish population and to date, no specific cognitive processes are known to be influenced by the proposed susceptibility genes. Some studies have already started to include neurophysiological and imaging procedures in their phenotype characterization of patients. The molecular genetic studies conducted so far have not considered gender-specific genetic effects. A satisfactory power to detect such effects can be provided only when gender is t aken into account during the analysis of results, and this should be a feature of future studies (Schumacher et al, 2008) 2.5 Conclusion      Although, scientific research has yet to prove that dyslexia is a gentic disorder, many researchers and evidence have show that it is a high possibility. In my opinion, dyslexia is a genetic disease and its symtoms can be aggravated or mitigated by the environment. Nevertheless, more research into the correlationship of the genetic factor and the environment needs to be conducted to verify this claim. Reference: Beaton,A.A(2004). Dyslexia, Reading and the Brain: a sourcebook of psychological and Biological Research. East Sussex: Psychology Press. Francks.C, MacPhie,L.I, Monaco,P.A(2002). The genetic basis of dyslexia. Lancet Neurology 2002, 1, 483-490. Frith.U(1999). Paradoxes in the definition of dyslexia. Dyslexia, 5, 192-214. Hulme. C,Snowling.M(1997). Dyslexia: biology, cognition, and intervention. San Diego: Singular Pub. Miles,E.(1995).Can there be a single definition of dyslexia? Dyslexia, 1, 37-45. Raskind, H.W (2001). Current understanding of the genetic basis of reading and spelling disability. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24(summer), 141-157 Olson, R.K(2002). Dyslexia:nature or nurture. Dyslexia, 8(3), 143-157 Ramus. F, Rosen.S, Dakin,C.S, Day,L.B., Castellote,M.J., White.S Frith.U(2003). The theories of developmental dyslexia: insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults. Brain, 126, 841-865. Sladen,K.Brenda(1970). Inheritance of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia. 20(1), 30-40. Snowling,J.M(2000), Dyslexia. Massachusettes: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Siegel,L.S.(1992). An evaluation of the discrepancy definition of dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilites,25, 618-629. Sternberg,J.R Spear-Swerling.L(1999). The perspectives on learning disabilities. Colorado: Westview Press. Schumacher. J., Hoffmann. P, Schmal. C, Schulte-Korne. G, Nothen,M.Markus(2007). Genetic of dyslexia: the evolving landscape. J med Genet 2007, 44, 289-297. Wood, B. F., Grigorenko, L.E (2001). Emerging issues in the genetics of dyslexia: a methodological preview. Journal of learning disabilities, 34(6), 503-511
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Bluetooth based smart sensor network Essay
Currently, huge electronic data repositories are being maintained by banks and other financial institutions. Valuable bits of information are embedded in these data repositories. The huge size of these data sources make it impossible for a human analyst to come up with interesting information (or patterns) that will help in the decision making process. A number of commercial enterprises have been quick to recognize the value of this concept, as a consequence of which the software market itself for data mining is expected to be in excess of 10 billion USD. This paper is intended for those who would like to get aware of the possible applications of data mining to enhance the performance of some of their core business processes. In this paper discussion is about the broad areas of application, like risk management, portfolio management, trading, customer profiling and customer care, where data mining techniques can be used in banks and other financial institutions to enhance their busin ess performance. INTRODUCTION: As knowledge is becoming more and more synonymous to wealth creation and as a strategy plan for competing in the market place can be no better than the information on which it is based, the importance of knowledge and information in today’s business can never be seen as an exogenous factor to the business. Organizations and individuals having access to the right information at the right moment, have greater chances of being successful in the epoch of globalization and cut-throat competition. Business Intelligence focuses on discovering knowledge from various electronic data repositories, both internal and external, to support better decision making. Data mining techniques become important for this knowledge discovery from databases. In recent years, business intelligence systems have played pivotal roles in helping organizations to fine tune the business goals such as improving customer retention, market penetration, profitability and efficiency. In most cases, these ins ights are driven by analyses of historical data. Global competitions, dynamic markets, and rapidly decreasing cycles of technological innovation provide important challenges for the banking and finance industry. Worldwide just-in-time availability of information allows enterprises to improve their flexibility. In financial institutions considerable developments in information technology have led to huge demand for continuous analysis of resulting data. Data mining can contribute to solving business problems in banking and finance by finding patterns, causalities, and correlations in business information and market prices that are not immediately apparent to managers because the volume data is too large or is generated too quickly to screen by experts. The managers of the banks may go a step further to find the sequences, episodes and periodicity of the transaction behaviour of their customers which may help them in actually better segmenting, targeting, acquiring, retaining and maintaining a profitable customer base. Business Intelligence and data mining techniques can also help them in identifying various classes of customers and come up with a class based product and/or pricing approach that may garner better revenue management as well. The broad categories of application of Data Mining and Business Intelligence techniques in the banking and financial industry vertical may be viewed as follows: Risk Management Managing and measurement of risk is at the core of every financial institution. Today’s major challenge in the banking and insurance world is therefore the implementation of risk management systems in order to identify, measure, and control business exposure. Here credit and market risk present the central challenge, one can observe a major change in the area of how to measure and deal with them, based on the advent of advanced database and data mining technology.( Other types of risk is also available in the banking and finance i.e., liquidity risk, operational risk, or concentration risk. ) Today, integrated measurement of different kinds of risk (i.e., market and credit risk) is moving into focus. These all are based on models representing single financial instruments or risk factors, their behaviour, and their interaction with overall market, making this field highly important topic of research. Financial Market Risk For single financial instruments, that is, stock indices, interest rates, or currencies, market risk measurement is based on models depending on a set of underlying risk factor, such as interest rates, stock indices, or economic development. One is interested in a functional form between instrument price or risk and underlying risk factors as well as in functional dependency of the risk factors itself. Today different market risk measurement approaches exist. All of them rely on models representing single instrument, their behaviour and interaction with overall market. Many of this can only be built by using various data mining techniques on the proprietary portfolio data, since data is not publicly available and needs consistent supervision. Credit Risk Credit risk assessment is key component in the process of commercial lending. Without it the lender would be unable to make an objective judgement of weather to lend to the prospective borrower, or if how much charge for the loan. Credit risk management can be classified into two basic groups: Credit scoring/credit rating: Assignment of a customer or a product to risk level. (i.e., credit approval) Behaviour scoring/credit rating migration analysis. Valuation of a customer‘s or product’s probability of a change in risk level within a given time. (i.e., default rate volatility) In commercial lending, risk assessment is usually an attempt to quantify the risk of loss to the lender when making a particular lending decision. Here credit risk can quantify by the changes of value of a credit product or of a whole credit customer portfolio, which is based on change in the instrument’s ranting, the