Corporate Social Responsibility Bp Leased A Rig From...

Corporate Social Responsibility In order to access the crude oil there, BP leased a rig from Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling company. With more than 26,000 employees and a fleet of 136 vessels, Transocean operates in some 30 countries. BP also hired Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services company, to cement and seal off the well once drilling was complete. Halliburton employs more than 50,000 people and provides services in 70 countries. Considering overall strategic direction, then, it seems that continuing its deepwater oil exploration and production work in the Gulf will sustain profits and give BP a competitive advantage. Using Friedman’s analysis, we also need to ask whether the BP’s actions were legal.†¦show more content†¦According to deontological theory the consequence of an act is good, some acts are always wrong this actions are judged as ethical or unethical based on duty or the purposes of an actor. Deontologist Immanuel Kant argues that â€Å"the action which is objectively practical according to this law and excludes inclination from its determining grounds is called duty† (Kant, 1956, p. 83). However he argues that there are two types of duty hypothetical and categorical imperative. Hypothetical imperative is when individual perform certain action in order to achieve a desire and results. In the meantime categorical imperative is the basic principle to determine whether o ne’s actions is deemed to be ethical correct. According to Bowie, 1999 Kant suggest three maxims of categorical imperative. Initially, an action can only be considered as ethically correct if it can be accepted or made into universal law (Bowie, 1999). The second maxim stats that a person should be treated as an end and not the means to achieve an end (Bowie, 1999). Finally, the maxim calls upon each individual to act as a member of an ideal kingdom where he or she is both the ruler and the subject at the same time (Bowie, 1999). It could be argued that the BPs strategy was too risky which lead to higher

The Social Issues Affecting Our Children - 1304 Words

An Introduction of the Topic One of the top social issues affecting our children in schools is bullying. In recent reports, one out of every four students reports being bullied during school (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). Bullying is very important to me because I have been bullied through my schooling career. I remember how it was not only the bullies that made my time in elementary hard but also the bystanders that did nothing to stop them or stand up for me. This issue has definitely gotten more attention over the years, but it is very important to continue the anti- bullying campaigns. It is important for all school officials and workers to be aware of bullying and help prevent. Although bullying has been present in our schools for a very long time we should do everything we can to stop and prevent bullying so each student can look forward to an enjoyable time in their schooling career. All children deserve to feel safe in their school and enjoy all aspects of schooling. In this paper, I will share the long history of bullying in schools and in our society. I will also share how bullying has evolved and the effects of cyberbullying in our world today. In addition, I will discuss the effects of bullying on not only the bullies and victims but also their peers and school staff. Finally, I will offer some insight on how bullying might be resolved to help each student succeed and enjoy the social aspects of schooling. Historical Overview Bullying hasShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Essay On Cyberbullying1105 Words   |  5 Pagessuicide, her former friends left hateful comments on her social media, with scathing messages that asked â€Å"Why are you still alive?† to extreme ones that said â€Å"Go kill yourself.† These messages took a great toll on her mental health, and after months of dealing with relentless bullying, Rebecca Ann Sedwick took her own life. 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Social media has changed and warped our teen’s thinking to reflect something completely different about themselves and their relationships with others than what is actual reality. Our teen’s self-concept has negatively decreased over the years with the more prevalent introduction of social media. With social media comes the risk of cyberRead MoreEffects Of Education On Public Schools988 Words   |  4 Pagesgrateful that two parents stood up and took this social issue to court. Target Group This social issue is affecting many population groups, it directly affects children in public schools k-12. But when children do not get the quality education, they will not have an equal access to college, which means they will not get high paying jobs which leads to low spending which affects our economy. It is a full circle and affects our country greatly. This issue also targets school district staff, and transportationRead MorePoverty Sociology1553 Words   |  7 Pagespoverty in the United States and America. It tells how poverty is constantly changing the lives of men, women, and children on an everyday basis. It speaks of things we can do as a society to help support and change the lives of those living in poverty. Poverty And It’s Everyday Life Changes 3 Poverty is a very emotional and important issue in America. It is a fact that all social inequality creates poverty. There are generally two types of poverty that are discussed, which are relative povertyRead MoreEffects Of Plastic On Marine Life, And Increasing Plastic Waste On Land1406 Words   |  6 Pagesplastics, and how plastic is affecting marine life, and increasing plastic waste on land. I will also be explaining how social media’s are affecting the lives of teenages and adults all over the world, because of how much we depend on them. 