Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Free Essays on Winter Visitors
As winter approaches, many elderly ââ¬Å"snowbirdsâ⬠have returned to Florida to enjoy the mild weather. Because of several ââ¬Å"close encountersâ⬠with elderly drivers who were driving erratically, the writer wished to discover if those individuals have more accidents than do their younger counterparts. A casual review of the literature shows that older drivers become more crash-prone with age, even though they drive less miles. In addition, because older drivers are more fragile, their fatality rates are 17 times higher than those of 25- to 64-year olds. The problem at hand is the high accident and death rate associated with a large population of elderly drivers. Last year, a woman sitting in the nail salon, enjoying a refreshing manicure looked up to see a bright red Cadillac coming through the shop window, stopping just short of a startled patron. Fortunately, no one was injured. The newspaper report of this incident stated that the 87 year old driver was in a hurry to get to her appointment, and drove into the parking lot at an excessive speed. When she thought she was putting her foot on the brake, she actually stepped on the accelerator and drove through the window. The newspaper also stated that this was not an uncommon cause of similar accidents- thinking that the accelerator pedal was the brake pedal. America is undergoing a major demographic transformation. The ââ¬Å" graying of Americaâ⬠has resulted in an increase in the number of elderly drivers. Drivers over 70 years of age number 18 million today, up from 13 million in 1985. Why do these very experienced drives have such an excessive number of accidents? Although driving seems an easy activity, it actually requires the complex coordination of many different skills. Sometimes, when elderly drivers are the ones behind the wheel, this coordination is hard to accomplish. Older drivers experience physical changes that can affect driving ability such as: changes in v... Free Essays on Winter Visitors Free Essays on Winter Visitors As winter approaches, many elderly ââ¬Å"snowbirdsâ⬠have returned to Florida to enjoy the mild weather. Because of several ââ¬Å"close encountersâ⬠with elderly drivers who were driving erratically, the writer wished to discover if those individuals have more accidents than do their younger counterparts. A casual review of the literature shows that older drivers become more crash-prone with age, even though they drive less miles. In addition, because older drivers are more fragile, their fatality rates are 17 times higher than those of 25- to 64-year olds. The problem at hand is the high accident and death rate associated with a large population of elderly drivers. Last year, a woman sitting in the nail salon, enjoying a refreshing manicure looked up to see a bright red Cadillac coming through the shop window, stopping just short of a startled patron. Fortunately, no one was injured. The newspaper report of this incident stated that the 87 year old driver was in a hurry to get to her appointment, and drove into the parking lot at an excessive speed. When she thought she was putting her foot on the brake, she actually stepped on the accelerator and drove through the window. The newspaper also stated that this was not an uncommon cause of similar accidents- thinking that the accelerator pedal was the brake pedal. America is undergoing a major demographic transformation. The ââ¬Å" graying of Americaâ⬠has resulted in an increase in the number of elderly drivers. Drivers over 70 years of age number 18 million today, up from 13 million in 1985. Why do these very experienced drives have such an excessive number of accidents? Although driving seems an easy activity, it actually requires the complex coordination of many different skills. Sometimes, when elderly drivers are the ones behind the wheel, this coordination is hard to accomplish. Older drivers experience physical changes that can affect driving ability such as: changes in v...