default probability, and recovery rate of the instrument in case of default. Further diversification effects influence the result on a portfolio level. Thus a major part of implementation and care of credit risk management system will be a typical data mining problem: the modelling of the credit instrument’s value through the default probabilities, rating migrations, and recovery rates. Three major approaches exist to model credit risk on the transaction level: accounting analytic approaches, statistical prediction and option theoretic approaches. Since large amount of information about client exist in financial business, an adequate way to build such models is to use their own database and data mining techniques, fitting models to the business needs and the business current credit portfolio. Portfolio Management Risk measurement approaches on an aggregated portfolio level quantify the risk of a set of instrument or customer including diversification effects. On the other hand, forecasting models give an induction of the expected return or price of a financial instrument. Both make it possible to manage firm wide portfolio actively in a risk/return efficient manner. The application of modern risk theory is therefore within portfolio theory, an important part of portfolio management. With the data mining and optimization techniques investors are able to allocate capital across trading activities to maximise profit or minimise risk. This feature supports the ability to generate trade recommendations and portfolio structuring from user supplied profit and risk requirement. With data mining techniques it is possible to provide extensive scenario analysis capabilities concerning expected asset prices or returns and the risk involved. With this functionality, what if simulations of varying market c onditions e.g. interest rate and exchange rate changes) cab be run to assess impact on the value and/or risk associated with portfolio, business unit counterparty, or trading desk. Various scenario results can be regarded by considering actual market conditions. Profit and loss analyses allow users to access an asset class, region, counterparty, or custom sub portfolio can be benchmarked against common international benchmarks. Trading For the last few years a major topic of research has been the building of quantitative trading tools using data mining methods based on past data as input to predict short-term movements of important currencies, interest rates, or equities. The goal of this technique is to spot times when markets are cheap or expensive by identifying the factor that are important in determining market returns. The trading system examines the relationship between relevant information and piece of financial assets, and gives you buy or sell recommendations when they suspect an under or overvaluation. Thus, even if some traders find the data mining approach too mechanical or too risky to be used systematically, they may want to use it selectively as further opinion. Trading is based on the idea of predicting short term movements in the price/value of a product (currency/equity/interest rate etc.). With a reasonable guesstimate in place one may trade the product if he/she thinks it is going to be over valued or undervalued in the coming future. Trading traditionally is done based on the instinct of the trader. If he/she thinks the product is not priced properly he/she may sell/buy it. This instinct is usually based on past experience and some analysis based on market conditions. However, the number of factors that even the most expert of traders can account for are limited. Hence, quite often these predictions fail. The price of a financial asset is influenced by a variety of factors which can be broadly classified as economic, political and market factors. Participants in a market observe the relation between these factors and the price of an asset, account for the current value of these factors and predict the future values to finally arrive at the future value of the asset and trade accordingly. Quite often by the time a trained eye detects these favourable factors, many others may have discovered the opportunity, decreasing the possible revenues otherwise. Also these factors in turn may be related to several other factors making prediction difficult. Data mining techniques are used to discover hidden knowledge, unknown patterns and new rules from large data sets, which may be useful for a variety of decision making activity. With the increasing economic globalization and improvements in information technology, large amounts of financial data are being generated and stored. subjected to data mining techniques to discover hidden patterns and obtain predictions for trends in the future and the behaviour of the financial markets. With the immediacy offered by data mining, latest data can be mined to obtain crucial information at the earliest. This in turn would result in an improved market place responsiveness and awareness leading to reduced costs and increased revenue. Advancements made in technology have enabled to create faster and better prediction systems. These systems are based on a combination of data mining techniques and artificial intelligence methods like Case Based Reasoning (CBR) and Neural Networks (NN). A combination of such a forecasting system together with a good trading strategy offers tremendous opportunities for massive returns. The value of a financial asset is dependent on both ma croeconomic and microeconomic variables and this data is available in a variety of disparate formats. NN and CBR techniques can be applied extensively for predicting these financial variables. NN are characterized by learning capabilities and the ability to improve performance over time. Also NN can generalize i.e. recognize new objects which may be similar but not exactly identical to previous objects. NN with their ability to derive meaning from imprecise data can be used to detect patterns which are otherwise too complex to be detected by humans. NN act as experts in the area that they have been trained to work in. these can be used to provide predictions for new situations and work in real time. Thus, historic data available about financial markets and the various variables can be used to train NN to simulate the market. CBR methodology is based on reasoning from past performances. It uses a large repository of data stored as cases which would include all the market variables in this case. When a new case is fed in (in the form of a case containing the concerned variables), the CBR algorithm predicts the performance/result of this case based on the cases it has in its repository. Data mining techniques can be used to detect hidden patterns in these cases which may then be used for further decision making. CBR methods can be used in real time which makes analysis really quick and helps in real time decision making resulting in immediate profits. Thus data mining and business intelligence (CBR and NN) techniques may be used in conjunction in financial markets to predict market behaviour and obtain patterned behaviour to influence decision making. †¢ Customer Profiling and Customer Relationship Management Banks have many and huge databases containing transactional and other details of its customers. Valuable business information can be extracted from these data stores. But it is unfeasible to support analysis and decision making using traditional query languages; because human analysis breaks down with volume and dimensionality. Traditional statistical methods do not have the capacity and scale to analyse these data, and hence modern data mining methodologies and tools are increasingly being used for decision making process not only in banking and financial institutions, but across the industries. Customer profiling is a data mining process that builds customer profiles of different groups from the company’s existing customer database. The information obtained from this process can be used for different purposes, such as understanding business performance, making new marketing initiatives, market segmentation, risk analysis and revising company customer policies. The advantage of data mining is that it can handle large amounts of data and learn inherent structures and patterns in data. It can generate rules and models that are useful in enabling decisions that can be applied to future cases. Customer Behaviour Modeling (CBM) or customer profiling is a tool to predict the future value of an individual and the risk category to which he belongs to based on his demographic characteristics, life-style and previous behaviour. This helps to focus on customer retention. The two important facts that have important implication in selecting customer profiling methods are: – Profiling information can consist of