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Work Place Ethics for Skillset and Cognitive Styles- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theWork Place Ethics for Skillset and Cognitive Styles. Answer: Introduction While the traditional notion of workplace diversity may refer to representations of various races, gender and religious backgrounds, todays concept of workplace diversity is all-encompassing. 1 Apart from these variables, considerations are also made on age, personality, education, skillset, cognitive styles, and background among others. Companies that are focused to establishing a diverse work benefits from harnessing a pool of individuals with unique qualities. They view combination of differences in workplace as a potential growth rather than opportunities for conflict. As time goes on, workforce diversity is becoming an important tool due to various reasons. One of these reasons is that it makes employees to have various opinions and perspectives. When staff members of different backgrounds and experiences come together, they bring different perspectives, hence leading to effective solutions and approaches to different problems that may impact the success of an organization. Workplace diversity is also known to create innovations. 2 When performing duties with colleagues of different backgrounds, skills and working styles, creative ideas can be developed from bouncing concepts from each other. Creative innovations enables an organization to attain a competitive advantage because consumers always wants to be associated with firms that develop unique and high quality goods and services. The other importance of workplace diversity is that it enables organizations to grow a pool of talents.3 when companies encourage diversity, they attract wide range of potential candidates to their vacancies because the applicants views them as more progressive and unbiased. When this happens, the management gets a chance to select an exceptional candidate. Work force diversity and stereotyping Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences among employees in an organization. Some of the features which define diversity in an organization comprise of; races, age, cognitive style, education, social status, tenure, cognitive style, religion among others.4 Diversity in workplace means establishing an inclusive environment that accommodates all differences among the employees, embraces their strengths and provides opportunities for all staff members to attain their full potential. Diversity involves how individuals perceive themselves and their counterparts. 5Valuing diversity allows all employees to contribute their unique experiences to the workplace and can have positive influence to not only internal activities and relationships, but also to the consumer experience and other stakeholders. Stereotype on the other hand refers to the beliefs and assumptions which employees have concerning their colleagues culture, race, gender, or sexual preferences. 6 These type of assumptions and beliefs lead to discrimination or other factors which can be harmful to the performance of an organization. Stereotyping stems from prejudice, and is an unjustified negative attitude based on individuals group or class acquired either through past personal experiences or preconceived wrong beliefs. It includes having an attitude, opinion, perception, or certain belief concerning a person or a group. Just like stereotypes are harmful and dangerous in day to day life, they can easily impact morale and productivity in organizations. 7 Varying degree of stereotyping occur in organizations irrespective of having high level of awareness and acceptance of diversity. Employers should always ensure that they do not perpetuate stereotypes while trying to discipline those who practice it. Corrective actions Taking corrective actions to resolve negative impact in organizations plays a significant role in running a successful business. One of the factors which might lead to negative impact which can result from stereotype in organizations is underperformance. 8 In most cases and especially where employees do not understand the importance of valuing workplace diversity, the issue of discrimination arises because of various reasons like gender, religion, education, race among other factors. When these happen, some employees end up not performing as expected because they tend to develop a feeling that does not allow them to dedicate their efforts fully for the success of an organization. To correct this issue, it is fundamental for the management to take proper disciplinary actions to employees who discriminate others because of the differences they have. The disciplinary action should be aimed to not only assisting the person to change but also to making others learn a lesson. Another negative impact which may result is high employee turnover. When an organization is dominated by stereotypes and lack of understanding how diversity can be utilized to add value to workforce, employees tend to quite jobs from time to time because of not having an environment that allows them to work well. 9 Managers should advise all employees to accept each other irrespective of their differences. The management should always hold seminars from time to time to assist employees in understanding why they should appreciate each other irrespective of their differences. Low productivity can also be a negative impact in an organization when employees fail to accept diversity in the right manner. When employees fail to dedicate their efforts fully for the success of an organization because of various factors that impact their morale, the chances of decreased productivity are always high. Stereotypes and lack of perceiving workplace diversity in the right manner impacts employee perception towards work, which in turn impacts the amount of units which he/she can produce in a day. To resolve the issue of low productivity, the management should encourage team work and advise all employees to appreciate the differences that exist among them and use them as an opportunity for learning new things. Preventive measures Employee underperformance can have a significant impact to an organization. 