Monday, November 4, 2019
Developing Management Skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Developing Management Skills - Assignment Example The management style may end up frustrating the managerââ¬â¢s efforts in relation to deriving support from employees. Psychological resiliency is the ability to endure psychological risk factors/ stressors without exhibiting psychological dysfunction (such as post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD). On the other hand, social resiliency is the ability to withstand stressors that emanate from the social and environmental spheres. In addition, social resilience is an analytical framework that emanates from the concept of social vulnerability whereas psychological resilience emanates from psychological stressors. Individuals can manage personal stress from the work-life balance by adopting the analytical framework that forms the foundations of social resiliency. The work-life balance entails the coping, adaptive, and transformative capacities that represent social resilience. Stress levels are significantly reduced when the work-life balance is approached with the three ââ¬Ëpillarsââ¬â¢ of social resiliency. Psychological resiliency is the best possible mechanism to respond to an experience of personal failure. For example, an individual may set performance benchmarks in his or her area of expertise. Such benchmarks could be accompanied by rewards. The benchmarks and rewards would act as intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of success in an attempt to erase the previous experience of personal failure. The analytical problem-solving approach commences with defining the problem. This step involves differentiating objective and subjective opinions while specifying the underlying causes of the problem. It is at this step that all the relevant parties are tapped for information to identify whose problem it is. In addition, this step avoids ambiguity on how the problem is presented. On the other hand, the creative problem-solving approach commences with preparation. This stage is simple and is limited by scope.Ã
Saturday, November 2, 2019
A Cultural Geography of Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
A Cultural Geography of Childhood - Essay Example Several of these, the first portion or set of the collection, reflects an English child's experiences, and the second set are my global perspective of other children's culture, or perceived existence as may be influenced by media and other forms of information. All throughout this essay, I have incorporated texts from readings about childhood and culture.Photography is a form of art aided by technology that captures in one scene what could have been or what might happen, or exactly what is happening with the subject or subjects, in connection with the present background, at this point, his or her environment. This could either be perceived, apparent, or as interpreted by circumstantial evidence presented by the image which is called the photo. Through photography, various forms of messages, interpretations as well as representation of culture, tradition and practices are depicted. These representations embody existing as well as ideal forms of what should be or what can be, but in mo st cases, also depict what are prevalent in society. With photos of children, these depictions are quite difficult to mask or hide. Thus, they become iconographic, as is "truth" at the moment. There had been moments in time that "childhood" according to Aries (1962) did not exist as in the middle ages, although this has been criticised as inaccurate (Hanawalt, 1995) where children were controlled and restrained. Aries went on to describe children as "little adults" although modern researches also pointed out that there had been separation of a "child" and "adult" starting in medieval Europe, of which, occurrences must have ignited these change. This essay, nevertheless, will progress with modern studies that have careful consideration of how children interact with adults and the factors that affect or shape children's general views as well as their present state. First Set I have an ordinary, normal childhood experience in the United Kingdom. I stayed around at the house for most of my early memories of childhood and my mum and dad served as big people that have to look after me and my needs. I have chosen this first set to depict, what for me is a "normal" childhood. Normal in the sense that there were no extraordinary occurrences such as physical or mental abuse, early detachment of a child to his or her parents, disability experiences, among other life-changing courses. This first photo depicts a toddler and her dad in formal outfit: he in tuxedo and the baby girl in chiffon dress. At the viewpoint of ordinary audience or watcher, this was taken during a special occasion, and it could be a wedding, a church or holy day, or any event that prompts the family, which is the mother, the father and the child, or children, to dress up and join a congregation, a community, or family gathering. (1ST PHOTO/Father & TODDLER) This second photo depicts a pre-school or day care child with his buddy. They are both of about the same age range between 3-5 years old and are in the stage of discovering friendship or comradeship, as well as belonging and acceptance. Considering their skin and hair colour, as well as their outfit, both children belong to a middle class or well-off family and society. This could mean their basic needs were well-taken cared off, and with the smile and facial glow of the blond child, he appears to be contented and secured, while the other child seem to have been influenced a little with the happiness or enthusiasm