many variables (or dozens of them). – Majority of them are categorical variables (or non-numeric variables or nominal variables). Customer profiling is to characterize features of special customer groups. Many data mining techniques search profiles of special customer groups systematically using Artificial Intelligence techniques. They generate accurate profiles based on beam search and incremental learning techniques. Customer profiling also uses many predictive modeling methods. Predictive modelling techniques applicable can be categorized into two broad approaches. They depend on the type of predicted information or variables, also called target variables. If the type of predicted values is categorical, classification techniques is preferred to be used. Classification Methods: In this approach, risk levels are organized into two categories based on past default history. For example, customers with past default history can be classified into â€Å"risky†group, whereas the rest are placed as â€Å"safe†group. Using this categorization information as target of prediction, Decision Tree and Rule Induction techniques can be used to build models that can predict default risk levels of new loan applications. Value Prediction Methods: In this method, for example, instead of classifying new loan applications, it attempts to predict expected default amounts for new loan applications. The predicted values are numeric and thus it requires modelling techniques that can take numerical data as target (or predicted) variables. Neural Network and regression are used for this purpose. The most common data mining methods used for customer profiling are: – Clustering (descriptive) – Classification (predictive) and regression (predictive) – Association rule discovery (descriptive) and sequential pattern discovery (predictive) In CRM, data mining is frequently used to assign a score to a particular customer or prospect indicating the likelihood that the individual will behave in a particular way. For example, a score could measure the propensity to respond to a particular insurance or credit card offer or to switch to a competitor’s product. Data mining can be useful in all the three phases of a customer relationship-cycle: customer acquisition, increasing value of the customer and customer retention. For example, a typical banking firm let say sends 1 million direct mails for credit card customer acquisition. Past researches have shown that typically 6% of such target customers respond to these direct mails. Banks use their credit risk models to classify these respondents in good credit risk and bad credit risk classes. The proportion of good credit risk respondents is only 16% out of the total respondents. So, as net result, roughly only 1% of the total targeted customers are converted into the cr edit card customers through direct mailing. Seeing the huge cost and effort involved in such marketing process, data mining techniques can significantly improve the customer conversion rate by more focused marketing. Using a predictive test model using decision tree techniques like CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection), CART (Classification And Regression Trees), Quest and C5.0; it can be analyzed which customers are more probable to respond. And using this with the risk model using techniques like neural network can help build a test model. The way data mining can actually be built into the CRM application is determined by the nature of customer interaction. The customer interaction could be inbound (when the customer contacts the firm) or outbound (when the firm contacts customers). The deployment requirements are quite different. Outbound interactions such as direct â€Å"Building Profitable Customer Relations with Data Mining†, Herb Edelstein mail campaign involve the firm selecting the people whom to be mailed by applying the test model to the customer database. In other outbound campaigns like advertising, the profile of good prospects shown by the test model needs to be matched to the profile of the people the advertisement would reach. For inbound transactions such as telephone or internet order, the application must respond in real time. Therefore the data mining model is embedded in the application and actively recommends an action. In either case, one of the key issues in applying a model to new data set is the transformations that are made in building the model. The ease with which these changes are embedded in the model determines the productivity of deploying these tools. †¢ Marketing and customer care Because high competitions in the finance industry, intelligent business decisions in marketing are more important than ever for better customer targeting, acquisition, retention and customer relationship. There is a need for customer care and marketing strategies to be in place for the success and survival of the business. It is possible with the help of data mining and predictive analytics to make such strategies. Financial institutions are finding it more difficult to locate new previously unsolicited buyers, and as a result they are implementing aggressive marketing program to acquire new customer from their competitors. The uncertainties of the buyer make planning of new services and media usage almost impossible. The classical solution is to apply subjective human expert knowledge as rules of thumb. Until recently, replacing the human expert by computer technology has been difficult. An interesting tool available in marketing and financial institution is analysis of client’s data. This allows analysis and calculation of key indicators that help bank to identify factors that affected customer’s demand in the past and customer’ need in the future. Information about the customer’s personal data can also give indications that affect future demand. In case of analysis of retail debtors and small corporations, marketing tasks will typically include factors about the customer himself, his credit record and rating made by external rating agencies. With the advent of data mining and business intelligence tools it has become possible for banks to strengthen their customer acquisition by direct marketing and establish multi- channel contacts, to improve customer development by cross selling and up selling of products, and to increase customer retention by behaviour management. It is possible for the banks to use the data available to retain its best customers and to identify opportunities to sell them additional services. The profiling of all the valuable accounts can be done and the top most say 5-10 % can be assigned to Relationship Managers, whose job will be to identify new selling opportunities with these customers. It is also possible to bundle various offers to meet the need of the valued customers. Data mining can also help the banks in customizing the various promotional offers. For example the direct mails can be customized as per the segment of the account holders in the bank. It is also possible for the banks to find out thepr oblem customers who can be defaulters in the future, from their past payment records and the profile and the data patterns that are available. This can also help the banks in adjusting the relationship with these customers so that the loss in future is kept to its minimum. Data mining can improve the response rates in the direct mail campaigns as the time required to classify the customers will be reduced, this in turn will increase the revenues, improve the sales force efficiency from the target group. Data mining helps the banks to optimize their portfolio of services, delivery channels. A record of past transactions can give useful insight to the bank and different locations /branches of same branch can also follow some patterns that when noticed can be used as past records to learn from and base the future actions upon. Data Mining techniques can be of immense help to the banks and financial institutions in this arena for better targeting and acquiring new customers, fraud detection in real time, providing segment based products for better targeting the customers, analysis of the customers’ purchase patterns over time for better retention and relationship, detection of emerging trends to take proactive stance in a highly competitive market adding a lot more value to existing products and services and launching of new product and service bundles. Reference:
Friday, January 10, 2020
Private Nuisance Question