10 To survive in the competitive environment, organizations must have employees who are committed to ensuring their organization remains competitive. To prevent employee underperformance, it is advisable for the management to assist all staff members in understanding that the differences that they have can add value to their organization if they are utilized for the purpose of learning from each other. Companies can also prevent this impact through appointing at least one of the senior leaders to be responsible for monitoring institutional fairness. To prevent high employee turnover resulting from stereotyping in an organization, the management should educate all employees concerning how regular recruiting and training costs an organization in terms of money and time. Letting the employee understand that appreciating one another irrespective of their differences can serve a significant role in improving employee retention can also assist in minimizing the impact of high employee turnover rates. Educating organizational leaders concerning how stereotypes, especially that are unconscious influence hiring and evaluation decisions can also assist in preventing this problem. Focusing equally on establishing an inclusive organizational culture that encourages diversity can also aid in preventing regular resigning due to stereotypes in workplace. The type of perception which employees have towards work and their colleagues determines the level of productivity in an organization. 11 The manner in which employees relate to each other also determines the level in which an organization is able to produce in a particular period. To prevent the issue of low productivity in an organization because of stereotypes, the management should encourage the essence of teamwork and group employees of different backgrounds and characteristics together. This will assist the employees to realize that they can attain the best by working together irrespective of their differences. The management should also play a key role in showing the essence of equality among all employees. When assigning tasks, promotions, and other things, they should do them in a manner that shows that all staff members are equal. 12 Demonstrating organizational commitment to diversity through strategic plans, mission statements and other communication to all staff members can also assist in preventing the issue of low productivity which result from stereotypes. Conclusion By implementing the corrective and preventive actions, an organization can look forward to experiencing various outcomes. One of these outcomes is good performance from the employees. When employees feel the sense of being appreciated in an organization, they commit their efforts towards attaining organizational goal. Positive performance from employees adds value to an organization because it assists it to attain its goals and objectives. High employee turnover rate has a significant impact to an organization because it makes the management to keep spending a lot of money in recruiting and training new employees. Implementing the corrective and preventive actions can assist an organization to retain its staff members and hence save the cost of hiring and training processes. Employee retention is fundamental because it assists an organizations to avoid spending a lot of money and time in recruiting and training new employees. Avoiding high turnover rates also enables firms to keep experienced and employees who are familiar with different aspects of the organization like culture, processes among others. Implementing corrective and preventive measures can also make the organization to expect high productivity. This is because preventing factors which negatively impact employees attitude towards work will always make them to see the essence of committing themselves towards attaining the best for the organization. When employees feel that they are appreciated in an organization regardless of the differences which exist among them, they feel proud to be associated with the company and commit themselves towards assist the company to attain its short and long term goals. References Bardwell S. Conflict and Communication in the Workplace: An Inquiry and Findings from Xyz University's Study on Religious Tolerance and Diversity Suggesting Ironies of Cultural Attitudes, Free Expression and Conflict in an Academic Organization. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict. 2013; 17 (2): 254-268. Barrington L. Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace. 2015; 39 (3): 89-102. Carl O. Managing Diversity in the Workplace: Legal and Theoretical Perspectives in Nigeria. Advances in Management. 2014; 7 (6): 65-89. Flanagan J. Gender and the Workplace: The Impact of Stereotype Threat on Self-Assessment of Management Skills of Female Business Students. Advancing Women in Leadership. 2015; 35: 85-92. Ghosh A. Culturally Competent Behaviors at Workplace: An Intergroup Perspective for Workplace Diversity. South Asian Journal of Management. 2014; 21 (3): 89-99. Hiranandani V. Diversity Management in the Canadian Workplace: Towards an Antiracism Approach. 2012; 2(1): 154-185. Johnson M. The Diversity Code: Unlock the Secrets to Making Differences Work in the Real World. AMACOM: New York; 2011. Lambert J. Cultural Diversity as a Mechanism for Innovation: Workplace Diversity and the Absorptive Capacity Framework. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict. 2016; 20 (1): 85-93. Livermore D. Driven by Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation through Diversity. New York: AMACOM; 2016. Messarra C. Religious Diversity at Work: The Perceptual Effects of Religious Discrimination on Employee Engagement and Commitment. Contemporary Management Research. 2014; 10 (1): 54-96. Patrick H. 2011. Knowledge Workers Demography and Workplace Diversity. Journal of Marketing and Management. 2014; 2 (2): 54-60.