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Influence of Drilling Fluid on oil Recovery in Homogenous Reservoirs Essay
Influence of Drilling Fluid on oil Recovery in Homogenous Reservoirs - Essay Example Needless to say, as significant as 70 percent produce of mines in the world, produce water contaminated by metals, which come from acid mines drainage and process streams (Srivastava & Majunder, 2008). The waste water, such as that containing metal and sulphate contaminates, are accompanied by far reaching environmental consequences. Moreover, the costs associated with managing these consequences are significant. This paper gives an overview of water contamination in the mining industries, followed by an exploration of the common methods under development and operation. Considering that current water treatment techniques have varied limitations, this paper proposes a way forward for mining industries to avoid water contamination. There are various elements within the earth crust, which include hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sodium, magnesium, phosphorous, sulphur, chlorine, potassium and calcium. These constitute 99 percent of the earth living matter. On the other hand, there are fourteen essential elements. These include boron, fluorine, silicon, manganese, iron, cobalt, and copper, among others. Metals such as Mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, copper manganese and zinc are not essential, and their interaction with the aquatic environment is hazardous. On the other hand, heavy metals are a class of metallic elements that contain relatively high densities whose low concentrations are highly toxic. The atomic metals have atomic weight that range from 63.5 to 2006. Heavy metals can are additionally classified as toxic metals, precious metals and radio-nuclide. Radionuclides include uranium and thorium. Precious metals include silver and gold, among others (Srivastava & Majunder, 2008). Acid solutions resu lt from the interaction of the ground or of surface water with the acidic materials, such as pyrites that are found in rocks at the mines, piles of earthen refuse and auger holes. The iron sulphide mineral pyrites are usually found near subsurface coal seams, together with compounds containing aluminium and manganese, among other metals. In the presence of oxygen, rainwater or ground waters contact sulphur to form sulphuric acid. Acid concentration in the acid mine drainage can reach as significant levels such as ten thousand times the neutral water. Evidently, this presents a powerful leaching agent with the potential of dissolving significant amounts of metal substances, as well as additional leaching substances that are common at most mine sites. Rock layers and earth above the coalmines contain traces of metals such as iron, aluminium and manganese, but can also contain other heavy metals such as lead and cadmium (Han & Chan, 2006). These metals dissolve in the acid mine drainag e and are washed into water sources through run off. Eventually, such metal concentrations harm aquatic organisms such as fish. For instance, dissolved iron precipitates can kill aquatic organisms that serve as food for fishes. Iron precipitate can result in fish gill clogging. Additionally, iron precipitation in the drainage channels alter aquatic food chains; thereby adversely affecting fish populations. Treatment of waste water The concern for environmental scientists has been to establish possible ways of regulating hazardous metal concentrations and mitigate associated environmental concerns. Methods in the treatment of the acid mine drainage can be broadly categorized into two; active treatment and passive treatment methods. Active techniques entail mechanical addition of the alkaline solutions with the aim of raising PH concentrations besides precipitating metals. Passive treatment
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Negligence Definition Essay Example for Free
Negligence Definition Essay A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act (e.g., a duty to help victims of ones previous conduct). OVERVIEW Primary factors to consider in ascertaining whether the persons conduct lacks reasonable care are the foreseeable likelihood that the persons conduct will result in harm, the foreseeable severity of harm that may ensue, and the burden of precautions to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm. See Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical Harm à § 3 (P.F.D. No. 1, 2005). Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. See Restatement (Second) of Torts à § 282 (1965). Five elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence: the existence of a legal duty to exercise reasonable care; a failure to exercise reasonable care; cause in fact of physical harm by the negligent conduct; physical harm in the form of actual damages; and proximate cause, a showing that the harm is within the scope of liability. Negligence is an actionable tort. This means that if one persons carelessness causes another personal injury, the injured party may sue to recover damages (money) for his or her injuries. The idea that a person can sue for negligence is a relatively new phenomenon, only about a century old. The reason for negligences late recognition is because common law traditionally recognized only intentional torts; that is, it held parties responsible for injuries that were the result of intentional acts. It was irrelevant that the actor did not intend to injure anyone, much less the injured party, but it only needed to be shown that the actor intended the action that caused the injury. In these cases, evidence of who caused what injury was affirmative, direct, and fairly objective. The concept of permitting someone to recover damages for injuries caused by someones lack of action or failure to do something was a revolutionary concept. Since its recognition as an action in tort, negligence has become a major source of very large jury awards. It is the root of all product liability cases. Whenà people complain about our legal system and the outrageous verdicts being awarded nowadays, they are speaking about negligence. Originally, negligence was recognized by the courts as part of the common law. Over time, as causes of action became more numerous and as damages became larger, various efforts were undertaken to limit the appeal of negligence lawsuits. The doctrine of contributory negligence eventually evolved, in some states, into a system of comparative fault that permitted recovery on a completely relative scale. Thus, in an accident one could be 90 percent at fault for ones own personal injury and still sue to recover the 10 percent of the damages suffered that were caused by the other party.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
History of Dubai and its Architecture
History of Dubai and its Architecture One of seven semi-autonomous states within the United Arab Emirates called Dubai has turned out to be a rising force in the Middle East. Half a centaury ago Dubai was only a focal point were a few thousand weather stricken people somehow pushed and pulled their life ahead collecting picking dates, diving for pearls, or sailing in wooden dhows to trade with Iran and India, Dubai was as poor as any village in Somalia or the Sudan. It was in 1971 the six states namely Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, and Fujairah were united. And in1972 Ras Al-Khaimha joined the unification, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) were thus formally established with declaration from H.H Sheikh Zayed that the UAE was established as an Independent Nation with the aim of maintaining Independence, stability and co-operation. Dubai has a unique new exciting story of more than fifty years. The city has emerged from a poor fishing village to the fastest growing city in the world. Going back to the history, education was given priority in the different Emirates prior to the confederation. The Emirate of Dubai started educating it children in 1954. A few facts about the simplest basics of the country are men out number man in the male to female ratio of the country. All university tuitions are paid for by the states. All books stationary and study materials provided free of charge to the student. If the student works and studies, he/she is paid the salary for the job. From this, the business and infrastructure success story of Dubai is not hard to establish. In the 1990s the three fastest growing cities in the world were Dublin, Las Vegas and Dubai. This has accelerated in the 21st century with 23% population growth in Dubai in the past four years. The present real estate boom is obvious enough, particularly in the Jebel Ali-Dubai corridor. Today Dubai is the trading, business and increasingly financial hub of the Middle East, and for parts of Africa, the CIS and even the Indian subcontinent. Its a vast hinterland for such a small place (Peter J. Cooper 2006). In the 1970s oil wealth turned the UAE from a desert kingdom to a modern metropolis, and its rulers took a keen interest in this development. Not for them the idleness and corruption that afflicted some nations blest with oil wealth. While the oil wealth can be considered as one of the reasons for the growth of Dubai, there are also other factors which could be considered as the key factors in developing the city state to be one of the best in the world. In Dubai the late Sheikh Rashid developed his tiny emirate into a trading hub with the timely development of port infrastructure and a driving ambition to invest oil wealth back into the local economy. Again this was sharply at variance with the policy of investing oil wealth abroad pursued in many countries (Peter J. Cooper 2006). In a yet another move towards the success, Dubai was to become the business and commercial hub of the Middle East. The Dubai Government and the leading local families invested even more into the physical i nfrastructure of the emirate and pursued more and more ambitious plans. Surprisingly, to many observers, most of them succeeded, usually better than expected. Perhaps it was because the Government could act decisively, eliminating red-tape and shortening the planning process to a simple build it there decision by the CEO of Dubai Inc. as Sheikh Mohammed is often known (Peter J. Cooper 2006). The Modern History of Dubai in Brief Within recorded history, Dubai started as a fishing village probably some time in the 18th century. It was a dependency of the sheikhdom of Abu Dhabi and its inhabitants were probably mostly Bani Yas. In 1833 a