FOUNDATION IN ARTS LAW OF TORT ASSIGNMENT On the facts, the claimant Garfield suffered smashed panes of glass in his green house and sustains a fractured skull when he is hit on the head by a cricket ball. The local cricket club owner(defendant) may have an action bought by Garfield(claimant) under the tort of negligence or private nuisance. The author will first discuss on negligence and then later on to private nuisance. In the novel cases where the existence of a legal duty is less obvious, the Caparo v Dickman test must be satisfied.As it was reasonably foreseeable that claimant would be injured, there was sufficient proximity and it is fair,just and reasonable to impose liability on the defendant. Hence it is arguable that the local cricket club owed Garfield duty of care as the first element under negligence can be proven. The second element which Garfield have to prove is whether the defendant breach the duty of care. To breach the legal duty of care,is to fall below the appro priate standard of care expected of the defendant when performing the act in question.In the case of Bolton v Stone,it was held that if the likelihood of harm caused by defendant was low then the likelihood of the defendant breaching of the standard of care would also be low. However,base on the facts the claimant house is built so close to the ground that it is almost inevitable that the ball would be hit over the fence and into the garden’s house from time to time. Thus the likelihood of harm is great,creating a high risk of injury to the claimant and the standard of care expected of the defendant would be higher.However,by referring back to the facts,since a 3 metre fence is erected it would seem to be sufficient to prevent injury or loss as the law does not expect the defendant to take absolute precautions(Fardon v Hercourt & Ravington). Thus Garfield’s action to bring the case under the tort of negligence would probably fail. Garfield will then be best advised to bring the case in private nuisance. Private nuisance is the special damage to those who have a landed interest whose enjoyment of it is in some way diminished.On our facts,Garfield bought the house which we can assume that he is the owner of the house who have proprietary interest or exclusive interest in the land(Hunter v Canary Wharf). Thus he may sue the defendant for private nuisance and probably seek for an injunction. One should be noted that the law of private nuisance has attempt to preserve a balance between two conflicting interests,that of one occupier in using his land that he thinks fit and that of his neighbour in the quiet enjoyment of his land(Sedleigh Denfield v O’Callaghan).By doing this,the courts will look into the issue of ‘reasonableness’. In other words the courts will assess the reasonableness(level of interference) by taking into account some factors such as locality,duration,sensitivity and public benefits. With regards to locality,it wa s clear that the claimant had suffered physical damage and damage to his property. Thus the issue of locality is irrelevant(St. Helens Smelting Co. v Tipping). By referring to a similar case, Miller v Jackson,the claimants had bought a house just next to the cricket ground and the claimants knew about it.The cricket ball kept sailing over the claimant’s house and they sought an injunction. At the mean time,the defendant erected a highest possible wire fence,install unbreakable glass and cover the claimant’s garden with safety net and ask the batsmen to keep the ball low:the claimants were not content and seek further for damages and injunction after five more balls flew in their house in 1975. The court rejected the injunction as Lord Denning said that the claimant has come with open eyes.Base on our facts,it is highly unlikely that the claimant is unaware of the existence of the ground as it has been played for nearly 100 years. Therefore,since Garfield had come with open eyes it may not be actionable as it is already a pre-existing condition at the time of the agreement. (Southwark London Borough Council v Mills) Then,with regard to the issue of duration and seriousness,the law states that the longer the interference goes on the more likely it is to be unreasonable. However,a nuisance need not necessarily last long.If the time to carry out the activities are unreasonable or the degree of seriousness is high it could still amount to nuisance(Crown River Cruise Ltd v Kimbolton Fireworks Ltd). Coming back to the facts,after the incident having two cricket balls smashed the glass in his greenhouse,the next hit was few weeks later which caused Garfield to sustain fractured skull. Thus it may not seem to be unreasonable as the next hit was a few weeks after the first hit. But,having a fractured skull after being hit maybe serious and the court might consider it as a factor to issue the injunction.However,it is arguable on the basis of sensitivity if the force use for the hit was not too excessive or unreasonable and if Garfield have had injury on the head before the hit then the defendant may not be held nuisance. (Robinson v Kilvert) If the nuisance is established,the defendant will try to raise the possible defence which is prescription since the cricket has been played on the ground for nearly a hundred years. However the defence of prescription would only applicable if the claimant have beared with the nuisance for twenty years and not when the defendant’s started the activities(Sturges v Bridgman).Thus the defence may succeed if the defendant have moved in and beared with the nuisance for twenty years or more. The defendant would also raise the issue of public interest. The court would inevitably concerned to some extent with the utility or general benefit to the community of defendant’s activities. This means if the claimants actions is of importance, the risks that may happen when completing these actions m ay be acceptable(Watt v Hertfordshire).However,the court will not accept the argument that the claimant should put up with the harm because it is beneficial to the community as a whole(Bellow v Cement co. ). If Garfield purpose of suing is to restrict the nuisance,the only remedy that he can sought against the cricket club is a prohibitory injunction. It is an equitable remedy use to put a stop to certain offensive activities that affect the claimant continuosly and it will only be awarded if the court felt that it is necessarily to. If the nuisance is temporary and occasionally an injunction may not be issued.In conclusion,eventhough Garfield did experience private nuisance,the activities carried out by the defendant seem to be reasonable. Unless Garfield can prove that the degree of seriousness caused by the defendant is unreasonable,the defendant would probably not be liable. Furthermore if Garfield wants to claim compensation for the fractured skull he have to bring the case und er the tort of negligence as nuisance claims are limited to loss of enjoyment of land. However,as mentioned earlier that breach of duty could not be proved therefore the defendant would probably not be liable.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Providing Pedicure Treatment Essay - 2292 Words
Function of the Skin The skin is more than just external covering. It acts as a sensitive boundary between our bodies and the environment. The skin has several important functions, for example: Protection, temperature regulations, waste removal and sense of touch. Protection †¢ The skin acts as a protective organ. The film of sebum and sweat on the surface of the skin (acid mantle). It acts as an anti-bacterial agent to help prevent the multiplication of micro-organisms on the skin. †¢ The fat cells in the subcutaneous layer of the skin help to protect bones and major organs form injury. †¢ At the basal cell layer of the skin melanin is produced to help protect the body from harmful ultra-violet radiation. †¢ The horny layer of the†¦show more content†¦The Subcutaneous tissue – This is the fatty layer of the skin. Lipocytes cells produce lipids. It protects the muscles, bones and internal organs from being damaged and provides insulation and energy for the body when needed. Function of the Nail The nails are formations of hardened growths that are based on the protein keratin. The cells in the matrix reproduce to form the nail plate and they multiply gradually pushing up before they harden. This process is called keratinisation. The matrix needs a good supply of oxygen and nutrients for the cells to be able to reproduce. †¢ Matrix – Reproductive part of the nail, which new nails are formed. This section of the nail contains nerves, blood and lymph vessels. †¢ Mantle – Helps protect the matrix cells from getting damage. †¢ Nail bed – It supports the nail plate. The nail bed is supplied with many blood vessels which provide the necessary nourishment. †¢ Lunula (half moon) – This is the visible section of the matrix. It is commonly referred to as the bridge between the living matrix and the horny nail plate. The lunula forms the upper part of the matrix; it is part of the growing area. †¢ Nail Plate – This part of the nail consists of three layers of dead keratinised cells. The