Mental Disorder in E. A. Poe’s Prose free essay sample

The main body of the essay is divided into three parts, in which I will compare and contrast these three short stories discussing: first the characters of the stories affected by the mental disorder and its nature; then the pattern of the plot; and last the role of the narrator. The reason I have chosen the three discussed short stories is that they share a common story pattern a character suffering from a developing mental disease[1] who is eventually led to commit a murder of a close person and through this deed brought to his doom. Yet, the particularities of this pattern differ with each of the stories, and thus provide a rich overview for the purposes of the study. First, I will focus on the affected character and the nature of his condition. The main character of â€Å"The Black Cat† is clearly a man. His name is unknown. However, the reader learns to know a reasonable amount of information about his background. We will write a custom essay sample on Mental Disorder in E. A. Poe’s Prose or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When he was a child he used to like animals above anything and he kept this affection for them until his adulthood. For that period of his life, he also attributed to himself â€Å"tenderness of heart[2]†. He married a woman who was kind, patient and shared the love for animals with him and together they took care of various pets. Among these pets, one has a privileged position, a cat named Pluto, so that the main character speaks of friendship and regard. The disease he suffers from is clearly alcoholism, for he first states that â€Å"my disease grew upon me for what disease is like Alcohol[3],† and then, throughout the story, he refers to his drinking: â€Å"returning home, much intoxicated,† â€Å"soon drowned in wine all memory. Of the main character of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the reader learns almost nothing – neither the gender (it may be assumed that he is a man as other Poe’s main characters), nor the name, and the only thing the reader learns is that he had close relationship to â€Å"the old man,† most likely his father. The disease he claims to have is â€Å"the over-acuteness of the senses[4],† hearing in particular. Mo st is known about the main character of â€Å"The Fall of the house of Usher†, a young man Roderick Usher. He is the last living male descendant of an ancient family. He is not married and he shares the manor to which his family has been bound with his twin sister, Madeline â€Å"tenderly beloved sister† and â€Å"his sole companion for long years† as the narrator depicts her[5]. The disease he suffers from is also described in greater detail than in case of the previous short stories; the reader first learns general information that â€Å"the writer [Usher] spoke of acute bodily illness of a mental disorder which oppressed him,† and then details when Ushers describes the nature of his condition stating that he has â€Å"suffered much from morbid acuteness of the senses[6]. Also, the way Roderick speaks is compared to a â€Å"lost drunkard or the irreclaimable eater of opium. The only thing the affected characters have in common is a beloved person (the wife and the cat, the father and the sister); this common aspect shall prove significant later when I will discuss the story pattern. In addition, there are more aspects sh ared always by two short stories out of three; the over-acuteness of senses as a mental disease, alcoholism (whether confessed as in case of the man in â€Å"The Black Cat† or suggested as at Roderick Usher) or the lack of names in case of â€Å"the Black Cat† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†. As for the latter, some light may be shed on this fact later when I will discuss the narrator. Second, I will discuss the plots of the three short stories and explain my claim that all of them share a common pattern. As I clarified above, the main character of â€Å"The Black Cat† is an alcoholic. As the result of this condition, he â€Å"grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others[7];† in other words, a gradual change of temper takes place. The way the plot develops is likewise gradual; the man under the influence of his changing temper first rips the eye of his favourite cat, then hangs it on the tree, then finds himself a new cat, which he gradually begins to hate, and last (after an unsuccessful attempt to kill the second cat) he murders his wife in affect. He bricks the corpse in a wall and feels relieved and self-confident, but in the end, his crime is xposed for he accidentally bricked the cat as well and its scream â€Å"utterly anomalous and inhuman† betrays the whereabouts of the corpse. In case of the significantly shorter â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† the main protagonist states that a vulture-like eye of the old man irritated him to that extent that he â€Å"by degrees very gradually [†¦] made up [his] mind to take the life of the old man. He then describes a gradual process of entering the old man’s room at night in secrecy for a period of one week until, at last, the latter woke up, opened his vulture-like eye, and thus gave the main character the stimulus to commit the murder. After the murder, he hides the body under the floor, feels relieved and self-confident, but in the end (after he seats police inspectors in the very room where the old man’s corpse is hidden) he starts hearing a sound resembling one of a beating heart from underneath the floor, which eventually drives him to confession. In contrast to the previous two characters, Roderick in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† does not undergo a gradual change; though a change is noted by the narrator when he describes his face stating that â€Å"in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these [Usher’s] features, and of the expression they were wont to convey, lay so much a change that I doubted to whom I spoke[8]. The turning point comes when the reader learns that Madeline (who too suffered from a disease â€Å"a settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person and [†¦] affections of a partially cataleptical character[9]†) has died and Roderick lays her body in a coffin into the family tomb. After that â€Å"an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of [Roderick]; â€Å"he shows the signs of nervousness and terror. In the end, the reader finds out that Roderick buried Madeline alive; she (after a few days) broke out of her coffin and comes back to Roderick who cannot stand it and dies. As shown above, a significant regularity may be found in the plot patterns of the three discussed short stories: the mental disorder as the initial state, its development resolving in the murder of a beloved person (even though in â€Å"The House of Usher† the reader is led to believe that Madeline died a natural death, Roderick in the end confesses to having heard â€Å"her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin[10]†), which returns back to them and proves to be their doom Roderick dies instantly, the man in â€Å"The Black Cat† opens the story with the statement â€Å"to-morrow I die[11]† and the main character of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† is an accused murderer, so the reader may assume that he is to be executed. In