group of about 800 people of the Al Bu Falasah subsection of the Bani Yas seceded from Abu Dhabi and settled in Dubai. The leaders of the exodus, Ubaid bin Saeed and Maktoum bin Buti, remained joint leaders until the death of the former in 1836. Maktoum bin Buti ruled until he died in 1852, establishing the dynasty of the Al Maktoum rulers in Dubai. Maktoum and most of his successors usually followed a policy of good understanding with the British authorities in the Arabian Gulf (DTCM 2005). The real history of Dubai begins in 1930 when settlement started and began momentum in growth. At that time neighboring Sharjah was the main trading centre on the Trucial Coast, and for the rest of the 19th century Dubai was simply a pearling village with a merchant community. In fact there were three distinct settlements around the Creek and one of them called Bur Dubai was an Arab fishing village on the western side. The Dubai Creek provided one of the few safe anchorages along the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf and served as a haven for dhows despite its hazardous entrance. It was the starting and finishing point for pearling expeditions which, until the invention of cultured pearls in the 1930s, formed the main part of the economy after the 1820 British agreement prevented ship-building. The turn of the 19th century was considered the golden age of the pearl industry. Three thousand vessels were employed in the trade, leaving harbor in May and not returning until mid-Septembe r. Fishing, too, was an important occupation. The Arabian Gulfs warm and shallow waters supported a wide variety of marine life and dhows were built on the foreshore of Dubai Creek (DTCM 2005). Dubai had sufficiently grown to attract settlers from the third world countries namely India, Iran and Baluchistan and so on. The turn of 20th century saw Dubai becoming popular in the modern business world as safe and prosperous port. Dubai was very quick to establish itself as a natural heaven for merchants as the facilities for trade and free enterprises were great. Meanwhile a flourishing Indian population was settling in Dubai and was particularly active in the shops and alleys of the souq. In fact a major factor in the growth of Dubai in the early post-war years was the re-export of gold to India. The cosmopolitan atmosphere and air of tolerance began to attract other foreigners too. Some years later the British made their centre on the coast, establishing a political agency in 1954 (DTCM 2005). However, being the most developed area in the region did not just provide for the adequate infrastructure of Dubai. In spite of the reputation Dubai had by the middle of the 20th century, the city just did not have enough roads, electricity, sewers or telephone. The infrastructure building had started in Dubai even before the discovery of oil in 1969, but once the revenue from the oil began to flow in the building process gained momentum. Trade remained the foundation of the citys wealth, whilst other projects were developed over the next 20 years. The airport became one of the busiest in the area, a large dry-dock complex was developed, the largest artificial port in the world was built at Jebel Ali and Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL), which has become one of the emirates largest non-oil related industry, came on-line in 1979 (DTCM 2005). Economic Sustainability through Tourism Industry In the 1980s and early 1990s, Dubai took a strategic decision to emerge as a major international-quality tourism destination. Investments in tourism infrastructure have paid off handsomely over the years. Dubai is now a city that boasts unmatchable hotels, remarkable architecture and world-class entertainment and sporting events (Government f Dubai 2010). Dubai has undergone modernization and urbanization since the 1960s when the area was described as one of barren coastlands largely populated by nomadic tribes where the only occupations were fishing and pearling (Clements, 1998). The details of Dubais tourist arrivals right from the year 1982 shows the fact that the city has turned out to be one of the fastest growing destinations. Stability in economic, social and political domains is essential for tourism as severe disturbance and volatility will deter many tourists, investors and the industry of tour operators and travel agents in generating countries. Dubai is part of the UAE and conditions there are shaped by both federation and emirate governments (Joan C. Henderson 2006). Income from oil made Abu Dhabi the economic powerhouse and financier of the federation, providing the smaller emirates with a standard of living and degree of security that would otherwise be unavailable to them. The other emirates meanwhile provide Abu Dhabi with a demographic and geographic collective strength that it would lack acting alone (EIU, 2005a, p. 5). Dubai now began to act as the financial and commercial nexus of Gulf. The successful economic returns from the investment made on tourism in any country depend on the convenience of transport mainly the access through air. Dubai has done every thing to be an air transport hub. The home airline company called emirates flies very long routes to almost all the countries and destinations of the world. The company helps to bring tourist from the far away places such as fifteen hour rout to Sao Paulo, then seventeen hour trips to Los angels and San Francisco, then the