nail plate is the hardened translucent outer layer. †¢ Nail Wall – It is the fold of skin that overlaps the nail to form a frame andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis : Deep Cleansing Massage1408 Words  | 6 PagesPage 10# Deep Cleansing Massage When you go to a day spa for a facial treatment, you will have an assortment of facial alternatives to browse. It might overpower at to begin with, however a large portion of the experts and estheticians in the spa will be upbeat to help you browse their rundown of administrations. In case you re searching for a facial that will scrub your pores and treat your skin break out, they will probably propose that you get the profound clean facial. A profound clean facialRead MoreProduct And Price Of Business Essay750 Words  | 3 PagesProduct and Price Elibah Bey Kaplan University â€Æ' Eli’s beauty services is a business that will provide beauty and relaxation services to customers. The services provided in my business will be in the form of hairstyles, massages, manicures, and pedicures. In this paper, I will describe what the products and/or services of my business will be and the pricing strategy involved. I will also describe the value proportion for each service provided in comparison to the competition’s price of providedRead MoreThe Origins And Development Of The Canadian And American Health Care System Essay1297 Words  | 6 Pagesto the nation as a whole by priividing citizens a with medically covered service. Changes in Health, Changes in Coverage (1984-2000) Recent Development in Health Care the Canada health care system has developed throughout the 21st century providing citizens for the health care needs, however Canadians were challenged with many conflicts equity, access, andand quality of care. however, the federal provincial government decided to creat infrustrsture to help expand and provide services to thRead More day spa marketing plan Essay1302 Words  | 6 Pagesresort and hotel spas and the remaining 13% were spread across the four other types of spas. The U.S. spa industry generated an estimated $11.2 billion in revenues in that same year. Fifty two percent (52%) of a spa ¡Ã‚ ¦s revenue is gained from its treatment rooms. Despite being the largest segment, day spas, accounts only for just under half of that revenue at 49% The Kline Group research suggested a strong growth (2003-04) in the spa market close to 11% from driving forces such as: „à nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;HighRead MoreBusiness Plan 12042 Words  | 9 Pageshave permanent curl , hot oil , relax , hair spa , rebonding , keratin treatment and shine gloss treatment . We have a beauty treatment like facials , make ups , massage , manicures and pedicures for the nails we also creating a nail arts . Here are the features and benefits of our services , in hair stylish we can give to you the good look and we assure that your hair will getting healthy and manageability . 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The reason for choosing this orientation lies in its uniquenessRead MoreX Y Gentlemen s Grooming4986 Words  | 20 Pagesmen’s personal appearance such as: Hair care (barber cuts, shaving, and styling), Nail care (manicure and pedicures), Skincare (facials and advanced facial treatments), Hair removal (waxing and IPL); to services targeting inner health such as: Nutrition Consultations (dietary and supplement advice) and Massage Treatments (stress relief and wellbeing), incorporating essential oils to all treatments - customising and targeting individual client’s specific needs. I will also have an in store aroma blendingRead MoreA Short Note On Gentlemen s Grooming : Business Plan4314 Words  | 18 Pagesaccess to public transport. Salon space will include: †¢ Reception area †¢ Managers Office †¢ Staff Room †¢ 5 consultation rooms – 2 Beauty Rooms, 2 Massage Rooms 1 Nutrition Office †¢ Aroma blending bar cubicle †¢ Barber service – 3 chairs †¢ Manicure Pedicure cubicle †¢ Storage/Laundry room †¢ Male Female Toilets 3. OHS Responsibility and Action plan OHS requirements Safety issues / Hazards Procedures for managing the hazard Person Responsible Manual handling †¢ Injury from heavy lifting †¢ IncorrectRead MoreLgbtq Behavior And Its Effects On Children Essay965 Words  | 4 Pagesand increase changes of suicide based on their sexual orientation. LGBTQ experience negative health issues when faced with family rejection, social stigma, religious intolerance, school bullying, physical assaults, hate crime, harassment, unfair treatment in the legal system, and lack of health insurance. The participants will describe their reactions and emotions while reading three scenarios LGBTQ experience. The first scenario will be about a LGBTQ person in a closed family system who are veryRead MoreThe Market For Beauty Services1090 Words  | 5 Pagesfor beauty services in Brighton is on a rise with an estimate of 20 beauty salons established in the city. The Mobile Beauty Bar is a mobile beauty spa set in Brighton, East Sussex, offering luxurious beauty experiences. For now it specialises in providing bespoke/luxury eyelash extensions, eyelash tinting, brow threading as well as brow tinting to the local community of Brighton. We plan to offer these services at a fraction of the prices of our competitors. MARKET RESEARCH: the process of gathering
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
A Fair View of Research Proposal Purpose
A Fair View of Research Proposal Purpose Research Proposal Purpose - the Story If you're applying for research funding, you will likely also need to incorporate a comprehensive budget that shows how much each region of the undertaking will cost. You must demonstrate that you've got a plan for your work and your project will be prosperous. Even now, in the fields of company and science, it's still true that you have to earn project proposals. For example, it explains how you will finish your project and includes all the activities that will take place. Key to the maturation of a research paper is a suitable research proposal that sets out the tone of the true paper. Yes, it's required so you can create a productive research paper. The previous page of your research proposal ought to be the bibliography. Quantitative research employs numerical data. A research proposal sample will reveal to you the parts that ought to be included. Your research proposal is going to be a var iation of these basic structure. If you use any of the next formats, the professor is going to be satisfied. All About Research Proposal Purpose The grade of the research proposal conveys a good deal about your undertaking. Now you know how to structure a research proposal, it's time to start the job. Your research is like your idea. The purpose of someone research project is part of the research design. The Fundamentals of Research Proposal Purpose Revealed If you're applying for financial funding then you have to elaborate on reasons which justify financial assistance. Make certain that you identify what you're going to be working on so that you've got an objective. Internal proposals could be written to suggest a new concept to upper management or maybe to suggest a remedy to a current organizational issue. A research proposal should begin with the definition of the issue. What Is So Fascinating About Research Proposal Purpose? After that, every research proposal d emands an abstract. As a student, you may need to compose a research proposal to receive your thesis or dissertation plan approved. Every research proposal needs to have a title. A bad and low-quality research proposal might be the reason your research won't ever start. Aim of the research proposal is a really important component that should be clearly assessed by the author. Writing a research proposal engages numerous skills. It is as much of a vital task as it is doing the survey itself, so be extremely attentive. Writing a research proposal is a lot simpler than you think and moreover it does not need any research results before you begin writing. It's important to demonstrate that you're acquainted with the main research on your topic. Naturally, it's important to pick a topic which you like to write about. Select a topic that is argumentative. The topic needs to be interesting and original. Up in Arms About Research Proposal Purpose? There are lots of possible reasons for dropping a specific paper, and research proposal can help you establish them early on. When writing your discussion, remember that you want to get excited about what you aspire to accomplish and have confidence your project will be helpful to the reader. Specify the question your research will answer, establish the reason it is a considerable question, show how you're likely to answer the question, and indicate what