addition to this, there is one element which deserves a singular comment paranoia as the climax of the mental disorder of the main characters. The main character of the â€Å"Tell-Tale Heart† first speaks of waking up with terror in the middle of the night, and then he starts hearing the watch-like sound which reminds him of human heartbeat. In case of the man from â€Å"The Black Cat† and Roderick Usher, the paranoia they develop is underlined by the use of omens which foreshadow the development of the story. In â€Å"The Black Cat,† it is first the image of a cat burned on the wall of the main character’s house, and then the shape of the gallows which he believes to see in the mark of white her of his second cat. As regards â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† it is the parallel of Roderick with his mansion, whereas it is stated right at the beginning of the narrative that â€Å"’House of Usher’ [was] an appellation which seemed to include [†¦] both the family and the family mansion[12]. † Roderick himself then attributes certain sentience to the stones of the house and its surroundings. In the beginning, there is a fissure on the house’s wall which in the end â€Å"rapidly widened† and caused the crumbling of the whole building in parallel to Madeline’s breaking out of the tomb which led to the death of Roderick’s. In a more immediate sense, Roderick’s paranoia lies in his hearing of Madeline’s movements as discussed above, which also more corresponds to his condition the acuteness of senses. In case of all the characters, their at the first glance irrational fears come true, in which I find the most significant horror element of these stories. Last, I will discuss the role of the narrator when handling the theme. In all the stories, the first person narrator is used. While in â€Å"The Black Cat† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, the narrator is the direct participant on the chain of events as well as the sufferer of the mental disorder, the narrator in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† presents himself only as friend to Roderick Usher and works only as a mediator. As it was mentioned in the previous paragraph, the affected characters of â€Å"The Black Cat† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† are nameless; this may be due to the fact that they correspond to the persona of the narrator. In case of â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† the narrator (although a participant of the story, Roderick is the character affected by mental disorder) also does not reveal his own identity. The use of such indefinite (in the terms of personal identity) narrators enables the reader closer identification with them. The reader might thus expect to experience the story from the perspective of a mentally unstable person in case of the first two, and one of an unaffected observer in case of the last one. However, as the story of â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† develops, the narrator speaks of being affected by the environment in which the story takes place, â€Å"the bewildering furniture of this room† and Roderick himself when the he states that â€Å"his [Usher‘s] condition terrified [†¦] infected me. At the last night at Usher’s mansion, â€Å"an irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame; and [†¦] there sat upon my [the nar rator‘s] very heart an incubus of utterly causeless alarm[13]. † Therefore, it may be stated that Poe’s narrator (and thus the reader as well), even as a mere observer, cannot escape the experience of mental disorder. In these stories where focus is set on mentally disturbed characters, the narrator also serves as the link with reason. However unlikely this may sound in case of â€Å"The Black Cat† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† where the narrator is one with the affected character, it should be taken into consideration how the narrative is presented. In both cases, the narrator rejects madness: in the opening of â€Å"The Black Cat† he states â€Å"mad I am not[14]† and in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the narrator keeps denying madness throughout the whole story. Furthermore, the events are presented with logic and reasoning which contradicts the concept of insanity. In case of â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† the narrator figures as the sane counterpart to mentally unstable Roderick, and even when he (as I mentioned above) starts to feel affected by the place, he looks for logical reasons of his anxiety especially in the end, when he reads â€Å"Mad Trist† to Roderick and hears sounds parallel to the story he is reading, he considers it â€Å"coincidence alone which had arrested [his] attention. Still, in the end, as I already stated when I discussed paranoia, the logic is beaten the first murderer is convicted by the walled up cat, the second by the heartbeat of the dead man, and Roderi ck by his sister who after a few days of lying in the coffin and few years of apathy found enough strength to break herself out and haunt her brother. To conclude, it may be stated that common pattern of the use of the theme of mental disorder has indeed been found in the three discussed short stories. The initial condition of all the three affected characters underwent certain development which resulted in paranoia. They all caused death of a close person (whether on purpose, in rage or by accident), and this deed then turned against them and led into fulfilment of their fears and eventually to their doom. The narrator functions as a link between the sanity of the reader and the insanity the story handles. In the end, the latter prevails, in which the horror aspect of the stories may be found. Bibliography: Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Black Cat. † An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. 15 May. 2009 lt; http://www. poestories. com/text. php? file=blackcatgt;. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. 15 May. 2009 lt; http://www. poestories. com/text. php? file=blackcatgt;. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart. † An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. 15 May. 2009 . 1] with the word â€Å"diseaseâ€Å", I mean the description of a condition provided by Poe rather than proper medical description [2] Edgar Allan Poe, â€Å"The Black Cat,† An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, 15 May. 2009 . [3] Poe, â€Å"The Black Cat. † [4] Edgar Allan P oe, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, 15 May. 2009 . [5] Edgar Allan Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, 15 May. 2009 . [6] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [7] Poe, â€Å"The Black Cat. † [8] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [9] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [10] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [11] Poe, â€Å"The Black Cat. † [12] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [13] Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † [14] Poe, â€Å"The Black Cat. †

All About Serializing in Visual Basic