fourteen hour flight to Sydney. It also flies to most of the major cities in Europe which provides Dubai with a lot of tourists. It flies to all the major cities to Africa, Middle East and South Asia. Most importantly all this routs are being extremely profitable (Jim Krane 2009). A US$4.1 billion upgrading is underway which will enable the airport to handle 40 million passengers by 2010 and 100 million by 2025 (Matthews, 2003). Owning the largest Arab Airline Emirates has made it possible for the government of Dubai to succeed in developing and maintaining stable inputs to its economy. Accounts of Dubai usually comment on the partiality of officials and developers for the ostentatious, which is manifest in accommodation projects and attractions such as the US$5 billion Dubailand theme park. This will occupy two billion square feet of land and take 15 years to complete under the aegis of the Dubai Tourism Development Company (DTDC), an operating arm of the Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA). The stated purpose is to make Dubai the ultimate fun and leisure centre of the Middle East augmenting the supply of indoor attractions, which are independent of weather and have all year round appeal to multiple markets, not least families with children. In another illustration, Ski Dubai opened in 2005 within the Mall of the Emirates, reportedly the largest shopping space outside of the USA, and sells skiing and snow related pursuits in a winter wonderland of sub-zero temperatures. The Crown Prince has said that only 10% of his visions for Dubai have been enacted, implying other such ambitious ventures are likely (Joan C. Henderson 2006). An Unparallel Workforce Another reason for Dubai to be on the top in terms of infrastructural growth and development is its unmatched workforce which gets the least contribution from the locale flock. Numbers may be keys to the nature of Dubais workforce and its economy. According to a 2005 government report, 97.13 per cent of Dubais total labour force is foreign. The second number mostly likely unknown is the percentage of those foreign workers who have come to regard Dubai as home or would like to make it their permanent home. Many of these expats came to Dubai 15 to 20 years ago for a two-year stint, liked it and stayed. The third number, also from the government, is that only five per cent of Emiratis are employed in the private sector (Rod Monger 2007). Almost every one in a company, starting from the administrative level to the last one on the lower level labor, is imported and the positive aspect of this phenomenon is the advantage Dubai gets on molding its workforce in a way the city needed with t he lowest cost. At the same time, the work force of Dubai is an enthusiastic lot, it growing in terms of loyalty and commitment, in spite of the fact that they are treated with substandard facilities for the cost control (Jim Krane 2009). This commitment had played an important part in making the city look one of the best destinations in the world. Building Landmarks The Chicago Beach Hotel, which continuously recorded 80% occupancy in consecutive years, was a money making machine in Dubai in 1990s. British engineering firm called W.S Atkins forwarded a proposal for another beachfront hotel to be named as the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The company was given permission to proceed with the project which had to include a tower too on approval. The company has hired an architect named Tom Wright who hardly had any experience in building hotels. But as thoughtful as he is Tom new that the Sheikh needed something tall and iconic, discussing on this concept he came up with a giant arch in the Islamic style. Sketching it out, the drawings showed a huge sail shaped building of 1300 feet tall, jutting from the sea floor waves lapping at its base. The building leaned over the sea and a cable car ran from shore to its peak. The other access came from an undersea tunnel. The structure was more Iconic than demanded but it was impossible. Wright straightened it up m oved it from seafloor to a small man made island and traded the cable car for helipad. A causeway bridge replaced the tunnel. They scaled back the height to a thousand feet (Jim Krane 2009). The work began in 1994. When people thought of it as a new Beach Hotel, to the Sheikh the iconic building was much more than that. The tower was the symbol of his pride as an Arab. The building was to be The Tower of the Arab- Burj Al Arab. The budget was unlimited, even when Sheikh Mohammad knew that the hotel will never pay for itself. He never let that scope of profit cramp the concept of Burj li Arab. The idea of locating the building on a man-made island was thought over again by the Sheikh. He imagined it both on island and mainland. The Island was much more time consuming and costly where as there was nothing unique about it is being located in the mainland. At last Sheikh opted for it to be in the Island (Kim Krane 2009). By 1999 Burj was a wonder around the world. The sight of the blue and white tower is a mind-blowing sight. Burj Al Arab turned out to be exactly what the sheikh Mohammad wanted an icon easily recognizable. Burj attracted quiet a lot of tourist who would spen d lavishly. Moreover, a genius series of promotion followed like Andre Agassi and Roger Federer were found whacking volleys on the helipad. Later on Tiger Woods drove ball from the same spot. Tourism