you expect we'll learn. So essentially, you will be writing your proposal and receiving the research stage of your writing process from the way! The Little-Known Secrets to Research Proposal Purpose It's also useful to supply a timeline for your research so the audience can ascertain if your study can be run within the allotted time period. Some people believe any literate person has the ability to write a great academic research proposal. By finding the right research questions, you are going to convince the audience of the significance of your resear ch. A number of the research topics are simple (you are able to locate them at the start of each list), whereas others are very complicated. The End of Research Proposal Purpose An effective research proposal which serves the aim of justifying the research topic should begin with an effective outline. The statement should include not just the immediate goal of the research, but in addition any larger, eventual function. You should convince the evaluation board of the significance of your work, and the way the more study will add to the area. The very first objective is to explain what you plan to do. Research Proposal Purpose - What Is It? Always try to remember that every paragraph ought to be at least seven sentences. A superb thesis proposal hinges on a great idea. The function of the proposal is to be certain that The proposal isn't a fixed blueprint. The goal of proposal writing is to persuade others your topic has to be investigated. Be sure that the relationship between the research objectives and the research technique is evident. It is hard to take a research finding and apply it to the true world. For instance, if your research is all about the usage of social media to earn political arguments, while it's a fact that social media is a relatively recent phenomenon, there's been other research conducted about persuasion utilizing social media, together with other research involving political arguments. Generally speaking, social science research, a scientific research, applies similar research methodologies the very same as other forms of research like marketing research that's inherent with both quantitative strategy and qualitative strategy, clinical research that is emphasized on specific areas like pharmaceutical, chemical, health care research, and so forth.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Physician Assisted Suicide Can Be Deceiving - 3626 Words
Heather Campbell Mrs. Del Giorno English 12 28 April 2015 Physician Assisted Suicide can be Deceiving A college student, Erica, who has many things going for her such as a future career in law and business, has been recently diagnosed with a devastating illness: glioblastoma. Until she contracted this type of brain cancer, Erica was always a happy individual but when she was diagnosed with glioblastoma she fell into despair. The doctors told her that even if she decided to undergo treatment, she would only have a minimum of six months to live. The doctors also explained to her that her symptoms would worsen as the cancer progresses and she would eventually reach a point of being in extreme, constant pain and loss of mobility. Now, Erica’s only options are to let the cancer run its course on her, or to choose to end her life in a peaceful and painless manner with the assistance of a physician. Millions of people suffer from terminal illnesses and diseases everyday. Many of those people, especially those living in uncomfortable facilit ies and those deteriorating, have a strong desire to die with dignity. The subject of physician assisted suicide goes hand in hand with self induced suicide and euthanasia. The issue with physician assisted suicide is that society is not willing to help the issue because a majority of society views it as unethical and morally wrong. The subject is more so focused on the practice of the doctor rather than the pain and the suffering of theShow MoreRelatedEuthanasi Euthanasia And Involuntary Euthanasia1825 Words  | 8 Pagessuffering gets to be too much, the severely ill have the choice of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of ending an organism’s life as an act of mercy to relieve them from their agony. Even though this practice which is commonly referred to as an assisted suicide seems harmless in the grand scheme of life, it has caused a lot of controversy surrounding it. That is what makes euthanasia so interesting. There are countless different categorizations, meth ods, and tiny details to account for. EuthanizingRead MoreEssay about Euthanasia2829 Words  | 12 Pages Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Individual cases presented to justify legalizing physician assisted suicide fail to deal with underlying medical failures to control pain, creating an illusion of control over death, and not acknowledging the thousands of patients murdered inappropriately. This is an interesting and a very controversial issue in today’s society. Euthanasia has negative sides, it can hurt society, and everyone needs to learn more bout it. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;TheRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words  | 1573 PagesProcesses 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-Assessment Library How Much Do I Know About Organizational Behavior? 4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women†12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational Practices? 30 Point/Counterpoint Lost in Translation? 31 Questions for Review 32 Experiential Exercise Workforce Diversity 32 Ethical Dilemma Jekyll and Hyde 33 CaseRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words  | 1617 PagesConflict 410 SSS Software Management Problems 410 Exercises for Selecting an Appropriate Conflict Management Strategy Bradley’s Barn 419 Avocado Computers 419 Phelps, Inc. 420 Exercises for Resolving Interpersonal Disputes 420 Freida Mae Jones 421 Can Larry Fit In? 423 Meeting at Hartford Manufacturing Company 424 SKILL APPLICATION 431 Activities for Improving Managing Conflict Skills Suggested Assignments 431 Application Plan and Evaluation 432 390 418 431 SCORING KEYS AND COMPARISON
Monday, December 9, 2019
Analysis the Culture of 3M Company-Free-Samples for Students
Question: Discuss about the Culture of 3M Company. Answer: Background of the Company 3M Company is a major multinational conglomerate corporation of United States of America. The former name of the company was Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. The company was founded in 13 June 1902. 3M Company is considered as one of the major global innovation company (3m.com, 2017). 3M Company has a large variety of products that include adhesive, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, personal protective equipments, dental and orthoclase products, various electronic materials, medical products, car-care products, electronic circuit and many others (3m.com, 2017). 3M Company is well-known all over the world for their continuous thrust for innovation and invention. For this reason, with the help of their innovative products, 3M Company has been able to change daily life of threads of people. It can be seen that 3M Company is driven by some specific values that provide the company with necessary direction (3m.com, 2017). As per the values, 3M Company maintains honesty and integrity in all of their business operations (3m.com, 2017). 3M Company always tries to fulfill the demands of their customers with innovative technology and superior quality of products that have the ability to add value to their customers. In the year 2015, 3M Company had global sales of $30.2 billion that includes the sales of America worth $18.23 billion (3m.com, 2017). The company has its business operations spread over 70 countries and the products of 3M Company are sold over 200 countries around the globe (3m.com, 2017). 3M Company has an employee base of 89,446 all over the world. Innovation and invention can be seen in the business environment of the company (3m.com, 2017). The main objective of the company is to satisfy the needs of their customers with the help of quality products and high level of technology. Practice in 3M Company The focus of this part is to evaluate the business practices that make 3M Company a learning organization. As per the above discussion, 3M Company believes in innovation and inventions. With the help of some major practices, 3M Company has been able to develop learning environment in their organization (hbr.org, 2017). 