All About Serializing in Visual Basic Serialization is the process of converting an object into a linear sequence of bytes called a byte stream. Deserialization just reverses the process. But why would you want to convert an object into a byte stream? The main reason is so you can move the object around. Consider the possibilities. Since everything is an object in .NET, you can serialize anything and save it to a file. So you could serialize pictures, data files, the current state of a program module (state is like a snapshot of your program at a point in time so you could temporarily suspend execution and start again later) ... whatever you need to do. You can also store these objects on disk in files, send them over the web, pass them to a different program, keep a backup copy for safety or security. The possibilities are quite literally endless. Thats why serialization is such a key process in .NET and Visual Basic. Below is a section on custom serialization by implementing the ISerializable interface and coding a New and a GetObjectData subroutine. As a first example of serialization, lets do one of the easiest programs, but also one of the most useful: serializing data, and then deserializing data in simple class to and from a file. In this example, the data is not only serialized, but the structure of the data is saved too. The structure here is declared in a module to keep things ... well ... structured. Module SerializeParmsSerializable() Public Class ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm1Name As String Parm1 Name  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm1Value As Integer 12345  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm2Name As String  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Parm2Value As DecimalEnd ClassEnd Module Then, individual values can be saved to a file like this: Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.BinaryImports System.IOPublic Class Form1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Private Sub mySerialize_Click( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal sender As System.Object, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Handles mySerialize.Click  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim ParmData As New ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ParmData.Parm2Name Parm2 Name  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ParmData.Parm2Value 54321.12345  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim s As New FileStream(ParmInfo, FileMode.Create)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim f As New BinaryFormatter  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  f.Serialize(s, ParmData)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  s.Close()  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class And those same values can be retrieved like this: Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.BinaryImports System.IOPublic Class Form1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Private Sub myDeserialize_Click( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal sender As System.Object, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Handles myDeserialize.Click  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim s New FileStream(ParmInfo, FileMode.Open)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim f As New BinaryFormatter  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dim RestoredParms As New ParmExample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RestoredParms f.Deserialize(s)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  s.Close()  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Name)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm1Value)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Name)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Console.WriteLine(RestoredParms.Parm2Value)  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class A Structure or a collection (such as an ArrayList) rather than a Class could also be serialized to a file this same way. Now that we have gone over the basic serializing process, lets look at the specific details that are part of the process on the next page. One of the first things you should notice about this example is the Serializable() attribute in the Class. Attributes are just more information that you can provide to VB.NET about an object and theyre used for a lot of different things.  The attribute in this code tells VB.NET to add extra code so that later on, everything in this class can be serialized. If there are specific items in the Class that you dont want to be serialized, you can use the NonSerialized() attribute to exclude them: NonSerialized() Public Parm3Value As String Whatever In the example, notice is that Serialize and Deserialize are methods of the BinaryFormatter object (f in this example). f.Serialize(s, ParmData) This object takes the FileStream object and the object to be serialized as parameters. Well see that VB.NET offers another object that allows the result to be expressed as XML. And one final note, if your object includes other subordinate objects, theyll be serialized too! But since all objects that are serialized must be marked with the Serializable() attribute, all of these child objects must be marked that way too. Just to be completely clear about what is happening in your program, you might want to display the file named ParmData in Notepad to see what serialized data looks like. (If you followed this code, it should be in the bin.Debug folder in your project.) Since this is a binary file, most of the content isnt readable text, but you should be able to see any strings in your serialized file. Well do an XML version next and you might want to compare the two just to be aware of the difference. Serializing to XML instead of a binary file requires very few changes. XML isnt as fast and cant capture some object information, but its far more flexible. XML can be used by just about any other software technology in the world today. If you want to be sure your file structures dont tie you into Microsoft, this is a good option to look into. Microsoft is emphasizing LINQ to XML to create XML data files in their latest technology but many people still prefer this method. The X in XML stands for eXtensible. In our XML example, were going to use one of those extensions of XML, a technology called SOAP. This used to mean Simple Object Access Protocol but now its just a name. (SOAP has been upgraded so much that the original name doesnt fit that well anymore.) The main thing that we have to change in our subroutines is the declation of the serialization formatter. This has to be changed in both the subroutine that serializes the object and the one that deserializes it again. For the default configuration, this involves three changes to your program. First, you have to add a Reference to the project. Right-click the project and select Add Reference .... Make sure ... System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap ... has been added to the project. Then change the two statements in the program that references it. Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.SoapDim f As New SoapFormatter This time, if you check out the same ParmData file in Notepad, youll see that the whole thing is in readable XML text such as ... Parm1Name idref-3Parm1 Name/Parm1NameParm1Value12345/Parm1ValueParm2Name idref-4Parm2 Name/Parm2NameParm2Value54321.12345/Parm2Value There is also a lot of additional XML there thats necessary for the SOAP standard in the file as well. If you want to verify what the NonSerialized() attribute does, you can add a variable with that attribute and look at the file to verify that its not included. The example we just coded only serialized the data, but suppose you need to control how the data is serialized. VB.NET can do that too! To accomplish this, you need to get a little deeper into the concept of serialization. VB.NET has a new object to help out here: SerializationInfo. Although you have the ability to code custom serialization behavior, it comes with a cost of extra coding. The basic extra code is shown below. Remember, this class is used instead of the ParmExample class shown in the earlier example. This isnt a complete example. The purpose is to show you the new code that is needed for custom serialization. Imports System.Runtime.SerializationSerializable() _Public Class CustomSerialization  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable  Ã‚  Ã‚   data to be serialized here  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public SerializedVariable as Type  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub New()  Ã‚  Ã‚   default constructor when the class  Ã‚  Ã‚   is created - custom code can be  Ã‚  Ã‚   added here too  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Sub  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub New( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   initialize your program variables from  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Sub  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public Sub GetObjectData( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable.GetObjectData  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   update the serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from program variables  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SubEnd Class The idea is that now you can (and, in fact, you must) do all of the updating and reading of data in the serialized data store in the New and GetObjectData subroutines. You must also include a generic New constructor (no parameter list) because youre implementing an interface. The class will normally have formal properties and methods coded as well ... Generic PropertyPrivate newPropertyValue As StringPublic Property NewProperty() As String  Ã‚  Ã‚  Get  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Return newPropertyValue  Ã‚  Ã‚  End Get  Ã‚  Ã‚  Set(ByVal value As String)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  newPropertyValue value  Ã‚  Ã‚  End SetEnd Property Generic MethodPublic Sub MyMethod()  Ã‚  Ã‚  method codeEnd Sub The resulting serialized class can create unique values in the file based on the code you supply. For example, a real-estate class might update a the value and address of a house but the class would serialize a calculated market classification as well. The New subroutine will look something like this: Public Sub New( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext)  Ã‚  Ã‚   initialize your program variables from  Ã‚  Ã‚   a serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parm1Name info.GetString(a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parm1Value info.GetInt32(b)  Ã‚  Ã‚   New sub continues ... When Deserialize is called on a BinaryFormatter object, this sub is executed and a SerializationInfo object is passed to the New subroutine. New can then do whatever is necessary with the serialized data values. For example ... MsgBox(This is Parm1Value Times Pi: _  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Parm1Value * Math.PI).ToString) The reverse happens when Serialize is called, but the BinaryFormatter object calls GetObjectData instead. Public Sub GetObjectData( _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal info As SerializationInfo, _  Ã‚  Ã‚  ByVal context As StreamingContext) _  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implements ISerializable.GetObjectData  Ã‚  Ã‚   update the serialized data store  Ã‚  Ã‚   from program variables  Ã‚  Ã‚  If Parm2Name Test Then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(a, This is a test.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Else  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(a, No test this time.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  End If  Ã‚  Ã‚  info.AddValue(b, 2) Notice that the data is added to the serialized file as name/value pairs. A lot of the web pages Ive found in writing this article dont seem to have actual working code. One wonders whether the author actually executed any code before writing the article sometimes.

Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software Development essay

Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software Development essay Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software Development essay Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software Development essaySoftware development industry is one of the core industries in the modern world. New software products are used for automating processes in virtually all spheres of human life. This fact contributes to the diversity of domains for software projects. Rapid evolution of software frameworks, technologies and approaches creates a constant need for change. Hence, companies operating in software development industry have to deal with short-term projects, projects with very specific knowledge requirements, projects requiring special expertise, etc. This diversity creates a situation when software developments and other IT professionals are involved in the projects from time to time, often combine working on several projects and deal with various technologies simultaneously. Due to high flexibility of workforce in software projects and very specific requirements to project members, there emerge situations when the resourc es are allocated inefficiently.Problem StatementThe problem considered in this report is the following. The company provides the services of software development to a large number of clients. Due to the varied nature of projects, short-term project life cycle and specific skill sets needed in software projects there emerges the problem of inefficient resource allocation.According to Fairley (2011), companies providing the services of custom software development and companies offering consulting services in software development allocate 85% or more of their operating costs to development costs. In other words, business costs of such companies are formed by the salaries paid to software developers and other IT professionals (Fairley, 2011). However, the company has numerous inefficiencies in the process of workforce allocation to projects. This means that the company spends excess money on development and reduces the chances of successful project completion. Such state of affairs redu ces the companys competitiveness and viability. Therefore, it is important to address and resolve this workplace issue.There are several sources of inefficiency in the current process of resource allocation. The company deals with different projects, the duration of which varies from 2 weeks to 6 months on average. These projects are broken into stages; commonly, these stages include setting requirements and planning, software design, implementation, verification and