made up nearly a quarter of the citys economy $ 8 billion in 2006. The Emirates aim is to host nearly 15 million tourists a year by 2015 (Tim Krane 2009). Though the economic scenario at large indicates that goal may fall a little short of. The growth and success of Dubai is undeniable. Burj Dubai There was already a hand full of building and a formidable infrastructure when the Burj Dubai project came up. But the Wlter Landors believed in their own guiding principle that Products are made in the factory, but brands are made in the mind. At this point, the product didnt exist. Still they invited prospective bidders to experience the brand. They fashioned a multisensory presentation centre, wrote books and designed websites, had invitations etched, fragrances conà cocted, and parties thrown. A blazing Dubai sun finally rose on the first day for apartment bids. There was no second day. In less than 24 hours, every apartment-to-be was spoken for, netting more than half a billion dollars. Even by the heady standards of the region, the branding of the Burj Dubai was off to an exceptional start (Landor 2008). Emmar had it in mind through the project of Burj Dubai not only the city but the entire region which is often neglected by the media, was going to be in the limelight. There was a sophisticated linear approach that was extended into a comprehensive design style to reinforce the brands concept of pre-eminence. The word mark, typography, look and feel, voice and imagery, and even colour palette reflect prestige. In contrast to the over-the-top golds and bright colors prevalent in other Dubai premier develop-ments, Landor chose understated tones echoing the buildings finishes of stainless steel and aluminum and set them off with a sharp green accent inspired by the carpenters levels found in the hands of hundreds of architects, engineers, and craftspeople building the tower (Landor 2008). The project basically was a multi-use development tower with a total floor area of 460,000 square meters that includes residential, hotel, commercial, office, entertainment, shopping, leisure, and parking facilities. The project was designed to be the centerpiece of the large scale Burj Dubai Development that rises into the sky to an unprecedented height that exceeds 700 meters and that consists of more than 160 floors (Ahmad Abdelrazaq 2008). At the turn of the century no one really had thought about such a construction. Coming from a city were the construction industry was in the infancy, the Burj Dubai project has shown to the world that tall building system development is always directly related to the latest developments in material technologies, structural engineering theories, wind engineering, seismic engineering, computer technologies, and construction methods. The Burj Dubai project capitalizes on advancements in these technologies, advancing the development of super tall buildings and the art of structural engineering (Ahmad Abdelrazaq 2008). The Booming Growth Is Boosted In the year 2000, the Burj Al Arab was already being a host to the excited wealthy tourist from around the world. The Arab nation was still overwhelmed in the amazing aesthetics of the new construction, the world witnessed one of its toughest times. The economy at large shuddered under heavy recessions. The money burning dotcom companies ran out of cash and went out of business. Gulf foreign investors were holding crumpling assets and in the west and around the world. Adding to the economic back drop of the US, nineteen Arabs crashed passengers jets into the World Trade Centre, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. This caused the US stock market a further down slide. The newly elected president George W. Bush who found himself in the white house with disputed elections consoled the people America saying the terrorists might have been successfully shaken the foundations of some of the mightiest structures in the United states, but they would never succeed in shaking the foundations o f the mightiest nation on the face of the earth. Still the fact remains true that the nation has not yet abated the fear and economic worry the September 11 attack has brought upon the nation. The post September 11 United States was not an ideal place for investing as far as the Arabs were concerned. On the contrary, in Dubai, September 11 attack started the beginning of the years long economic boom. In fact the attack played a role in boosting this economic investment and viability in the gulf region. The rage toward Arabs in America increased and the country fought many wars after. The Arabs who had invested in US pulled back billions of dollars and send back to their Home country. No one was interested and dared to invest in country which was at war. Cash poured into Dubai, as the reports say before September 11 attacks as much as $25 billion a year was put into US investment. Where as, the figures came down to just $1.2 billion between 2001 and 2003. Most of the missing money has been made to play itself in Dubai where the potential was felt to be very high. Further, in 2001 Dubais urban area was a narrow strip along the sea shore. By 2008 Dubai was almost as big as Huston. With man made Island rising from the sea and constructions sprawling deep into the desert. The Two Fold Advantage of Dubais labor market Outsourcing Dubai is not a city with immense industrial infrastructure. This diverse multicultural city has