3M Company provides their employees with the opportunity to pursue their chances. For this reason, 3M Company arranges various kinds of forums and centers that help their employees to take full advantage of their opportunities and provides them with all necessary resources. Apart from this, the employees of 3M Company attend different kinds of technical council so that their technical abilities can be developed and increased (victorhrconsultant.com, 2017). According to 3M Company, performance of the employees is the main success factor of the company. For this reason, 3M Company has adopted the strategy to provide the employee with bonus as per their performance of the employees. In 3M Company, scientists are provided with the same respect, compensation and prestige like the corporate managers. As per the policy of the company, the scientists can get the promotions without becoming managers. The performance measurement and reward system of 3M Company tolerates the mistakes of their employees and encourages them. 3M Company uses to honor top three scientists who develop the most innovative product and they are awarded with cash price (news.3m.com, 2017). 3M Company tells the stories of famous failures to their employees so that they can learn from those mistakes and this is one of the major strategies of 3M Company to retain innovation in their business culture. 3M Company has an effective research and development unit for the invention of innovative products. This research and development department has significant contribution to develop new industries for the company (linkedin.com, 2017). Comparison of Theoretical Framework In order to analyze the cultural aspects of 3M Company, two of the major theoretical framework has been taken into consideration and they are Schein Model and Hofstede Dimensions. Both the theories have their own importance for the analysis and evaluation of business culture of the companies. Schein Model: As per the Schein Model, organizational culture has three layers. They are Artifacts and Behaviors, Espoused Values and Assumptions (Zohar Hofmann, 2012). Figure 1: Schein Model (Source: Hogan Coote, 2014) Hofstede Dimensions: According to Hofstede model, there are six dimensions of culture. They are Power Distance, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Masculinity vs. Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Pragmatic vs. Normative and Indulgence vs. Restraint (Minkov Hofstede, 2012). Figure 2: Hofstede Dimensions (Source: Taras, Steel Kirkman, 2012) The step or dimension of Schein model is artifacts that are visible elements of the companies like logo, architecture, structure, process and others. At the same time, the first three dimensions of Hofstede model are similar to the first step of Schein model. The second step in Schein model is espoused values that are organizational standards, values, rules, regulations and others. This step is similar with the last two dimensions of Hofsted model. The third step of Schein model is assumptions that have similarity with the fourth dimension of Hofstedes model. It can be seen hat Schein model covers all the dimensions of Hofsteds model. Apart from this, there are only three dimensions or layer in Schein model and for this reason; this process is less complicated than Hofsteds model. In case of Schein model, it is possible to analyze all the cultural factors of the companies with the help of three layers while companies need to use six factors for cultural analysis in case of Hofsteds model (Gray Massimino, 2014). Thus, it is more appropriate to analyze the culture of 3M Company with the help of Schein Model. Schein Model Organization culture refers to certain values and believes of the organizations. Organizational culture consists of certain principles, ideologies and policies. The organizational culture directs the employees how to behave with the people inside and outside the organizations. In the year 1980, American management professor Edgar Schein introduced a model that is helpful to analyze and evaluate the organizational culture. Edgar Schein believed that it is not possible for the business organizations to adopt the culture in one day. The employees of the organizations have to go through various changes and they have to adopt the organizational cultures. In addition, the new employees have to try hard in order to adjust with the organizational culture. According to Edgar Schein, there are three major levels in the organizational culture (Mihaela Bratianu, 2012). They are Artifacts and Behaviours, Espoused Values and Assumptions. All three aspects are discussed below: Artifacts: Artifacts refers to the surface of the organizations. On a more precise note, artifacts can be referred as the visible objectives of the organizations like physical environment, language, technological products, style, clothing, rituals and others. Among all these aspects, climate is considered as the artifacts of the organizations. As per most of the culturists, climate of the organizations can be considered as the culture. Observed behaviour of the employees can also be considered as the artifacts of the companies. Apart from this, various structural elements like formal descriptions of the organizational working process, organizational charts and others come under the category of artifacts. The most important characteristics of artifacts are that they are easy to observe and difficult to convert into normal languages. Apart from the organizational people, all these aspects are visible by the external parties of the organization. With the help of deep observations, these artifacts become clearer (Schaubroeck et al., 2012). Espoused Values: Espoused values refer to the standards, values, rules and code of conducts of the business organizations. This is the next level in the Schein model. Schein believed that the value of the employees help to develop the culture of the business organizations. Thus, the value of each employee has a significant role to play in constituting the organizational culture. The attitudes and thought process of the organizational employees have a major impact on the organizational cultural aspects. The organizational cultured is developed based on the modest of the employees. Thus, it can be said that espoused values can be referred as the ideology and philosophy of the companies. Only organizational people can see and feel them. The outsides are not able to see and feel the espoused values of the business organizations. Espoused values have utmost importance for the analysis of organizational cultures (Hogan Coote, 2014). Assumptions: This is the third step of Scheins model. This level is considered as assumed values of the organizations that cannot be measured, but they have major impacts on the culture of the organizations. In the business organizations, some values and beliefs are there that stays hidden but have significant importance on the culture of the organizations. The main aim of this part is to analyze the inner aspect of the human nature in the organizations. These assumptions are considered as the foundation of organizational culture. The underlying assumptions of the organizations are hard to describe and they are intangible in nature. As these assumptions are invisible in nature, they are not written in any of the documents of the companies. It can be seen that organizational people do not want to talk about these assumption but they have to comply with these assumptions while working in the organizations. Thus, it can be said that assumptions are one of the major components of organiz ational culture (Mihaela Bratianu, 2012). Analysis of Practices From the above analysis, it can be seen that there are three major factors in Schein Model; they are Artefacts, Espoused values and Assumptions. These three aspects are the most crucial factors are Schein model as they massively help in the analysis of organizational culture. There is not any exception of this fact in case of 3M Company. For the analysis and evaluation of organisational culture of 3M Company, the assistance of Schein Model is required. Various cultural aspects of the company need to be divided among these aspects of Schein Model so that effective analysis can be done (news.3m.com, 2017). The analysis of practice, issues, events and sub units of 3M Company is shown below based on Schein framework. Artefacts and Creation Norms are considered as the crucial factors in the principles and standards of the companies. Norms refer to the informal guidelines of the organizations that guide the behaviour of the employees in the organizations. Norms have their importance in the development collection expectations among the members or employees of the business organizations (Dauber, Fink Yolles, 2012). In a shorter note, norms can be considered as the way to do things in the organizations. From this analysis, the importance of norms in the business organizations can be understood. According to Schein Model, norms are the artefacts of the organizations that the outside people can see. The norms of 3M are the integral part of the organizational culture. According to the norms of the company, the employees of the company need to act with honesty and integrity. As per the norms of the company, the culture of 3M has build on satisfying the needs of the customers with the help of technology and quality products. 