sometimes maintenance (Martin, 2009). At each stage, the number of IT professionals required is different, and the skill sets needed during different phases also change. However, project team is usually assigned at the first stage, and there are additional resource allocations during implementation and verification phases.Sometimes project members lack the necessary skills for implementation and verification. They have to deal with technologies where they have little experience or perform supplementary tasks. It also ha ppens that team members have no business expertise in the required domain, and there are no professionals with the required technical skills and business knowledge available. In such cases, team members have to master the new domain, which increases their value for future projects but reduces the effectiveness of solutions in the existing project. Finally, the work load is not uniform: there are times when team members have to work overtime and times when team members have to wait until other developers complete their parts of work. Such situation leads to professional burnout after overtimes (which are followed by escalating project costs) and to low performance during the idle time.This report is devoted to analyzing the problem of inefficient resource allocation in a software development company, considering several workplace programs and procedures aimed at resolving this problem and selecting one of the alternatives according to five criteria of software project effectiveness r elevant to the situation. Therefore, this report contributes to improving workplace effectiveness in companies providing the services of custom software development.Overview of AlternativesAlternative AThe first alternative that is commonly used in software development industry relies on the services of outsourcers or freelancers. Analysis of the key factors causing inefficiencies in resource allocation shows that there are three major causes: inflexible or premature allocation of resources, absence of prospective team members with the required characteristics (combined with the inefficiency of hiring developers with these characteristics due to short-time nature of the tasks) and fluctuating workload.The industry-wide practice is to invite freelancers or using the services of outstaffing companies to resolve such issues (Futrell, Shafer Shafer, 2002). Possible implementation of such approach include (Futrell, Shafer Shafer, 2002): placing ads for the required freelance services, contacting potential team members in person or using the services of an outsourcing company. It would be most efficient to use the latter option and sign a contract with several outstaffing companies. These companies would help to add external team members when necessary.Alternative BAnother alternative is using more efficient resource leveling practices and detailed assessment of employee skills and abilities. The proposed program is the following: project managers should divide the stages of the project into smaller sub-stages, assign project roles and responsibilities in accordance with these sub-stages (Schiel, 2009). It is essential that project managers adjust project roles after every sub-stage of the project and align the changes with the schedule containing   activities of potential team members (including previous projects and future projects) (Schiel, 2009). HRM professionals should improve skills assessment process and introduce sub-skills in development and different business domains. These skills should be weighed against current project role requirements so that project managers could assign team members who can add maximal value to the project.CriteriaCriterion 1. Compliance with customer requirementsThis criterion determines to which degree the companys ability to adhere to customer requirements will be changed after implementing the new program.Criterion 2. Adherence to initial budget estimates.This criterion determines the extent to which project teams will be able to match initial budgets after implementing the new program.Criterion 3. Compliance with project timingThis criterion describes the degree of complying with schedule that teams will demonstrate after implementing the new program.Criterion 4. Business risk exposureThis criterion assesses the change in the degree of exposure to business risks achieved due to implementing the new program.Criterion 5. Project risk exposureThis criterion assesses the change in the degree of exposure to project risks achieved due to implementing the new program.Research MethodsThe methods used to research the information needed to determine the best recommended alternative included reviewing literature, analyzing research evidence pertaining to the impact of the use of outstaffing and advanced resource leveling on project resource allocation. In addition, the sources related to the influence of outstaffing and/or resource leveling on software quality, project time and budget, project risks and corporate risks were considered. The information was collected from software project management books, human resource management books and journals, computer science journals and case studies evaluating the effect of project management solutions.

Entrepreneurial Interview Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Entrepreneurial Interview - Research Paper Example The sight of bricks and blocks being placed on top of each other thus making walls and rising into structures fascinated me. I loved the smell of the wet cement as the walls were plastered and would often sit inside the cured plastered building to keep safe from the scorching heat of the sun outside. I was good in studies. After my higher secondary school exam, I got admission in an engineering university. I became a Civil Engineer in four years. When I was granted admission, at that time the scope of Civil Engineering was lesser than that of Electrical or Mechanical Engineering. However, while I was studying, the scope of Civil Engineering increased manifolds particularly as new opportunities of construction and development surfaced after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had joined that course with the view that whether or not I would get the job, I would establish my own business utilizing the skills and experience of my father. When I graduated in 2008, I opted to seek practical experience in field before establishing my own company. I deemed it necessary to seek practical experience first in order to familiarize myself with the complications of the construction work and the way day-to-day challenges are met in construction work. I was fortunate to work at a big project â€Å"Canyon Views† by a prestigious client EMAAR in Islamabad. Meanwhile, I got myself registered with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). After about a year of experience, I decided to establish my own company. I compiled the necessary documents and applied for a company in PEC. Within a period of three to four months, I had my own company established. I set up my own office of design and consultation. My father had been constructing houses for over 20 years. I started to supervise the construction and brought improvement in the structural design of the houses so as to make them structurally safer than the old designs. After the houses were constructed,