an international community of almost 1.5 million people from about 170 nations. This committed workforce contributes to the growing economy which mainly derives from trade, manufacturing and mainly tourism. The strategy of labor market outsourcing helps the third world countries just as it help their own country. When many rich nations claim to be in the business of economic development, they seldom let poor nations to play by the same rules that richer countries use to promote growth. Above all, going back to the beauty and uniqueness of Dubai, Dubai is a modern costal city located at the heart of the Middle East. It is charming and sophisticated; the beautiful Burj Al Arab hotel presiding over the coastline of Jumeira beach is the worlds only hotel with a seven star rating. The Emirates Towers are one of the many structures that remind us of the commercial confidence in a city that expands at a remarkable rate. Standing 350 meters high, the office tower is the tallest building in the Middle East and Europe. Dubai also hosts major international sporting events. The Dubai Desert Classic is a major stop on the Professional Golf Association tour. The Dubai Open, an ATP tennis tournament, and the Dubai World Cup, the worlds richest horse race, draw thousands every year (Government of Dubai 2010). References Ahmad Abdelrazaq (2008) Brief on Construction Planning of the Burj Dubai Project CTBUH 8th world congress. Clements F. (1998). United Arab Emirates. Clio Press: Oxford. DTCM (2005), Dubai-Modern History; Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. EIU. 2005a. United Arab Emirates Country Profile 2005. The Economist Intelligence Unit: London. Government of Dubai (2010) Dubai History; The official Portal of Dubai Government http://www.dubai.ae/en.portal?topic,Article_000240,0,_nfpb=true_pageLabel=home Joan C. Henderson (2006) Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming Barriers Destination Development Nanyang Business School, Nanyang technological University. Singapore. Peter J. Cooper (2006), Why Dubai?: Anatomy of a Business Success story. AME Info; the Ultimate Middle East Business resource. Jim Krane (2009) The Story of the worlds Fastest City: Atlantic ISBN 9781848870086 Landor (2008) Burj Dubai the Building of an Icon; Landor Associates, April 2008. Mathews N. 2003. Expansion spree: airports in the Middle East will be building new runways and terminals through 2015. Aviation Week and Space Technology 159(22): 42. Rod Monger (2007) Sculpting Dubais Workforce; Special to Gulf News http://gulfnews.com/business/features/sculpting-dubai-s-workforce-1.171750
Friday, October 25, 2019
Internal Controls and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Essay examples --
In order to be successful in business, a company must be able to track their assets. This tracking system is typically done by a bookkeeper and must be reliable in order to be effective. The way a company ensures their financial records are reliable is by setting up a system of internal controls. Internal controls allow a company to protect its assets from fraud and theft as well as ensuring records are kept accurately by reducing errors and irregularities (Keisco, Kimmel and Weygandt, 2008). Internal controls work by assigning responsibility, separating duties to provide checks and balances, hiring an independent verification agent and through the use of technology and physical controls. In many instances, internal controls are required and overseen by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Assignment of responsibility for certain functions of the bookkeeping and accounting process ensures that when a problem occurs a specific person is accountable. This, in turn, provides an incentive to that person to do their job correctly because any issue or problem will be their sole responsibility. Splitting duties has a similar impact on employees. By providing a system of checks and balances, i.e. one person keeps the records while another keeps the assets, the chance for fraud is greatly decrease and honest mistakes are easily caught. There are many physical, mechanical and electronic controls that provide further safety for a companyââ¬â¢s assets. These include passwords, safes, alarms, security cameras, time clocks and locks (Kiesco et.al, 2008). The use of an auditor or other third party to independently verify the bookkeeping and accounting procedures performed by employees adds another layer of safeguarding to a companyââ¬â¢s inter... ... track the error to the fraudulent employee. In conclusion, internal controls include separation of duties, assignment of responsibilities, third-party verification and the use of mechanical and physical controls. In and of themselves, these tactics stop and prevent much abuse of the bookkeeping and accounting systems. The addition of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements in 2002 require that a company enact internal controls and assign responsibility of the control system to executives and directors, further providing insurance that financial reporting is accurate. Without this insurance that reports are accurate, company stock will fall and investors will be lost. Even with intrinsic limitations, the positive aspects of good internal controls far outweigh the negative implications. Good internal controls equal accurate financial records and future company success.
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