3M is always ready for the development of their employees with the help of various talent development programs. These are the major norms of 3M and they are the major parts of its culture (Fink, Dauber Yolles, 2012). From the above discussion, it can be said that norms have an important role to play in making 3M a learning organization. The management of the company has been successful to develop collaboration among various departments in the organizations. As a result, the employees have become able to learn from different business units of the company. Another major aspect of artefacts is the rites and ceremonies of the organizational culture. Rites and ceremonies refer to the integral part of the business organizations as they contribute hugely towards the operating procedures of the companies. In addition, rites and ceremonies have symbolic connection with the values and ethic of the companies. Different types of rites and ceremonies are the major part of the organizational culture of 3M. These rites and ceremonies include various recognition ceremonies, annual off-site conferences, Christmas parties, employee welcome parties, retirement parties and others (Baumgartner, 2012). All the rites and ceremonies make the employees enthusiastic to their works. Rites and ceremonies play an important role to make 3M a learning organization. In the daily lives of the employees, these rites and ceremonies bring happiness. It can be seen that as a part of the rites and ceremonies, 3M rewards their employees. This is a major performance booste r for the employees of the company. As the employees are rewarded in front of everyone, their thrust for leering becomes higher. It helps 3M to become a learning organization. Apart from these, there are many artefacts factors in the cultures of 3M. They are the logo of the company, building and infrastructure of the company, various machineries and equipments of the company and others. All these factors have deep impact on the culture of the companies. As per Schein model, these factors have great impact on the cultures of the companies. Thus, at the time of analysing the organizational culture, all these aspects need to be taken into consideration (Maximini, 2015). Values and Beliefs According to Schein Model, espoused values and beliefs refer to the code of conducts, rules, regulations, principles and standards of the organizations and the people outside the organizations are not able to see all the values and beliefs. Trust can be considered as important factors in the aspects of espoused values and beliefs. Trust is a major component of organizational culture. Trust helps to build respect and loyalty among the people of the organizations (Gimenez-Espin, Jimnez-Jimnez Martnez-Costa, 2013). As per the analysis of Schein model, it can be seen that 3M has a high trust workplace culture. 3M gets major benefits from the trust factors in the organizational as the company is getting some major tangible benefits from it. As there is trust among the employees of the company across all departments, they use to share valuable information among them. As a result of this, the employee of a particular department can now the work procedures of another department. This proces s helps them to learn multitasks. This is a major way of learning in the company. Apart from this, 3M has been able to create a cordial work place in the organization. With the help of trust factors in the organization, 3M has been able to implement the strategy of shared vision in the workplace. In the presence of trust factors in the organization, the employees of 3M have become able to build understanding and commitment among themselves that provides massive benefits to the company. Due to the presence of trust factors in the workplace, the employees of the company feel themselves as valuable and they become more enthusiastic in the learning process. As the employees, make difference in the workplace, the organizations start to value them. Efforts refer to the attempt of the organizations in order to do good of the companies like effort to implement a strategy, effort to better the financial performance of the company and others. Thus, it can be said that the organizations need to put efforts for the performance development. This same theory is also applicable in case of 3M. It can be seen that 3M has been putting some major efforts in order to strengthen the technological capabilities of the company and to improve the business portfolio and cost structure of the company. As per the recent years strategy of the company, 3M is putting efforts to increase the amount of investment for the growth opportunities (Taylor, 2014). Individual efforts of the employees help them to learn many important aspects apart from their own business units. This is a major progress for the company and this process helps 3M to become a learning organization. Apart from trust and effort, some other cultural values and beliefs are there in 3M. According to the culture of the company, the brand of the companies should be reflected from the culture of the organizations. Over the years, 3M has been celebrating, encouraging and retaining the most relevant parts of their business culture. At the same time, 3M is continuously developing the ways to make the organizational culture more effective and relevant. In 3M, the employees are provided with the opportunities to increase their potentials and to become more effective. In this process, 3M provides all the necessary resources to them. Thus, it can be seen that 3M is always ready to take efforts in order to make the organizational people more effective. This is one of the major characteristics of their business culture. All these aspects together have been successful to make 3M a learning organization where the employees are always provided with the opportunity to develop themselves (Korte Lin , 2013). Assumptions Assumptions refer to the underlying facts of the organizational that are deeply embedded with the organizational cultures. From the cultural analysis of 3M, some basic assumptions can be made. As per the above discussions, it can be said that some of the major business practices of 3M have made the company as the learning organization. From the above discussion, it can be assumed that 3M has been successful to implement the concept of system thinking in the organization. As a result, the organizational people of 3M have been able to see interrelations and patterns of the organizational changes (Conole, 2012). In addition, with the help of organizational culture, the employees of the company have developed personal mastery. With the help of personal mastery, the 3M employees are able to increase their abilities to create their desired results (Maden, 2012). Another major assumption is the development of team learning mentality among the employees of the company. There is a positive in terrelation between team learning and personal mastery as both team learning develops on the principles and standards of personal mastery. Team learning is an important factor for the business success of 3M (Parmelee et al., 2012). Conclusion The main objective of this report is to analyze and evaluate the business practices of 3M Company that make it a learning organization. For the analysis of business practices, two learning models are taken into consideration. They are Schein Model and Hofstede Dimension Model. Schein model has three dimensions while Hofstede Model has six dimensions. After the analysis of both the models, it has been concluded that Schein model is more appropriate than Hofstede model for the analysis of organizational culture of 3M. The three dimensions of Schein model covers all the six dimensions of Hofstetde model. There are three major dimensions in Schein model; they are Artefacts, Espoused values and Assumptions. There are some specific artefacts in the organizations. The employees of the organization have to comply with the norms and standards and the employees act with honesty and integrity for these rules and regulations. In addition, 3M has several major rites and ceremonies in the organiza tion like Christmas parties, conferences, employee recognition programs and others. All these rites and ceremonies play important part in developing enthusiasm within the employees towards their jobs. These are the major artefacts of the company. Various codes of conducts, principles, regulations are others are seen as the espoused values. 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